Take a walk. It is a way of taking {quiet time}, to be sure.  And it always renders so nicely on film.  Congratulations, Abram & Nicole!

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These are the dog days (and nights!) of summer and I find myself wanting to paint everything in the hottest colors I can imagine.  I want even my blues to be hot.  Tammy and Mickey’s wedding has been on my mind lots these past days and mostly because of their hot, hot colors.  The pairing of pinks, purples, oranges, yellows, and electric blues with their venues and the very sensuous mood of their wedding worked especially well for them.  And although we use lots of these images elsewhere in our blog and site, I thought it would be good to get an idea of how everything worked together to create what was really a breathtaking event.  As in any good color design, the color should work with the color scheme and season and general mood of your location, rather than against it.   Throughout the images, you might notice bits of blue and turquoise.  I think … little accents of cool color bring out the heat in all the other colors.  I also got the distinct impression that their wedding became warmer and hotter as day became night.

Genius florals by Michael Mantalos, {Louloudi Design}.

{click any image to enlarge}

Tammy’s accessories included a barrette she made by hand at work (she’s a fashion designer!) …

Mickey getting ready, and showing off his Canali suit.  Love it!

A few photographs from their sweet ceremony.  When you wed at a church as ornate as this one, no adornment is necessary.

And here’s where it goes from warm to hot—the warmth of candles, the heat of red dahlias and yellow orchids, and the opulence of a gilded cake combine perfectly.  Cake by Margaret Braun.

A belly dancer entertained the guests during dinner.

I am a fan of any excuse to get everybody very happily dancing.  It is one of the best opportunities to photograph bride and groom with their wedding guests.  After the first dances, Greek dancing began.

The evening ended with some of our favorite nighttime portraits.  (Yep, I posted some of these earlier this week.  That’s what put Tammy and Mickey’s wedding fresh in my mind).

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Revisiting their wedding these many months later, I am wondering how so few of these images made it through to our portfolio.  Of course, I’m always a little discouraged by how little of our work we can really show—but that’s a major reason we started this blog.  I think Tammy and Mickey’s wedding is a fantastic example of a wedding that was opulent without being extravagant.  There were little handmade touches.  We love that.  Hope it inspires.

photos: Gia Canali

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Rosalinda and Aris did a wonderful job conceiving their wedding. It involved lots of peculiarly-LA logistical challenges—a ceremony at the church the groom’s family attends in Downey, a reception on a chilly early-spring evening at a private home in Agoura Hills, getting guests to drive the hour-and-ten-minutes between locations—to name a few. But it came together beautifully under the direction of Heidi Mayne from Red25 (whose new site will launch very soon, so be sure to check back).

This wedding initiated me to {Krislyn} whose delicious designs have me swooning … Krislyn made Rosalinda’s balsa wood and Swarovski bouquet (below and previously featured), the wishing tree, and the A + R vase (also below) that sat beside the tree at the reception. Lucky for me, Krislyn did florals at another wedding I photographed recently so I get to indulge (and share!) my newfound obsession.

{as always, click any image to enlarge}

I have to confess, though, my aesthetic obsessions at Rosalinda and Aris’s wedding were varied. Many are indicative of current and coming trends:

1. Krislyn (cannot be overemphasized). The design is extraordinary. And I am pro-keepsake. Aren’t we all? It’s not only “green” to double duty pieces from your wedding as home decor, it’s wonderful to have more to hang onto.
2. The groom’s modern slim fit three piece suit from YSL. May all my grooms be so well-dressed. I love that a vest gives the groom not only a perfectly tailored look, but an “alternate” look. He won’t wear the jacket all night anyway.
3. The bride’s all-over lace gown by Elizabeth Fillmore. It perfectly accented Rosalinda’s lovely figure. The asymmetrical train was pretty fabulous, too.
4. Bare wooden dining tables, dressed with manzanita or beechwood branches and orchids.
5. Greek revival fashion, e.g., the bridesmaid dress.
6. How the bridesmaid’s bouquet accented the color of her dress. This rarely happens so nicely, and was, apparently, an accident. Katie’s Flowers in Downey had set out to make a “neutral” bouquet because they didn’t know what color the bridesmaid would be wearing.
7. All the nooks and crannies—and the Moroccan flavor—of their friend’s house, where the reception was held. I am always happy for architectural/environmental portrait opportunities. This house offered myriad.
8. Little wooden wedding sign.
9. Stone seating “cards” and table numbers.

A sweet little ceremony getaway in the groom’s brother-in-law’s Rolls Royce.

Some of the sweet reception details … I loved the variety (as I always love variety) in the centerpieces.  Manzanita or beechwood branches strewn with orchids, or wooden boxes full of them decorated each table.  Presenting old family photographs as they did, in a frame, with strings and clothespins, was quite charming.

The light changed quickly as day turned to night, so we snuck portraits here and there, as we could, amongst dancing and toasting.

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A little nighttime love … As I mentioned earlier, Rosalinda & Aris spent most of the night close together. If you want wonderful photographs of you and your beloved late into the night, do this!

Rosalinda & Aris did an amazing job of designing a gorgeous wedding without it feeling like they were over-producing it. (I think that’s a weird diagnosis of some weddings, but probably true, now that I think about it.) They prioritized having a great party … and it paid off. They danced with each other and their guests into the wee hours of the night. For my own part, I was very happy that they made time, even as the sun set, for me to get out the clunky old 4×5 camera (see top image). I’m looking forward to seeing how these images become themselves, later on …

photo credit: Gia Canali floral centerpieces: Malibu Market & Design lighting: Images By Lighting

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Every once in a while, I forget just how much I am going to miss Polaroid 55 film once it’s gone.  And then I remember.

Congratulations, Julia & Eli!

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Engagement photo session.  This used to be pretty straightforward.  You and your fiance would go take photographs in non-wedding attire.  Somewhere along the line, engagement photo sessions actually started becoming fun.  Somewhere just after engagement photo sessions started becoming fun, somebody somewhere started calling them e-sessions. I don’t know how that happened or why—because “e” doesn’t mean anything all by itself.  Unfortunately, the e-session naming has caught on. Ugh.  If you ask me, I will be calling engagement photos “engagement photos” forever.  They are, of course, a great way to get used to being photographed and to get used to working with your photographer before the wedding.

My favorite locations are sentimental ones.  This couple, for instance, met on the 45 bus in San Francisco.  So when we did their engagement photos, we found the 45 bus … and took some photographs there.

A couple of years ago, I had a groom ask if we could do the photographs underwater. I said, “sure,” even though I’d never taken any photographs underwater.  So, armed with disposable underwater cameras, we experimented… and it was (very athletic and) kind of magical.  Since then, I get an occasional request for underwater engagement photos and I’m always happy to comply.  To see more of these, visit the project i section of my website.

We’ll have more on engagement photos, including tips on how to make them great … soonish.  So keep checking back!

Bridal portraits. I’ve heard the couple’s intimate portraits on the wedding day called bridal portraits, but as a separate session, a bridal session is generally portrait session for the bride in her wedding gown.  The bridal session is a good chance to get portraits you might not otherwise have time for on your wedding day.  Or portraits in another setting.  If you want to use these images in your finished wedding album, I suggest using locations that match your wedding’s flavor, e.g., if you are marrying in a woodsy, natural setting, take your bridal portraits in another natural setting rather than on the roof of a downtown loft. *As part of our blog-launch, we’ll be having a contest for a free bridal portrait session.  I have to figure out how that will work, but we will be posting details in the the next week.

Respect-the-Dress-Post-Nuptial Photographs.  Around town, I’ve heard post-nuptial photographs called “trash-the-dress” photographs.  Yikes!  One of my clever (and most eloquent) brides proposed the idea of calling these sessions “respect-the-dress-post-nuptial-photos.”  I like that—or at least, that phrasing is a little more my speed. I love how relaxed and fun these sessions can be.  And everybody loves getting to put their wedding garb to good use one more time.

Rehearsal dinner or welcome party coverage. In my experience, folks want rehearsal dinner coverage more often if the wedding is a destination wedding.  In fact, at destination weddings, there are usually a number of parties and events to be covered.  But even if you’re wedding is at home, if you are planning a lovely party with just your closest friends and family, having it professionally photographed is a nice way to commemorate it.   If you are planning a larger wedding, you may not have as much time to interact with your family and closest friends (and therefore make it into the wedding photos) on your wedding day.

Engagement party coverage. This seems pretty self-explanatory … if you’re putting a lot of effort into planning a party to announce / celebrate your engagement, it would be nice to have photographs of your handiwork.

In the next “lingo” post, I’ll cover album options, etc.  Look later this week for a photography-related post on “traditions we love” … and a real “green” wedding.

photo credit: Gia Canali

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There’s no need to tell nice people to be nice or smart people to be smart (of course!), so let’s just say I’m stating the obvious: We all work harder and perform better when we feel appreciated. On your wedding day, you want what I’ll call “inspired” performances from your photographer—and all your vendors.  The running-to-get-more-portraits couple from last week’s post is a good model.  We didn’t have a ton of time together, but Dara and Dan really wanted to take advantage of whatever time we could get.  Their enthusiasm made me want to go out of my way to make their portrait time even better.  We had a great time together, and are happy to share a few of the images from their sessions.

Click on any photograph to enlarge.

At Dara and Dan’s welcome party, we took about fifteen minutes to take photographs on the beach …

At the wedding, Dara and Dan decided not to see each other before the ceremony.  So we photographed them each separately before the ceremony, and then took about thirty minutes—just before dark—to take photographs on the beach, in lounging huts, on the wooden paths that led to the beach and the reception. Taking a few minutes here and there in a variety of different locations can make a big impact.

Here are some in the last pink light before the sun set …

We were running in the sweltering heat to get these photographs, and the sun had just set as we took the last few frames.  Even so, I couldn’t resist getting one more image on a toy camera:

It proved logistically impossible to schedule the photographs they wanted in this “domino hut” on their wedding day, but because their enthusiasm to work for good pictures was so contagious, I volunteered to meet them the morning after the wedding for a few more portraits.

The nice thing about a day-after-the-wedding session, or a respect-the-dress-post-nuptial-portrait-session, as one of my clients calls them, is that the session can be both more intimate and less formal. I love the balance between sexy and playful.  Both bride and groom are much more relaxed.

To view more of Dara and Dan’s wedding, please feel free to visit their gallery on my website {here}.

sources: Monique Lhuillier for both gowns.  The one Dara wore to the welcome party and post-nuptial portraits was a shortened version of that lovely gray tulle one from Lhuillier’s spring 2008 collection. Venue was Parrot Cay Resort.  Thanks to Yifat Oren and her fantastic crew for helping Dara and Dan make so much time for portraits!

photo credit: Gia Canali

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photo credit: Gia Canali dress: Paloma Blanca veil: Bel Aire Bridal (we think!)

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