10 girl photographers in the desert!

A quick break in the midst of wedding season, a chance to interact, to share stories poolside, to laugh over midday snacks of hummus & carrots, to have the sense of “coworkers”, when so much of our days are spent alone in front of a glowy computer screen. From the moment I entered the wedding industry, I was so amazed by the lack of “competition” and by the overabundance of sharing & love, and these girls embody that love in every ounce of their being {in addition to being smart, sweet & hilarious!} I feel blessed to call them friends!

We stayed at the uber hip & lovely Ace Hotel, pretty much splitting our time equally between the pool & the room since it was literally 427 degrees out. The Ace was the perfect place for both relaxation & for photos – seriously, gorgeous photo ops EVERYWHERE! YOU! LOOK! I’m including some of my favorite snaps from the trip here, as well as a fantastic stop-motion video the talented Mary created & put together!

All in all, an amazing trip that left me feeling inspired and refreshed! Can’t wait for Catalina 2011!

STOPtheMOTION Friday! Take:16 from Floataway Studios on Vimeo.

The light at the Ace Hotel was absolutely breathtaking – so soft & pretty!

Amanda made us all these FANTASTIC goodie bags filled with the most amazing goodies – a smores pack, a cupcake in a jar, a pop-of-color water bottle… it was such a treat to arrive in PS to find these!

The food at the Ace was just divine! On the left is the ALT (which I’m pretty sure stands for “ADRIENNE LOVES THIS”, and which I supplemented with lots & lots of bacon):

Thanks to Jordana for the 2nd pic!

Thank you Ashley, Heather, Heidi, Jackie, Jordana, Ala, Mary, Megan & Amanda for a wonderful trip! { image courtesy of Heather :) }

Meenah & Shaobo live in Norcal and booked me after a meeting on Skype, so I was super excited to meet them in person for the first time at their engagement session! For their session, they suggested a sweet seaside beach picnic, complete with lots of pops of color and fun beachy activities. I’ve seen picnic engagement sessions before but never on a beach – I love the summery casual feel the sand & the sea lent to this session!

They drove down to LA with a car full of colorful candies (confetti-inspired shots galore!), bubbles, sodas, and two of the loveliest fabric kites I had ever seen, handcrafted beautifully by Meenah. They didn’t quite fly, but with the general selection of Batman/pirate/the Hulk-themed kites out there, this was an excellent decision of form over function :)

I loved this fun summertime session & am SO excited for their beautiful vineyard wedding this fall!

Jenny & Jerry had the loveliest yellow-hued wedding last month! June gloom kindly stepped aside for a sunny day that matched the vibrant color palette they chose for the wedding. The whole occasion had a warm relaxed feel that perfectly ushered in summer!

I looooved working with the team of vendors they put together – the day was beautifully coordinated by Ryann of Hustle and Bustle Events, the lush florals were designed by LV Florals, and stunning video was captured by Joe of Today’s the Day Weddings {I always love working with Joe, he’s a great videographer and his unobtrusive style meshes so well with ours!}

Jenny looked gorgeous in her lace gown, which she had altered to a beautiful custom design of her liking…

Love the sweet sachets of lavender they gave as favors & the lovebird cake topper! The amazing cake was created by Jeseca Creations.

For the reception, Jenny changed into THE most amazing dress – I love the soft green color & whimsical feel!

Near the end of the reception, Jerry surprised Jenny with a sweet rendition of “Wonderful Tonight” that he had been practicing on the guitar. It was such a heartfelt moment: