Simply Modern Weddings

that’s why i am so overjoyed at the new utterly engaged “tear jerker” issue! you must must must check it out right now….like this instant!

this collection of images are definitely beauty.art.emotion all in one. when i dreamed of photo friday images to feature…these are the kind of images that would catch my attention. they are the reason that we hire photographers to capture our weddings, because they can catch these soft, tender, quiet moments as well as the ones of fun, laughter, and joyousness! also i love all the featured sweet stories, videos, the surprise proposal, the groom’s letter to his bride on the wedding day. i just love it all!

moments to last a lifetime…isn’t this what weddings are about?!

i am beyond honored that the utterly engaged gals included 2 of our weddings in the photo spread, as well as aaron & barbara’s beautiful wedding video! (p.s. what magazine do you know features video? that’s why i adore the whole concept of utterly engaged e-zine!)

for more touching images, check out issue #007!

you all remember barbara and aaron dieppa’s sultry spanish wedding at casa romantica that was recently featured in utterly engaged? well i just had to share this highlight video of their day by the motion boutique.

there is nothing like a fabulously done wedding video to get me all teary eyed…and this one is definitely one of my all time faves.

check it out!

what do you get when you have an ultra stylish couple, that doesn’t mind breaking a little bit of traditional wedding rules to make their day unique? you get a simply modern weddings dream come true!

during my initial meeting with alison and daysun, i remember the non-stop laughter when daysun mentioned how funny it was to see alison and i taking charge with chatting over the wedding details! you see…alison is a television style correspondent, and also has a great lifestyle blog ali on the go…so she is used to a fast paced schedule filled with tons of detail planning. so meetings with the two of us “type-a planners” was absolutely hilarious!

what i loved most about alison & daysun is that they stayed true to what mattered to them most vs. what “trends” dictate weddings should be. they love hosting dinner parties with friends and wanted their wedding to be an intimate get together with friends. “personal, lively, and fun” were the three words they used to describe their wedding vision…so decor was kept to a chic minimal, loews whipped up a droolworthy menu, and tony and ian with redshoe rocked it out with some fabulous tunes. typical beachfront ceremony? of course not! the ceremony was at the beautiful wayfarer’s chapel. white wedding gown for alison? um, not even close! she wore a stunning custom pale peach lloyd klein gown with some killer rene caovilla heels with sparkly soles! boring wedding toasts? i don’t think so! their friends are just as fun as they are, so instead of toasts we had performances with singing and laughter. speaking of performances, alison had us help her surprise daysun with a sweet sing-a-long of “say a little prayer” before they were seated for dinner…that was so sweet! traditional wedding cake or trendy cupcakes? nope! try yummy fabulousness that is the mini bundt cakes from kiss my bundt bakery. all these special details made their day memorable, and i can still picture them laughing with friends and dancing it up until the lights came on…all with a look of absolute love and joy in their eyes. this is why i absolutely love what i do!

another major cool part to the wedding was working with michele m. waite, who alison and daysun found from reading my photo friday feature on her work. michele was an absolute blast to work with…and the photos? amazingness!

for more eye-candy from this wedding, be sure to check out michele’s blog.

also…i am so very honored that elizabeth anne designs featured this stylish santa monica wedding!

as always, i also have to give major props and thanks to our “dream team” for being the most amazing peeps ever!

bakery: kiss my bundt
ceremony: wayfarer’s chapel
dj: redshoe
floral: la vie en rose
invitations: wedding paper divas
linens & lounge: Fusion Linens
photography: michele m. waite
venue: Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel

2009 was a year of many blessings both personally and with simply modern weddings…and i am looking forward to more in 2010!

since today is officially the last day of 2009, i figured it best to share a shot from my last wedding of the year. the awesome michele m. waite came down from washington, battled crazy flight delays…but still was fabulous enough to rock out this wedding a couple weeks ago.

love love love this couple…love love love their wedding style! more to come into the new year!

have a safe and rockin nye peeps!

i have a confession to make…

i could seriously look at barb & aaron’s wedding photos all day long! with aaron being a wedding photographer…you know photography was going to be their #1 priority!

one thing i especially loved is that they not only hired gabriel ryan to shoot their wedding, jeffrey neal was onboard photographing the wedding with film. it is amazing to me how both digital and film tell their own unique story of the day. so for those who may believe that film is dead…trust me, it is very much alive and full of raw beauty!

today i wanted to feature one of my favorite photos from jeff. he shot this at the end of the ceremony, as barb & aaron were making their way back down the aisle. i love this because it captures their love and sheer excitment perfectly!

so tuesday was a very happy day for me indeed! not only did i have an delicious birthday dinner with my good friends kristin & joe from treasured petal and barbara & aaron dieppa; we also got to finally see barb & aaron’s amazingly, romantical wedding featured in issue 5 of utterly engaged magazine!

you remember that lovely little sneak peak i gave you a while back? well like i said…the wait was definitely well worth it! barb & aaron’s beautiful love story and wonderful personalities are a constant inspiration to me, and make me love what i do more and more everyday. i am truly blessed to have not only worked on their wedding, but also be great friends with them!

head on over to utterly engaged to read their story and see more details from their day!

below are some of my favorite images shot by gabriel ryan!

as a follow up to last week’s photo friday, i was super stoked when i saw the images Gabriel Ryan shot over to me from Aaron Dieppa’s wedding.

Barbara and Aaron were referred to me by my good friends Brian & his lovely fiancé Helen. When we first met, I knew it was fate that we were not only to work together to create their beautiful day…but also destined to be great friends! We chatted for hours about travel, food, music, our favorite movies (so excited to find out that aaron is a jean-claude van damme fan too!). When we finally called it a night, Barb jumped up and hugged me, saying that she felt so excited about her wedding plans knowing that we were going to work together!

The love story of barb & aaron is one where I can’t help but to marvel at God’s excellence! He brought these 2 strangers together for a chance meeting halfway across the world, only to have them randomly run into each other again back home in orange county…both just studying in a coffee shop. The love and happiness that they share just emanates from them, and you can’t help but have warm fuzzies when you are around them.

it was an absolute honor to work with them on creating a wedding that was a beautiful representation of their love story. during the planning we became great friends, which of course made the wedding day much more special to be a part of! (i definitely had to fight back the tears watching barb walk down the aisle!)

now…here comes the point where I become a big tease. You are going to want to read more about barb & aaron’s wedding and see all their amazing photos and details. but, you have to hang tight for their wedding to be published in utterly engaged! trust me…it will be well worth the wait!

I also have to give major props to the fabulous “dream team” that helped make the wedding special for barb & aaron!

Bakery: sweet and saucy
Catering: iva lee’s
DJ: so-cal dj
Flamenco Guitar & Performance: paco & yolanda arroyo
Floral: the treasured petal
Hair & Makeup: all made up
Invitations: ink loves paper
Linens: la tavola
Officiant: father george
Photography: gabriel & carlie (digital) and jeffery neal (film)
Valet: Best Valet
Venue: casa romantica
Videography: the motion boutique

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

Those were the words I squealed when I saw this photo! Today’s Photo Friday image comes from none other than “mr. super cool” Becker! We worked together on this wedding last month…and his images were nothing short of amazing…duh right?! (blog post on their wedding details coming soon!)

In other SMW news, I am very ecstatic for this Sunday’s wedding; which is going to be too fantastical to even describe. Just you wait!!

Of course today’s photo selection is from Melissa & Andrew’s wedding, courtesy of Trista Lerit.

It just makes me laugh every time I look at it! Sometimes no matter how much candy bribing I do, my little ringbearers and flowergirls will stop mid-aisle during the ceremony and turn back around to walk back the wrong way. Haha…kids will be kids…and I love them for their silliness! By the way, how adorable are their little outfits?!

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

When Melissa walked into my studio last September, she immediately looked around and said “this is exactly what I want for my wedding!”. We giggled…and I knew this was a start to a fun relationship! So we sat down and chatted about her and Andrew, how they met, his super sweet proposal in NY, and of course their style. As with all my initial meetings, I asked her to explain how she wanted the wedding to feel…so she had me look up Hotel Delano in Miami as her inspiration. All I could say was, “Wow, I like where you are going with this”! This hotel has a very chic and mellow vibe, something that she wanted for her beachfront wedding at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

The inspiration board that I created for Melissa was a palette of crisp white, with very bright aqua blue accents. When we brought in Kristin with the Treasured Petal, she helped to further define the look…with her softer blue floral and even incorporating a very special “pop” of pink! Melissa told me that she always pictured walking down the aisle carrying a bouquet of pink-tipped roses, but knew it would go against the color palette. Since I am a huge fan of making your own rules…I told Melissa that it’s perfectly fine to go against the grain. (it’s actually quite fun!!) Kristin’s amazing expertise helped make that dream a reality. Even some of the orchids had the same hints of pink as Melissa’s bouquet…genius!

Their wedding was full so many beautiful details: aqua crystal accents, white lounge with pool colored toss pillows, h2o accent lighting, signature mojitos with cocktail flags, and so much more!

Since Melissa and Andrew didn’t think there would be many people dancing at the wedding, our fabulous photographer, Trista Lerit ROCKED out an amazing photobooth to create a fun activity for the guests…some of them definitely got a little “um creative”! Although we didn’t anticipate much dancing, SoCal-DJ had people up and jammin until the end of the party. It was definitely good times!

Melissa, I am going to really miss our super late-night long emails to each other about all your fun ideas! It was such a treat to help you and Andrew realize your beautiful wedding vision. I wish you both all the love, laughter, and success in your marriage!

Below is a peek at the wedding, but for more eye-candy, check out Trista’s blog!

Of course this wedding was a HUGE success because of our fantastic vendor “dream team”!

Cupcakes: Vanilla Bake Shop
DJ: SoCal-DJ
Floral Design: Treasured Petal
Hair & Makeup: All Made Up
Lighting: Rainbow Sound and Lighting
Linens: Fusion Linens
Officiant: You May Kiss the Bride
Photography: Trista Lerit
Rentals: Barker Decor and Town and Country
Stationery: Joceybella Invites
Venue: Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel