Meenah & Shaobo’s wedding was my very last one of 2010, and I could not imagine a more beautiful ending to the wedding season!

I was beyond ecstatic to make my way up to nor Cal to document their day at Thomas Fogarty Winery, tucked up, up, and away in the hills of Woodside. {Have I mentioned how much I love shooting in the bay area? If you’re getting married there, do drop me a hello :)} The drive up the mountain itself was so mystical & breathtaking, and Megan & I were in utter awe – thick forests of evergreens, trees with bright yellow & red leaves, canopies that spread across the entire roadway, and just when you think it COULD NOT POSSIBLY get any more gorgeous, you see the winery. Now green vineyards are amazing, but the rows of golden vines literally took my breath away. It was my first time seeing the vines aglow in fall colors and all I could think about was shooting Meenah & Shaobo in that amazing spectacle. And that we did :)

The weather reports kept announcing a horrific 90% chance of showers, but as always always (always!) happens, the skies cleared for all the important parts of the day. As an added bonus, not one, not two, but FIVE rainbows made appearances at different points during the day, including a perfect one during the ceremony (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??) But say, even if the weather hadn’t cleared, even if it had been pouring/snowing/hailing during every moment, the thing is you would never be able to tell with Meenah & Shaobo. They are seriously one of the sweetest couples I’ve met, full of smiles, and patience, and love. And, happily willing to trek out into muddy fields of grapes, in 50 degree weather, all for the sake of photos. My kind of couple :)

Meenah & Shaobo – thank you so much for allowing me to document this exciting time in your lives! I knew from our very first Skype meeting that it would be a complete joy & honor to work with you, and I’m so so happy the interwebs allowed us to connect! :) Wishing you so so many more years of love and happiness to come!

You may remember Ann & Alex from their EPIC engagement session at their home in LA. I knew their sweet backyard wedding would be equally warm & intimate, filled with personal touches and oodles of handmade details. These kinds of weddings make my heart so happy – the kinds that are focused truly on the love, the kinds that feel like home. Ceremony music played by talented friends, albums filled with rich film photos from their travels, her mother’s lace bolero… and the cake! In the months up to the wedding, Alex had been practicing his way up to building a 4-tier cake and it came out to be absolutely perfect (and delicious).

It was drizzly all morning but you seriously could never guess from the calm, cheerful demeanor both Ann & Alex carried with them, and of course, as it always always does, the skies cleared just in time for the beautiful ceremony. Special thanks to Amanda Rae for shooting with me!

A cake topper in honor of their joint publication…

One (out of the bajillion) reasons I so love what I do is that it’s reconnected me with so many old friends. Somehow {perhaps mainly through the magic that is facebook} people I haven’t spoken to in months, or years, have figured out that I make pictures, and so wonderfully passed my name along to the happy couples they know who are planning their weddings.

Zena lived in Japan during the same time I did, also teaching on the JET program, but for some reason our paths never crossed. We did however have a mutual friend in Joslyn, who caught wind of my photography and kindly referred me to Zena. Zena & I met over coffee on a sunny morning and immediately jumped into sharing stories of our time in Japan (seriously, I can talk for HOURS UPON HOURS with other people who have lived in Japan, even with total strangers I’ve met 8 seconds ago, it’s bizarre.) I was so excited when she & Dennis chose me as the photographer for their beautiful rooftop wedding at the Kyoto Grand in downtown LA! The day was absolutely gorgeous and I was so happy to be there to capture it.

A cute beta fish was swimming around in each centerpiece as a tribute to Dennis’s love for fish/coral tanks, and their aquarium-themed engagement session…

During the reception, Zena and Dennis shared their gratitude towards their parents and relatives. I especially loved the moment Dennis thanked his grandmother for helping to raise him and being such a large part of his life…