all of the toasts were from the heart, but there was no denying that “pop pop” stole the show!   :)

if you can’t tell, this reception was a party and a half.

i loved how much jamie and jay thanked and appreciated everyone before the cake cutting. it was a good way to see also how many lives the two of them had come into contact with and the closeness of all of those bonds.

now this is a fun couple… this was not the only indication of it… but i love being able to laugh during the cake cutting and mutual feeding of the cake…

one last image of this amazing couple… for now… our TTD session is still yet to come later this year. and that will be something to behold. without a doubt…

again… big congrats to the beautiful and happy couple… i wish you two the best as you continue in your life together. and thanks again goes to my second shooter (who i very well could be second shooting for any time), erica bartel.

jay and jamie opted for a “first look” before the ceremony. i always love this part of the day, when the couple decides to go this route…

we’ll stop here for a break before we get to the ceremony. so, go stretch and refresh your coffee. part two is coming right up.

you know that “game” you can play at, say, disneyland where you grip this handle and squeeze it and the lights go up and down and it tells you your HOT meter or rating? well, if you could gauge love in such a way, the amount of love (not only between the couple, but within their friends and family) at this wedding would have put that thing on tilt.

again… just a few that jumped out at me quickly tonight. more to come, you two…. much more….   :)

while the couple “worked the room”, you could tell how deeply loved they were. i love this first moment of a ring display  :)

this friend of the happy couple was cutting a mean rug all afternoon. he and karen had everyone entranced while they shared a dance…

with the enormous windows, i could not help but take some silhouette photos of karen and nick together. this is one of my favorites:

as i said before, thanks again to the happy couple for trusting me with documenting your day with you. it was a pleasure to meet you both and your families. i wish you both the an amazing life together.

these two were so incredibly cute. the night before, at the rehearsal, they walked up to each other and held hands before going down the aisle and i think all of the adults’ hearts collectively burst at once. so adorable.

so, here is a little factoid or interesting detail about the church they were married in (red hill lutheran church). i noticed this during the rehearsal the night before the big day. this is regarding the altar bench that’s between the couple and their pastor in the photos above. i asked the women who worked there and were acting as the couple’s coordinators if they had ever noticed this. i said, “now, i’m no tom hanks… and i’m not on a search for some albino monk. but, i know as a fact from an old building that i used to work in as well, that sometimes architects can get kinda fancy schmancy with their designs.” i assume cathedrals and churches could very often have these little nuances to them that people maybe do not see right away.

so this may or may not mean anything to you, but i thought it was pretty cool. and it may just be the way my mind works, but it seems that the way the lighting and everything from the ceilings would hit this cross, it creates three shadows. thus, as you look below, there are now three shadow crosses. one larger one in the middle (Christ’s cross) and the other ones beside it (for the other crosses that were there when He was crucified). when i pointed it out, a few of us just stood there in silent awe for a minute.

because of the timing and location of the wedding / reception, we had arranged to do a TTD (trash the dress) shoot a few weeks later in the month. however, we still caught a few of the bride and groom together to celebrate their special day.

the second part will be coming soon (no need to check your local movie listings or anything like that… i will let you know).

here is a little sneak peek from our brief time together.

this little spitfire was seriously one of the cutest little girls and overflowing with personality.

as i started to pack up my gear in my car, i thought to myself: why not head back and try to get a couple of quick shots outside and maybe even of the groom. i was glad i did.

it was difficult for me to wrap my head around leaving when i did… not being able to continue telling the story of their day. but i am hopeful they will love what i deliver to them of even just the brief time i was there.

i usually allow myself one or two photos from a wedding to play with… to just get a little outside of the box… this was that shot…

and here is one from the beach in front of their reception hotel location:

while we waited for the grand entrance time, we got to play a little more in this fantastic room:

and what bride doesn’t love a little audrey?

the sand castle candles were such a great touch for this beach wedding…

during the father/daughter and son/mother dances they had a photos slideshow playing. it coerced some strong emotions from the dance floor participants.

they had so many people serenading them throughout the night. it was another testament to the couple as to how much people love and wanted to honor them.

and even david got into the act. a surprising and uber-romantic performance of a song he had written for stephanie. yes, even us male wedding photographers can well up while shooting a wedding. or… at least… this one does   :)

as a former break-dancer (hey… i could do some crazy legs and an egg spin on the cardboard in my living room!), i give it up for the bride’s brother:

as i said in my previous post, the sense of family and love from this entire day was just something that washed over you. it was refreshing to see how two families just completely embraced one another, from every extension of it.

thanks again for inviting me to be a part of your amazing day, stephanie and david. it really was an honor and i wish you both and all of your family the best of what life has to offer.

one more shot of the passion between these two love birds in parting   :)

** for those of you wondering (especially you brides), trashing the dress does not mean actually trashing the dress. basically, it’s taking advantage of the fact that you have worn your gown on your wedding day, crisp and clean and new… and you have not yet taken it to be cleaned and stored. so, why not make the cleaners work a little extra hard perhaps, and get your dress in the sand of the beach, dust of the field, what have you. **

now, remember… 25 comments on this posting awards the happy couple with 2 free 5×7 prints of their choice. so leave them a little love, won’t ya?

we did this shoot on saturday and i just wanted to pull a few of  my faves from the day before i get back into editing.

again… big congratulations to you both, karen & nick. i wish you both the best as your lives continue together. i had a great time this weekend with you. and give your little dog sarah a big kiss for me.   :)

there were two rounds of toasts/speeches. here is joanie’s dad toasting his daughter and new son-in-law.

again… the catering (and cake) was provided by Picnics Fine Foods out of costa mesa. amazing food. and that may even be a vast understatement.

during “round 2″ of toasts, emil and joanie both said a few things and thanked everyone for being there that day. just two completely classy and genuine people.

when we had talked previously, there were no plans for any formal dances that you will usually see at a wedding reception. but with all the frank sinatra playing, who could have helped themselves for long?

my first cake smashing! :)  (though it was very subtle and light-hearted… and done in a caring way)

and i leave you with one last shot of these two. their love was so completely heartfelt and just touched everyone witnessing their vows that day. thanks again, you two, for trusting me to capture this for you. i wish you nothing but the best in your future together!!

there is a lot of (amazing) backstory to different little details of their wedding. emil’s family is armenian and they came over to the states from iran when he was 7 years old. his father, vanick passed away a few years ago and emil and joanie had wanted to honor him in some way with their special day. they not only did so on that day, but they will for the remainder of their lives. emil’s mother, noyemik (who also put together all of the florals for the day), offered forth her and her husband’s wedding rings for the newlyweds to have as their own. the serendipity extends beyond just the graciousness of her offer; the rings fit both of them perfectly. they didn’t need to re-size them at all. how amazing is that?? emil’s father, vanick brought his mandolin with him to the states when the family immigrated, and emil has held on to that family treasure. when joanie and i met, i asked her if they would consider bringing that out for some detail shots. it chokes me up even seeing these and thinking about the incredible history here.

gillian (of the write invite) designed their invitations. joanie and her sister kristin designed the programs and kristin created the table arrangements. the catering was provided by Picnics Fine Foods out of costa mesa… and let me just tell you… they were above and beyond.

i love this little story of moments between joanie and her mother…

keeping the family tradition strong, emil’s brother (a newlywed, himself), arbi was the officiant over the ceremony. and he should consider this as a profession. he was great at it!

just following their first kiss. does love get any more pure and tangible than this?

i love this of joanie and her new mother-in-law. after the formal grouped shots, i captured this. throughout the day, you could feel the completely love-filled merging of these two families.

and now some quickies from our brief time post-ceremony with the newlyweds. there was a lesson to be learned from this first picture on the left: never delete your “light test” photos. i love this one.

after our brief session apart from their family and friends, i was putting things in order… emil and joanie took a couple of moments to just “be” before they met up with everyone inside the house. yes, the sun is bright on them… i know, technically, some of my fellow photographers may “harumph” on some of this. i see it… i get it. but look at what is here. this is love. in all its glowing joy. this is what we need. all of us. as individuals and as a planet. love. simple.

again… my thanks to everyone involved. for a small wedding, this was a little bit of a jaw-dropper and such a fantastic party throughout. proof of that is yet to come. in the meantime, thanks again to emil and joanie for hiring and entrusting me with your day. i hope you have been loving the memories we captured thus far… you two are such lovely people. truly.