Allison & Delwin's Wedding! Tue. September 30, 2008 i do
Wow, are Allison and Delwin ever patient! I've had this wedding in my blogging queue for way longer than I'll admit, and I'm so excited to finally post it!
The day of the wedding, there was some speculation with regards to how long Allison and Delwin have actually been together. They ask their friends, "do we count from when we met? when we started dating? when we became exclusive"? It was a point of contention the entire day, and there never was a clear answer. The only thing that was really clear is that neither Allison or Delwin remembers not loving one another. These guys had so many sweet, personal touches about their day, from the tea ceremony, to the officiant that has known them for about a decade. With the world being kind of crazy right now, it's nice to see a couple who has become constant for each other over a very long period of time. They made a lifelong commitment to each other in their hearts and minds long ago, this day was just the outward expression before God, their friends, and family.
Allison and Delwin are a very detail-oriented couple, as I mentioned below in their engagement session post. That kind of ability to plan virtually assures a flawless wedding day, and this couple deserved nothing less.
They started off the wedding day with a pre-wedding tea ceremony. I loved Allison's vibrant red gown:
She was so excited to kick the day off!
Delwin's mom was also very excited:
Delwin gets a little help from the ladies:
Up at the gazebo for the tea ceremony. It was an absolutely gorgeous day!
Cups of tea were served in exchange for those lovely red envelopes :)
Then it was back to the room to change into the traditional white wedding gown for the church ceremony:
Delwin & Allison's ceremony was very personal. One of the priests had known them since college, when they were involved in a group together. There were actually five of them at this ceremony!
Married, finally!!
One of the best things to ever happen at a wedding--an ice cream truck pulled up on a very hot day and someone in the bridal party bought us all ice cream (no, I didn't turn it down myself!)
This park where we stopped was so pretty with beautiful light:
Sweet:
Allison's dress and long veil looked perfect in the breeze:
Katie & John's Maternity Fri. September 26, 2008 people
Can I take a mulligan on the blogging every day? Or just a fresh start, turn over a new leaf, blah blah? How about this, let's just be realistic and say I try to step it up to blog at least 4-5 times per week. Every now and then there's a post that I WANT to leave up for more than just a day!
Like perhaps this one, Katie & John's maternity shoot! Katie and John made an incredibly smart decision a few years ago, not only to marry each other, but to hire the incomparable Mike Colon as their wedding photographer. I happened to second shoot for Mike that day, and I have to say, their wedding tops my list of best weddings ever. One of these days, I'll dig out their original blog post which was lost in the great blog crash of '06--it really was incredible.
As things go, I ended up shooting the wedding of John's niece, so I reconnected with this awesome couple then. Not long afterwards, they found out they were pregnant, and asked me to shoot a maternity session for them to capture their joy and excitement of this time in their lives! I've also spent quite a bit of time with John, as he is my realtor and broker. He's SO hard-working, if you are looking to buy a house in the OC, you really should give him a call.
In any case, check out some photos from their shoot!
**THERE IS SOME MILD NUDITY IN THIS POST. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT, PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN. EVERYTHING IS COVERED UP, BUT IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT, CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED :)**
By the way, CONGRATULATIONS are in order! Katie and John now have a baby son, named JJ, who you'll all get to see in the next week or so :)
I know I've done this before, but it's fun, isn't it?
Look at this beautiful mom-to-be!
I loved the whole mood and feeling of this shoot. Great outfits, great locations...really, it was hard to miss:
Katie and John do have a country streak, and it looks like JJ will be inheriting that too!
I could have shot Katie all day:
Isn't this location cool?
fun color!
I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place:
bringing sexy back. seriously, is there any chance that the baby of this couple isn't going to be gorgeous??
Katie was willing to go the extra mile, and I think she looks AMAZING. Katie, thanks for letting me shoot and post these! I hope it encourages more women to embrace their pregnant bodies and see how gorgeous they are:
John didn't want Katie to feel left out :)
John is SO cute with the belly:
You can just see how excited they both are for this baby. What a lucky baby!
So who do you think the baby will look like? Let's take a vote!
Congratulations John & Katie! It's my absolute honor to know and work with you both! Can't wait to meet JJ!
Allison & Delwin's Engagement! Sun. September 21, 2008 will you
Well, it just goes to show how terribly behind I am here, because Allison and Delwin are already married! I loved their wedding so much--I really wanted to post their wedding sooner, but I knew that I couldn't blog that before the engagement. They did their engagement session very close to the wedding date, and I couldn't get the post together before the wedding, so there you go.
Allison and Delwin are perfectionists. This, I have found, is an exceptionally good quality to have when planning a wedding, because nothing is overlooked. One of the things that struck me most about this couple when I met them and every time I've been with them since is their ability to communicate with each other about things in a soft, quiet way. Whether it be plans for the schedule or scouting the perfect location, they're so on the same page with each other that perfection in their planning comes naturally and effortlessly.
For this shoot, we went down to San Juan Capistrano. I loved the feel of the shoot--both playful and emotional, with a little twist of retro. Check it out!
This was my favorite shot that day!
I loved this also--this was the one they chose for their large portrait:
A change of clothes, and a change of mood:
Trying out something a little different:
Lately I like to shoot little details of couples interacting without showing their faces:
Weren't these farm tools a great find? Not to mention the hay bales and trailer!!
Last but certainly not least--a modern American Gothic:
Addison & Ainsley Sneak Peek! Fri. September 19, 2008 people
Last week, I shot a session with two of the kiddos in my neighborhood, Addison and Ainsley. I used them as models for a full day one on one consulting workshop and since I know their mom Robyn will be checking this blog looking for the photos, here's one little sneak peek to hold you over until the full blog post comes sometime this week. Robyn, thank you SO much for loaning us your girls!
Absolutely Hilarious! Mon. September 15, 2008 my life
Since tonight I am working on several LONG blog posts (two maternity sessions, a wedding, an engagement, a kid shoot, and several others), here's a little political humor to brighten up your day/night! I thoroughly enjoyed Tina Fey's caricature myself! It's all in good fun everyone :)
*for those who don't know, this was the Saturday Night Live Skit featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton*
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