Eric and Bianca are dream clients.  I first met them a year ago in July as they started planning their wedding.  Photography is very important to Bianca, and she felt an instant connection with my work.  My first opportunity to get to know them better was during their fun engagement session at Disneyland.  Since then, Bianca has shared many of her fun wedding planning details with me, from her experience creating a custom made gown, choosing colors for Eric’s tux, and many other fun details like designing her custom sanddollar invites, hair/makeup ideas, and overall vision of her day.  This past Friday, Bianca and Eric had an intimate church ceremony with 4 of their close family members… and when Sunday rolled around, it felt like I knew them both for years and it was like I was photographing my bff’s wedding!  On Sunday 50 of their close friends and family joined they celebrated their love for each other.  Sunday, was also the same day as the annular solar eclipse which was so awesome for pictures!  Without future adieu… here’s the beauty of their wedding day.

Venue: Waterfront Beach Resort, Huntington Beach, CA
Photography/Photobooth: SherriJ Photography, Lead Photographer Sherri Fuller, 2nd Photographer Brian Leahy, First Assistant Dawn Topete
Videographer: Nathan Prince, Prince Productions
Coordinator: Holly Schoenke, Simply Sweet Weddings
Florist: Melissa McGowan, Flowers by Cina
Cake Artist: Brooke Corpus, Simply Sweet Cakery
Makeup: Meiko, Kelly Zhang
DJ/Lighting: Timothy Espinosa, Invisible Touch

While I was busy in the world of wedding planning, my fiance Mat was doing some research for our honeymoon.  After talking with a few people, he decided to book us a dream vacation to Bora Bora and Moorea.   Both are places I’ve never heard of before, and if you haven’t either, imagine an island where the sun warms your skin, a rainbow of tropical fish, sea turtles, and other marine life swim in crystal clear water, and you can walk barefoot along white sandy powder beaches, while sipping on the juice of some freshly fallen coconuts.  Something I thought only possible in postcards, was my dream turned reality for the past 2 weeks in French Polynesia!  Our first stop: Bora Bora, (aka the second most expensive place you can travel to in the world.)

Most of the resorts on Bora Bora are only accessible by taking a plane to the main island of Tahiti, then a small prop plane to the island.  From there, you then take a small boat to your oasis in the middle of the Pacific.  We stayed at place called Le Meridian, which had some cool over-the-water bungalows with glass floors to see into the water, a sea turtle sanctuary, and private lagoon for snorkeling.

We stayed for a few days, and on our last day we woke up to a double rainbow sunrise.  It was so magical!

Some underwater screen shots from the Go Pro camera, swimming with black tipped sharks, sea turtles at the turtle sanctuary, chopping into some fresh coconuts for a snack, our amazing glimpse of a humpback whale and her calf, ended with a uber rare shot of a manta ray (these things have a wingspan of 15 feet!)

The second half of our honeymoon was spent on the remote island of Moorea.  Here, we explored more of the local life.

One afternoon, we drove around the whole island and ran into this giant holding a pineapple.   As legend has it, the statue is designed to be life-size of a man who lived on the island many years ago.  They say he was so big, that if he wanted to travel from island to island he would just swim across.

During our whale excursion, we came across a documentary crew filming the new IMAX movie about the humpback whales.  I learned a lot about whales that morning… like how mother whales give birth to their calves neat Tahiti in the warm waters.  During the time they are with their babies, they don’t eat anything for months, since their food source is only the plankton that is found in the Arctic.   They end up loosing a lot of their body weight.  Our guide drove us around the waters all morning, and after about 3 hours, we finally saw the whales surfacing.  I had my camera with me and got one lucky shot of a whale breaching out of the water!  At the end of our boatride, we got to get into the water and swim with the whales!  We were about 30 feet away from them at one point.  It was so surreal to see them swim, but it was over faster than I could even comprehend what was going on!   Thankfully we were able to get some shots of it on video. =)

Many things were checked off my “Life’s To-Do” adventures list during my honeymoon.  It was really an amazing trip!

I am so lucky to have the coolest clients!  Today, I want to share a little love for Bianca and Eric.  I met them both a few months ago back in July, as they started planning their intimate beach wedding at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach.  During our initial consultation they shared details about their lives, some plans about their wedding, and desires to have an engagement session at Disneyland!  Deep in my heart I knew we were a perfect match, and I just hoped that they felt the same way.  I was beyond thrilled with the news when they chose me!  This past weekend, as the kids were back in school and the weather was cool, we found the perfect chance to explore the happiest place on Earth!

We first started in California Adventure, where we found a sea themed carousel with dolphins and a vineyard.

The sun started setting fast, so we hopped over to Disneyland for the rest of the session.  First on our list was a place Bianca scouted online… the “Snow White Bridge.”  It was right next to the castle and has cute pink hearts along the sides.  Behind the bridge was a wishing well where you can hear Snow White echoing, “I’m wishing, for the one I love, to find me.”  So romantic!

What happens when you start wedding planning 10 months before your wedding?  You have way too much time to think about details!  I’ve been in wedding planning mode since my engagement in December.  Almost immediately after deciding on the venue, I got a wedding dress, and started planning some of the fun details.   It turns out I wasn’t completely focused on a vision, so 2 weeks ago, I bought a 2nd wedding dress and now everything has changed!  I’ve had some time to think about it, and what I’ve come up with is a new inspiration board with a couple of details of the colors of our wedding: navy, nude, blush.  Those colors together have a nice balance of both feminine and masculine.  It’s not too far off from my original color scheme, but the overall feel is now more elegant and less whimsy.  The style of the wedding is officially “Romantic Rustic Ranch.”

(ABOVE: Bridesmaid image by: Kelly is Nice from my favorite wedding blog, Ruffled!  Veil image by: Jose Villa).  Yes, I’m newly obsessed with lace and veils.  Next, here’s a sneak peek at our custom wedding invitations designed by one of my past brides Manami!

Pismo Beach is a seaside town just halfway between Los Angeles and San Fransisco, featuring miles of pristine sand and surf, perfect climate, with small town charm.  It was also this weekend’s destination getaway for Mat and I!  We decided to stay at Seaventure Resort because #1) They had rooms overlooking the ocean, #2) Fireplace in the room, #3) Private jacuzzi on the balcony, and not that I need more than 3 good reasons, but #4) Would be the fact they have a restaurant-bar in the hotel.  I wasn’t really sure how I felt about the forest green walls when we entered the room, but I think by the end of the trip it kinda grew on me.

On our hotel balcony overlooking the ocean.  (taken with camera phone)  Oh yeah, and these are my new glasses!  What do you think?  I love how they have a slight rim of blue in the frames.  It’s not really noticeable from the front angle.  And Mat is sporting his new favorite hoodie; you can barely make out the “DMC” on the front.  He’s so proud of his new car.

View from our hotel balcony right after sunset.  I put the camera on the ledge and set a timer, so I would be able to get a long exposure without any blur.  I gotta use a tripod more often because it came out perfect!  This is my favorite image from the trip.  I love the colors, clarity of the moon, and pier in the background.

We visited Hearst Castle, I’ve been wanting to visit this place for years!  They have 4 different tours that take you though different parts of the Castle.  Visitors aren’t allowed to use a flash and tripod during the tour, because the artwork could fade and “it might disturb other guests” so did my best with a higher ISO and holding my breath with a slow shutter.  (All of these were taken with Canon 5MD2 and 14mm 2.8L lens, ideal for low light and interior shots.)

Indoor pool, lined in 24k gold tiles on the bottom, the pool is 10 ft deep through the whole main area but in the center of the image shows the women’s pool at 3ft deep.

I’m looking forward to the next time we’ll be able to make it up that way.  Hopefully, that will be a trip to San Fransisco to see the Mystery Spot!

It’s my 3rd month of wedding planning and things are coming along really well.  I haven’t really posted a “favorite things” or updated anything about my own wedding since the venue was picked, so I figured it might be a good time to share what I’ve been working on!  I’ve been keeping organized with help from a wedding planning checklist on mywedding.com; it allows me to set the budget and check off things as they are completed.  They also have a section to customize a personal wedding website, so guests can easily see what’s going on and get more information about our wedding details.  I love it!   We’ve included some of our favorite places to dine in LA when they’re in town visiting. Most of the places are right around the Santa Monica area, with the exception of Ahi Sushi in the Valley.

1) Enterprise Fish Co: Great seafood and happy hour. We recommend getting the steamed muscles!
2) Ahi Sushi: Best sushi restaurant in Los Angeles.
3) Newest find of great BBQ on the Westside: Mr. Cecil’s Ribs.  How awesome is that architecture?  The building looks like a tub-o-ribs!
4)  The Palace Seafood & Dim Sum:  Great Chinese food including Dim-sum in the morning/afternoons and the twice served Peeking Duck is heaven.
5) El Cholo Mexican: Great combination plates. Be sure to try one with one of their signature enchiladas and save room for dessert! They only offer one choice… Flan. It’s the best!
6) C & O Trattoria: Italian Food. Fun atmosphere and casual dining. You will NOT leave here hungry!

A lifelong dream of my dear fiance Mat, finally came true on Friday morning. The time-machine/car that is the 1981 DeLorean has been the envy of classic movie buffs and car enthusiasts alike, since its appearance in the Back to the Future movies.  Mat doesn’t really call himself a “car-guy”, but he has been dreaming of owning a DeLorean most of his life.  After all these years, he’s finally found the perfect one to call his own.  DeLorean Motor Company has only 4 dealerships in the United States, one of which is conveniently located about 40 minutes away in Garden Grove.  Here’s some of the pictures I took as he picked up his new toy!

1) Welcome to DMC
2) Home of lots of DeLoreans
3) Mat’s new car getting a wash
4) Tricked out Timemachine version of a DeLorean.  (I think this one belongs to Seth MacFarlane.)