May 18, 2011
Keri and Jeff are having a destination wedding at Castoro Cellars later this year. They both have high stress jobs in Southern California, so a relaxing weekend in Paso Robles wine country has always been an escape. We used some of my favorite backgrounds in Paso for our session because the timing was perfect. The rains had been recent enough that the grass was green and the oaks looked great. But, the rains were far enough removed that we didn’t have to be a muddy, wet mess in reaching some of our spots. The evening of our session was beautiful weather, and I was grateful all the way around. Keri and Jeff, thanks for driving up for our session! It was a pleasure!
May 16, 2011
Anika and Tyson are getting married soon at the Cypress Ridge Pavilion. I already know this is going to be a great wedding because…well, they love each other with such obvious ease. But, I also know that they are great friends with Megan and Keith & Kealoha and Brian, and both of those couples had AMAZINGLY fun weddings with fantastic guests and families. Which means I’ll get to hang out with a sweet group of people celebrating a wonderful friendship-turned-love in a beautiful venue. Win Win Win. Anika and Ty…I can’t wait to celebrate with you both!
March 9, 2011
Traci and Al started 2011 off with a huge celebration. That’s right, they got married on New Year’s Day. They worked with the fantastic Erin at Florals with Flair and Patrice from Wedding Ideas Now to transform the (already normally goregous) Cypress Ridge Pavillion into a warm, beautiful retreat for their wedding ceremony and reception. Mother nature cleaned the outside with a healthy dose of rain all day (boo!). No spirits were dampened however, and the party was wonderful. I hope Traci and Al are enjoying a little bit of rest and relaxation after a busy holiday and wedding planning season.
March 8, 2011
Kenzi and Jeff are getting married in 2011. Coincidentally, Kenzi shares the exact same name as a bride from my 2010 season…matching first and last names. What are the odds? I would’ve been really freaked out if they both were marrying guys with the same names, but that didn’t happen. We braved the windy day at Avila for this engagement shoot and then they were off to a company work party. After hearing about the party, I was almost tempted to invite myself along. Luckily, I think I’ll just tag along to their wedding instead. *smiles*
March 7, 2011
Megan knows me from her sister who was a bridesmaid at a wedding I shot several years ago. Whew. How’s that for six degrees of separation? But, as it turns out we have a whole lot more connections than separations. We both live(d) in San Diego. We both love vacations…ok, who doesn’t? Best of all, we both have amazing husbands…or in her case soon-to-be husband. Enter Josh…her fiance. He scored major points in my book by loving my favorite donut place in San Diego (VG’s in Cardiff/Encinitas), my favorite Mexican place in Paso Robles (La Reyna Market on 24th), and even tried my favorite Mexican place in San Diego (El Porvenir in the Barrio).
We originally tried for an engagement session in Paso, but it was FREEZING cold that day and started to rain just as our session was about to start. We opted out and instead had a great dinner at La Reyna Market. Not a bad Plan B, if you ask me. So when I was in San Diego recently, we rescheduled and headed out to Coronado Island for the session. A great suggestion on Megan and Josh’s part…the day was perfect and the sunset was stunning!! Made me remember just why I loved living in San Diego.
March 6, 2011
Mary and I have known each other for about 15 years. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her have a “bad” day. She is usually smiling, loves a great joke, and is quick to say nice things about you. I like hanging out with those kind of people. No wonder she has a bizillion other friends too. So when David asked her to marry him, the really hard part part of having all those friends? Finding a venue that would fit both the NUMBER of friends and the FUN of the friends. Mary and David love to go. Go. GO. They go everywhere and do things like this (stolen from her facebook page)…
So there was talk about having the wedding out on the Colorado River at a favorite sand bar…but could everyone camp for the wedding? Or how about a jeep caravan? Eventually, Mary and David decided the Cayucos Vets Hall would be the perfect place. On the beach, very scenic, super casual fun, and plenty of nearby hotels to make it a comfortable destination wedding for the out-of-towners. Mary found out that her favorite taco place catered, her good family friend hand-made her wedding dress, and other good friends made all the cupcakes and arranged the flowers. Ahhh…good friends again. See the theme? She is one well-loved (for good reason) person.
