JESSICA & MARK - APRIL 19

This was the first time EVER that I had never met the couple before the wedding. Mark & Jessica live down in CA and it just never worked out to meet up. Although after meeting with both mothers I knew that it would be a great match. Both families were incredibly amazing to work with and I had a great time. There were so many unique traditions and it was SUCH a fun crowd...it was quite the party. Wine was a-flowin'!

Venue - Stone Ridge Event Center
Catering - Castle Catering
Flowers - Twigs & Petals
Cake - Cakes by Roseanne



Lindsay Rodgers doing her thang!





Everyone cry on 3...=)



Mark is very handsome and I love his HUGE smile & his pimpin' look





Are you kidding me w/ all the hotness?





















I love this shot that Chelee got before Jessica walked down in the aisle w/ her dad





The guys walked over & gave their jackets to the girls, so sweet. Kudos to the guy who's idea that was!









Anything is possible in wine country!



Castle Catering blew me away with their concept for the food & presentation. They always do really fresh & unique things.



This was my favorite - Tomato bisque w/ a grilled cheese panini - so yummy!







The Red Dress dance, one of the really cool traditions they had

KATIE + RANDY = ENGAGED

I dont know how I was lucky enough to stumble upon this location, but I was in heaven! Katie & Randy have that great serious/sexy/not smiling look and really took some amazing images. It was funny, I had never met Randy and the first thing he says to me...even before hello...was I dont know what to do, I dont know how to fake smile. Too funny - I will rarely ask a couple to smile at the camera. It did help that Katie is a total doll and a natural in front of the camera and I think Randy did SUCH an amazing job for being a little nervous about the whole thing. I'm very pleased with their images and how they shared themselves so openly with me.

ELISE & DEREK

I thought getting pregnant (before, no I'm not pregnant again) and having to cancel 6 weddings was stressful and heartbreaking...yeah, this was worse. At least I gave those couples a lot of advance notice that I wasn't going to be able to photograph their wedding. BUT, when you wake up the morning of a wedding and feel like a train ran you over, thats not good. It's something I wanted to bring up and not be all ashamed about because as wedding photographers we cannot totally guarantee that we wont get sick, pregnant or whatever... but our job is EXTREMELY important. That pressure is pretty stressful but yet I love my job and I wouldn't be happy doing anything else - so I take that stress no problem. Anyway, I am never sick, FLU sick, ever - maybe every few years...and my few years was up. I was miserable, totally miserable the whole day leading up to the shoot and I questioned if I was physically going to be able to handle it. I pushed myself, was totally up front with the couple and we headed out on location. Being that it was cold outside and wind blowing like crazy, it really felt like laying on a cold bathroom floor - comforting when you're sick right? =) I thought it went great and I only had to take a few breaks, well like 5 or 6, but I got through it and was ready to pass the reigns to Chelee to shoot the reception candids. My point - as a professional, I always have an assistant/second shooter with me at EVERY wedding. There are a ton of reasons why but this is just one of them - to SMA in a situation like that. A wedding is a once in a lifetime celebration and I take my responsibility to document it very seriously.

Anyway, enough about that! On to Derek & Elise - which I have to mention, I was really, really bummed to miss their party. Derek has been in a couple weddings I've shot as a groomsman and he is the life of the party. He makes everyone laugh, party hard and his best man speeches are extremely memorable. =) Elise is gorgeous and has legs to absolutely die for. She worked it out in a short and sexy wedding dress - I was loving it, very non-traditional. They were already married awhile ago and this was their big reception. They were troopers. Elise was freezing and shivering out in the cold but stuck it out. I was so happy that they did and trusted me to hang in there through my yuckiness. I'm sure it was not how they wanted to remember our time together but hopefully their images will speak for themselves. Here are some of my favorites.







JEALOUS!!!!!











I love the b/w version so much I had to show it too... I'm such a nerd.







Their stunning little boy Connor.





Elise's sister had a hard time keeping it together, it was really cute to watch.









Here are a couple of my favorite shots Chelee took of Derek & Elise with me - and then some of hers from the party.