I am the oldest of eight cousins on my mom’s side, six girls and twin boys. Maribeth is nine months younger than me, making her the second oldest of the bunch. It is a very rare occasion that our family gets together, but thanks to Maribeth’s lovely wedding this past weekend, our family had the the amazing experience of all gathering together to celebrate her new life with Landon!

Maribeth entered the Army four years ago and has been stationed in Hawai’i ever since. (Poor thing… I know.) While there, she met and fell in love with Landon, a kind, caring, fellow member of the Army. Because they live so far away, the wedding was really the first chance I had to spend time with them together– and I could not have been more impressed with how happy Maribeth is while in the presence of Landon. I am so thankful and happy that my darling cousin has found such a great man to spend her life with and feel comfortable that as they head over to Germany for Landon’s newest assignment, Maribeth will be taken care of well.

Not only was I happy that Maribeth was marrying Landon, I was overcome with such intense happiness that our family was there to celebrate together. I cannot even describe how amazing the whole experience was for me and all the members of our families… so I won’t try. Let it suffice to say that I will never forget that day.

Now, enough of the mushy stuff– I’ll move on to the many, many photos that I adore from the day.

A great moment of Maribeth getting her hair done.

The dress!

Here are Maribeth’s parents and beautiful sister Krisanne watching her put on the finishing touches right before the ceremony.

Absolutely stunning. My cousins are all like models— it’s ridiculous how beautiful they are.

I was so excited when Maribeth told me the wedding would be at a ranch in Tehachapi because I knew there would be a great chance of snow on the ground and I’ve never shot a snowy wedding. Well, my hopes came true! I was so inspired by this landscape and the contrast of the elegant bride with the rustic fencing.

Landon looked extremely dashing in his ceremonial Army suit. Check out all that flair!… A very decorated soldier.

And he even wore a sword! So awesome.

Some of my favorite moments from the ceremony…

The ceremony took place under this AMAZING oak tree. It was definitely the talk of the wedding… It has actually been determined to be the oldest oak tree in the San Joaquin Valley!

Because of a few issues with health and travel arrangements, Landon’s guys couldn’t make the wedding. So the wedding party consisted of these lovely ladies– from left to right: my cousins Shanna, Sarah, and Krisanne, and on the far right, my sister Hayley.

The happy couple.

The image from the preview post.

I think this might be my favorite shot of the year… It’s so classic and timeless and, believe it or not, they stood like this on their own. No posing required. I just love everything about it…

Inspired by the famous painting American Gothic.

Loved this moment.

I dropped one of my cameras in the snow trying to get this shot… totally worth it and no damage done.

Amazing light right before sunset…

Had to post this fun one of Krisanne having fun with Landon’s sword.

Here’s my Grandpa with his five oldest grandchildren. (The youngest three, Johnny, Brent and Nicole, couldn’t attend the wedding.) From left to right: Laura, Krisanne, Maribeth, Grandpa, me and Hayley. I love these people so much and it was so great for all of us to get to spend time together!

A great moment at the end of the first dance.

To Maribeth and Landon,

I am SO happy for you guys and and so honored to have been asked to photograph this amazing celebration. I love you and will miss you so much when you’re in Germany. You may regret offering to have us come visit because I feel like buying my plane ticket now!

To all of my family,

I am so happy we were able to get together for this great day and I hope you all enjoy the photos as they captured some truly happy memories for all of us.

5 Comments » Posted by Heather / Weddings

Maribeth is my amazingly gorgeous cousin and was married today to the wonderful Landon! I just could not wait to get home to start looking through the images from the day. Soon I’ll be posting a very long post complete with images and details of the absolutely perfect celebration, but here is a preview image…

They were married in Tehachapi, a small town in the mountains here in Southern California. Thanks to some recent storms, there was snow on the ground!

4 Comments » Posted by Heather / Weddings

Jill and Dan were married at the lovely Miramonte Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, CA (very near Palm Springs). They had an amazing celebration thanks to Laurie and her staff from The Events Department, and of course Hillary, my good friend and catering manager at the Miramonte. The details were fabulous, the guests were lively and the whole day was just a blast. Thanks to Hayley for helping me out on this one — it’s always a good day with her around.

This wedding was actually my last scheduled wedding of the year! It’s been quite the wedding season. I’ve had the best time working with all of my clients this year and now I’m looking forward to having a few weekends off, shooting more portraits, as well as working on some other projects I’ve wanted to get started. I hope to even set up a just-for-fun shoot with models, hair, make-up — the whole nine yards — where I can really experiment with different technique. Any one interested in modeling??

Anyway– on to the many photos of this fabulous wedding!

Here’s Jill getting ready with the help of her Maid of Honor.

A twist on the shoe shot– you know me and shoes!

Love this!

The flowers by City of Commerce Flowers were AMAZING!  This bouquet was a real beauty– and weighed a ton!

The gorgeous bride. How incredible are her eyes??

Dan looking all dashing.

The First Look. Love love love these moments!

The happy couple.

Jill, Dan and Dan’s son Bradley who was truly the life of the party!

Dan with his nephew. Such a cutie.

The ceremony. I adore Dan’s expression as he saw Jill walking down the aisle.

Yeah… did I mention the flowers were amazing?

Married!

All of the incredible details.

Dan and Jill’s reaction to Bradley’s Best Man toast. That kid knew how to work a room!

We set up an impromptu photo booth for the guests…

Hayley and I had some fun with the rings and the props they had for the photo booth. I can’t decide my favorite between the two.

The First Dance.

Jill and Dan — Thanks so much for a great day! Congratulations!!

7 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

Nicole and Matt are a great couple with awesome style, and their wedding was fabulous. It was my first time shooting at The Willows and I loved it! The O’Donnel House on the property is gorgeous, and the view from any spot on the property is amazing. Throw in some fun guests and Meg as a second shooter, and you pretty much have my favorite kind of wedding!

Donna of Ultimate Events and her team were fantastic coordinators who also took care of the florals, lighting and other decor. Harmony, the site coordinator, was also great in making sure things ran smoothly. Thanks to the following for also helping to make this wedding so great:

New Leaf Catering — awesome food!

Joy Fields — hair stylist extraordinaire.

The amazing dress!

Loved the tile details of the The O’Donnell House.

The lovely bride getting ready.

Loved her hair!

Gorgeous.

How awesome is this long netted veil??

The ceremony site. Those stunning clouds were a little scary at first, but no rain fell, thank goodness.

Here’s Matt watching Nicole walk down the aisle with her father.

Great moments during the short-but-sweet ceremony.

A fun portrait. I loved Matt’s skinny white tie.

The guys all wore Converse All-Stars. Love it!

The gorgeous, fun wedding party.

Here’s the image from the preview post. This is in the running for my favorite of the day.

The FABULOUS details. That ice sculpture and all of the floral elements were all stunning.

The wedding was on the smaller side — only about 70 guests — and allowed them to have just one long table. I thought that was so chic!

The first dance.

And finally, a great shot of the happy couple and the gorgeous view right after sunset.

Congratulations, Nicole and Matt! I hope your honeymoon in Paris was lovely!

2 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

I shot an amazing wedding last weekend for Nicole and Matt (you can see their engagement session here and here). Here’s a quick preview.

Happy Sunday, everyone! I’m definitely enjoying my day so far… I’ll enjoy it even more if the Packers defeat the Vikings!

UPDATE: Boo! Packers lost by 1! 

No Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

A couple of weeks ago, I tagged along with Meg to shoot a fabulous wedding at Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes. I had never shot a wedding at Wayfarers before… but I loved it. Especially because Jasmine and Alex were such an awesome couple! They were both so happy and their love was so evident– they truly made our job so easy and fun that day!

Here are my favorite images from the day.

Here’s Alex looking very handsome as he waited for Jasmine.

They decided to do a First Look, which allowed me to get this incredible reaction shot and gave us plenty of good light to use for all of the romantic photos.

Wayfarers has a stunning view of the ocean.

Then it was time for the ceremony in this gorgeous church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

A great nighttime shot.

During the toasts. Jasmine’s smile and laugh were totally infectious.

The first dance.

Meg and I had some fun with the rings.

A sweet moment.

Jasmine and Alex,

Thank you so much for being so lovely! I had an amazing time photographing you guys on your special day and wish you all the best!

3 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

I had the pleasure of shooting Walsh and Pandora’s simple morning wedding at the fabulous Miramonte Resort and Spa on October 26th. Thanks to Hillary and the rest of the Miramonte staff for coordinating the wedding and making sure everything went smoothly.

Interesting fact: Walsh and Pandora live in Taiwan and booked me completely over email! So, it was great to meet them on the wedding day and to hang out with them, their friends and family.

A couple of bridal details. I just loved that flower on the back of Pandora’s dress!

Stunning.

Walking over to the ceremony, high heels in hand.

My friend Jeremy joined me to shoot this wedding and got this great shot during the ceremony.

This was my view at about the same moment during the ceremony.

Then we spent some time roaming around the resort for some fun portraits.

Walsh was a total natural in front of the camera.

Some of the cutest kids in the world were at the wedding… and they loved the cameras.

These two were inseparable the whole day.

Finally, some fun with shadows and harsh light.

Congratulations, Walsh and Pandora! I had such a lovely morning with you guys and wish you all the best in your life together.

1 Comment » Posted by admin / Weddings

A couple of weeks ago, I shot Joslyn and Jason’s wedding in Malibu for Kim Fox Photography. What a great, simple, laid-back wedding! Joslyn and Jason currently live in Colorado, so having a Malibu wedding was a destination wedding for them, and I was more than happy to photograph this special event.

Once again my sister Hayley joined me for this shoot and did an awesome job. I so love having my sister around on shoots.

Onto the photos!

Joslyn had her makeup done by Veronica Sinclaire –malibumakeup.com — who did an awesome job and was very sweet and fun.

I loved how the hairstylist incoporated these flowers into Joslyn’s up-do.

Joslyn and Jason were staying in this bungalow in Malibu for the week. Not only did it have an awesome view, it had stunning light and great, vibrant colors. Perfect for a getting ready location!

Quite possibly my favorite photos of the whole day! How gorgeous are Joslyn’s eyes?

The flowers were done by Diva’s Flowers of Santa Monica.

Here’s Jason’s beautiful daughter Aspen. While Joslyn was getting ready, I took her outside for some fun photos with the amazing view. I loved how she got to wear a veil of her very own. It made her feel very special.

The ceremony was a quaint gathering on Point Dume State Beach.

Since it was short and sweet, everyone just gathered around and stood during the nuptials. Loved it.

After the ceremony, Jason, Joslyn, Hayley and I hung around on the beach for portraits.

I prompted Aspen to go chase after the birds for a shot, and Joslyn decided to join her

Gorgeous and having a good time on the beach.

Family fun.

I loved these big rocks.

Here’s Aspen showing Hayley her dirty hands from playing in the sand.

Rings.

The reception was held at Geoffrey’s of Malibu.

Fun with the kids after sunset.

Congratulations, Joslyn and Jason!

3 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

Because I’m sometimes a scatter-brained blogger, I’m going to post a couple images from the fabulously simple wedding I shot yesterday in Malibu even though I know I have yet to finish other posts I’ve started. I’m hoping to get it all sorted out this week…

Joslyn and Jason’s wedding was awesome. I can’t wait to share the rest of the images from this special day.

The ceremony took place on the beach at Point Dume. It was simple and perfect. Not a bad place to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Happy Sunday!

2 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings

Alison and Steve’s wedding was a blast! Not only are Ali and Steve two of the nicest, fun people, I also had the pleasure of seeing my good friends Hillary and Jeff, whom I hardly ever get to see anymore. Hillary and I went to college together and Hillary and Ali used to work together, so that’s how I met Ali and Steve.

The wedding was held at the University Club of Santa Barbara, and thanks to the great coordination of Katie of the University Club, the wedding went off with out a hitch!

The ceremony was sweet and the reception was a real party (I even got out there on the dancefloor for a bit).

Here are quite a few of my favorite photos from the day:

The shoes:

The dress:

The beautiful, happy bride:

I had a lot of fun shooting Steve.

Calm, cool and dashing…

One of my favorite things about this venue was this great, rustic shed that I used as the background for a lot of the portraits.

The ladies.

A great moment as the flower girls got ready for their big moment.

A great moment during the ceremony:

Hayley captured this moment. I just love this shot.

A quick trip across to the park for the lighting. Definitely feels like Fall with those leaves on the ground.

The room:

The details. I loved that the theme for their wedding was everything related to wine.

Here’s a shot Hayley grabbed of me, Hillary and Ali at the reception.

And a great Grand Exit!

Congratulations, Ali and Steve! I had such a fun time with you guys! Hope Cancun was amazing!

The slideshow will be posted soon.

6 Comments » Posted by admin / Weddings