Kat and David were married at Paradise Ridge Winery, my new favourite Santa Rosa wedding venue. Paradise Ridge sits on a hill at the northeast end of town; the only thing that competes with the unbelievable views of the valley is the scintillating way in which the wedding venue captures the setting sun. Kat and David are good friends of ours (there’s always an open bottle of wine and a newly cleaned glass at their Oakland home) and their hospitality extended into a wedding space that they truly made their own. Marlo and Scott were there (and shy!) and we enjoyed an entire weekend of wedding festivities, including a rehearsal dinner at the Green Music Center, on the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park, and a wedding brunch at the Fountaingrove Inn.
The photograph above was taken at around 1 AM – the bride and groom were en route to an after-party, so I set up some studio lights and softboxes by one of the Paradise Ridge Winery’s many artistic sculptures and borrowed them for one minute of shooting (and a couple of minutes’ moonlit walk through a picturesque meadow). Kat had mentioned that she wanted photos with the sculptures, but since they were a little distance away from the ceremony and reception, I thought it might be prudent to take those photos after the festivities, so as not to take time with the beautiful couple away from family and friends. Thanks for looking!
Penngrove is a very small place (population 2,500). It’s also my hometown. I’ve had my fingers crossed that someone would ask me to photograph a wedding or reception in Penngrove, and my dream came true one Saturday in October. Family and close friends watched from quilt-covered hay bales as Renee and Nick were married in a small ceremony in her grandfather’s verdant Cotati backyard. The bride and groom left for a ride in their vintage Volkswagen and I headed to the reception, held at the Penngrove Clubhouse.
If you’ve followed my blog for a long time, you’ll know that I tend to focus more on the moments and people than on the wedding details. But when I got to the Penngrove Social Firemen’s Clubhouse, where the reception was to be held, the decor took my breath away. Maybe it’s because I grew up coming to Italian dinners and social events here, and had never seen it so transformed. It was a photographer’s dream. Adorn Affair did a tremendous job, from the potluck-style dessert table to the polaroid portrait room.
I took the photograph above during a quick sunset escape to downtown Penngrove for some wedding portraits – we thought we were away from the wedding crowd until some friends of the bride and groom popped out of Mack’s Bar and Grill to say hello. There are some more photos in the slideshow below – please click through if you’d like to order a print, and thanks for stopping by! And thanks to Barb at Mockingbird Heights Salon for her beautiful work.
Joanna and Jeremy designed a beautiful San Francisco Bay Area wedding in my hometown, Petaluma, CA. Their October celebration coincided with gorgeous Sonoma County wedding weather – it ended up being a few days after we got some rain, and the temperature was perfect. Maybe it’s because I’m dating the groom’s sister, who also officiated, and therefore got to see months of preparations, but the most striking feeling I remember seeing from behind my camera that day was a comfortable, basking sense of relief: that the weather was brilliant; that the Buckeye Nursery location had been transformed into a sublime wine country estate; that family and friends were in attendance and looking their best. This is from Joanna and Jeremy’s first look, and I think the groom’s expression and the couple’s body language show how much of their love they put into everything they do. Thanks to Ramin Rahimian for being such an awesome second shooter.
I have never in my life seen anything as elegant as the way in which Marlo’s grandmother wrote her advice to the newlyweds at the guestbook table. There were three or four words, then a pause, at once for thought and to let the ink dry, then a few more words, another pause. This was at the heart of Palo Alto’s beautiful Twelve Oaks estate, at an outdoor Jewish wedding that the wonderful people over at Dream A Little Dream Events helped design. Brad Zweerink, my second photographer for the day, was awesome and helped me with other angles, especially during the first look, which was attended by family on the balcony overlooking the Twelve Oaks front garden.
Leah and Mike were married at a private estate in Bennett Valley, in Santa Rosa, CA. Their Sonoma County wedding featured oak trees, homemade cupcakes, vineyards, rolling hills, and a departure in a beautiful vintage car.
Erin's bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids all wore adorable hand-decorated shirts for hair and makeup; that's Erin rewriting her vows on the right.
Did I mention that Erin's a graphic designer? She put together such a beautiful purple folding wedding invitation!
Erin's dress, shoes, and accessories. I wanted to give these a desert-meets-hollywood look.
This isn't the engagement ring, but I really loved it and the way it fit into the colors of the wedding day.
One of the junior bridesmaids, watching a bridesmaid get makeup done.
Erin and Tyson were married on January 15, 2011 at a private estate in Cave Creek, AZ. Erin was a classmate of mine through middle and high school, at Creekside Middle School and Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, CA.
I arrived to a quiet, graceful room of bridal preparations just after the makeup started. I didn't get to shoot the mehndi, but I got to see Anoop's hidden initials.
Susana had two dresses - one for the Portuguese ceremony, one for the Indian one. I wanted to do something a little different with them.
The variety of settings and sights in my chosen career inspires me and keeps me going.
The wedding dress, hung on a delicate room partition.
This was my first Indian-Portuguese wedding. The favors were perfect - delicate souvenirs in each country's style.
Susana and Anoop were married October 2, 2010 at Rengstorff House in Mountain View, CA.
The west-facing entrance to the Tempe Center for the Arts.
Celeste's dress. Italian lace.
Josiah.
Celeste and Josiah.
The groomsmen in the magestic TCA theater.
I was flattered again to be asked to photograph a wedding for some friends. Celeste and Josiah were married at the Tempe Center for the Arts on April 10, 2010.
