Jessica + Chris // The Olympic Club, SF

Classic, timeless, and "quintessentially San Francisco" best describes Jessica and Chris's wedding at the Olympic Club, and I've been missing this day, this couple, and those burger dogs ever since (if you know, you know)...

It has been awhile since I've shot an indoor wedding, and this particular venue boasted ceiling to floor windows, offering the best San Francisco views that showcased the familiar, beloved fog we have all grown to love. The venue, as objectively striking as it is, is not what I'm excited about on this day. It's getting to tell the story of Chris and Jessica through my lens, a couple who I have loved and admired since the day I got their first email (which naturally feels like forever ago because Covid+rescheduled weddings).

I have been doing this long enough to know that you can learn so much about a couple through the speeches of friends and family members at these weddings. It comes as no surprise, but it was unanimous that this couple is so loved beyond measure by their community and every speech was testimony to their thoughtful, selfless, and loving personalities. From beginning to end, these two were so amazing to work with, ending every email and tackling every "covid wedding planning" obstacle by saying, "thank you for sticking with us through this mess". I'm definitely the lucky one though.

Cheers to such a lovely, special couple who I missed immediately after this day was over.

Hailey + Alex // Santa Rosa Airbnb Wedding

You know you're getting old when some of the client inquiries that show up in your inbox are from kids that you used to babysit, and now they are full blown ENGAGED adults, asking if you will be their wedding photographer. This was absolutely the case with this outrageously stunning microwedding I recently shot for Hailey and Alex, and I may or may not have seen Hailey since she was an actual child who was begging to stay up past her bedtime.

Nothing could have prepared me for how beautiful this day was. Hailey had previously sent me the address to this airbnb they were getting married at, and while the pictures were stunning, seeing it in person was an entirely different experience. It was dream home status. And in so many ways, it felt like my dream venue to shoot a wedding in. I walked in that house, and truly felt like I knew exactly what story I wanted to tell, and got straight to work on capturing such a gorgeous, unforgettable wedding day.

Not only did I get a "unicorn venue" opportunity on this day, but I also had the BEST, "do your thing, we trust you!" kind of clients on this day. Hailey and Alex were so warm and inviting, and they were completely comfortable with taking direction and they really just let me geek out in that house and with that light, and with all the shadows and textures we found along the way. They booked me for two hours on this day, and I feel like we made some real 'team magic', and in record time.

With things opening back up and full weddings starting to resume, I sure hope these microweddings stick. I have come to love these intimate gatherings and the stress-free vibes that follow, and the timeline feels so organic on these days. Cheers to these two for creating a dream wedding under some not-so-ideal conditions, and to Hailey for remembering that her vintage babysitter is a wedding photographer.

Emily + Ryan // Oakland Micro Wedding

Oh, weddings, how I've missed you so. I've been a wedding photographer for the last seven years, and while I've been madly in love with my job and the opportunities and people it has brought into my life since the very beginning, I never knew I would miss it THIS MUCH after just six months of not being able to do it. We are all more than our jobs, but for me, photography has always been my outlet, and a way for me to still tap into who I am as a creative, and let's be honest...a break from stay at home mom life.

While 99% of my weddings have been rescheduled for next year, a few clients have been interested in keeping their wedding date, but pivoting from "large gathering" to a small, intimate ceremony with just family and a few friends. I've been calling these "micro weddings", and Ryan and Emily were the first of my clients to plan one, and it definitely brought on all the feels. If this is what weddings will look like for the unforeseeable future, I. AM. HERE. FOR. IT.

You may remember Ryan and Emily from this forest engagement session. This was the first time I had met them in person, and they felt like old friends by the end of the session. On the day of their Oakland micro wedding, we laughed (cried?) about how much life has changed since we last saw each other, only six months prior, and then focused on the beautiful day they planned, with 13 of their closest supporters as witnesses. While everyone was wearing masks and remaining six feet apart, it held just as much meaning as any large wedding I've shot in the past, and for a moment in time, or rather, for a moment in the last six months, I temporarily forgot about the pandemic, and felt like my old self, doing what I love: documenting love.

Thank you to this couple for still figuring out a way to let me tell a REALLY INTERESTING part of your story that none of us will ever forget (and thank you for giving me a reason to wear an actual outfit for the third time in 2020).

Nika & Patrick // Preservation Park Wedding

Back when I first spoke with Nika on the phone about wedding photography, she casually mentioned that their wedding theme was basically Coachella. "Uh, CONTINUE", I remember saying, feeling instantly excited about the prospect of shooting something eclectic, and opposite of traditional. As Nika and I continued to gush about her and Patrick's wedding, I learned that they had first met at Coachella, "back before it got popular", and that they wanted to emulate a festival vibe with wide-ranging food and drink vendors, and for it to a completely interactive experience with all of their favorite people. That was the vision I heard back during our phone call over a year ago, and what actually transpired on Nika and Patrick's wedding day far exceeded my already-high expectations. Their wedding "venue", Preservation Park, was a recreation of an old, Victorian neighborhood, and yielded the absolute best space when pulling off a festival-themed wedding. I was especially impressed with how they nailed the "interactive" part of their wedding vision, and I loved watching their wedding guests drift from the food trucks, to the bar cart featuring handcrafted cocktails, to the flower crown bar, to the photobooth, and to the merch and swag tent, and not ever really sitting down because there was so much fun to be had. Both Patrick and Nika were so completely calm throughout this entire day, and I loved that by virtue of having a laid back, easy-going wedding, they got to be present for each other, and enjoy every single minute with their greatest supporters. I'm still wide-eyed and smiling from this day, and grateful to have been trusted to document the true uniqueness of this wedding. Congratulations to this amazing couple who gave me one of the best work days I've ever known.Venue: Preservation ParkPlanning: Make It MarikoFlorals: Juna AlineaFood Trucks: Senor Sisig, Taqueria Angelicas, Lil Green CycloDessert: Boba Guys, Hookt DonutsBar: Bar Car SfLighting: Gatsby ENT GroupPhotobooth: Say Ya PhotoboothRentals: Bright Event Rentals

Ryan & Lev // Felton Guild Wedding

From lavish castle weddings in Sweden, to art warehouses in San Francisco, to intimate backyard weddings in the middle of nowhere, I am game for IT ALL and I'm continually impressed with how my couples piece together the most exquisite day that is unique to them, and how flawlessly they make it their very own. Ryan and Lev's forest wedding is no exception to this, and their friend/family reunion+backyard brunch theme immediately spoke to me the second I got their inquiry. Coming from a not-totally-structured person, I always feel so creatively empowered when I come across clients like Ryan and Lev who just gift me their trust, and completely let me do my thing in the background. They asked what time I'd like show up, they gave me a family shot list, and the rest we winged as a team (which included trampling through the back area of this forest and finding some sort of slightlllllllly creepy yurt). I left this wedding day and thought to myself, "I wish I could stay longer and eat pie all night with this couple and all of their guests". This wedding especially highlighted how important it is for me to have a connection with my couples, and I feel so grateful to still be doing my "thing" in a way that continues to feel authentic and genuine. Watching these two take a laid back approach to wedding planning was so inspiring, and truly yielded the kind of day where they got to hang out and be present for all of their biggest supporters. Cheers to these two lovely human beings, and thank you for having me (and being A-OKAY with that creep-tastic forest session).

Liz & Schuyler // Marin Engagement Session

It's not every day you get clients who willing to brave their fear of heights and climb a borrowed ladder (from the fishermen down below) for your "vision"...that's why you make your friends do it instead. Meet Liz and Schuyler- dear friends of mine who volunteered to be my gorgeous bridge trolls for the first half of this engagement session, and made my "under a random bridge" vision come true. Being a new-ish Marin county resident, I am constantly on the lookout for potential engagement session locations, and I often times drive aimlessly to scout for these perfect, coveted spots. The bridge location was perfect for engagement session victims Liz and Schuyler, but also totally precarious, not 100%  foolproof, and required a ladder resource, and me climbing on top of my car, and posting up there for a solid 25 minutes while we both nervously+confidently completed the first segment of this session. There may or may not have been bird-poop galore up there, but these two were total champs and braved the less than ideal conditions (and subsequent vertigo), and my "under a bridge" engagement session dreams were completely realized. We ended our session at another location I have never used before, and I had hoped it would yield the highly sought-after "golden hour" we were racing to achieve. When you have friends for clients, you can really just say, "Go frolic in that field!" or sing, Puddle Of Mudd's "With Arms Wide Open" during their session, and they know exactly how to be themselves, in front of you. Completely and wholeheartedly honored to capture these two being blissfully in love, and beyond excited to do it all again on the Big Day, 2019!

Lea & Max // Presidio Engagement Session

I may be in the thick of wedding season and dreaming in first looks and ring shots, but I will always crave these beloved engagement sessions, and they always provide the calm I need in between packed wedding weekends. Beyond having the creative freedom to select unique locations and set the general vibe for these engagement sessions, they also yield the perfect opportunity for all of us to get to know each other, and allow the right space to inquire about each others life, and I will never tire of learning how all these amazing couples have found each other.Lea and Max are new clients, yet felt like old friends about five minutes into this session, and their sweet energy was almost palpable. We met up for this session at one of my favorite, hidden spots that I found on complete accident during a past San Francisco wedding, and it never fails to disappoint or photograph completely differently, depending on the season (it's the perfect mash-up of both beautiful nature and slightly creepy Snow White forest). The more we got to talking, the less I had to coach them through any posed shots, and their organic chemistry was so easy to capture the less I intervened. My engagement sessions are always one hour long, yet I couldn't stop documenting these two, and I secretly-now-openly could have captured them until the natural light left us completely that day.Cheers to these two incredible humans on their engagement, and thank you for allowing me the creative space to capture your love exactly how I saw it on this day.

Whitney & Alex // Nestldown Wedding

Once upon a time (aka last year), I was chatting with a photographer friend Jessica, and I was telling her about the time I thought it was a good idea to have a bunch of booked weddings close to/around my due date of May 2017. This is also when I learned that Jessica was currently pregnant and in the same predicament with booked weddings that I was in last year, and I did my best to support her and advise against the stress I put myself through leading up to my due date. Long story short, this is how I inherited this lovely couple, and how I wound up at this unicorn of a wedding venue, and I kind of feel like I owe Jessica my second born child for giving me this wedding day and this stunning couple (although she just had her baby...probably not the best thing to gift her at this moment).Whitney and Alex's wedding day was something out of an actual, real-life fairytale (FernGully, to be exact). The morning of their wedding day started with unexpected scattered showers, and instead of it working against us or hindering my work environment, the fresh rain added the right amount of dew to the surrounding landscape, and I loved the pockets of subdued light we were able to find. Beyond the stunning property, both Whitney and Alex had the calmest energy, and I'll never forget seeing them together for the very first time during their First Look, and how their chemistry was almost electric. Although they hardly knew me, they didn't let that stop them from being wholeheartedly themselves in front of the camera, and their bliss was the easiest thing in the world to capture.Cheers to this incredible couple, and thank you for letting me be a part of your genuinely magical day. P.S. Do fairies live on this property? NEED TO KNOW.Special thanks to all the incredible vendors who helped to make this day even more magical:Catering: Poetry in Motion CateringFloral: Apis Floral Videographer: Steelhead CinemaDJ/Band: Los Gatos DJHair: Cynthia JacobMakeup: Doreen RosasCake/Desserts: Icing on the Cake

Courtney & Erick//Rancho Victoria Vineyard Wedding

After a rough past month of enduring a total website crash and losing every.single.blog.post. I've ever written, I'm finally done weeping about it, and ready to get back to gushing about the weddings I've been shooting this season, and the incredible people I've been meeting along the way. Courtney and Erick, beyond being two of the kindest human beings I think I've ever known, had an absolute breathtaking, flawless wedding day with so many fun, vivid colors and a zillion other details that I am still daydreaming about. The sweeping views of the local vineyards and sprawling hillside made for an unreal backdrop, and they couldn't have been more at ease, even after I pressured them to climb up a fence while wearing the opposite of climbing-attire. I love how they incorporated their Mexican culture with details like a live mariachi band, authentic Mexican food, and a churro station that guests literally RAN over to (just kiddding, it was me), and the succulent cupcakes were something out of Willy Wonka's factory. I may or may not have to ice my feet after a long wedding day, but boy is it always worth it when you get to work with total sweethearts like Courtney and Erick, who make you miss their wedding even just one day after it's over.Special thanks to all the (extremely) talented vendors who turned this day into a visual masterpiece:Venue: Rancho Victoria VineyardPlanner: Jenn Robirds EventsRentals/decor: Tin Roof FarmhouseLinens: La TovolaFlorals: Thistle & HoneyCake: Go West BakingBride's Hair: Tina RomoBride's Makeup: Shana Beals