A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to photograph the wedding of a friend’s sister. I work with Basheer on occasion to photograph some amazing corporate gatherings of the brightest minds in Silicon Valley, and on this occasion I was lucky enough to photograph his sister Rukhsa’s wedding. We started off at the St. Regis residences, where the bride was getting ready. I love love the details and color of Indian weddings! Look at that gorgeous bracelet below. She had a whole array of gorgeous jewels laid out!

Gorgeous bride, and the red lips really set off her bridal look.  She also wore these gorgeous red heels dripping with jewels!

After the bride was all ready, we hoped into the limo with Kamram for a few minutes of  portraits before the ceremony. We didn’t have much time, so we chose to take advantage of theYerba Buena Gardens park right across the street, which turned out to be a perfect little spot!

This is one of my favorite portraits. First you see Rukhsa’s gorgeous eyes and then Kamran smiling in the background.

Then we hopped back into the limo to get to the ceremony back at the St. Regis Hotel.

Guests arriving and greeting each other prior to the ceremony.

The groom’s family made their entrance together while being greeted with rose petals upon their arrival. Then the bride made her entrance with her brother Basheer and two flower girls.

Congratulations to Rukhsa & Kamran!

Kristi and Fred’s gorgeous, gorgeous wedding is currently featured in “For the Bride” magazine. This wedding was full of glorious details from start to finish! I love to photograph color like this, it just pops right off the page. Congratulations to Kristi & Fred!

Kathleen & Dave had a gorgeous new year’s eve wedding and Geoff & I had the honor of photographing every moment. We started off in Kathleen’s suite at the Omni Hotel in San Francisco. It was a perfectly elegant setting for a bride to get  ready, and I love the rich red wallpaper in the background. Her floral designer& event planner, Isabella of Florabella did a stunning white bouquet for Kathleen, it was so fragrant and I loved the textures. I’m not usually a fan of white bouquets, but this one was really spectacular!

Kathleen & Dave had a “first look” meeting in the bridal suite, and then we headed out to do portraits. With the wedding ceremony at 6pm, portraits beforehand was a great choice.

We went to Presideo Park, which is a great location for portraits. Kathleen went for classic tastes with pearl bridal set and white bouquet. She looks gorgeous!

Since it was a bit chilly on the last day of December, Kathleen’s mom made this FABULOUS wrap to go with Kathleen’s dress. It was ivory on the outside, and then a very soft beige on the inside, with a clever loophole to keep it from slipping off the shoulders.

The ceremony was held at Old Saint Mary’s in San Francisco. I love this church, it’s a great space to photograph in, and they are pretty lenient with photographers. We were able to photograph from the balcony as well, which gives a wonderful overall shot below.

And they are married!

After the ceremony, we headed to the Julia Morgan Ballroom, where Kathleen and Dave were able to enjoy a nice cocktail hour with their guests since we’d gotten all the portraits done beforehand. Julia Morgan ballroom can be very difficult to capture – it’s dark and the intricate ceiling and flooring can overpower the details. Kathleen and David chose good lighting, and the heavy cloths and the texture-heavy flowers and place settings really help counteract that. Instead of being lost in the room, the whole setting looks rich.

Cake is from Jen’s Cakes, and was perfectly suited to the theme of the evening.

The lighting, which is essential for a location like this, was done Everything Audio Visual and they did a fantastic job.

Kathleen and Dave had a surprise birthday cake brought out for this little guy, celebrating his new year’s eve birthday at the wedding.

At the stroke of midnight, the happy couple found each other for a New Year’s Eve midnight kiss. I got one from Geoff too. Sometimes I just get carried away by all the romance surrounding me! Congratulations to Kathleen & Dave!

We were so pleased to work with Jean Marks of Jean Marks Weddings and Gloria Wong of Gloria Wong Design on Dianna & Andrew’s wedding. Everything turned out so gorgeous, and Elena is just finishing up their wedding album. Congratulations everyone!

For the holidays, we always get together with Geoff’s family and mine. Some years here in California, other years in Canada, but we always keep the same traditions no matter where we are.  This year everyone came to California, his parents and one sister Hailey from Australia and two sisters, Tara and Becky came from Toronto. Becky AKA as Rebecca to the rest of the world, brought her boyfriend Bryan home to “meet the family.” What a sweetheart! We could not have picked out a better guy for her. These two were so sweet together, and on Bryan’s last day here, Geoff and I decided to do a mini photo session for the two of them.  We only had about 20 minutes, and usually that is how long it takes for people to get relaxed and warmed up in front of the camera. Becky & Bryan had such incredible chemistry, they needed no warm up!

I think this is my favorite image from the session.

I love the ruffle on Becky’s skirt!

These were taken out front of one of our favorite San Francisco restaurants, Ti Couz. This is the most divine place for crepes, hot cocoa, and a do-it-yourself lemonade. Yum!

We had a small crowd of hecklers during the session (Geoff’s other 2 sisters actually) so after we were done with Becky & Bryan, I took some shots of Geoff with his three sisters Tara, Hailey and Rebecca. Hope to get those posted soon. After the session, we went to Ti Couz for Bryan’s farewell dinner. Until next time…

Joy & Jason’s gorgeous and delicious wedding cake by  A Piece of Cake Bakery was featured on the cover of Wedding Cakes magazine.  I love the twinkle lights in the background, this is a gorgeous image. Thanks Kelvin!