The guys came on the scene first, so we got to start with Jason.  This is one of my very favorite groom portraits ever!  A little play on the details of the venue and Jason’s height.

This had a very old school feel so BW felt most appropriate.

Getting that last button latched is a joyful moment!

Double your reflection, double your fun.

Jennifer in her throne.

Love the feel of this one.  Cool space eh?

Jennifer and Jason’s first sight:

Moments before the ceremony Jason was solo in this room, and you could see his intense concentration, and if you looked closely you could see his mouth moving.  Turns out he was doing some last minute cramming, and was going over his vows to make sure everything came out perfect.

It was a very emotional ceremony with many smiles and tears, some were even simultaneous!   Jennifer’s sister did a great job taking care of her.  This was captured by Malarie.  Nice shot wifey!

We only had a few minutes scheduled for portraits, so we had to make them count!

Here’s the details of the day.  Jennifer’s dress is by Enzoani, the beautiful florals are by Huckleberry Karen, and the cake is by Margaret’s French Bakery.

I couldn’t resist an animated .gif for this moment.  This was a moment during the toasts where Jason’s initial wooing of Jennifer was being discussed.  Being the playa he is (or was), Jason brushed off his shoulder.  If you don’t know what this means, here’s the Urban Dictionary definition:  “A cool action that only the playaz do when they be pimpin”.  I think that says it all.

A couple of first dance moments:

Jennifer and her Dad at the end of their dance.

A different angle on the cake cutting.

Jason’s getting ready to go in for the garter.

Jennifer’s not giving it up without a fight apparently.

Loved this angle of the bouquet toss. Getting to do something a little different is always good!

Not sure what’s going on here, and I was there!  In any case, I love it.  The foot and the pointing finger make it.

This was a really funny series.  He was doing a full on serenade to a Bryan Adams song.  Pretty sure it was the “Everything I do, I do it for you” song.

Jennifer was doing the robot.  Everyone’s a critic, eh Jenn?

Last dance!

Good night Ralston Hall!  That’s the moon peeking through the trees btw.

Jennifer and Jason, it was an absolute pleasure getting to know you and your friends and family!  Thank you for inviting us in to be a part of it!

Cliff

A little last minute touch up:

Not really sure how I managed to stay out of this reflection.  Actually, I think I see my knuckles making an appearance.  Love the expressions!

I adore this image. It’s just really quirky.

Casa Real is a gorgeous spot for portraits, and we took full advantage! I started with the ladies.  Hi Katie!

I don’t usually show 2 group shots, but I just couldn’t force myself to choose between these:

Lookin’ good David!

This was just as Katie entered the room for the ceremony.  This crazy cool beam of light came in from one of the high windows and light up just her face.  One of my favorites of the day.

The whole party!  How sweet is that fireplace?

I could have shot portraits here with these two all day long.

You guys sure can work it for the camera!

Ummm….this one’s kinda hot!

We headed out to the vines for a few:

Don’t Katie’s eyes look spectacular in this one?

On to the details.  First, I just have to give the folks at Casa Real some recognition.  I’ve shot at numerous venues, and there are only a few that really “get it” the way Casa Real and their sister venue Palm Event Center do.  They had the reception room perfected and ready to shoot hours before the ceremony even started, and they treated us like guests in their own home.  They run a very tight ship, and everything always goes like clockwork.  We even got fed on time! Kudos to you all, it’s really refreshing and such a pleasurable place to work.  Thanks.

Katie is a wedding florist herself, but I’m not certain how much she was able to do on her own, but I’m sure she had a hand in it somewhere.  Her site is http://www.posiesfloraldesign.com

Extreme Productions did the DJ’ing, and was one of the most professional I’ve come across.

First Dance!

I really liked this detail during the father/daughter dance.

Fun on the ‘floor!

Bling!

Goodbye Casa Real!  Hope to see you again soon!

Thanks Katie and David for sharing this awesome day with us!  I don’t know if you’re back from Europe yet, but we hope it was a fabulous trip!

Cliff

I often times get booted out of the room when it comes time for the actual change into the dress, but this time Caitlin just slipped very strategically into her dress over her other clothes.  I was impressed, and it made for some beautiful images!

Love the light in these next two:

They chose to do a first sight so we could do some portraits beforehand which I always love.  I cracked up when I saw the image of Sean checking out the “dress”.

We stopped by the Elizabeth Gamble Gardens for some portraits:

Then on to the Mountain Terrace!

A great moment just before the ceremony.

Smooch!

The details from the day:

They did a hilarious choreographed first dance.  Awesome.

We snuck in one last portrait before I headed out for the evening.

Thanks Caitlin and Sean for having us, it was a blast!

Cliff

Here’s the link to Jay B Millinery

Here’s a couple of Melissa’s wedding images to illustrate my point:

I loved this getting ready room at the Kensington Park Hotel, the Royal Suite.  The blue walls, zebra carpet, and other goodies made it a blast to shoot in!

Checking out the back of her hair.  Getting this motion shot sharp was a big victory, as it’s not an easy one to get at F1.2!

This totally cracked me up.  Just an innocent dress adjustment people.

One of my favs.  She was having her veil put on and I was drawn to the light and framing.

First sight moments are always fantastic.

We had to take advantage of that cool room for some portraits!

The bridal party!

I love this image.  In the limo ride to the venue I took a number of similar shots when I saw the reflection potential, this was the only one where the stars aligned.

Bryan became totally overwhelmed with emotion when he saw Elizabeth come down the aisle, it was extremely touching.  Here he is recovering.

The ceremony was at Old St Mary’s just of of Chinatown in SF.  We had to use it for a backdrop for a few portraits after the ceremony.

This is one of my favorite groomsmen images ever.

We braved Chinatown on a Saturday to get this shot.  No easy feat, but they did it like pros, and I didn’t get hit by a car. Bonus.

The details!  Check out that gorgeous Maggie Soterro gown!  I also had fun shooting the shoes with all of those funky room details, so forgive me if there’s more shoe shots than usual.

I really dig this ring shot.  You’d never guess in a million years what surface we used!

First Dance:

Elizabeth and Bryan’s Dad on the dance floor.

A parting venue shot:

Thanks so much for having us along for the ride!  I hope Paris was amazing and that you made it to Pierre Herme!  I know we will when we head there in Nov!

Cliff

This image was from Melissa + David’s wedding that I shot along with my good friend Marc Climie at the beginning of the year.  Thanks for having me along Marc, Melissa, and David!

Cliff

The real reason for the post besides sharing our excitement is to loop everyone in on how this change will effect things in the short term. Turnaround times for weddings/orders in production shouldn’t be effected at all as I’ll be burning the midnight oil to keep up, but there is likely to be a few days where my emails aren’t answered as quickly as is normal in the transition from one space to the other.  Our official moving day is the 23rd, so I’d say the 21st-25th are the days that my connectivity might be effected.

I couldn’t post this without at least one picture, so here’s my favorite feature of the new place:

Cliff

We’ll start with a fun one, Kristin was wonderfully expressive all day long, and getting into the dress was no exception!

Here’s Peter getting a little “help” with the tie.

This vintage Mercedes, which I was told is a 1959 has been in Peter’s family since it was new, and makes an appearance at all the family weddings.  An awesome tradition!

It’s hard not to look smooth in a car like this, and these guys were no exception.

Nice job waxing the car Peter!

It was a little windy coming down the aisle, and I loved Kristin’s reaction when her veil took on a life of it’s own!

They both got a little choked up at one point, and were wiping away tears simultaneously.  Nice shot by Malarie!

Faces just don’t get happier than that!

We found this fantastic spot across the street to shoot some portraits:

We really had some amazing light to work with, and Peter and Kristin aren’t so bad either!

C’mon there was even a hay bale there for me to use!

I love this one! I think it’s my favorite portrait of the day.

Here the deets from the day.  Highlights are the florals by the rockstar florist Nancy Liu Chin, and the cake by Fat Angel Bakery.

It kinda looks like the mothership has come to beam up the cake.  I like it.

You know what they say about a guy with big hands…….He wears a big wedding ring.  This is the first time I’ve ever been able to fit the engagement ring, diamond and all into the grooms wedding band!  I included that shot in the details comp up above.

First dance.

For the Mother/Son dance, Peter set it up to play his Mom’s favorite song.  She couldn’t help but belt it out!  Awesome.

The competition was fierce:

A venue shot to finish things off.

Thanks so much for choosing us to be a part of your day, we had a great time!

Cliff

The ornate details of the outfits fit the nature of the Palace really well.

The colors were a great compliment also!

Love this one as well!

Thanks Rebecca and Faisal, we’re looking forward to the wedding!

Cliff

You’re not technically allowed to do a photo shoot there without a permit, so we were living dangerously.  I kept the equipment to a minimum, and we didn’t shoot until we’d hiked quite a ways, but we didn’t get the boot!  Thanks for being troopers you guys!

OK on to the pics:

Those are some pretty spectacular trees!  You should have seen us scramble up the hill to get this!

Billy and Kristin aren’t so bad either!

I really like this one:

Moss and a smile, how could you go wrong?

One of my favs.  Us capitalizing on some sweet light pouring in through a rare hole in the flora.

We headed back to the city going to a spot I’d been wanting to play in for a while.  One of my other favs!

I totally dig the ambient shifting blue here.

OK, this is my real favorite.

We really enjoyed spending time with you both, and we’re looking forward to doing it again in November!

Cliff