Hotel del Coronado Wedding - Mary and Daniel

I loved going down to San Diego to photograph this destination wedding at the Hotel del Coronado. Especially because I had photographed the bride's sister's wedding five years before! I always love seeing families again and watching them grow (her sister's now three year old little girl was the flower girl!).

Within minutes of arriving on the wedding day, I was told by the wedding planner, Christine Ong Forsythe with Lavish Weddings. that the bride and one of her bridesmaids had food poisoning and a doctor was summoned to the hotel to try to get everyone in shape to actually go to the wedding. Oh my! In walked Mary looking a little weak about an hour later, but ready to enjoy her day the best she could despite being told she couldn't eat or drink ANYTHING but poweraid for at least 24 hours. I felt terrible for her, but she persevered and after hair and makeup was done, you would never know how sick she had been just a couple of hours before. This left her to enjoy a perfect "Wizard of Oz" themed day and evening at this classic Deco-era hotel.

The Del's Coronet and Crown rooms both sparkled in anticipation of the formal black tie wedding and Christine of Lavish Weddings and her crew of top-notch vendors did a fabulous job carrying off the Wizard of Oz theme at this formal event. I loved the poppies Sharon Mintz of Organic Elements incorporated into the flowers and the place card table. The rest of the flowers and colors for the wedding were based on the table indicators which were all scans of the original illustrations from L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz books. 

Beautiful personal touches were added as well including the music for the ceremony which was written by Daniel, the groom! I'm not sure if there was a dry eye in the house when everyone attending sang a hymn together. Most of Mary and Daniel's friends are professional musicians so they really could belt it out. It was a gorgeous and memorable moment for all in the room. The first dance song was also written by this talented composer and was about April Fools (they got married on April 1st!).

Love, Love, Love all around for this couple and this wedding. So classic, deco and stylish AND such genuine love and talent. April Fools and food poisoning? Didn't ruin this wedding day! Mary even "bedazzled" her wedding shoes to sparkle like Dorothy's. Good thing she did. They definitely produced magic for her on this fabulous wedding day. Congrats to Mary and Daniel!

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Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch Wedding - Megan and Oli!

It's rare that one of my favorite parts of the day is taking the getting ready photos. I like it, but I'm always thrilled to get to the venue to start photographing the big event! BUT, Megan and Oli got ready on a very special family property about thirty minutes from the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch which is where the wedding and reception were to take place. When I drove onto this remote property up near Geyserville, I instantly fell and love and knew why it was such a special place! A family property shared by both architects AND stylists, it was simple and lovely and decked out for the wedding festivities! I especially loved the wedding night tent set up for the newlyweds on a remote part of the property.

Megan wore a BHLDN ready-to-wear dress for all the pre-shooting on this rural property and I loved being shown around to the couple's favorite spots for our photo session with California Oaks, vineyards and gorgeous views of both the Napa and Sonoma Valleys as backdrops! How lucky am I that I get glimpses into these special places!

Then off we went to the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch and I was excited to start photographing the loveliness of THAT property and the combined creativity of our bride and her stylist Stepmom, Margaret Turnbull. All was seamlessly woven together by our fabulous wedding planners from ROQUE Events. Megan stunned all when she walked out in her Delphine Manivet Hyppolite gown and the flowers by Mae Flowers were especially fitting creating a feel of freshly picked wildflowers. I absolutely loved the guest favors of loose leaf organic tea in glass tubes. Megan and Oli had fun incorporating their combined heritages too. I loved all the Austrian touches representing our couple's home country and Oli's birth country.

Friends and family and a big party were the goal and they succeeded! The evening was warm and clear and the couple's bluegrass band was even made up of friends and all gathered when Megan and Oli shared their first s'more at the "campfire". What a stunning wedding and a stunning couple. I was honored to photograph this incredible day!

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Headlands Center for the Arts - Kristen and Brian!

It's always an honor when someone in the industry asks me to photograph their wedding and Kristen was no exception! As the Marketing Director for Got Light, she knows her stuff about gorgeous weddings and the wedding industry! Also, an extremely creative knitter, she has her own YouTube channel called "Studio Knit". Check it out! A woman of many talents and boundless energy, Kristen took on her wedding like she seems to take on everything - with a passion and talent rarely seen, Kristen made this the DIY wedding of all time!

Creating 1,000 paper cranes as a backdrop for their ceremony was just a start for Kristen! I also loved the paper butterflies she added to the lanterns. She added buttons down her back from her mother’s 1967 wedding dress, symbolizing that her mother “had her back” during the wedding. For her adorable flowergirl Delilah, Kristen created a pomander wand with hand dyed French silk ribbons and daisies in her favorite color – purple! With her exquisite eye for design and color, she put her graphic arts and paper folding skills to work. She designed all the wedding collateral, creating the whimsical cohesive branding of their wedding, even adding hand made paper cranes to the wedding invitations!

Headlands Center for the Arts is one of my fave bay area venues and their official caterer, Katie Powers of Katie Powers Catering knocked the socks off - as always - with the food and I was also thrilled when I arrived and saw my friend Erica of Erica Rose Designs was doing the flowers. Add in the talented Got Light team and Jasmine Rae Bakery, and you truly have an all-star team!

Kristen and Brian's union was over 25 years in the making, so when they tied the knot, I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the house - especially when two of the members of Brian's former band Veil of Ashes played a love song from their band days during the ceremony. I was crying behind the lens! These two know how to have fun together, love beautiful things and great music and it all came together on their wedding day. Congrats to Kristen and Brian!!!

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Venue: Headlands Center for the Arts

Caterer: Katie Powers Catering

Cake: Jasmine Rae Bakery

Event Design: Chambray Event Design

Lighting: Got Light

Florist: Erica Rose Designs

Hair and Make-up Artist: JT Artistry

Officiant: Rhythm & Light