Hannah and William - City Hall

May 3, 2010

I LOVE SF City Hall weddings. What an incredible location. Had great fun photographing Hannah and William's wedding last Thursday. They needed photos for a party for family this weekend, so I ended up just doing their entire edit. They wanted some urban grit AND the GG Bridge for our after city hall session. I just loved the way her dress blew in the wind! Here are some of my faves:

Tiffiny and Shaun E-Session!

April 16, 2010

We had a great time and great light at the Sutro baths last night!

Kaci and Mike Sneak Peek!

April 12, 2010

After my love-fest blurb from yesterday, I wanted to post just a couple from Kaci and Mike's wedding. More coming soon! Location: Stryker Sonoma

Coordinator: Stephanie Beer of Covenant Coordinating

Florist: Maria Philbin

CAN I JUST GUSH?

April 11, 2010

Really. I love my job. I can't call it a "job". It's what I do and it's what I love. I just obsessively reviewed for the second time my shoot from yesterday and if I were as tech savvy as most of my peers, I would post a photo from yesterday to go along with this post, but alas, it's Sunday, I'm not willing to go get my card reader from my backyard studio because it's cold and rainy and I DO have the whole Sunday NYT to read, but I just had to post what I'm feeling. The 2010 wedding season is kicking in and with two spring weddings under my belt, including yesterday's I can't wait for more. I LOVE my clients. I have the most thoughtful and lovely clients and feel so lucky! After a typical very hard day physically and mentally I was rewarded by a total love-fest between me and my bride when it came time to bid adieu. She was so appreciateive of my hard work, enthusiasm and relaxed way of working that she gushed and I came right back at her with so many thanks for being such a warm, loving and enthusiastic subject. My clients had a fabulous wedding day despite the threatened rain and cold that drew their dream vineyard destination wedding indoors and my bride made sure I knew at the end of the day that I contributed to their fun and relaxation. Did I say I love what I do? This thought actually took me away from the Sunday NYT! I promise to post a couple of sneak peek photos tomorrow!

Bess and Adelki!

March 30, 2010

I just wrote to Bess yesterday that I was going to post some of their pictures today on my blog and I felt that I had to tell her in my e-mail that I was struck by a couple of things on their wedding day. One thing was the absolute love that Bess had for everyone surrounding her on her day, but especially her parents which you can see from the pictures posted here. Another thing that struck me was Adelki's love for his bride. It's not like other grooms don't demonstrate this, but I could tell by the way he looked at her that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her and when he saw her walking down the aisle, I almost lost it just photographing his expression. On top of everything else, what a fun wedding full of Greek dancing! Wedding Location: Main Post Chapel, San Francisco Presidio

Reception location: Sir Francis Drake Hotel, SF

Flowers: Blue Orchid Floral

My assistant Johanna took the lovely photo on the left from behind the alter:

Taylor and John E-Session!

March 25, 2010

It's been a while since I've shot at Baker Beach and was pleasantly surprised when John and Taylor and I arrived and found absolutely perfect weather. I've never experienced such warm weather at Baker beach. We had a lot of fun at our shoot and I'm so looking forward to John and Taylor's wedding in May! Amy Nichols of Amy Nichols Special Events will be our coordinator.

Ethiopia Slideshow!

March 19, 2010

I'm back a little more than a week now from an amazing experience of travel in Ethiopia. I mentioned in my last post that I was going with two dear friends to help them bring home their two newly adopted children. Not only did I experience gorgeous scenery, wonderful people and some wild animals, but I also got a glimpse into the pure emotion and joy of the adoption process. Not only did I experience this with my friends, but with the other families staying in the guesthouse with us. I am truly blown away by these amazing new parents who have opened their hearts and homes to just a handful of the 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia. I have a somewhat condensed slideshow for public viewing. Of course the slideshow I've created for my friends includes a lot more of the meeting their kids and getting to know them shots! I've snuck a few shots in this slideshow, but mostly this is about the overall experience. Here is a link to the slideshow: Ethiopia and here are a few teasers. Enjoy!

Today's Bride!

March 16, 2010

Such a lovely little resource book! I first saw Today's Bride displayed at the Magic Flute restaurant in San Francisco and immediately decided I wanted to advertise in it. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that in addition to my ad, Suzanne of Atelier Des Modistes used one of my photos and another photo from a real wedding shoot of aisle flowers done by Natasha of Waterlily Pond was used as a chapter opener! Pick up a copy of Today's Bride!

Style Me Pretty Little Black Book Blog Feature!

March 11, 2010

I'm always thrilled when I get a feature on Style Me Pretty. It's such a gorgeous bridal blog! This is my first time since becoming a coveted "Little Black Book" member, that I've had a feature on their "LBB" blog! Gena and Ryan's wedding was so gorgeous and I'm thrilled that an indoor ballroom wedding is getting featured. Not all weddings are outdoor wine country weddings and the classic San Francisco venues are all so gorgeous and worth checking out!

Thanks to Amy Nichols of Amy Nicholes Special Events, Floramor,The Bently Reserve and of course, Gena and Ryan for such a perfect and gorgeous wedding to photograph! Click on this link to view the feature: Style Me Pretty

Off to Ethiopia!

February 12, 2010

Sometimes life just throws you some great surprises and opportunities! I am off to Ethiopia and will be gone for almost a month and I leave tomorrow (February 13th). I have the honor and rare opportunity to help two dear friends from Chicago pick up and bring home their two newly-adopted children. I will be taking pictures along the way of course, but have read that internet availability in Ethiopia is spotty at best, so am anticipating not being able to share anything until I return. In the meantime, you can gaze at the picture of Em and Glenn's adorable children (they are brother and sister)! For anyone who e-mails about availability, at the very least, I will check e-mail once a week and will get back to you as soon as I can!

Au Revoir!

-Julie

Joanna and Padraic Feature on SF Style Unveiled!

February 2, 2010

What a big press day! I'm thrilled that Joanna and Padraic's gorgeous Marin Art and Garden Center wedding is featured today on SF StyleUnveiled!

To see the rest of the story, go to: SF Style Unveiled

WeddingWire Bride's Choice Award, 2010!

February 2, 2010

I'm so thrilled to be named one of Martha Stewart's WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards Winners for 2010! What an honor! Here is the official press release:

San Francisco, CA - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Julie Mikos has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Photography!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Julie Mikos is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Julie is among the very best Wedding Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at WeddingWire - Julie Mikos.

About WeddingWire, Inc. WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

Feature Picture on Photoboof site!

January 13, 2010

Happy to have a picture of mine featured on the Photoboof! website! This was taken at Joanna and Padraic's wedding.

Featured on Martha Stewart Weddings Blog!

December 23, 2009

I was excited to see Susan and Trevor's Stryker Sonoma wedding featured on Martha Stewart Weddings blog yesterday! Check it out!

Rosy and Andre!!

December 23, 2009

Oh, I just love the intimacy of Rosy and Andres portrait session. Married on Friday of Thanksgiving weekend at a beautiful church in Bolinas, Ca. Their soft choice of earthy toned spring colors is complimented by their outdoor choice locations. Friends and family helped with the cake and flowers. Ceremony: St Mary Magdalen Church , Reception:Parkside Cafe

Featured on Martha Stewart Weddings Blog Today!

December 22, 2009

Check it out at Martha Stewart Wedding Blog!

Ashley and Jared!

December 17, 2009

What a sweet couple! Ashley really had some definite wishes for their portrait session and we were on a tight timeline, but somehow we kept up with the time limits and managed to get everything they wanted out of our portrait session. Ashley kept a smile and the whole bridal party had a blast despite all the running around! Caterer: The City Club, Video: Shane Belle, DJ: The Spinheads , Flowers: Not Just Flowers , Cake: Have Your Cake , Hair: Blend Salon(Sarah Gomez) Make-up:Jena Corvi, Dress: Paloma Blanca

Suzi and Mark

December 2, 2009

I just loved this location! Suzi is a friend of a friend and she had asked me for location advice telling me she wanted a barn setting. I had given her some ideas, but she found this wonderful location on her own and I loved photographing there! The setting for Suzi and Mark's wedding is the rustic old stable at Rancho Wikiup in Windsor. Sorry, but I couldn't find a link to include here! Congratulations Suzi and Mark!

Amy and Neal

November 17, 2009

I've never photographed a wedding at One Fort Mason in SF and couldn't believe the ceremony site! The best ceremony site view in SF by far! Good choice Amy and Neal and congratulations! This wedding came to me via Elizabeth Bainbridge of 2 the 9s Events. She's a wedding coordinator in SF and a friend of the bride and groom. I'm always flattered when a wedding coordinator refers me to one of their friends. Besides Amy and Neal being so sweet and fun, it was fun to watch and record how close they were to their parents. Another special part of this wedding was that the catering staff was super nice and helpful when I wanted to photograph the food!

Caterer: Work of Art Florist: La Fleuriste

Hair and makeup: Sarah Hyde of sHe

Dress designer: Scala

Amanda and Dion!

November 4, 2009

Oh how I love Healdsburg Country Gardens! It's such a pretty location. Amanda and Dion are such a great couple and Dion has two wonderful children as well. This was a family and friend affair with lots of pretty details and color. The design and details were created by Amanda and a family team (such good style and taste). Wedding coordination by Elsa Vera Productions, Catering: Grapevine Catering, Florist: Dragonfly, Band: Max Perkhoff Trio, Baker: Downtown Bakery and Creamery, Healdsburg. I love chocolate cakes!