Amanda & Anthony held a beautiful beach wedding in Ventura last month. Working with them at their engagement session (which will be posted soon!), gave us a glimpse of just how sweet and amazing this couple is – they both have an infectious radiant energy and most of all, are so positively and honestly in love. Their wedding day was the ultimate reflection of them and therefore the perfect balance of romantic and fun – with sweet quiet moments scattered between lots of laughter, jokes, and dancing galore!

The day was overcast, which cast a beautiful soft light on the affair, one filled with the most beautiful whimsical details. I was head-over-heels for the feather theme that was incorporated into the bouquets and reception details, adding a unique and vintage touch.

Amanda & Anthony – thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your gorgeous joy-filled celebration!

The bouquets were stunning! Love the spotted feathers…

A quick capture of Amanda’s mother as she watched her daughter walk down the aisle…

A quiet moment right after their exit…

Are they not such a stunning couple?

Loved the feathers incorporated into the details…

When I took my first steps into wedding photography, I had some goals in mind. They were basic, fluffy, whimsical goals – little dreams I dared not shape too concretely in fear that I might never attain them. I wanted to meet fabulous, warm, so-in-love people. I wanted to help create tangible memories of their most important days. I wanted to make friends out of the people who inspired me, the photographers I admired. And above all, I wanted to give back. Because at the start, I was barely more than a walking ball of questions. I felt like a silly empty glass that a million kind people were filling with knowledge and support and opportunity and all I could give in return were my insignificant but abundant “thank you”s.

And although my cup of knowledge is still far from being runneth over, I am finally at a place where I feel I can give and not just take. The opportunities to share my experiences are suddenly popping up left and right, and although I have so much more to learn myself, I am beyond thrilled to share whatever bits of information and experience I can.

One such opportunity has come from The Wedding Clique, a resourceful website created to help brides and grooms in planning their day. I am so honored to be included in such an amazing group of vendors, and to be able to contribute towards a couple’s wedding planning process – a process that for many is at once exciting, overwhelming, intimidating, and wonderful!

A couple weekends ago The Wedding Clique put on it’s first Mock Wedding Workshop at The Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Long Beach. It was created as an opportunity for couples to experience a “pretend wedding” in preparation for their actual day. The workshop progressed similarly to how many wedding days do – from getting ready, to the ceremony, to the reception – and was filled with beautiful details and wonderful input from the participating vendors. My deepest thanks to my friend Henry Chen for inviting me to be a part of such an amazing event and project!

Meet the team – the boys: Andrew of Iobon Cinema, Henry Chen, Raul of R&R Entertainment; the girls: Solana of Beauty by Solana, Trini of Nozza Studio, Sarah Yates, Deanne of Bella Fiore

Henry and Trini start off the day with a warm welcome:

Solana put on an awesome make-up trial run, with lots of tips for brides:

Deanne explains when and where you can expect to get your flowers on the day of (I know I’d be SO excited the first time I got to hold my bouquet!):

We then headed upstairs for a mock first look – love these expressions!

The ceremony site:

Gorgeous floral details:

And onto the mock ceremony!

Henry was a great impromptu officiant:

Sarah in action:

There is nothing pretend about this kiss! (I’ve never seen such an excited officiant either ;)

Then it was back inside for the reception! The dinner tables were adorned with such rich and beautiful details:

Raul gives the lowdown on choosing and working with a DJ:

And of course.. the cake!

Be sure to stay tuned on The Wedding Clique website for the next workshop, and for regular updates geared towards helping plan your wedding day!

It’s been 2 weeks since we’ve been back from WPPI and I think we’ve JUST now finally recuperated. Part of it is that Scott caught a cold right afterwards (undoubtedly the infamous WPPI bug everyone came home with) and just when he was getting over it and I was pumping my fists victoriously in the air for having evaded the virus, it ended up plummeting down on me as well. But now we’re all better, I’ve gotten back into the swing of things, had some time to pop open the folder of WPPI pics and share a bit of our experience with you! It was our first time at WPPI and it was amazing to say the least. Hung out with old friends, made awesome new ones, walked the tradeshow (and bought a shiny new toy! more on that soon), mingled at part-ays, and of course attended a spectacular desert shoot.

Some highlights!

The very first thing we did when we got there was drop off our bags and head to the Go|Bee party! Photo fun with Serena & Jean:

Ran into the fabulous Jackie Wonders!

The next morning we woke up later than we’d like to admit, but still had plenty of time to browse around the tradeshow. So many goodies!! (A big thank you to Scott for lugging the overstuffed bag of pamphlets around.)

One of the most exciting parts of the tradeshow was visiting the Tofurious booth! These guys had been working so hard in the weeks up to WPPI and it definitely paid off! Their booth was fabulous and the photo booth they put together was definitely a hit! Be sure to check out their website for lots of goodies for wedding photographers!

Hit up the [b] Party that night. Met Jordana of Hazelnut Photography – she’s such a sweetheart!

We spent a lot of time over the 3 days with our dear friends Henry Chen, Solana (who does amazing make-up!) and Miguel. A quick shot of Scott & Henry with the pretty Vegas lights:

And some behind-the-scenes shots from the desert shoot!

Tavis strikes a pose:

Shootsac action with Dustin Izatt & Erin Cady

And that’s a wrap! Definitely a great experience for my first time there! Can’t wait until next year!