Anyhow, when Katie sent me an IM sometime in the Fall last year about wanting me to shoot her wedding, I was incredibly stoked! I was humbled not only at the fact that I could meet another of my long time SO buds in person (I’ve met up with several other awesome friends already), but that I would get to travel to Alaska to meet her. And not only was she just as incredibly awesome in person, but so was Wayne, and all of their family and friends. Everyone was so sweet and accommodating, and Chris and I were just so blessed to be a part of it all.

So for those who don’t know where Girdwood is, it’s about a half hour drive from Anchorage. A well known landmark and main attraction in Girdwood is the gorgeous Alyeska Resort– a popular ski resort that many out of state and Alaskans alike enjoy venturing to all year round.

And now enough chatter and on to the photos… let’s start by showing the girls hanging out at the Harmony House B&B:

I love her Romantic Soles heels.. she had them redesigned with bows on the side and they’re so gorgeous:

The lovely bride!

And here’s her handsome groom:

The ceremony and reception were held at this sweet and rustic Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows”:

They make a pretty fabulous looking couple don’t they?!

Check out their amazing cake:

I love their exit from the reception… by the way, in this photo it’s almost 11pm. Seriously, 11 at night.

And if you didn’t believe before when I said their family and friends were FUN:

THANK YOU again Katie and Wayne! We had such a blast with you guys and I’m so happy we finally met in person!

And for tons more of their amazing day, just click play:

Colleen met Eddie through her brother (also another of my friends) who happened to attend the same church as Colleen’s now betrothed. It was on a breezy group trip to the Getty Center where the strapping Eddie laid eyes on the fair Colleen and was very impressed by her beauty and grace. As she wrestled her brother…. down to the ground. (True story!)

Colleen’s love for the Lord, wit, humor, and immense beauty inside and out are what led Eddie to propose to her on her birthday in April. There they were, under the glorious blue skies and crystal waters of Catalina Island, and Eddie asked Colleen to close her eyes as he presented the best present he could have given her– a ring and his request for her to accept his proposal. Just the two of them, as perfect as Colleen could ever have prayed for, and staring back at her was as perfect a man that God could ever have provided.

And fast forward to my two hours spent with this amazing couple, which to me wasn’t enough time! They were pressed for another event that night but I could have clicked my shutter for much longer, although I have a feeling it would be pretty tough to properly capture the love they both exude for each other. I’m hoping I came even minutely close.

And now, on to the photos! We started our day at the grounds of the University of Redlands:

And the laughing began pretty much instantaneously:

I love this scripture Colleen chose to represent their feeling of JOY:

Her gorgeous ring:

Here’s a good sample of that LOVE I’m referring to:

The next three photos works in this sequence.. a) I asked them to look down at the paper with happy big smiles b) Eddie proceeds to say “Hello!” to the paper as if it were a cute little 2 year old baby c) Colleen and I laugh so hard and I wonder how I kept my camera as steady as I did!

We couldn’t really stop laughing so I just told them to drop it:

And focus on each other:

Yeah I went a little crazy with the signs but they humored my craziness anyway:

So I told them to ignore me again and focus on each other:

It wasn’t really that hard for them to comply:

After a quick wardrobe change:

What else but more laughter!

Colleen has an affinity for all things French, so we incorporated her super swanky Eiffel Tower into these shots:

And some quiet time:

I love this first photo of Eddie. It looks like he’s thinking “God, how did I get so blessed to have this woman?” And the second photo makes me think she’s thinking the same thing about him:

Okay so the story behind the first one is that I cleverly asked Eddie to stand over the Y in “your” to make “our”. Then Eddie saw the other part of the ground mural and positioned himself and Colleen to make it read… well, see for yourself:

Haha these next three are too fun!

Colleen loves theater and music as I do, but she performs both, ten times better than I could ever hope to do:

Had to get the comedy and tragedy masks in of course:

We traveled down the street to the Redlands Bowl / Redlands Amphitheater to get some more stage-d shots. Get it? :)
I’ll tell you how wonderful these two are to let me get away with my creativeness.. these seats were scorching hot but they let me get my shot anyway!

So to show my apologies we moved down to a cooler area… right on the stage:

They didn’t have a hard time “acting” out :)

Gotta love that laughter!

They also humored my crazy props (if you haven’t already noticed):

The next two say it all!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW!!<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Colleen, thank you for being an amazing example of what a Godly woman truly is, I am SO thrilled you found the man of your dreams. Eddie I'm so glad you ended up the one for my sweet friend. Thank you for the fun times, I can’t wait for your wedding!!

.
.

Thanks to ALL of Mike and Maria’s FABULOUS family and friends for being such great people to photograph! :D

And now, a little less conversation, a little more action please ;) Click the slideshow below:

I’ll begin with this post first, and call it “PART ONE”, because the line dancing and shots of the live band deserve their own post :)

Let’s start with Maria’s fabulous classic red rose bouquet

And their equally fabulous rings

Gorgeous Maria

And her handsome groom, Mike

I love their bridal and groom’s cakes!

Can you guess Mike’s occupation? :)

Check out their funny cake topper!

Beautiful ceremony

Just had to include this photo really quick.. I photographed Maria’s gorgeous daughter Nancy’s wedding to her awesome husband Jeremy, two years ago!
And here they are with their beautiful baby girl, two years later :)

Mr & Mrs!!

Definitely one of my favorite shots of the night

And here’s the slideshow (PART ONE!!)… please allow the slideshow to load:

Maria, Mike… thank you SO much for allowing me to capture your memories!!

The ceremony was held in Laguna Nigel and the reception was in Westminster, at the gorgeous private banquet room, “The Villa”, owned and operated by the fabulous team at Lifetime Weddings & Events.

.
.
Let’s start off with the gorgeous ceremony dress.
(Cat had two other gowns she donned, but that’s coming up….)

.

.

.

Check out these golden shoes:

.

.

.
If you remember from their engagement session, I told you that Cat and Phong actually live in Virginia (where she moved to for pharmacy school). They had their wedding here in California for their families so they rented an awesome house in Irvine for the time they were here. The house had a pretty sweet staircase that we fully utilized:

.

.

.

And here of course is their fabulous wedding party:

.

.

They are fun and stylin!

.

.

And see what I mean by fabulous?! This group knows how to rock it! They all caught some pretty killer air:

.

.

.
These two are a very photogenic couple, check these out:

.

.

.
.
.
Cat wanted to show off her dress here:

.
.
Some bouquet details:

.
.
.

More great portrait shots:

.

Can you see the love these two have for each other? Spend ten minutes with them and you can see just how much Phong cares for Cat and how lucky he knows he is, and you can will also fully realize how much Cat is just absolutely and undeniably in love with Phong.

.
.
.
St. Timothy Catholic Church, where they held the ceremony:

.

.
.
.
Fun in the limo ensued after the ceremony, heading over to the the reception:

.
.
.
So check out the fantastic details of The Villa Banquet Room:

.
Waaaait, there’s more gorgeousness:

I just loved the ceiling decor…

… especially these chandeliers:

.
.
.
Cat and Phong had an amazing band, The Young Brothers, play their entire reception:

.
The whole group blew me and everyone else away with their stellar talent. Not just the amazing singing (they had a wide range of songs they could cover), but the instruments they oustandingly played. Check out this sweet retro mike.. I so want one for my karaoke nights at home! lol
.

.
.
.
Here is one of Cat and Phong’s other dress changes. This is the traditional Vietnamese wedding attire:

.
And here’s the final dress change, the cake cutting dress and tux:

.
.
.
Ok, just a few more… their first offical dance as husband and wife:

.
.
.
And here’s the old “fake-throwing-the-bouquet-so-the-photographer-can-take-the-cool-shot” trick! Haha, nice job, Cat!

.
.
.
For much more wedding highlights, please check out the slideshow below. And thanks for checking out this whole post if you got this far. I know it was a bit long winded, but I couldn’t help it to be honest. This was definitely one of my favorite weddings ever!

Thanks again Cat and Phong for being an all out one hundred percent amazing couple to work with! Hope you both have a spectacular time in Maui!!

I love when I click with my clients’ personalities, and Nancy’s is no exception. Jeremy too, is an awesome guy, and if you recall their engagement session a couple of months ago, you already know that on top of their great personalities, they are also a drop dead gorgeous couple.

Ah, how I love when the weather is perfect:

These beauties were placed on every chair so that the guests can blow bubbles at them after the ceremony, in lieu of rice which wasn’t allowed at the venue. Alas, everyone was so focused on the beautiful ceremony, no one remembered to use them at the end!

The dress, such a classic and classy style. I used a blue tint to honor one of their wedding colors:

Sharing laughs as she gets help getting into the dress from her friends:

Getting laced up by Mom:

Jewelry details:

Especially the rings; I love Jeremy’s, so different and bold:

And Nancy’s isn’t too bad either ;)

Let’s not forget the shoes:

More pretty details:

Now for some bridal shots:

The Ladies. Their personalities are just like hers- sweet and really down to earth. I had the best time shooting their photos:

Her best friend since childhood, and Matron of Honor:

Let’s not forget the MEN:

Jeremy’s older brother, and Best Man:

Let’s get to the ceremony… here’s Jeremy patiently waiting to see his bride:

Meanwhile, Nancy and her brother are waiting patiently for their turn to walk. It was definitely a special time– her brother was the one who gave her away!

And everyone is now in place, let the ceremony begin:

Here they are performing the sand ceremony (which is the equivalent of lighting the Unity Candles):

Some very tearful, and beautiful moments:

MARRIED!!!!

More of the bridal party… they SO did not think too much of Nancy and Jeremy as a couple….

Juuuust kidding ;)

Really, such a gorgeous day:

Ahem, a moment of privacy please….

Can’t resist the flare ;)

Reception details:

Their first dance as husband and wife:

Look at this awesome cake a friend made for them– just perfect for their whole theme:

Cutting the cake, with smashing of the cake in Jeremy’s face shortly following.

But since I’ve already gone long enough on this post, you can see the smashing and tons more photos in the slideshow below.

But check out this silly shot of them about to “massacre” the cake:

So this is PART ONE of Nancy and Jeremy’s wedding fun. PART TWO will be up shortly, and trust me you won’t want to miss the photos coming. The post will show the incredible treat they gave their guests towards the end of the night. Thanks again you two, for being such a rad couple! Congrats and have a blast on your honeymoon!!

And as He always is, God is good and turned that bad weather into a sunny and fantastic day, leaving the clouds to make their entrance another time.

Let’s start off with some getting ready shots of the gorgeous bride:

She is so very elegant, don’t you agree?

Added a touch of texture to this one ;)

Check out her gifts to the Bridal Party… awesome way to “Get What You Want”!

And the gorgeous rings!!

 And here they are at the ceremony, putting those symbols of forever on each other’s fingers

The Mr. and Mrs!

We took a quick pit stop to the San Fernando Mission for some photos

Each and every member of the Bridal Party blew me away with their awesomeness… seriously, they are all a great bunch of people!

The gentlemen…

And the Ladies…

And here’s an adorable shot of their flower girl, waiting patiently back at the limo

One of my favorite shots, showing the amazing love they have for each other.

Check out the slideshow below to continue onto highlights of the reception. Get your kleenex ready, because you can also see in the photos just how close-knit both their families are. I shed a few tears myself during Brian’s dad’s toast to the bride and groom :*)

Congratulations Patty & Brian!!!

In Patty and Brian’s case, it’s totally a true story! Patty was celebrating her recent graduation from college and Brian just happened to be invited to the party by a friend of a friend.  And the two of them were truely destined to meet… you can see it in both their eyes every time they look at each other.

.
I met up with them at Santa Monica Pier for their engagement shoot, and their wedding will be at the end of this month. They both are nervous types when anyone points a camera in their direction, but they were great sports and pretty much let me take creative control with no reservations (the best type of people to work with!!) :D

Gee, I remember when I could fit in those!

Ooh things are gettin steamy around here!

Did I mention dolphins are my favorite animal?

 I love the reds and pinks on this building:

And I just adore the feeling of this one:

They both said they don’t like photos taken of them usually, but judging by how these turned out, I say they should brake that bad habit ;)

 Taking a stroll on the boardwalk….

A day at Santa Monica Pier wouldn’t be complete without some under the bridge shots ;)

See what I mean by being awesome sports? They even consented on getting their feet wet and sand-y!

Oh and let’s not forget that BLING!

  One of my favorites of the day:

Thanks for a wonderful time you guys!! See you again really soon! ;)

Chris and I are definitely alike in many ways. One of which is our fanatical love for all things Disney. We even honeymooned for a week a la Disney: three days at Disney World in the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, and four days on the Disney Wonder Cruise Ship, with our port of calls being the Bahamas and Castaway Cay (Disney’s own private island). Seven glorious days in Disney’s World and you can be sure we had sad (and pouty) faces when it was time to go back home.

Anyway, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that we spent our anniversary at Disneyland yesterday :) And it may sound funny to everyone but we had the kids with us the whole day to help us celebrate. First, the Page Museum in the morning (James loved the Tar Pits), then Disneyland in the afternoon. We’ve definitely trained our boys to love Disney as much as we do, and they had a great time as usual! They gave us a big button that said “Happy Anniversary” on it and it was fun being greeted everywhere we went by a Cast Member :P

Happy Anniversary, Babe!

(center photo by Jerome Sykes)

So for their engagement session, we chose The Pike in Long Beach for the location. As an on location photographer, I always check the weather forecast in advance, so that I am prepared for the day I schedule with my clients, no matter if it turns out gloomy and cloudy, rainy and cold, or warm and sunny. Thankfully God is GOOD and the weather that day was better than I could hope for. Granted when my buddy Jesse (who assisted me that day) and I arrived there, my first reaction after getting out of the car was, “Ohhhh maaaan, it’s coooooold!” But I guess that was to be expected, being right on the Long Beach harbor, at quarter to 8 in the morning– who wouldn’t expect a cold breeze that early! As soon as Nancy and Jeremy arrived though, it’s like the sun acted right on cue, and the clouds dwindled away.

Ok so enough chatter, let’s get on with some of my favorites:

I forgot to mention, they wanted to incorporate their uber cool dog, aptly named “Dude”, in their session:

Um, is this girl gorgeous or what!

Edited this cool shot with a “mod” look. I love the purple color of that building:

How fun is this stage prop? :)

My favorite shot of the day:

Dude starred in a handful of shots too! Check this cool dog being a natural born model (especially in the middle photo):

.

I also wanted to share a few shots Jesse took… right now he’s a “photo hobbyist” but from the awesome eye he has (the proof is in the collage below), I sure hope someday he’ll decide to take his natural skills to the next level!

.

After the session at the pier, we continued down to Belmont Shore where they designate a part of the beach just for dogs and their owners! It was Dude’s first time playing on the beach shore and he had a great time doing it! Those shots and tons more can be seen in the slideshow below. Thanks for the awesome time Nancy and Jeremy! Can’t wait to see you in June!

So I met Cat and Phong (who by the way is such a sweet guy and an all around gentleman, and I know he’ll treat Cat like a queen for the rest of their lives :) ) last Sunday for their engagement session. They live in Virginia, where Cat moved to a couple of years back, so we incorporated their session when they planned a week’s trip here in California to check on things for their wedding.

This engagement shoot was a pretty unique one– Cat and Phong will be having a traditional Vietnamese wedding, so they will of course be wearing traditional wedding attire for the Vietnamese culture. Cat then decided she wanted to wear her cake cutting dress for her e-session, and she looked just absolutely beautiful!

Check these two gorgeous people out…

You can tell she loves him so much…

I love the purple in her “engagement” bouquet:

Taking a stroll…

I added a bit of texture to spice things up:

Can you tell they are a super fun couple to be around? ;)

And let’s not forget the gorgeous ring:

We also took advantage of them being in formal dress that I took some bridal shots as well.

Tons more shots can be seen in their “preview slideshow” below.
Cat and Phong, thanks so much for a fun session! See you guys in July!

Well, a few months of picking photos, planning, and designing have led to the following preview of their wedding album! I’ve already received Misty and Luis’ thumbs up on the design, and have sent in their album for printing and binding… I definitely can’t wait to see the finished product in person!

Enjoy :D