I first met Gina & Chris at Andrea and Taro’s rehearsal dinner. In between capturing shots of the festivities, we chomped on delectable Mexican food and engaged in conversation with our table mates. Gina and Chris sat next to us with their two beautiful children and as dinner progressed, shared a bit with us about their own wedding. “We got married along a windy cliff,” Gina explained. “There were 4 of us {Chris, Gina, her daughter, and the officiant}. It was really cold.. we might have been wearing windbreakers.” Gina laughed as she recalled their casual and intimate ceremony.

Fast forward a month and I opened my inbox to find a note from Gina. She shared with me their wish to renew their vows, this time in a ceremony in front of their closest family and friends. And so, on a very rainy day in December, Scott and I packed up our gear and headed to The Raymond, a lovely cottage-turned-restaurant in Pasadena. With it’s small warm rooms, dark wooden floors, and twinkle lights at every turn, it was THE absolute perfect place to be cozied up on a drizzly evening!

A wedding is a wonderful celebration of a new life together, but the experience that comes from years of marriage, of raising children together, of experiencing the ups & downs – brought a whole other level of emotion to the day. The gratitude and love that flowed through their words during the ceremony was palpable. After the dinner that followed, Chris surprised Gina with a slideshow of photos from her childhood, including those of her father who had passed away earlier this year. This was followed by a “father-daughter” dance that involved Chris lifting up and dancing with their daughter Jade. And just as they ended, Gina slipped off her shoes for her surprise to Chris, an amazing Hawaiian dance with beautiful flowing movements that spoke of her love.

Gina and Chris – thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your beautiful & intimate celebration!

The gorgeous arrangements & bouquets were all done by Gina’s sister. Love the blooms tucked into teapots and sugar bowls! Each table included a photo that spelled out “love” in a different language – simple, creative, and perfect.

The beautiful figurines were gifts given by Chris to Gina on their 1st and 2nd anniversaries:

Where did this year go? It flew by in a flash and yet somehow was filled with so many fantastic moments. 2009 was our first full year of business and I cannot believe how it panned out. At this time last year, I had 2 weddings booked for 2009 and you can probably imagine the lament-fest I was going through daily (“What if these are the only 2 weddings I have for the whole year? What if these are the only 2 weddings I have EVER AGAIN???”)

But January came and so did the emails. And in February came more. And now at the end of the year I can hardly believe how fortunate we have been to meet and work with so many amazing people. Clients who are now friends, who are supporters, who are some of the most warm and loving people I have come to know in this life. Photographers who are not competition, but comrades, who will give you advice late at night, who are happy to see you succeed, and other amazing vendors who offer both encouragement and inspiration. I want everyone to know that this year was shaped by you (yes, YOU!) and it is because of your support that 2009 has been so fantastic.

I am planning to release a post early next year with The Story, of how I got from being an utterly confused post-grad on the brink of applying to law school, to waking up every day to a job I love. I have been meaning to do such a post for a long time and have been piecing it together little by little. It may be a tad long, but I definitely want to document it here so I can come back to it every year and remember how it all started.

But for now, please enjoy the year in photos, some of my favorite moments from 2009. Happy new year and see you in 2010!

I love the holidays. I love candy canes and sparkly lights and piney-smelling trees and colorful wrapping paper and “A Christmas Story” 24-hour marathons on TV. But I don’t love how somehow, no matter how much I prepare for it, Christmas sneaks up on me every year. I’m always still recovering from the massive stuffing-induced food coma of Thanksgiving and then BAM! one week to Christmas. And in 7 days, I must get a tree, and deck the halls, and eat 18 days worth of chocolates from the advent calendar, and listen to as much KOST-Your-Official-Holiday-Music-Station as my brain can handle, and go out and battle all the other Christmas procrastinators for holiday gifts. I seriously have been planning all year to do 100% of my holiday shopping on Etsy from the comfort of my living room couch, but yet again, crafty Christmas and online holiday deadlines have duped me. But have no fear blog world – Christmas 2010 will be different! I can’t tell you exactly what my plan is, but it has something to do with finding a lot that sells Christmas trees in July ;)

There is one more Christmas activity on the list that I admit I had hoped to start earlier. Last year, Chris+Lynn Photographers started up a “Cans for Comments” drive as a way to give back during the holidays. I was one of many photogs who jumped on the can-wagon & by the time the holidays came around, Cans for Comments had spread like wildfire in the photography community! I loved the response I got on this little blog last year and am happy to announce we will be at it again!

For all comments left between now and December 31st, I will be donating 1 can per comment to our local foodbank. Thank you so much to everyone who participated last year & looking forward to your lovely comments this year!

And because I would never leave you without a photo, here’s a quick one of a sweet favor from the Urbanic holiday party earlier this month. Sugarcube Press was there with their letterpress, helping everyone manually letterpress their own ornaments!