We were pleased to find one of our images from PeiPei & Calvin’s wedding at the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood Shores in the Knot magazine’s annual Best of Weddings. This is our second year in a row to be included in their “Best of” issue, and we are thrilled for PeiPei & Calvin to have their dessert buffet serve as an inspiration to other brides and grooms out there. While I have personally given up dessert buffets, I still enjoy photographing them, and I think dessert buffets are a great way to surprise and delight your guests. Or go with a candy bar, add cellophane bags, and you’ve got a fun DIY favor station. I should do a blog post soon featuring candy bars and dessert buffets. Yummy…

As you know, I love reading and have recently joined a used book club that allows members to mail off books to other members when they are finished with them, and to create a list of requested books to be sent to you when available. It’s called www.paperbackswap.com and I highly recommend it for those of you who love to read and get tired of spending $100 or more every trip to Barnes & Noble to pick up a few potentially good paperbacks. I refuse to go to my local library as you have to pay to park, even just to return a book, as they keep the return locked during the day which is a great inconvenience to me. And they never ever have books I want, so I have to pay to request each book. I would love to use the local library, but it’s just too much of a hassle for me.

I’m still very much enjoying the historical fiction genre. Lately I have read & enjoyed “The Russian Concubine”, “The Constant Princess” “I Capture the Castle” and “The Birth of Venus.” All of these have female heroines. “The Constant Princess” by Phillipa Gregory was probably my favorite from the batch, about one of the wives of Henry VIII. “The Russian Concubine” was great too, about a young Russian girl living in China. I’ve just ordered another one by that author, Kate Furnivall called “The Red Scarf” and I’m considering another novel by Sarah Dunant, (author of The Birth of Venus) called “Mapping the Edge” so if you have read that one, please let me know if you recommend it! “I capture the Castle” is a sweet, light read about a young girl who lives with her poor family in a rundown old castle in 1940’s England.

I’m not big on non-fiction lately, but I did very much enjoy a couple of personal accounts recently. A friend had recommended ‘Kabul Beauty School” which is about an American woman who goes to Afghanistan and opens a beauty school to teach women a skill to support themselves and their families. She encounters a great deal of resistance along the way, and it is fascinating to hear her story and how she persevered. “Shattered Dreams” is the story of a woman from a fundamentalist Mormon family who feels compelled by her own beliefs to live her life as a polygamist. I’ve been personally curious about the history and dynamics of polygamy since I’ve gotten hooked on this HBO show called “Big Love” about a modern polygamist family. What was so interesting about the book is that the woman wasn’t “brainwashed” or forced into it, she was actually in love with a young man as a teenager, and her mother tried to talk her out of it, but she felt it was her religious calling to be a polygamist. It was an incredibly difficult life, due to the poverty that is practically unavoidable for polygamists who have multiples wives and children but only a single income, which is often meager. These people were dirt poor, and yet they just kept on adding babies and wives, and their lives became more and more unsustainable. The narrator was reduced to wearing clothing made from flour sacks and going hungry most days, or scrounging & begging for rotten fruit and vegetables. And then there were the constant jealousies between the various wives. It was really a heartbreaking story, but fascinating.

A couple of general women’s fiction novels I’ve read lately are “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and “The Pilot’s Wife” both light & enjoyable reads. I actually preferred “The Pilot’s Wife” and will be reading more by Anita Shreve soon. “The Time Traveler’s Wife” was also really good, but there were a few loose ends that I never felt were wrapped up. However, I am looking forward to the movie set to be released later this summer.

Now, for a few I didn’t really get through. “Lying on the Couch” a novel about a psychiatrist and his patients (I thought that would be interesting to hear what goes on in therapy sessions, but I just got bored with it). I also tried to read “Revolutionary Road” but couldn’t get past the 50’s style language. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’m sure I will enjoy that when it comes out on DVD soon.

Well, that’s it for now. We are still in St. Lucia for a few more days, so I’m going to squeeze in a few more books before we leave. Please send recommendations!!!

Today all 3 photographers, myself, Geoff & Kelvin are heading to St. Lucia to photograph a wedding. Geoff & I are going as guests actually! It is one of Geoff’s best friends getting married, and he hired Kelvin to photograph the wedding so Geoff & I could enjoy the celebration as guests. We are taking the opportunity to have another photo session with Kelvin like we did at the wedding we all photographed in Turks and Caicos in 2007.

Our friends are getting married on a beautiful beach in the Caribbean, surrounded by close friends and family. I am so excited!

We will be out of the office for a week, but our Studio Manager is in the office, so feel free to contact her while we are gone.

Geoff & I got to photograph baby Liam recently, and I must say, he is absolutely the cutest baby of ALL TIME! Look at those chubby cheeks! The smile! Those eyes! I can’t help myself. He’s just so cute! And sweet! Liam is just 7 months old, and already he is a huge flirt! After some time in the studio we went to a local park. 2 hours was not enough time with Liam! However, his parents promised to bring him back every 6 months or so, and we will document each and every wonderful stage as Liam grows.

Some quality time with dad…

I recently met a woman in the wedding industry, Denise Fattal (Silver Creek Valley Country Club) who also runs a bone marrow organization called Fattal Foundation. Having received a bone marrow donation herself, she is spreading the word about the need to register, and organizes an annual fundraiser called a Celebration of Life at the SCVCC on November 7^th.

 And the very next day I heard from another friend, Stacie Tamaki of  The Flirty Guide that she is launching a campaign to help find a donor for her cousin who is in desperate need of a stem cell transplant. Helping Tami is the website you can go to and find out more.

I have always wanted to register for the bone marrow program, and inspired by these 2 women, I decided to finally do something about it. I looked online and found National Marrow Donor Program to get more information. To my surprise, a bone marrow registration drive was happening just 2 blocks from my house, and last week I went and joined. It was so easy, all I did was swap some saliva from my mouth. And now you can even order a kit by mail and do the test at home. It’s so simple. Click here to request a home test kit

The need for mixed race and Asian people is especially high. Once you give your sample, your information is entered into a national database, which is checked by doctors every day. When matches are not found in time, people die. Can you imagine the incredible gift of being able to save someone’s life? Yes, there is some discomfort and pain if you are found to be a match and go ahead with the donation, but wouldn’t you agree to some mild pain and discomfort for a few days to save a dying child or mom, someone’s brother?

Please check out the links and get more information. Once you register, it can take a few months for a match to be made, so the sooner the better.

Quietly tucked away in Los Gatos,Nestldown is a magical place that most people have never heard of. It is one of the most beautiful locations for weddings in the Bay Area. It’s a privately owned property that feels like a magic forest, and they employ a team of full-time gardeners to keep the place in pristine condition. There’s a koi pond, an outdoor lawn, a ceremony setting, a fantasy garden a barn for dancing, and a bridal suite for getting ready. It’s just breathtaking. Hopefully you can get a sense for it through some photos of weddings we have photographed at Nestldown over the past few years.

There is a lovely garden off to the side of the bridal suite where we typically do some pre-ceremony bridal portraits and sometimes a private meeting between the bride and groom. As a photographer, it is truly ideal, as there is shade everywhere so any time of day works well.

There’s a hill to walk down to the ceremony area and signage directing guests to the “chapel.”

A lot of caterers will set up a refreshment station for guests heading down to the chapel. It’s a very nice touch.

The rental includes these nice white wood chairs for the ceremony, and they photograph beautifully.

The bride enters from a long stairway up the hillside, and it is a very dramatic and gorgeous way to make an entrance!

Grooms can enter this way as well. I love it when the groom enters from the aisle with his family as well, it just really sets the tone as an important family event.

Typically we split up to photograph both the bride’s entrance from the back and the groom’s expression when he first sees her. The one to the right is an infrared, which works really well when there are lots of trees, it gives the image a magical look to it.

The setting itself is so romantic, it doesn’t need much in terms of decor. It has such a natural beauty, there’s no need.

Here’s Christine and Andy, they were so happy and giggly throughout the ceremony, Andy stopped several times to grab kisses from Christine, right in the middle of the ceremony!

Right after the ceremony, guests head back up the pond area and mill about for cocktail hour. It’s the type of place where you just want the cocktail hour to go on for a few hours, guests are so relaxed and enjoy wandering around.

I could go for a mojito right now…

There are so many great places for portraits, as it is gorgeous in every direction. We just take a little walk with the couple and then sit them down in different settings for a few moments of private time. It doesn’t feel like posing at all. It might feel like making out though. Most of our couples are OK with a few minutes of making out on the wedding day.

When you need a break from all the kissing, just hanging out with each other works well too.

Now on to the reception possibilities at Nestldown. There’s the outdoor lawn, or meadow as I prefer to think about it. That is definitely the top choice is the weather is cooperative. It’s so incredibly pleasant outdoors, and it has a very special feeling from a more standard ballroom setting. Because you have the gorgeous outdoors at Nestldown, the need for decor is minimal. I’ve seen some great do-it-yourself styling as well. There are usually some type of flowers blooming, which create lots of color in the background.

Indoors, the dinner is served in the barn. Again, you get these lovely white wood chairs, and the decor is otherwise kept fairly simple.

The staff will build a fire for you if desired, and it creates a very cozy feel. They will often have a firepit outdoors as well.

Usually the cake cutting and dancing takes place in the barn, so at some point it always moves inside.

We like to photograph the first dance from the loft for a second perspective.

And then the party begins!

All in all, this is definitely one of the top venues in the Bay Area, and definitely one to consider. It’s one of our favorite places!

For new weddings booked during the month of April, you will receive a booking bonus of a $400 print credit. Hopefully this will offset the increase in California sales tax this month. This offer applies to all new weddings booked during the period of April 1–30th, 2009. So get your booking taken care of ASAP!

We are heading off to Irish Beach for a little spring break family getaway. Irish beach is our very favorite place to spend a few days relaxing and recharging our batteries. Sadly for you, we still have no photos whatsoever, as we are so very very relaxed (and in our pajamas with bedhead) while there. However, I suggest you check it yourself, the website is Irish Beach and we’ve looked at all the houses they rent, but our personal favorite is the Ashton House. I love the panoramic views from almost every room, and there is a big comfy chair in its own little nook, which is where I spend most of my time when not in the hot tub or napping. When we get back, I’ll update my reading list. Paperback Swap is still going strong, and I’ve gotten and sent all sorts of great books.

I recently photographed the intimate wedding of Morgan and Ryan out at the Cliff House in San Francisco. Their ceremony took place while overlooking a gorgeous sunset, and the ceremony itself was “short and sweet”  perhaps the shortest I’ve ever photographed! There was a nice breeze blowing at the time, and Morgan and Ryan provided blankets for their guests to snuggle in during the ceremony. The weather was gorgeous.

What a perfect bustle! Morgan’s dress was so elegant, yet classic.

What a day. I love the expression on his face as he escorts Morgan down the aisle. Pure pride and joy.

After the ceremony I overheard the bride saying she could have just stood like that forever, looking into Ryan’s eyes.

And they’re married!

This is one of my favorite shots, right after the ceremony. They were just so, so happy. It was contagious!

One of the best things about the private dining room at the Cliff House is all the windows along the wall. So much light comes into the room, it’s really nice.

Another one of my favorites. They just look so happy!