Fact: I cry at 110% of the weddings I shoot, sometimes during vows, or father-daughter dances, or the slideshow (there are BABY PICTURES, set to BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, for goodness sakes), and this time it was was during the toasts. Erin’s maid-of-honor read off a simple but beautiful collection of advice, and the final one spoke so much to my heart. She said it was a piece of advice given to her husband by his friend, at their own wedding 7 years ago, and it read: make sure you never fall out of love at the same time. She continued to elaborate that yes, marriage can be difficult, and feelings can be tested, and times can be hard, but as long as one of you is there to fight for it and hold each other together, you.will.always.be.okay. It is a beautiful concept to me to think that sometimes you have to take turns being the one to hold things together, even if I feel that Erin & Ernie will probably never face such situations – the love they have for each other is palpable, so pure and honest and true. When I first met with Erin over coffee, I noticed a little sparkle would appear in her eye everytime Ernie came up in conversation… and when I finally met him on the big day, whatdoyaknow – he had that same sparkle in his eye as well ;)

Their day was filled to the brim with love, and was the perfect way to kick off this year.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – my dear brides, I will take EIGHT THOUSAND pictures of your shoes, and perhaps, NINE THOUSAND, if they’re as fabulous as this pair.

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…