Boys just want to have fun! {sonoma county wedding photographer, carmel mission ranch wedding photos}

It's almost a give in, most Grooms and especially their Groomsmen dread the part of the day where they have to have their pictures taken. It is my mission to try and change that! Your wedding day should be over the top AMAZING. Not just for the Bride but for the Groom as well. Photos are a HUGE part of the day so when a Groom has to dread a portion of the day that's just not good! Well these guys made it really easy for me! They laughed at my rediculous jokes and self mockery and they really just had no problems being themselves while I was around. I can't say how much I appreciate that. It made for a really fun time photographing them!

Nikki, I have to say though, I am sorry, you probably got way more funny photos of the guys than you ever wanted! Some of these I'm posting simply because they make me literally laugh out loud! You two are going to have a lifetime full of giant smiles and tons of laughter!

This wedding was at the Carmel Mission Ranch in Carmel, CA.... que ahhhhs and oooohs! I know, Carmel? GORGEOUS!! and Nikki should really get an award for her wedding planning skills, this was a swoon worthy wedding FOR SURE!! There were so many amazing shots that I am going to split this into two posts. The first one is of the guys and a few of the details and then the second post will be of the rest.

I shot over 25 weddings last year, 21 of which were mine and I was fortunate enough to 2nd shoot 4 weddings this year with Jihan Cerda Photography. 2nd shooting for me is a great way to get a chance to photograph with out the stress of being the "main" photographer. To assist another amazing photographer, watch them in action, watch their workflow on the big day, and to really try and see things from a different perspective. I am so lucky that Jihan of Jihan Cerda Photography brought me along to second shoot for this wedding! Nikki is a close friend of her sister's so Jihan's family was all there. It was so much fun to watch them all together! Her parents are as adorable as you'd imagine they would have to be to have such a gorgeous daughter! and her Mother doesn't leave her seat with out her little point and shoot camera, capturing all the little moments! I wonder where Jihan get's it from....???







LOL this one makes me laugh! The were reinacting the sculpture behind them!




This one cracks me up too! I turned to this one as I was culling through them all and laughed so hard! LOVE it! ... boys will always be boys, even on their wedding day!

Nicola and Victor's San Francisco Wedding {San Francisco Wedding Photographer, Sonoma County wedding photographer}

I think it's always good for any photographer to take time to shoot with other photographers. I gain a lot of perspective from my time working with other photographers. Especially Jihan Cerda . Lucky for me she asked me to second shoot a few weddings for her this passed year, one of which was the beautiful wedding of Nicola and Victor. This wedding was full of Wedding Photographer's adventures! See the previous post for the full story.... I won't bore you with it again so here are the pictures I shot on this adventure!

Behind the Scenes with Jihan Cerda Photography

So January is "downtime" for us Wedding Photographers. It's funny cuz with 2 kids under the age of 3 nothing feels like "downtime" But I've been trying to play catch up with all my blog posts and as I was going through Nicola and Victor's Wedding images (a wedding a 2nd shot for Jihan Cerda )I noticed that I captured a lot of candid shots of Jihan. Jihan and I always have a lot of fun shooting together but we had an especially fun time with the Cardenas wedding! I drove the "limo" aka our getaway vehicle. Every getaway vehical needs a trusty driver, that driver was ME =) Being the driver I had to stay with the car a couple times and I couldn't resist snapping a few shots of Jihan in action.

This wedding ceremony was at the GORGEOUS Shakespeare Garden in San Francisco. It's hidden right next to the Academy of Science. Their reception was held at The Winery (super cool winery I highly suggest you check it out) on Treasure Island. But as many of you know we always take photos in between the ceremony and reception. This couple especially wanted a shot in front of a trolley so we knew we had a mission at hand and let me tell you, there was NOTHING that was getting in Jihan's way! So to make this journey a success we knew we needed to drive the couple from the ceremony to the reception and along the way we'd get their romantic shots (including the trolley shot) Well Jihan being as cute and amazing as she is, she brought a bottle of champagne and two super nice champagne glasses. So after the ceremony we headed out to the car and Jihan popped the bottle open and greeted them to the car with some champagne! We headed out to California street in hopes we could find a trolley car parked. Well we were greeted with the busy streets of San Fran (did I mention it was Fleet Weekend???) and the trolley cars were all in full operation. Surely they wouldn't stop for us???!!!??? Sure enough we see one slowly chuggin along so I sped ahead of it pulled over to the nearest red zone, Nicola, Victor, and Jihan jumped out and ran into the street in front of cars and the trolley car! The driver was so nice and stopped the trolley for them but I honestly think Jihan was going to lay in front of the tracks if he didn't just to get the shot they asked for! Not only did Jihan get the shot, she got one of my most favorite shots of all time! check out her blog post on the wedding here here


this one is my favorite (I hope Jihan doesn't kill me for it!) If you are a Jihan Cerda Photography fan like I am then you all know her famous shoe shots! Thought everyone might enjoy a sneak peek at how she gets those! ....I'm sure it helps that her husband is a personal trainer!

She said YES!!!! {engagement proposal, proposal photography, sonoma county engagement photographer}

I never thought I'd get so much enjoyment from lying in a ditch filled with rocks and dry brush!

Two months ago I received a phone call. A Man asked me if I'd be willing to photograph his proposal. UGGGHHH Heck YES! He must not know me, OF COURSE!!! He proceeded to tell me that they live in Maryland and they are there because he is in Grad School but they met while working in Healdsburg. Justine worked at Truet Hurst and Tyler worked at their "sister" winery up the road. Truet Hurst (rightfully so) is her "favorite place on earth" according to Tyler. So he knew that it was the perfect place to ask her to marry him. SO he didn't just plan to fly her out and ask her. He made a MASTER PLAN of epic proportions! He enlisted the help of his good friend Randy and his girlfriend Michelle. They received shipments of all the little details all month long and headed down to the winery this afternoon to get everything all set up.

I didn't want her to see me but it was sort of hard to blend in since it was down out back behind the winery patio down by the creek where they have these gorgeous red Adirondack chairs set up on small square concrete slabs over looking the creek. The surroundings are nothing but grass and tall trees... and a creek. So I didn't really blend in in the least bit! My original plan going down there was to play it off like a touristy wine taster taking pictures of everything. But once I got there i realized I needed to channel my inner Aidan (my 3 year old) and find a great spot to hide! Lucky for me there was a big drop off where the grass and dirt separated and there was a good 2 foot drop down to the creek bed. So I laid down low and waited.... I felt like I was hunting or something...in leggings and a satin tunic! LOL! The plan was that Tyler was going to walk down this little path that leads you from the winery to the creek and once he got to the point in the path where it was a straight shot to the table (he figured at that point she'd see the set up) so his plan was to play "their song" on his phone. Broken Road from Rascal Flats....cue "awwws and oooohhhs"

As I get my first peak at them walking along the path, heart beating fast (can't imagine what Tyler was feeling I thought I was gonna die in anticipation), I see just as they are about to make it to the straight away she veers off into the vegetable garden that is just to the side of the pathway and she starts to pay special attention to the kale =) I could see that Tyler wasn't quite sure what to do. Does he just play the song and move it along or does he keep patient and let her admire the kale (still makes me laugh, she used to be the one to pick the vegis from the garden so she has a special attachment to the kale) so Tyler played it cool and let her hang out for a bit. Once they started back on the path he started the song. I have no real words to describe how cute it was to watch her reaction when she put it all together. She had glanced at the set up (not initially thinking it was for her), then the song, then everyone acting so weird when they first arrived. You could see it all connect and she stopped in her tracks and that look was just priceless!

I stayed in my "bunker" for a little longer and then came out and around for a better angle. She barely noticed she was just so shocked! It was so cute because she kept saying "Oh my God oh my God" and he finally said... "is that a yes??" and she said "YES!!" It was really just perfect! I really enjoyed watching her immediately pay attention to every detail he had put together. He didn't have to point any of it out. She noticed every single thing. Tyler had champagne glasses engraved to say Engaged 12-21-11 on them and she immediately looked right at that and she gave validation to everything he worked so hard for. Justine couldn't stop smiling and just looking around in disbelief! It was such a special moment!!
Oh Tyler, thank you so much for letting me be apart of something so special. I photograph weddings all year long and as special as those days are it was such a treat and such an honor to be able to capture the beginning, to capture the question that starts it all.

Tyler and Justine, as an extremely happily married woman I wish you all the happiness, love, support, and liberation a wonderful marriage can give you.










After the proposal we headed back up to the winery to say hello to Randy and Michelle and all the other amazing people who helped make this day happen.





Their engagement photos are soon to follow........