I first met Mai over the sweetest email.. she wrote that she had been following my blog for awhile and as it would soon be her turn to tie the knot, she was excited to chat about wedding photography. She also wrote how she had recently started a floral business, Bunch Studio, and upon first glance at her website I was speechless. She created some of the most lush & creative designs I had ever seen, especially for someone who was only months (MONTHS!) into ever picking up a flower to arrange.

As the year before her wedding unfolded, I hung out with Mai (and Nick!) at various events & through mutual friends, we worked together on shoots and weddings, and by the time their own wedding (at the beautiful Strawberry Farms) came around, I felt I was definitely shooting the wedding of not clients, but dear friends. Which makes writing this entry almost more difficult.. because how to even describe such a day? A wedding where the bride is one of the most talented floral designers I’ve ever met? A ceremony arch of air plants; homegrown, picked, and potted succulents as favors; bouquets {each one unique!} that Mai handcrafted herself; every rustic & organic detail infused with Mai & Nick and their story..

But even moreso, how to describe the beautiful intangible side of things? A ceremony, officiated by a friend {my favorite type!}, that brought everyone present to tears, music & dance performances by friends at the reception, all the fathers/daughters & mothers/sons being invited out to dance during those respective moments & seeing all the various generations.. And a love between Mai and Nick that is all the right things – warm, silly, confident, and filled with that undeniable feeling of “home”.

A million thank yous to Mai & Nick for giving me the opportunity to document all of this!

This wedding is featured on one of my most favorite wedding blogs today… Green Wedding Shoes! Thank you Jen for the feature! Be sure to head over to GWS to see the post and a lovely description of the details of the wedding by Mai herself!

My favorite kinds of bouquets – whimsical, eclectic, and filled with unique not-your-typical-floral finds…

Nick asked all his groomsmen to grow out their mustaches for the wedding… love it!!

A shave ice truck was on hand providing endless refreshment, such a genius (and delicious) idea!

The most perfect photobooth setup…

And the cake! Laurie of I Believe It’s Cake! is a true artist and quite possibly outdid herself on this one… so elegant and beautiful…

Venue, Catering, Coordination: Strawberry Farms
Florals: Bunch Studio & Floral Elements
Cake: I Believe Its Cake
Shave Ice Truck: Tropical Shave Ice
DJ & MC: Playtime Attractions, Andy & Daphne Felicitas

A long tree-lined road opened up to the beautiful Middle Ranch lodge. In a spacious & warmly decorated room, Suzanne, the beautiful bride, bustled about with an excited smile upon her face. A smile that only grew wider as she slipped on her dress, and wider still as she walked through the trees to meet her groom, and perhaps widest when he turned and they saw each other for the first time that day.

Suzanne & Robert both spent the day with the biggest ear-to-ear grins, accompanied by a smattering of sweet teary moments and laughter. The day was overflowing with such joyous emotion and there were more than a few times where I found myself fervently blinking back tears behind the lens…

In the touching toasts during the reception everyone shared stories of Suzanne & Robert’s kindness, and even in the short period of time we’ve gotten to know them, I know every single one of those stories is true. They treated us with such graciousness and warmth the entire day, and I left feeling as if we had made two wonderful friends!

Before we dive into the photos, I’d just like to mention how madly in love I am with the bright eclectic color scheme Suzanne chose! This use of color was extended to the prettiest pair of shoes…

I was head over heels for the colorful bouquets, a fantastic mix of textures and tones, incorporating berries and succulents alike. Flora by Fauna did an amazing job bringing Suzanne’s vision to life!

Loved their fun first dance, you could seriously tell they were having an awesome time! Many thanks to Jason Henson of 11H Entertainment for providing the tunes – we’ve worked with him before and he wows us everytime with his awesome DJ/MCing skills!

Venue: Middle Ranch, Lake View Terrace, CA
Florals: Flora by Fauna
DJ: Jason Henson of 11H Entertainment
Coordinator: Melvin Santiago

When I first met with Angela & John {over mile-high pastrami sandwiches at Jerry’s Famous Deli, my kind of couple!}, they shared about their wedding, but also extensively about their families. I got such a strong sense of how important their families were to them and what a vital role they would be playing in the wedding.

But what I discovered on their wedding day was even more wonderful – that they were close with their families yes, but also that the two families seemed to be so close to each other. I spotted their mothers laughing together and walking arm in arm, I saw the sweet friendship between Angela’s brother and John’s son, observed the fun interaction between everyone on the dance floor. A wedding day, just as it joins people, most definitely joins families, but I seriously felt as if everyone there was already one big happy wonderful family – tears and hugs and laughs were shared freely among everyone and it was amazing to witness.

I know Angela poured her heart and soul into planning this wedding and it unfolded perfectly. It definitely couldn’t hurt that it all started off with the loveliest pair of shoes…

I think my heart skipped 2 beats when I saw her bouquet, pale pink peonies are one of my favorites…

For their first dance, John surprised Angela with a live song performed by their friends. Her reaction was perfect!

I love how John’s son came over and sat on Angela’s lap during the slideshow. So sweet: