I was so excited that a former bride of mine asked me to photograph the inaugural Edible Excursions San Francisco Craft Cocktail Tour. Edible Excursions is an award-winning culinary tour company that offers foodies guided culinary walks through several areas of San Francisco. Lisa, the owner was in the infancy of her business when she got married and asked me to be her wedding photographer. I also photographed their firstborn, and I am so excited to have seen Lisa's business grow and to be a part of this newest venture in her business. We have some star mixologists in the Bay Area, and I'm so excited to see Lisa add this tour to her Edible Excursions options. These tours are not only great to go on, but they make great gifts or the perfect plan for a party idea!
Campovida Wine Tasting Event - New Venue in Oakland!
Was thrilled that the folks at Campovida and Sadie Waddington of Locally Grown Weddings asked me to photograph this lovely event at Campovida's simple and pretty new tasting room and event venue in Oakland! The wines were divine and my good friend Hugh Groman of Hugh Groman Catering did an amazing job with the food pairings. Sadie and Madeline Trait of Gilli Flower Design both did a wonderful job of making this already stunning space even more so, and then Sweet Lauren Cakes contributed those amazing pie pops! Never seen those before! My favorite was the pecan! I would highly recommend checking out a tasting event at either the Campovida Oakland location or make a weekend of it and go up to their STUNNING Hopland location. Look for a wedding post from a recent wedding I shot at the Campovida Hopland location too!
Vendors who participated in this shoot include:
Venue: Campovida
Event Design: Locally Grown Weddings
Floral Design: Gilli Flower Design
Catering: Hugh Groman Catering
Pie Pops: Sweet Lauren Cakes
Berkeley City Club and UC Faculty Club Wedding - Katie and Beat
Katie and Beat traveled the world celebrating their wedding! Currently living in Australia and celebrating their first festivities in Switzerland where Beat is from, they ended their celebrations with another ceremony and reception to celebrate where Katie comes from: Berkeley! I always love shooting at the Berkeley City Club. It's Julia Morgan-designed, and Katie and Beat embraced the gorgeous and formal architecture during our somewhat formal portrait shoot. Then we were off to The Faculty Club at UC Berkeley lawn (called "the glade") for a ceremony in the lovely natural surroundings of the campus, and then back to the Berkeley City Club where Pat Gibbons Floral Design did such an amazing job with the flowers. I LOVED the blackberries in the centerpieces celebrating the height of summer, and then it was on to the WOW factor of the dancing and amazing horn ensemble. This group were quite the dancers to the tunes Elite Entertainment played!
Vendors who participated in this wedding included:
Ceremony Venue: The Faculty Club at UC Berkeley
Reception Venue and Catering: Berkeley City Club
Florist: Pat Gibbons Floral Design
Entertainment: Elite Entertainment
Chardonnay Golf Club, Napa Valley Wedding - Stella and Angel
What a sweet couple, Stella and Angel! She, so petite and stunning in her mother's wedding gown (handmade in the Philippines in 1977), and he so tall and handsome! Loved the colorful lanterns brightening up the outdoor cocktail area, and guests had a terrific time with the costumes at the photo booth! Katharina Stuart Floral Art and Design also did a gorgeous job with the summery soft-toned floral arrangements!
Vendors involved in this wedding included:
Meritage Resort and Spa, Napa Wedding - Ryan and Adam
Oh how I loved this ceremony site! All the years I've been photographing weddings (thirteen BTW!) and I hadn't photographed a ceremony in a wine cave. Rehearsal dinners? Yes. Wedding dinners? Yes. Cocktail hour? Yes, but never a ceremony. The wine cave ceremony site at The Meritage Resort & Spa did not disappoint. I'm sure all the guests were wowed when they walked into this gorgeous site. I know when I walked in with Ryan and Adam for their pre-ceremony photo session, we were all wowed too! Congrats to Ryan and Adam!
Vendors who participated in this wedding include:
Venue: The Meritage Resort & Spa
Beaulieu Garden Wedding - Danielle and Tomas
More from the gorgeous wedding of Danielle and Tomas! If you didn't see Danielle's very sweet thank you note to me and their sneak peek photos take a look at this previous post. Paula Le Duc Fine Catering and Dee Merz outdid themselves as usual for this event. Beaulieu Garden is always a luscious location for a wedding, but the food, the flowers and the little details wowed the guests. There was even a pizza bar at cocktail hour! Danielle and Tomas only had eyes for each other, but somehow managed to entertain all their lovely guests and have fun too. What a perfect day! Congrats to Danielle and Tomas!
Vendors who participated in this wedding included:
Venue: Beaulieu Garden
Event Design: Dee Merz
Catering: Paula Le Duc Fine Catering
Videographer: EdgeFog Films
Auberge Du Soleil Wedding - Sarah and Mauro
A wedding at Auberge Du Soleil is always special, what with the views of the Napa Valley and the food and wine! Oh my! But this international couple made it really shine with their Venetian theme! Sarah and Mauro live in Italy (Mauro is from Italy) and they brought a little bit of Italy with them in their wedding style. I LOVED the Venetian masks and their grand entry with wigs! Spectacular! Sarah's Maggie Sottero gown took my breath away, as did the lovely flower arrangements of hydrangeas, succulents, brown pods and coral roses by Katharina Stuart. And the cupcakes by Perfect Endings? Well, just perfect!
Vendors who participated in this wedding included:
Venue: Auberge Du Soleil
Bridal Gown: Maggie Sottero
Catering: Auberge Du Soleil
Bakery: Perfect Endings
Florist: Katharina Stuart
Beaulieu Garden Wedding - Danielle and Tomas Sneak Peek!
I was so thrilled to get this amazing thank you e-mail just days after Danielle's wedding. After all the hard work it was just GREAT to see this super thoughtful email! Of course it was a joy to photograph Danielle and Tomas and their gorgeous wedding at
, but it's also a very large property to navigate (especially in a mini-heat wave!) and was so nice to get this super nice acknowledgement from Danielle! Here's what she had to say:
Hi Julie!
I wanted to thank you for all of your hard work (and patience!) that went into photographing our wedding last Friday. Your professionalism and calm demeanor were EXACTLY what we needed. We especially appreciated how you moved things along as quickly as possible, without sacrificing great shots.
Again, thank you again for all of your time, and we SO look forward to seeing all of our pictures!
Best,
Danielle and Tomas
And here are a few sneak peek photos, too. Stay tuned for more from this GORGEOUS wedding!
Vendors involved in this wedding included:
Venue: Beaulieu Garden
Wedding Design and Coordination: Dee Merz
Caterer: Paula LeDuc Fine Catering
Floral Design: Cherries Flowers
Styled Shoot: Blue Heron Hall at Laguna de Santa Rosa
I recently had the pleasure of photographing a styled shoot orchestrated by Julie Atwood Events at Blue Heron Hall at Laguna de Santa Rosa. And this beauty was just featured on I Do Venues! For a sneak peek, check out the venue feature. More to come on my blog soon!
Laguna De Santa Rosa Foundation Weddings! A Sneak Peek From Our Styled Promo Shoot!
So excited to be asked by the very talented Julie Atwood to shoot at
Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation
, the largest freshwater wetlands complex on the northern California coast. The foundation is hoping to market to couples interested in a ranch feeling wedding in Sonoma, but who would love to contribute also to the preserve. Julie Atwood of Atwood Ranch and
is spearheading the promotion and styled our shoot. She's so talented! Here are a few teasers from our shoot. There's a whole third day (including more vendors) and so many more gorgeous images from this shoot. Can't wait to share more!
Vendors involved in this shoot included:
Styling: Julie Atwood of
Floral Design:
Linen Rentals:
Rentals:
The Palm Event Center Wedding - Christine and Scott
What a day! Christine and Scott had a celebration and fun-filled day starting with their gorgeous wedding ceremony at St. Mary's Chapel in Moraga. On of my favorites! I love the mission-style architecture. I could have photographed there all day, but we moved on to the Palm Event Center for a fabulous reception filled with good food and loads of dancing. The toasts were endearing, and Christine and Scott danced and laughed and really got around to visit with their guests. Loved their dessert and candy bar and especially loved Christine and bridal party "flash-mob" dance! Congratulations to Christine and Scott! You can also view their sweet e-session here!
Ceremony Venue: at St. Mary's Chapel
Reception Venue: Palm Event Center
Florist: The Flower House
Catering: Palm Event Center
Cake Baker: Filigree Cakes
Newborn Photography - Here she is! Welcome Maddie!
You may have seen Penny's maternity shoot two weeks ago. Well, here is baby Maddie! So sweet. I just love newborn babies. Funny. Not a lot of people get to see them as often as I do. I never take it for granted. They are only so tiny for so long and I cherish hearing those little newborn squeaks. So precious. It's priceless to catch your baby within the first two weeks of life. You'll be surprised how quickly they grow! Congratulations Penny and Sean!
Baby Photography - Abdu!
Maternity Shoot! Penny and Sean!
I photographed Penny and Sean's Valentine's day elopement two years ago and hurray! They contacted me to ask if I would shoot their maternity session! We squeezed it in right by the hair of our chinny-chin-chins because baby Maddie was born a little over a week later and I shoot her newborn session in a few days! The Laguna de Santa Rose Foundation was the perfect and most beautiful backdrop for this shoot! So without further adieu, here are a few from Penny and Sean's rainy, but super sweet Valentine's Day wedding and some from their maternity shoot. Stay tuned for the pics of Maddie!
And here are a few from their wedding!
Marin Art and Garden Center Wedding - Colette and Kevin
So sweet! You may have seen Colette and Kevin's engagement session post a few months back. They love their neighborhood in San Francisco and did a local engagement session in places that were dear to them. Even though they fell in love with Marin Art and Garden Center and the weather is warmer in Marin, they still had their ceremony at their church in San Francisco and then everyone headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin for the reception! Fun for all! We headed from Notre Dame des Victoires church in San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped for a few windy and foggy shots at a bridge overlook on our way to the reception, and did additional photos at Marin Art and Garden Center where it was much warmer! This wedding was so sweet and simple, and the whole time Colette and Kevin looked like they felt like they were the luckiest people in the world! A lifetime of happiness for them is ahead, I'm sure!
Vendors involved in this wedding included:
Ceremony Venue: Notre Dame des Victoires
Reception Venue: Marin Art and Garden Center
Caterer: Ann Walker Catering
Stationery: Wedding Paper Divas
The Hamlin Mansion Wedding, San Francisco - Mona and Ian!
Wow! Total Great Gatsby! Loved Mona and Ian's style which fit in with the gorgeous and classic Hamlin Mansion in San Francisco. So excited Sharla Flock Designs was doing the flowers. She's so talented and the colors in Mona's bouquet were gorgeous. You can't go wrong with spring peonies and ranunculus either! Also, Mona's look was so elegant and classic. That hairstyle by Wak Shack Salon was so original and Nikol Elaine Artistry did a classic, but slightly retro look with the makeup. Mona and Ian were so sweet together and looked like they had the time of their lives. Congrats!
Vendors involved in this wedding included:
Venue: Hamlin Mansion
Floral Design: Sharla Flock Designs
Hair: Wak Shack Salon
Makeup: Nikol Elaine Artistry
Bridal Gown: Elizabeth Fillmore
Caterer: Elaine Bell Catering
Palm Event Center - Christine and Scott Sneak Peek!
Thought I would share a few from Christine and Scott's wedding at Palm Event Center! Will publish the rest soon!
The Palm Event Center Wedding - Lindsey and Chris
Lovely bride and groom, and such pretty light for shooting! Loved the intimate indoor candlelit ceremony. Cozy for a potentially rainy day, but no rain, so plenty of fun shooting around the lovely grounds of the Palm Event Center! And OMG! Those cakes by Cake Creations by Bev were so lusciously gorgeous! I LOVED them! Pretty in pink were the bridesmaids in dresses by Jasmine Bridal. Lindsey and Chris were such fun to shoot and had a terrific time at their wedding!
WedSpring has launched!
This was such a fun and gorgeous little party! Such a success, too. Melia and Matt, founders of Wedspring, San Francisco, which is a bridal resource library, 7x7 Magazine, St. Germain and Mumm Napa were the major sponsors for this event and we had a turnout of 300 people! A representative from St. Germaine was pouring lovely champagne, St. Germaine cocktails, Mumm Napa was pouring champagne, yummy passed hors d'oeuvres were passed by Feast Catering and sweet treats were abundant by Cake Bloom and A Spoonful of Sugar. Michelle Walker and I photographed and there was a super fun photo booth by Magnolia Photo Booth Co. . WedSpring is a wedding planning service and resource library that offers complimentary services to brides, and I'm pleased to be represented! I encourage you to come and visit WedSpring, San Francisco!
Vendors involved in the launch party include:
Catering: Feast Catering
Baked Goods: Cake Bloom and A Spoonful of Sugar
Photo Booth: Magnolia Photo Booth Co.
Champagne: Mumm Napa
Location: WedSpring
Palm Event Center Wedding - Lindsey and Chris Sneak Peek!
Oh how dreamy! Just thought I would share a few teasers from Lindsey and Chris' Palm Event Center wedding! Keep your eye out for the full post in about three weeks! Congratulations Lindsey and Chris!