The Fairmont Gold Room - Angela and Casey

April 17, 2017

Oh how I love The Fairmont in San Francisco and I was more than thrilled to finally photograph a wedding reception in the Gold Room. I love that classic gorgeous ballroom and had only photographed a corporate event in the room in the past.

Angela and Casey had a jam-packed wedding day starting at the Fairmont getting ready and then we all got on the road to the east bay for the ceremony. On the way we got trapped by a China town parade until father-of-the-bride convinced the SF police to hold up the parade so we could get to the church in time! So funny in retrospect, but a little nerve wracking day of!

I love the big Greek Orthodox cathedrals and weddings. So gorgeous and full of tradition. Angela and Casey tied the knot in a classic Greek Orthodox Ceremony at the Ascension Cathedral in Oakland and then we all got back into the city for the cocktail hour in the Fountain Room at The Fairmont and then dinner in the gold room.

Angela stunned all in her Monique Lhuillier gown. I kept thinking while I photographed her that she looked like Audrey Hepburn. Lucky me as a photographer! The florals by Katherine Bergman were classic and beautiful and I loved how they added to the gorgeousness of the Gold Room. Jessica Goldblatt with Dreams on a Dime did a great job coordinating the day, even racing from The Fairmont to Oakland to bring the bride's veil which had been forgotten at the hotel. Now THAT is above and beyond and it was just in time!

The party was raging when I left and given the Fairmont's generous rental hours, I believe the party went until midnight with some great Greek dancing traditions and fun music by a DJ for some more contemporary dancing. What a fun day for all! Congrats to Angela and Casey!

Gown: Monique Lhuillier at Bridal Galleria

Shoes: Jimmy Choo

Florist: Katherine Bergman

Event Planner: Jessica Goldblatt Dreams on a Dime

Caterer: The Fairmont

Venue: The Fairmont

Stationer: Fleming's Printed Affair in Oakland

Music: Mark Haggery with Denon & Doyle

Greek Music: George Mylordos

Videographer: Weddings on Film

Holy Name Cathedral and The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Chicago - Cara and Albert

December 21, 2015

Every once in a while I get the chance to photograph a wedding near my home town in Chicago. Cara, Albert and I were a perfect fit given that we all live in the bay area, so we were able to do an engagement session here and since Cara and I grew up in the Chicago area so I was able to go and see my family and photograph their wedding in Chicago! Lucky me!

What a fabulous and classic city style wedding! Cara was absolutely spectacular in her Rivini Couture "Sabina" ball gown and long gorgeous veil. I knew from our e-session she would be such fun to photograph and despite cold weather, wind and drizzle she was fabulous in front of the camera! Albert was the perfect groom having just as much fun and indulging his bride and it's obvious in the pictures what fun they have together as a couple.

Their ceremony at Holy Name Cathedral was so gorgeous set under the glorious wood carved ceiling and the reception at the Waldorf sparkled in intimate city splendor with florals by Kehoe Designs. I LOVED how gorgeous that cake was and just HAD to turn it around on it's table to get the sparkle of candlelight behind it (something I would never normally do for a photograph!). As the night went on it went from elegant and candlelit to one heck of a party with Style Matters DJs spinning, champagne and cocktails and dancing into the wee hours. It was amazing the family was able to get up in the morning to go to the traditional Korean Tea ceremony! I LOVE photographing Korean tea ceremonies, but especially the bride dressing. The costumes are truly works of art.

Loved Cara and Albert and had such fun photographing their wedding. Congratulations!

Reception Venue, Event Coordination, and Caterer: The Waldorf Astoria

Ceremony Venue: Holy Name Cathedral

Floral Designer: Kehoe Designs

DJ: Style Matters

Bridal Gown: Rivini Couture

Stationary: Jane Weber, ink!

Hair and Makeup: Mindy City Hair

**Special thanks to my good friend Jeff Ellis for helping me photograph this wedding. I worked with Jeff when I was first getting into photography over 25 years ago!

Campovida, Hopland Wedding - Maria and Nate

August 11, 2015

What a festive traditional Mexican themed wedding at Camopvida in Hopland! I always love photographing at this stunning location because as the sign there says it's a "garden of gardens" and I LOVE gardens! It's truly magical and what made this wedding even more special is that the bride grew up on this property way back in the day when her family lived on site! What fun for the family to come back and celebrate the wedding of one of their own. It was fun to walk around during our photo sessions and listen to the bride say things like "we used to catch frogs over there!" and "we used to play hide and seek in the barn!". I feel so lucky they chose me to photograph this very special day!

Also, bringing in the tradition of a mariachi band marching in before the groom to start the ceremony and then leading everyone to the cocktail hour was truly wonderful. Although Maria did a lot of the work herself in the planning, Kelly & Company Wine Country Weddings did a great job of putting it all together and Park Avenue Catering provided such a festive buffet of summer BBQ!

Maria and Nate's first dance under the Mexican cuttouts fluttering in the fading evening light to a song from the band who they saw on their first date made this wedding day even more special and the fact that their 4 month old daughter Lulu was the little flower girl pulled into the ceremony in a Red Flyer wagon put everything over the top. Sheesh. This one was truly a loving and festive family affair! Congrats to Maria and Nate!

Venue: Campovida

Event Planner: Kelly and Company Wine Country Weddings

Caterer: Park Avenue Catering

Hotel Vitale San Francisco Wedding - Damon and Eunmin

January 5, 2015

What a lovely wedding and an even lovelier couple! I was so happy when a former bride of mine, Lauren Wakefield, who is also a planner extraordinaire contacted me on behalf of her clients for this intimate November wedding at the Hotel Vitale in San Francisco. With only sixty guests and a sunset ceremony scheduled to take place on one of the many terraces at Vitale I knew we were in for a treat.

Not only was the setting gorgeous and lush florals, by Natalie Bowen Designs, in soft pinks beautiful to photograph, I was more than thrilled that the rain cleared in time and Eunmin and Damon were game for a super fun and extended portrait session out on the Embarcadero before the ceremony. We had a blast and I loved that the colorful streetcars seemed to be waiting just for us!

The ceremony couldn't have been more magical as the sun set over the bay and then the outdoor family portrait session and cocktail hour had the added treat of the city and bay bridge lights coming up. Then we all got cozy in one of the intimate rooms for the dinner and dancing. Such a lovely little wedding and thank you Eunmin and Damon for being so enamored with each other! Everyone made my job super easy that day!

Venue: Hotel Vitale

Coordinator: Ryder Sloan Events

Floral Designer: Natale Bowen Designs

Caterer: Americano Restaurant

Cake Artist: Cake Coquette

Stationary: Wedding Paper Divas and The Aerialist Press

Hair & Makeup Artist: Marisa Perel

Musicians: Entire Productions

Macarons: Chantal Guillon

Linens: La Tavola Fine Linen Rental

Rentals: Hartmann Studios

Sebastiani Sonoma Wedding - Amy and Michael

November 16, 2014

Lovely wedding, Lovely couple! I loved that Amy and Michael's love for music (they are both musicians!) flowed into their elegant Sebastiani Winery wedding so perfectly. They had live musician performing throughout the event and even took dancing lessons so that they could expertly swing dance to the music for their first dance!

Christopher of Leftwich Event Specialists made sure all of the elegant touches in this gorgeous setting were perfect including the lush flowers by Taste Catering and Event Planning both in the outdoor ceremony setting and in Sebastiani's spectacular barrel room. I love this barrel room and am fortunate enough to be on the preferred vendor list at Sebastiani and have seen it in so many gorgeous iterations depending on my client's style. Amy and Michael were the picture of happiness as then entered the room down the giant curving staircase surrounding the huge barrel at one end of the room. The railing was decked out in garland making it even more of a spectacular entrance.

The traditional Jewish touches throughout the wedding also made it special and festive. Especially that EXTRA long Hora dance! I think the friendly band was torturing Amy and Michael and the lucky guys holding up the chairs just for some extra festive fun!

Congrats to Amy and Michael!

Venue: Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery

Wedding Coordinator: Leftwich Event Specialists

Event Designer, Floral Designer, Caterer, Cake Artist: Taste Catering and Event Planning

Wedding Dress and Veil: Amy Kuschel

Hair and Makeup Artist: Melisa Hall

Music: AMS Entertainment and D'Lilah Monroe and the Tom Cats

The Firehouse at Fort Mason + Chinese Banquet = Stacey and David

October 14, 2014

Such a sweet couple and such a DIY couple! Also super talented with a LOT of energy. David and Stacey had a marathon day starting with a tea ceremony in Sacramento in the morning and ending with a traditional Chinese banquet at the Far East Cafe in San Francisco's Chinatown. It's been a while since I photographed a Chinese Banquet! I forgot how fun it is to watch course after course come out while the Lion Dances and entertainment go on!

In the middle of the day was their sweet ceremony at The Firehouse at Fort Mason. It was a gorgeous day and views of the bay were clear and sunny. Friends and family gathered for the traditional American ceremony and Stacey stunned all in her appropriately blowy handmade gown. Not just handmade, but handmade BY STACEY! Gorgeous! This couple had so much of their heart and souls in this wedding starting with Stacey's handmade gown of her own design, their travel themed invitations and reception decor (they love to travel!) and David even made the wedding cake himself. These two are definitely talented. Oh and did I mention, they are also an adorable couple and managed throughout it all to have genuine fun with me and their guests. I'm impressed and will forever remember this darling couple. Congrats to David and Stacey!

Ceremony Venue: Fort Mason Center - Firehouse Reception Venue and Caterer: Far East Cafe Event Coordinator: Events by Herna & MarissaFloral Design: PK Floral — **Ceremony Venue: Fort Mason Center - Firehouse**
**Reception Venue and Caterer: Far East Cafe**
**Event Coordinator: Events by Herna & Marissa**
**Floral Design: PK Floral**

Menlo Park Wedding, Quadrus Conference Center - Sally & Robin

September 22, 2014

I love when my couples honor their traditional heritage at their weddings. In this case, Sally wore a traditional Japanese Yukata which is a lightweight summer Kimono-style outfit and Robin celebrated his Filipino heritage wearing a barong traditional male dress shirt. What a lovely look for both! Although the ceremony was mostly a traditional outdoor American ceremony, they also incorporated a sake ceremony as well.

Additional traditional touches included origami style "fun kits" for the kids, chopsticks at dinner, personalized pens to do a word search that included the couple's history together and a couple of their favorite Hawaiian appetizers served during cocktail hour. Sally and Robin included some DIY touches too. I thought the most original was Sally's coffee filter bridal bouquet! I've definitely never seen that before! They also surprised guests after dinner with two yummy dessert food trucks! What fun for all! Congrats to Sally and Robin!

Vendors who participated in this wedding include:

Venue & Caterer: Quadrus Convention Center

Hair & Makeup Artists: Aziza Beauty Salon

Photo Booth: Impressions Photo Booth

Food Trucks: Cookies N Cream and Kona Ice

Rentals: Stuart Rental

Intimate weekday wedding at the Swedenborgian and Hotel Vitale

October 10, 2011

I just love weekday weddings (I got married on a weekday myself). Small and intimate, Julie and Rajan's wedding was perfectly coordinated by Amy Nichols of Amy Nichols Special Events and set in two lovely San Francisco locations. I've always wanted to shoot at the intimate and original Swedenborgian Church of North America -- founded in 1817 at a religious convention based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg --and was not disappointed. Warm and intimate with a roaring fire, gorgeous window light and candles, the ceremony was simple and lovely. Then on to sweeping views of the Bay Bridge, Ferry Building and downtown San Francisco at one of the gorgeous terraces at the Hotel Vitale. The early evening cocktail reception was fabulous and as twilight set and the city lights came on, it was simply magical. I loved the added Indian touches to honor Rajan's heritage, too. They had an Indian swing -- a beautiful hand-carved bench for guests to enjoy -- and a talented Henna artist who applied henna for the guests. A few of the ladies, including the bride and Rajan's daughter, even changed into Saris for later in the evening. Congratulations, Julie and Rajan!

Vendors involved in Julie and Rajan's wedding included:

Ceremony location: Swedenborgian Church of North America

Reception location: Hotel Vitale

Coordinator: Amy Nichols Special Events

Flowers: Floramor Studios

Henna: Renda of Henna Garden

Cake pops: Sweet Lauren Cakes

Cupcakes: Kara's Cupcakes

St. Regis, San Francisco - Rebekah and Drew

October 7, 2010

Rebekah and Drew chose this destination wedding location for it's sleek look. Both fans of architecture, they loved the clean lines of the St. Regis and so did I! The staff and food at the St. Regis was top notch as were all of the vendors for this lovely wedding! Location: St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco

Wedding Coordination: Natalia Guillen of My Best Friend's Wedding

Catering: St. Regis

Florist: Floramor

Cake: St. Regis Pastry Chef

Ethnic Band: Klezmania

Dance Band: Pop Fiction

Natalie and Mike!

July 6, 2010

Oh how I love Jewish weddings! They are so very festive! Also, I love Healdsburg Country Gardens and I have to say that the caterer and Natalie and Mike hit the nail on the head with the food for this wedding and HCG. I just loved the elegant country family-style feel of the food. It fit in perfectly with the surroundings. It was summer bounty at its best. Location: Healdsburg Country Gardens

Flowers: Dragonfly Floral

Catering: Preferred Sonoma Caterers

Wedding Coordination: Elsa Vera Productions

Bess and Adelki!

March 30, 2010

I just wrote to Bess yesterday that I was going to post some of their pictures today on my blog and I felt that I had to tell her in my e-mail that I was struck by a couple of things on their wedding day. One thing was the absolute love that Bess had for everyone surrounding her on her day, but especially her parents which you can see from the pictures posted here. Another thing that struck me was Adelki's love for his bride. It's not like other grooms don't demonstrate this, but I could tell by the way he looked at her that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her and when he saw her walking down the aisle, I almost lost it just photographing his expression. On top of everything else, what a fun wedding full of Greek dancing! Wedding Location: Main Post Chapel, San Francisco Presidio

Reception location: Sir Francis Drake Hotel, SF

Flowers: Blue Orchid Floral

My assistant Johanna took the lovely photo on the left from behind the alter:

Laura and Dave!

June 17, 2009

Congratulations to Laura and Dave! I went home the night of their wedding and told my husband the day was a total "love-fest" for me! Honestly. So much love between family, friends, Laura and Dave, I loved everyone, I loved everyone on the vendor team and it just went on and on. It was a great day! The wedding and ceremony were at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, CA, the wonderful coordinator was the ever attentive Michelle Kimmons, I always love working with Barbara Llewellyn Catering, the florals were by Anne Mendenhall Flowers and the always amazing Katrina Rozelle did the cake.

This is my favorite tradition of any wedding. In Jewish weddings, the bride and groom circle each other seven times before going under the Huppah. There are always seven blessings in the Jewish ceremony and I think this tradition when the ceremony starts is so sacred and wonderful:

I couldn't have one, but those mojitos sure looked good!

Smriti and Samit

December 17, 2007

I had the pleasure of photographing my second Indian wedding a few weeks ago at the Palm Event Center in Livermore and it was as colorful a beautiful as I had hoped! Congratulations Smriti and Samit!

Shevaun and Harrison

October 1, 2007

Congratulations to Shevaun and Harrison! Their wedding was back in June, but I just had to post some images. Shevaun and Harrison celebrated Harrison's heritage with a Korean tea ceremony the day before the wedding. I've photographed a lot of tea ceremonies, but this was by far the most elaborate costuming. The wedding day was gorgeous and their location choices, beautiful. Their ceremony was held at Old St. Mary's in SF and the reception at The Julia Morgan Ballroom in the Merchant's Exchange Building. To celebrate Shevaun's Irish heritage, they hired a bagpiper to walk with the bridal party and all the guests the few blocks from the ceremony to the reception site. What fun!

Pairs and Pieces created the gorgeous flowers for the day....

and Patrick Davids was the caterer...YUM!

www.patrickdavids.com was the caterer. Yum!