Our first wedding of the year has come and gone and it was great to get the feet wet again. Mindy and Gary’s day was full of tradition and fun. The day started off with a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony, followed by a catholic church ceremony and finished off with an perfectly planned bash to end the evening. I was so impressed with Mindy’s planning and execution for the reception. So many fun things planned and they all went off perfectly! From the red carpet entrance with the guest having their paparazzi photos taken, candid interviews being streamed directly to the projector (which was awesome!) to the “Deal or No Deal” game with real cash prizes…it was just a great night of fun. All 400 plus guests were so into it that it made it a pleasure for me to take it all in. Congratulations you two!!!

Mindy definitely doesn’t need much make up…a slight touch here/there and she was looking great.

Some high-key for me.

Tea for bling.

All smiles with Dad.

St. Boniface in Anaheim. Great ineriors.

The priest was funny…more on him later.

Time for some B+G!

And a little bit of B.

One more B+G.

Red Carpet anyone?

Interview time.

Deal or No Deal. Hilarious. The bridesmaids were terrific models.

Gary was “The Banker”

Their priest was the big winner. He was randomly chosen and got 100 cash money and even snuck in some dirty jokes. Too funny.

Ladies on the dance floor.

And some details.

Our last wedding of the year was this past Saturday in Hollywood, CA. Caroline and Jeffrey had the most chic little wedding at their home in the hills. I could tell that they had such good taste when I first walked into the house. The furniture, the art, the books, the music…superb and eclectic. A few things that made this wedding so unique:

1. This was our smallest wedding of the year. With only 25 guests, everyone was able to relax and have great time.
2. They had an amazing musician! Clay Allen plays the ukulele and was probably the coolest live music we’ve heard at a wedding, so different and refreshing…you have to check him out.
3. The food was like no other! They had everything catered…and prepared on site. The garage was turned into the main kitchen and they had about 3-5 chefs preparing everything and 5-6 servers pumping them out. If I remember correctly, they had about 5-6 courses and each course having its own matching wine selection! It was so cool to see. The executive chef was Trevor Zimmerman of Deuce Events.

Thanks to Kelly at Kelly Michelle Weddings for setting everything up! It was another top notch event!

Lourdes and Jeff were married last August in Napa Valley, but they didn’t get a chance to take too many photos together…so that’s where I come in! When I first spoke to Lourdes about doing a “way after” session, I got really excited. I love B+G (bride and groom) photos and it’s a part of the wedding day that I really, really look forward to. Most of the time, we get to shoot with whatever time we are given…sometimes it’s an hour and sometimes it’s 15 minutes. So, doing a session after the wedding was super fun and relaxed. I’m sure it was weird for them to get back into their suit and dress, but they looked awesome and had a great time with it. These were taken at a relative’s home in Laguna Beach. As you can see, it was a pretty sweet place to shoot. Here we go:

Last Saturday, we had the honor of joining Sam and John at Tivoli Terrace in Laguna Beach, CA. We met up with Sam and the ladies early in the morning to get some prep shots of her in Newport Beach and she is just the sweetest! She was looking beautiful all day and was great in front of the camera! They had a very touching ceremony at the chapel there at Tivoli….it was a cool little place. It’s a nice little venue that I have a feeling we’ll be shooting more and more. Thanks to Carrie Goff of Exquisite Event Planning & Design for setting up the show and everything was just great! Some goodies:

Squeezing into the dress…no problemo!

Sam has this great, infectious smile.

Some final touches.

Something about this…so elegant.

A classic one.

I LOVE…the first look.

It was a very intimate setting.

That smile again. So great!

Little Nicholas…so classic!

Nice moment.

Ah, the kiss.

And one more outside…

Some portraits.

And some B+G action.

Finally, some cool details.

What a beautiful Thursday for a wedding! That’s right, Thursday! Last week, I had the pleasure of shooting Jill and Troy’s wedding at The Montage in Laguna Beach, CA. Such a gorgeous setting for a great looking pair. I couldn’t ask for a more fun couple to be around. Troy is just an awesome and fun guy and Jill is a super sweetheart (you’ll see below). It was an intimate affair with close family and friends and I was honored to be there along with the one and only, Regis. It was a real all-star cast of vendors, along with Square Root, Carcano DJ and Tucker Films. Special thanks to Kelly, Kimberly and Tammy from Kelly Michelle Weddings for putting it all together. Congratulations to Jill and Troy!

Here’s Jill looking amazing!

And here’s Troy and his pre-wedding ring finger!

Can you say…absolutely perfect?

A beautiful ceremony and I loved this moment.

They had a beautiful and touching tribute to Troy’s parents on the beach.

This was Troy’s rose for his mom and dad.

We had about 15 minutes on the beach for some B+G shots and I was like a kid at a candy store!

They looked hot!

I can keep on going…

And going…

And then there was Jill’s dress which was…Breathtaking!!

And one final shot on the beach.

The little ring bearer was free after his duties.

Troy ending the first dance with his Zoolander pose…

…and a gangster look! Too funny!

They had props for the dancing…it was awesome and everyone was having a BLAST!

Last but not least, the amazing details and florals.