Robyn & Jason were married at Nestldown on a warm summer day, surrounded by friends and family.Their nature inspired theme fit perfectly with the outdoorsy environment, and Kelvin & Sarah were there to capture it all.  The ceremony took place in the grotto, cocktails up by the barn, and then dinner served on the lawn by none other than Thomas John Events.

Bride’s makeup by Jenna of Lux Agency and the florals are from Karen Baba of Plan Decor. Robyn kept her look light and natural, which perfectly complimented her dress.

Sarah captured this gorgeous image of the bride. Robyn’s choice of flowers in her hair is perfect for an outdoor wedding.

Touches of periwinkle accent the bouquets and lend a touch of color. The soft tones of the periwinkle and ivory really compliment the outdoor environment. Keeping the accessories to a minimum really suits the style of the wedding.

Ivory suits are perfect for a summer’s day. The periwinkle ties pull everything together.

Sarah spent some time exploring Nestldown and captured lots of little images of the landscaping and closeups of ferns, clover etc that really give you a little bit of a sense of what it is like to be there. If you haven’t been, you should definitely experience Nestldown. As I have said before…magical.

The bride entered from the stairway with her father, seeing Jason for the first time.

And they are married!

Nestldown is a photographer’s paradise. Every time you discover another little nook or hidden grove.

Escort cards displayed in wheat grass and succulents. The color matched linens really add to the overall look.

Wood was one of the natural elements Robyn & Jason featured in their wedding decor. Love these wood Mr. & Mrs. signs for the bride and groom table! Below is their couple’s initials carved into the birch centerpieces.

How cute is this wood cutout couple for a cake topper? Lots of D-I-Y touches.

Thomas John Events always impresses…great presentation and wonderful flavors.

strawberry and lemon flavored cupcakes. Yum!

Congratulations Robyn & Jason!

I recently had the pleasure of photographing and engagement session for Michelle & Chris at Stanford. What a blast, this couple literally had me laughing the entire time!  Their destination wedding is coming up next month at the Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay, and we are thrilled to be working with planner Rebecca Reategui together on what is sure to be a fabulous wedding celebration.

Prior to the shoot, Michelle had a quick glam session at Thi Cosmetics in Palo Alto. It’s a great way to make sure you are looking and feeling your best prior to the shoot. And I love how their color tones compliment each other and the setting so well.

Towards the end of the session we photographed over at the fountain, and I think those shots are my favorites. I just love the way Michelle is looking at Chris, very sweet!

Congratulations Michelle & Chris, looking forward to the big day!

Minji & Wayne planned the most amazing celebration for their wedding at Villa Montalvo. It was a wedding that their friends and guests will remember for years to come. It was planned and excuted with such precision that I would suspect Minji & Wayne planned elaborate events every day. It was just beautiful! As photographers, we are so appreciate of a well planned event, and it shows in the images.

Kelvin started the day with Minji and her bridesmaids as they got ready for the day. There was plenty of time allotted to get ready, so there was no need to rush at all.

Minji is a stunning bride, and she’s very comfortable in front of a camera. Kind of a photographer’s dream…

Minji and Wayne planned a private meeting before the ceremony, and Wayne presented his bride with a beautiful necklace. Kelvin captured the moment between the couple, and then they proceeded to take care of family portraits, allowing the family to really enjoy the cocktail hour.

And the ceremony begins…

And they are married! On to the celebration…

One of this year’s big trends in wedding attire is the suit instead of a rented tux. This allows the groom and groomsmen to be much more comfortable while playing down the formality and playing up the personality of the groom, allowing for a custom tailored look. Ties are lots of fun and you can play with the colors of the wedding, the bridesmaids dresses or simply reflect something personal to the groom. And really, who can resist a man in a good suit?

Wayne and Minji have a lot of fun adventures in the life together (marathons, rock climbing, etc.) and that playful passion really comes through in the images.

During the cocktail hour, a few musically talented  family members provided some wonderful live music for guests. What a treat!

Minji and Wayne love animals, and Minji especially loves horses. So they incorporated this into their wedding day by arriving to their reception by horse and carriage!

The couple chose to forgo the traditional wedding cake and instead had wedding cupcakes along with a delectable array of desserts to choose from. By the way, since Minji & Wayne are vegan, they arranged to serve all vegan foods and desserts. This is not only a wonderful way to personalize the menu, but it’s also a thoughtful way to share an experience with your friends and family. What a fabulous opportunity to introduce all your closest friends and family to something near and dear to your heart, vegan cuisine? Minji & Wayne had little ways throughout the experience to keep things light and fun, like their little bobble head welcome at the sweets table.

For the first dance, Minji changed into a different dress, and the couple put on quite a sultry dance for their guests. Nice way to get the party started…

Congratulations you two, I’m sure this will be the first of many more wonderful celebrations to come!

Emilia & Mark chose Rosewood in Menlo Park at the site of their nuptials, celebrated with a few close friends. We were thrilled that they asked us to be a part of their celebration.

Kelvin was there to photograph all the joy & emotions between Emilia & Mark-as you can see, these two are in love!

The intimate ceremony was held out the lawn, and then cocktails were served on the patio immediately following. What a gorgeous blue sky.

Emilia chose to skip the traditional look and go for something more fashion forward. I love how the dress is billowing out behind her. And the color is stunning.

The color of the stonework on the building  makes for a great backdrop for some casual portraits. When taking portraits in bright sun, you need to be “creative” in terms of making sure your subjects aren’t squinting or have dark  holes where their eyes should be. Sometimes it works best to have the couple look at each other instead of at the camera, when working in bright sun. It looks like Emilia and Mark didn’t mind too much…

After the ceremony, these two just couldn’t keep their eyes off each other. As photographers, we live for these moments-capturing the joy and love in someone’s eyes. Amazing!

Congratulations Emilia & Mark!

For Verike & Ryan’s engagement session, they had a new location in mind that we had never worked at before. Since we are always up for a challenge, we decided to give this spot a try. WOW! It’s called Moss Beach, and it’s right next door to Half Moon Bay. It’s this very quiet forest area just steps from the beach. Kelvin had a great time photographing this engagement session!

The trees give the setting such a moody, quiet sort of feeling.

You can also include the beach to get a completely different setting for your engagement photos.

It was a bit cold and windy, but Verike snuggled into Ryan for warmth…

Look at Verike’s lavender heels… Nice!

Congrats Verike & Ryan, we are looking forward to your wedding in a few months at the Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay.

If this image was the only one you got to see from Amber & Miguel’s wedding, I think you could safely say you know what their wedding day was all about. Fun, joy, love. A perfect day, you can see it in Amber’s smile. Lucky for us, Kelvin and Sarah captured all the great moments from Amber & Miguel’s day. Wow. What an amazing day. Every moment was absolutely perfect. When I was edited this wedding, I was floored by the images, just one great moment after another. See for yourself…

Amber’s mom and dad helping her put her veil on. These two were tearing up all day long. Beautiful!

Gorgeous bride!

I love the fresh spring colors in Amber’s bouquet. Pinks, purples and greens make a perfect spring statement. And check out the detail on her bridesmaids dresses. That pink bow detail really takes the cake!

And here’s Miguel with his boys, they were hanging out by the pool, having a few laughs. LOVE that tie, by the way…

The ceremony took place at the Church of the Nativity in Woodside. What a gem! This wedding was truly fabulous from start to finish, and usually to pull off that kind of feat, it takes a great team. Amber had some of the best of the best, including Rebecca Reategui and Tapestry Flowers

As Amber came down the aisle, Miguel went back and forth between smiling and tearing up. But then his dad really had the emotions flowing here, and who wouldn’t after seeing his beautiful, loving new daughter in law. The next image taken after this one is of Amber, biting her lip to keep from letting loose. It’s truly an honor to be able to capture these moments in people’s lives.

And the first kiss, they are married!

So cute these two!

These portraits were taken at their reception location, the Palo Alto Golf and Country Club. There are so many great, great portraits it is hard to choose a favorite!

I just love the waterfall here, and the greens are very well manicured.

The quilted diamond pattern in the tablecloths give a very rich look to the tables. Tablecloths really add a lot to your overall wedding decor. They give a great pop of color to the room, and allow for a wow factor no matter the size of the centerpieces.

Amber & Miguel gave out packets of sweet pea seeds as their wedding favor. Not only is this a great way to personalize, it adds a unique and memorable touch to the table.

I just love the fabric used for the cocktail tables. The fuchsia tulips add a feminine, modern touch. Pink, but not too much!

Not only is this a great emotion-filled image, but it’s also lit beautifully. Oh the perfection!

Party time!

Congratulations to you both Amber & Miguel!

Alisha and Arnold had their engagement session with Kelvin recently at the Presidio Park in San Francisco. We hadn’t shot there for a couple of years until Kathleen & Dave’s New Year’s Eve wedding last year. Arnold actually works very close to the park, and so he suggested it as a location for their engagement session. It turned out to be fantastic, with lots of interesting backgrounds and variety. Plus we love it when clients choose meaningful or interesting locations for their sessions. It adds more depth and personalization to the images.

I really like this one a lot, with Alisha and Arnold in shadow, and the burst of light above them…

I bet Alisha gets mistaken for Eva Longoria on occasion…Alisha, you are GORGEOUS! Arnold, you are a lucky man!

That’s the Palace of Fine Arts in the distance…

I just love their playful chemistry.

Alisha and Arnold can do playful and passionate equally well. That comes across beautifully in the images.

Their autumn wedding will be held at Ralston Hall in Belmont, a gorgeous old mansion with lots of Bay Area history. The architecture there is outstanding, and their guests will be delighted to experience Alisha & Arnold’s wedding at such a prestigious location!

Have I mentioned that I covet Alisha’s shoes? So sexy…

Having just one person make eye contact with the camera can be very powerful, and much more interesting than the standard “faces forward and smile” portrait. If you have the ability to vary your expressions a bit, it’s great to have some “quiet” looks, some closed mouth smiles and so forth and it creates more interest in the image. Like the image above, you are drawn to it more than if Alisha had a big smile on her face. This one keeps you guessing…

And may the force be with you Alisha & Arnold…

Minji & Wayne are engaged, and we had the opportunity to go out and celebrate and document their relationship recently. Kelvin did the honors.  Minji & Wayne chose the Embarcadero area for their engagement session, which turned out to be a fantastic location for an engagement session.  There are so many great spots in this area.

Engagement sessions are all about relaxing and letting your relationship shine. Look at those easy smiles!

These two had no problem being themselves in front of the camera. Great chemistry! In the distance you can see the Transamerica building.

I like their outfits, casual but nice. And that amethyst color in Minji’s blouse is really nice.

Love that ceiling inside the Ferry Building. Looks like they had the place to themselves! Great architectural details all around the building. It’s a great place to photograph.

You can see the playful side of a relationship come out like this.

I really love this image. It has a certain quietness to it, but at the same time powerful.

Look at that AMAZING sunset. This is one of the favorites from the session.  You don’t get to see those colors every day.

Congratulations on your engagement Minji & Wayne, we can’t wait for the wedding!

Jaclyn and Mike had an absolute fairytale wedding. Everything was perfect. I was really excited to photograph this wedding, because the couple is so sweet and happy, that I just knew it was going to be one of those perfect days. Everything was done right, even down to the shoes!

We started out at Jaclyn’s mom’s home. Jaclyn got ready in her old room, which was pristine and completely lacked clutter. Jaclyn was absolutely glowing from the inside and out. She was soo happy, it was infectious. This wedding was just such a pleasure to photograph. Jaclyn radiated warmth and joy all day long, and it seemed that there was no stress, everyone was just super happy. It’s true, Susan! (Susan is my most faithful blog reader, and can not believe how many of our brides are relaxed and happy on their wedding day). Amazing!

Aubrie headed over to the church to grab some groom’s portraits before the ceremony. When possible, this is a great way to get some really nice photos for the groom’s family, and it takes the pressure off the family photos after the ceremony, when some of them have already been taken care of.  I love this one of Mike with his mom looking on. Mike has a very classic, retro style. He wore a classic tux with white bow tie and vest. He didn’t go too formal, though, did you see those cool shoes?

Inside the church, Jaclyn had the pews decorated with fresh bouquets of orange and green flowers, by Fiori. That’s going to be a big trend this year-the orange and green color combo. And doesn’t the flower girl look adorable? Aubrie was able to capture this from the balcony.

This day was about family. Jaclyn received a kiss from her grandfather before meeting Mike at the alter.

The lighting at this church was fantastic, all those stained glass windows let lots of natural light stream in.

One of the things I noticed throughout the day is that Mike always had his eyes on Jaclyn. I think that’s a really important indication of what type of husband a man will make.

The ring exchange…

Sealed with a kiss, and they are now Mr. and Mrs.!

The bridesmaids had individual black dresses; I think they’ll be wearing those again!

Jacklyn and Mike asked me to stop at a parking lot for some quick portraits on the way to the reception. This just happens to be the place where they had their first kiss, after drinks at the restaurant behind them, nectar. The bride’s simple, yet playful style allows her to relax and be herself on her wedding day, which is really one big family celebration.

The reception was held at the Garden Court in Palo Alto. This was my first time photographing at that location, and it is a gem! There is an inner courtyard area that turns into a great cocktail hour space. Throughout the evening, people wandered out for a drink or a breath of fresh air, it was really nice!

The couple chose a wishing well for their theme, as they got engaged right at the wishing well at Disneyland. The cake was lemon-something, and it was delicious. I had to stop myself from eating Aubrie’s piece too! Cake by Mayfield Bakery. The reception room at the Garden Court Hotel is L shaped, with lots of windows along the wall. This allows for tons of natural light to stream in, and also creates a very indoors/outdoors type of feel.

First dance. I LOVE the image on the right, just going into their final dip and a kiss. So romantic!

Here’s Jaclyn’s mom dancing with her grandfather, the patriarch of the family. In the background is Mike and his mom. Behind them, Jaclyn dancing with Scott, her mom’s boyfriend.

Aubrie captured this hilarious expression from Jaclyn!

Congrats to Jaclyn & Mike!

Jenna and Ryan had a STUNNING wedding in wine country. This couple is SO HOT, I could hardly stand it! This wedding was put together by Cay Lemon of Zest Productions and Cay put together an incredible team to make this wedding a reality. It took place at the Villagio Inn and Spa, and Tapestry Flowers did those gorgeous flowers. Every single detail about this wedding was flawless. Add a super hot couple, and you’ve got yourself a magazine spread!

This wedding is featured in the current issue of Bride & Bloom. Look for Dianna & Andy’s wedding to be featured in the next issue. Congrats to both Jenna & Ryan as well as the amazing vendor team that made this incredible wedding happen!