Archive for July, 2010

{ Vassoula + Hany | Orange County Wedding}

Vassoula & Hany had a beautiful Greek wedding last month, filled with warmth, love, and tons of vibrant energy! A traditional ceremony was followed by the ultimate party of a reception, filled with stunning details (I was mesmerized by the unique centerpieces.. and Sprinkles cupcakes? YES PLEASE.), touching toasts, and tons & tons of dancing!

One of my absolute favorite parts of every wedding day is the getting-ready portion – I love capturing all the sweet details & the bustling pre-ceremony anticipation! Vassoula looked unbelievable and with the amazing light that filled her home, I was in shutter-happy heaven :)

The reception setup was gorgeous, a mix of round & long tables, tons of glowing candles & the prettiest shades of purples and blues…

{ New York | In Photos }

A bit belated, but some peeks into our trip to New York {to shoot this lovely wedding}!

We got the perfect non-touristy tour of the most awesome places, thanks to friends who have spent the past few years in the city. Wandering through Central Park, hunting down delicious gyros carts, visiting the coolest top secret speakeasy, experiences breathtaking city views from a stunning rooftop bar & friend’s apartment building, and food food FOOD… more of our adventures below!

I love this view from the top of the MET and how Central Park looks like a wide jungle in the middle of the city…

One of the things on the tippy top of my must-see list was Highline Park. It’s a park built on a former elevated railway, covered with greenery & providing a cool spot to sit and relax. I LOVE the concept & so wish we had one here, I’d go hang out there all the time with the perfect cup of tea…

Throughout our trip we got quite a few spectacular views of the city, but one of the best was probably from this apartment rooftop. There was such a relaxing setup and the views were crazy awesome – I already have a random affinity for rooftops, but would especially love to have one like this that I could just run up to anytime!

Got to meet up with the super sweet Punam Bean for lunch at Maison. Lots of delish food & great conversation!

On one of the evenings we visited Momofuku Milk Bar (just the name alone sounds scrumptious)! They have the most unique ice cream flavors – I got Cereal Milk which literally tastes exactly like the milk that remains after you gobble up all your cornflakes. The taste was so spot on, I kept expecting to crunch on a cornflake any second! Scott tried the zucchini bread and said it was so authentic it was practically buttery!

Thanks for reading, until next time! Even though I feel like we packed in lots of sights & sounds, I still feel like there was so much more I wanted to explore. Any NYC suggestions for the next time we go? :)

{ Ann + Alex | Backyard Engagement }

Ann & Alex’s engagement session blew my mind to UTTER and COMPLETE smithereens. As astoundingly talented artists, they’ve recently created their own publication and frequently put on amazing little events {like this one} showcasing art & music in the community. They are no doubt one of the most creative couples we’ve worked with and their homegrown & intimate session completely embodied their relationship and who they are. It was like a perfect sneak peek into their lives and since it was so them, it was innately & wonderfully unique.

I like to think of their session as broken down into 3 parts of complete awesomeness:

1) An intimate summer backyard dinner with explosions of texture & color
2) A walk through their neighborhood to a cute community garden
3) Fun with projector patterns on a wall…

I’m crossing my fingers that you make it to the end of this post, because all 3 are totally amazing and inspirational!

But starting with the first part….

Ann & Alex recently moved to the west side, to a cute home that they share with friends and have dubbed the “Culver Den”. I was so excited when they suggested doing their session there since I LOVE photographing people at home – I feel like there’s such an intimate side of them you can capture and I love the cozy organic vibe the backdrop provides. When I arrived at the Culver Den, Ann & Alex had created a sweet outdoor dinner, complete with the most colorful & well-thought out details – flowers & feathers in vases, a cup of vibrant vegetables, garnished glasses of strawberry lemonade, a found vintage chandelier. And thus, my mind was blown.

Love the paint on Alex’s hands – he said even after scrubbing it wouldn’t all come off!

Next, they wanted to take me on a little walk through their new neighborhood to a community garden down the street. Ann told me that the houses in their neighborhood showcased the most interesting plants and flowers, and she was in no way kidding. We saw some of the craziest, most gigantic, most beautiful flowers I’ve seen in our walk. When we got to the garden, Alex pulled out an impromptu necklace he had made for Ann from a lovely painted wooden block he was using in one of his art projects. It was so sweet!

For this part of the session, Ann also slipped on the cutest head piece, which she had handcrafted herself (she has a line of them called Amisa). And so, my camera clicked away & my mind continued to be blown.

Lastly, we headed back to the house since they wanted to try out one more thing. Alex had recently illustrated an animation of different patterns and he wanted to try some photos using the projection as a backdrop. Um, YES.

MIND = BLOWN.

Ann & Alex, thank you so much for inviting me to take a sneak peek into your lives! Can’t wait until the wedding!!