Brittany & Jean Paul

Brittany & Jean Paul held their ceremony and reception at the Sterling Hills Golf Club in Camarillo. We always love working with clients who love our work and Brittany and Jean Paul were no exception. Their exuberance emanated from each shot and you could tell this was the best day of their lives.

Their ceremony included the Southern tradition of jumping the broom - whoever jumps highest is the head of the household. We also had the pleasure of hearing the most beautiful toasts from the friends and family of the couple, which made for great photos. And we shot some of the most touching father-daughter, mother-son photos yet!

The venue space was quite nice. We found some great spots for photos and the reception hall has large windows (good light!!) and a pretty entryway. 

This was a great way to end our short trip to California in the fall. We were so happy to be a part of this celebration. Happy wedding bliss to Brittany and Jean Paul!

Alyssa & Alejandro - Wedding

After having a blast hanging out with this couple for their engagement photos, this was one of the weddings I had been looking forward to this season. Alyssa and Alejandro are amongst the nicest people we have met and we immediately felt connected with them even after our short engagement session. Since we had already moved up to Alaska, we flew back down on a mini work vacation to shoot their wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse and the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center. For this couple, it was totally worth traveling all those miles!

Alyssa and Alejandro carefully crafted a beautiful Santa Barbara wedding. Loved having the couple arrive at the reception hall via bike carriage with everyone outside with colorful streamers and a mariachi band. The mariachi band continued on through the night playing for their first dance and serenading each of the tables individually. The Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center is a great venue - it's got a high ceiling with exposed beams with plenty of windows to let in light; additionally, there's the beach right outside to run out and get really quick sunset photos on the beach.

Thank you Alyssa and Alejandro for including us on your wonderful day. Had such a hard time choosing amongst the photos for this blog. We had such a blast working with you and wish you the very best!

Vanessa & Adam

Yet another wonderful Santa Barbara beach wedding! Vanessa & Adam got married on the sand outside of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club and held their reception inside. This is another favorite reception venue of mine - food is great, lots of natural light coming from the windows, tall ceilings with exposed beams and a great deck overlooking the water. 

This wedding was filled with such intricate details - I had a really hard time choosing out photos to share. Vanessa's hairstylist (still looking for her business card so I can share her details) was adorable - loved her outfit and she was so nice and helpful to everyone. Vanessa's bridal party kept her relaxed and laughing the entire time. As always, Scott manages to get fun shots of the guys getting ready/goofing off. 

We also had a good fight for the bouquet and garter, which is actually not as common as it might seem given all those romantic comedy movie scenes. Vanessa and Adam were such a happy couple to work with as you can see in the photos. Congrats to the two of you!

I loved the hair train especially with the YouTube tutorial going on at the same time! The stylist (isn't she the cutest?) totally did not mind at all and shared bobby pins and ties when the girls needed them. 

The above picture is of a mailbox where the cards went. Awesome idea! Also this wedding was very well signed - very cute.

Vanessa's bridal party were given the instructions to buy a coral dress - colors were totally spot on. 

Tyler & Michael

This was a special wedding for many reasons - one being, of course, that it occurred just days after the Supreme Court held that DOMA was unconstitutional. However, the more important point is that this wedding had been planned for a long time regardless of what the law mandated. It was what Tyler and Michael believed in that mattered and this was truly reflected in the ceremony itself. 

The wedding was held under the intensely sunny southern California sky at the Tropical Paradise in Camarillo, CA. Tyler and Michael braved the heat and were great sports in finding some fun areas to shoot photos - including wandering into a barn that had recently hosted some four legged creatures. Thank you for including us in your beautiful wedding! 

Jeanie + Stuart

Being backlogged is no good but I am getting the chance to revisit some of our work from Santa Barbara. This one was a short session that we shot at the Mural Room at the Santa Barbara Courthouse. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed shooting in Santa Barbara. Although the Mural Room can be a little difficult to shoot, I love how the light streams in. Loved working with this beautiful blended family! 

After the wedding, we followed them to Stella Mare to shoot a few pictures of the venue. Stella Mare is an awesome French restaurant near the Santa Barbara zoo. Jeanie and Stuart took over one of the smaller rooms in this quaint house-turned-restaurant. Again, the light in this room was gorgeous! Thanks Jeanie and Stuart for letting us capture your day!

Nick & Tara

January is actually one of the nicest months in Santa Barbara - temperatures can hit the 70s and the sky is blue with no hint of May Gray. Tara and Nick were our first 2013 wedding. We met the couple at the University Club where they were getting ready and would later have their reception. One of my favorite parts about shooting as a couple is getting to see what Scott and the boys are up to while I'm with the girls. The guys are typically working hard being goofy while the girls pull off the actual hard work.

The ceremony was in the Mural Room at the Santa Barbara Courthouse. This room can be notoriously difficult to shoot in depending on the light and whether the courthouse people have opened the heavy drapes (which you're "technically" not allowed to touch). However, today was a beautiful day with the sunlight streaming in and giving the ceremony an ethereal look. 

Then it was back to the University Club for the party. Tara, in Japanese tradition, folded 1000 cranes to bring good luck to their marriage. Music by Bonnie kept the dance floor busy and Pink Diamond (who also did Tara's beautiful makeup and hair) had an impressive, well stocked photo booth and guest book station. Tara and Nick were very gracious clients who always went out of their way to make sure that we were taken care of. Congratulations to the both of you!