Chrissy and Smiley - 9.08.07

I feel so honored to have photographed Christine (aka Chrissy) and Michael (aka Smiley's) wedding. Perhaps booking a wedding in Santa Barbara when I have a 2 1/2 month old was not the smartest idea in the world....(How could have possibly known, I mean, I booked the wedding last January!) Regardless, we worked out the logistics and I dragged the family up there with me and made it a vacation. We actually had so much fun we stayed an extra day. Oh, and I'm officially back to work now!

O.K., so back to the wedding. I didn't have the pleasure of meeting Christine and Smiley before they booked (I have no idea how they found me) but I knew from the way she filled in her contract that she was cool. When we finally touched base by phone and she told me about all the cute details of this fabulous day, I couldn't have imagined what I was in for - true wedding day Americana kitch - Elvis impersonator and all!! Smiley was totally anti-formal portraits (any and all) so I had to make sure I could get romantic stuff on the fly. With these two that was not difficult as they are so in love and so adorable together. I could go on and on but I just LOVED Chrissy's dress, her table arrrangements, the cake, the cupcakes....and they guests were a blast as well. I just so appreciate when people make their wedding their own! Blah, blah, blah....the photos speak for themselves!!!

Jennifer and Guy's Engagement Shoot

I have the pleasure of photographing Jennifer and Guy's wedding in October and I am SO PSYCHED. They are such a fun couple and their wedding sounds like it's going to be a blast. Guy has tons of family coming over from Israel so I'm anticipating a fabulous hoora! We decided to go to Union station, a venue I used to shoot at all the time but haven't for a while. Unfortunately, it was like 102 degrees outside and even hotter in the station. Jennifer and Guy are real sports! It was great to spend time with them and I can't wait for the wedding!

Amanda and Lucas's Wedding - 8.11.07

Amanda and Lucas's wedding looked like a traditional wedding from the outside but on the inside it was full of glamour and soul. Amanda is a sweetheart and SO expressive and photogenic, it was a blast to photograph her. They got married at a church not more than 5 minutes from my house - got to LOVE that! The best was when the maid of honor forgot to bring down the rings from the dressing room! Amanda, Lucas and all of their guests really had a laugh about it as Amanda's mother ran up there to get them. You see, this is what I am always telling my nervous brides - it's the little things that might go wrong that make your wedding memorable! I mean, this was really funny and obviously the bride and groom had a big laugh about it (frame 6). Amanda's father performed both at the church and at the reception and he absolutely brought the house down. Amanda must come from a family of musicians as I ran into her cousin Andrew, who produced a bunch of songs with me when I was on Dreamworks. It was a pleasure to see him and all the guests have a blast!

Drake

10 month's later and boy has Drake grown! I photographed Drake for the first time last October on the very day that my pregnancy test was positive so his photo shoots will always be super special to me! It was lovely to see Peter, Mark and Drake again. For those of you who are new to my blog, Drake and Pete had Drake with a surrogate in Russia. And boy, did they luck out! Drake is simply a beautiful, charming and very photogenic boy! Isn't he cute?