Emily + Ryan // Marin Engagement

"Redwoods are our favorite backdrop" was the direction Emily and Ryan had given me for their engagement session, and the best part of planning this one was learning that I live only thirty minutes from a Redwood preserve. I was completely unfamiliar with this location and really hoped it would be everything I had imagined, and the moment I stepped foot into the forest, I knew we had found 'The Location'.

While this was the first time I was meeting Emily and Ryan, we jumped into this session with a mutual ease and playfulness and really just had a blast exploring the nature around us, together. They naturally held hands and laughed and flirted, while I continued to be my awkward, third wheel self by documenting their cuteness from afar (and also really up close).

I was so smiley after this session, and ultimately thankful that somewhere in the abyss of wedding photographers, these guys found-then-chose me (and my awful jokes).

Tricia + Patrick // Los Angeles Engagement

I touched on this in my last blog post, but I'm pretty emphatic about the research project behind location scouting for each and every one of my sessions. I eagerly deep dive into the depths of Google image searches and sometimes even just drive aimlessly to find the perfect fit for each and every one of my couples. With that being said, I had this whole Plan A location for this session with Tricia and Patrick that included a national forest just outside of Los Angeles, but at the last minute and with their consent, I changed it up completely, due to too many unknown factors, no super-specific meeting spots, and being deeply anxious that our phones wouldn't work out there (all of my worst nightmares when meeting new people for the first time).

Thankfully, Tricia and Patrick were completely flexible and on board for Plan B, because it yielded the dreamiest location that far exceeded all three of our expectations. I knew that this Los Angeles location had been used in dozens of films and a handful of old Westerns, but I particularly geeked out on the fact that this location featured these iconic, man made caves that were used as the entrance to the Batcave in the original Batman television series. We explored, scaled the side of a canyon, and navigated around a few music videos being made (only in LA), and I have to say, that this was one of the most adventurous sessions I've done, and it was 100% worth facing all the LA traffic to get there.

So thankful for this couple for trusting me completely, and for leaning into this experience with an open mind and a willingness to explore some bat caves(!!!) (and for braving LA traffic). I can't wait for Wedding Day Reunion!

Stephanie + TJ // Sausalito Engagement

Without even doing it intentionally, I am kind of always location scouting for future photography sessions. I'm sure it's a common, unspoken habit among wedding photographers, and I've come to think of it as sort of an art when pairing new clients with locations that I think will best speak to them, and who they are as a couple.

With all of that being said, I have been HOARDING this location in my mind for a long time now, and I have been waiting for the perfect couple to use it. As soon as Stephanie and TJ said they preferred that I take the creative reigns with this engagement session, I knew I had their full trust, and this really gave me the permission to shoot exactly how I wanted to, and at the location I had been daydreaming about for months and months. Beyond their total trust-fall into my vision for this, I also really loved and appreciated how they wanted to look and feel like themselves in these photos, and opted to wear what they normally would on any given day. This added a layer of casualness to this session that worked so incredibly well for our urban setting (and made it that much easier to scale a few walls/rocks when the situation called for it). :)

This was one of my favorite engagement sessions to date, and I have these two brave humans to thank for it. Both showed up with a total willingness to support my ideas, and it made for such a flawless working relationship-turned-instant-friendship by the time we wrapped this session. Cheers to these two on their engagement, let the BIG DAY countdown begin!

Regina + Ben // Land's End Engagement

While January is historically a slower month in the wedding industry, I typically schedule a handful of engagement sessions in this month, and pray to the rain gods to give me some semblance of decent weather to work with. This couple, Regina and Ben, were in town from New York, and we had a dangerously small window to fit this engagement session in before the rain started back up and before they headed back to the East Coast. A clear forecast in San Francisco had us openly celebrating our good luck on this day, and it made our adventurous excursion that much more exhilarating (and manageable).

I had chatted with Regina and Ben on the phone just a few short weeks before this engagement session, and while I loved connecting with them and hearing about their wedding day vision, nothing beat getting to hang with them in person. I loved the "old friends" energy that we collectively created on this day, and I watched any/all camera-shy jitters dissipate only a few minutes into our session.

As we wrapped this session, I headed back to my car feeling so grateful for these opportunities to meet such incredible humans like Regina and Ben within my line of work. Not sure where these two beautiful people came from, but I'm so thankful for the connection, and I can't wait for round two this Fall.

Jess + Doug // Pelican Inn Wedding

In January of 2018, my family and I said goodbye to our favorite little beach town that we called home for the last four years, Half Moon Bay. While we weren't moving far, Marin felt like a different universe, and not one that we were certain we'd fit into. It took a handful of months to settle in, and while we were beginning to feel a bit at home in our new neighborhood, we had wondered if/when we'd ever find a community of our own. Cue somewhere in the middle of 2018, and the universe decided to gift us two of the greatest humans for friends, Doug and Jess.

Getting to know-then-love Doug and Jess has been the absolute highlight of our new-ish Marin life, and I have loved getting to know them as a couple, and also as two completely separate individuals. They are the most gracious and accommodating human beings, and they're just as down to go out to dinner with my husband and I as they are to hang out with our two kids and our massive (and often gassy) dog, and we have never felt anything but completely loved and supported by them. It is no surprise that I nearly starting crying when they asked me to be their wedding photographer, and the extra special bonus was getting to shoot this wedding with my husband on our 6th wedding anniversary. Creating art for the people that you love and with the people you love is absolutely how I prefer to spend my time, and it was truly the least we could do for two people who have been in our corner since day one.

This day was just as magical as it looked, and yielded a true depiction of some of Marin's finest landscapes, while also incorporating so much of Doug and Jess's history. An private hilltop ceremony followed by a small reception at the rustic Pelican Inn made for a truly intimate day, and allowed both Doug and Jess to be present and in the moment with all of their biggest supporters. My husband and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend our 6th wedding anniversary, and we smiled the whole way home when reflecting on Doug and Jess's wedding day.

Cheers to these two beautiful humans, thank you for having us! (p.s. we ate your entire grazing table that night. It was us. )

Cameron & Matt // Sonoma Engagement Session

Often times, the very first time I am meeting new clients is when I arrive at the location of their engagement session. I know it's an unreasonable request to have them jump right in front of my camera and start being adorable on command, so I make it a point to not "start" right away, mostly so others know I'm kind of a weirdo, and that they don't have to be nervous in front of me or my camera.

Cameron had invited me to her mom's home for this session, and nowhere in the planning did I visualize THIS place. Situated in the hills and surrounded by the most gorgeous oak trees and lush vegetation was the most perfect place that Cameron calls home. As I arrived, Cameron and Matt came out to greet me, and Cameron gave me a bit of the backstory on the house and how her parents built their living, breathing dream home from the ground up. She showed me the tree house that her and dad built, and we truly just wandered the property and turned it into an engagement session along the way. Not only did I click with this couple quite immediately, but the more we walked and meandered around with no true agenda, the more natural they became in front of the camera (and the more I became obsessed with her hair?!).

I left this engagement session feeling incredibly lucky to have crossed paths with these two, and feeling extremely thankful to be chosen to capture their special day.

Larissa & Eric // Sonoma Wedding

If there is any piece of advice I would ever give an aspiring wedding photographer, it would be to find the clients who get you. Who without any hesitation, see something in your work that speaks to them, and choose you to tell their story. In that same breath, I would also tell said hypothetical-aspiring-photographer to choose clients that you really "get" as well, and that the mutual understanding and relationship building between those two parties is what will ultimately make you LOVE your job, then forget that it's a job, and leave you feeling nostalgic for every wedding day and couple that passes.

Beyond Larissa and Eric being two of the nicest human beings I've ever met in my line of work, they are also excellent human beings to each other, and that was immediately apparent when I documented Eric's proposal to Larissa nearly two years ago. I was elated to work with them again for their wedding day, and I felt an instant-ease the moment I greeted them on their wedding day, like we had worked together hundreds of times. Like we were old friends.

This day was absolutely stunning and chock full of gorgeous details, but what I'll remember the most vividly is how wonderful they were (are) to each other and their crew of closest supporters. I felt myself beaming with joy FOR them as they walked down the aisle hand in hand, and then loved them 1,000 times more when I saw them look over at heard them fully admit to having "swamp ass", moments after the (brutally hot) ceremony. And that's kind of how you know you've found your people in the wild world of the wedding industry, and how you know you're exactly where you're supposed to be.

Cheers to these great humans and thank you for sharing a bit of your hearts and this day with me.

Al + Antrom // The Assembly, San Francisco

Every once in awhile, a dream wedding comes into my peripheral, and if I plead with the universe long enough, it quite magically becomes my reality. It's a very unreliable superpower of mine, but happens frequently enough to make me think I'm a pretty lucky person. This was the case for my good friend, Aleksandra's wedding at the highly sought after and buzzworthy co-working space for women, The Assembly. I knew this would be a beautiful opportunity for a beautiful friend, and I think I said, "Yes, PLEASE!" even before she officially asked me to be her wedding photographer (oops?). The only small (massive) caveat was that it took place 9 days after my scheduled C-Section...but spoiler alert: I survived (and so did my super supportive husband and super chill baby boy).

Known for her jaw-dropping, original woodwork, Aleksandra is a prestigious artist based in the Bay Area, and she brought this same originality and artistry to her wedding day. Al (as we like to call her), and fellow artist friend, Katie Gong, collaborated on the wedding backdrop, and the two created the centerpiece stage that left us all in a state of AWE. Al even created the massive pieces behind the bride and groom table, serving as the most stunning focal point of the room. But beyond this wedding looking like an actual dream, the most memorable visual from this day was seeing these two people smiling with their whole bodies, knowing they found their person, and being able to share their happiness with their closest friends and supporters.

Cheers to these two on what ended up being one of the sweetest days I have ever documented. Thank you for putting your trust in me to tell your story.

Special thanks to all the lovely vendors that worked their butts off to make this day look as good as you see in the pictures!

Venue: The Assembly

Backdrop: Katie Gong

Florals: Siren Floral Co.

Dress: Loho Bride

Hair: Population Salon

Catering: Stag Dining

Sky & Liz // Outdoor Art Club Wedding

When some of your sweetest friends ask you to be their wedding photographer, and you're 8 months pregnant, you still say, "Hell yeah"...but then have to warn them about your full-on pregnant waddle for the entirety of their wedding day. Luckily, these friends of mine both understood and encouraged the "pregnancy waddle", and luckily this didn't hold me back from telling their love story.

Sky and Liz are old friends back from when my boyfriend-now-husband and I moved to San Francisco, and we used to hang out at "The Warehouse", a type of friend compound (not really a compound, but we called it that anyway) that our mutual friends had rented out. It was a special time in our lives with limited amount of responsibilities, and we enjoyed the creative energies of these friends who lived here. Sky and Liz were fast friends of ours, and while our 'parents of two' life absorbs much of our social calendar, we love having these two over for dinner and watching our dogs play until they pass out.

Sky and Liz's wedding day was absolute perfection from beginning to end, and there is nothing more heartwarming than to see these old friends make a lifelong commitment to each other. Cheers to these two on such an incredible day, and THANK YOU for trusting that I could keep this baby in long enough to be able capture your day exactly as I saw it.

Kelly & CJ // Yosemite Wedding

About two months before this wedding took place, I received an email from the bride, telling me in the world's most casual way that her wedding venue has basically flooded, and that they were no longer able to have their wedding at said location. Instead of panicking or even being 2% upset, she ended the email with, "Can you shoot our wedding in Yosemite by chance? ". Uh, DONE AND DONE.

Beyond being the most excited wedding photographer in the world to shoot my first wedding in Yosemite, I was also so excited to work with this couple, and nothing could have prepared me for HOW.MUCH.FUN. they were to work with. I think they laughed/smiled for 8 hours straight on this day, and I can't say I've ever seen clients HANDLE a zipline with such coordination before (and in heels+stunning wedding garb?). Even though the bi-polar forecast kept us on our toes and almost had us moving a fully outdoor wedding to all indoors, it stayed put long enough for us to capture the breathtaking nature that Yosemite has to offer, and it was honestly the most remarkable natural light I've ever worked with (that cloud cover!!!).

I loved the natural story that unfolded on this day, and I am so freaking grateful for clients like Kelly and CJ who let me "my thing" and trusted me completely. Cheers to this incredible couple who I am absolutely obsessed with...you guys are the real deal. <3

Venue+Catering: Rush Creek Lodge

Hair: Gia Tummillo

Makeup: Sara Chestnutt-Fry

Florals: Whitney Hanson