Nicholas and Manami’s Wedding: Long Beach Museum of Art
On Saturday, I had the great pleasure of documenting Nicholas and Manami’s wedding at the Long Beach Museum of Art. I met Nicholas and Manami in the fall of last year. They are both graphic designers from Alameda, who planned on creating lots of the details of their wedding themselves. They were in town for a weekend, and at our consultation, they spoke of succulents, a colorful color palate, and an intimate gathering of 60 of their favorite people. I knew instantly I liked them and have been looking forward to shooting their wedding ever since! This past Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day for their wedding, in addition to a great day for the Long Beach Grand Prix that took place a couple blocks down the street. Thinking traffic would be horrible, I left Santa Monica 3 hours early. Turns out, I arrived 2.5 hours early… which was just fine by me! I’d much rather be hours early, than even 5 minutes late. Below are some of my favorite shots from the wedding day. Friends and family can view all images HERE.
The first, is a set of images is Nicholas and Manami’s custom wedding stationary that they created themselves! I especially love the design with the banner, how perfect! It really set the expectation for their wedding… fun, flags, and f-ruffles! Ok, I know f-ruffles isn’t a word… but it kinda rhymed. =)
When we arrived, Manami was getting ready in her dressing room. Getting colored shoes to match a wedding dress can be tricky, but I think it’s super fun and modern. The ruffles on her shoes matched her dress perfectly!
Nicholas and Manami decided to do a “First Look” before the ceremony… which allowed us time to get these shots of them together.
Custom fabric balls decorated the isle. These are so fun and colorful, and a great alternative to flowers.
The first dance.
Photography: SherriJ Photography
Venue: Long Beach Museum of Art
Makeup: Chinatsu Watanabe
Flowers: J’Adore Florist
Invitations: Nicholas and Manami’s own designs. Contact me for their information!
*Update June 14th, this wedding has been published on California Wedding Wave.
Bridal + Fashion Shootout with Gavin Wade Photographers WPPI
This was my 2nd year attending WPPI in Vegas, aka the week-long spring break for wedding and portrait photographers… but instead of partying (the whole time) most of us were in lectures and seminars for most of the day from the crack of dawn into the evening. For me, it was all about business, networking, gathering inspiration, and finding great vendors for my 2011 clients. Looking back at the experience, I’m so glad I went and can’t believe I even debated going! Summary: I won an awesome high quality Barbour Backdrop while in an 8am seminar with Blair Phillips Photography, purchased some new Radio Poppers to get control of my off camera flashes, and did a pretty cool bridal/fashion desert photoshoot with Gavin and Erin Wade! Pictures attached below.
Styled by Erin and Gavin of Gavin Wade Photographers
Models: Brittanie and Tomas Cruz (Bride and Groom) Kate Colosi (High Fashion)
Hair/Makeup: Lindsey of Linsey Shea Photography
Angela + Eugene: Malibu Engagement
I’m happy to share an amazing session from this weekend, featuring Angela and Eugene. We met during the holidays and they shared some great plans for their June wedding at Rancho del Cielo, in Malibu. For their engagement, they wanted to incorporate some fun and style. The colors of their wedding will be honey and wheat with accents of coral and blue. Angela did an amazing job preparing with cute outfits and a basket full of goodies that included bubbles, a paint kit, letters, and origami cranes and hearts they both folded together. I love the personal touches!
Update: Angela and Eugene have been published on Fabulously Wed! You can check out their feature HERE.
Jen + Rylan: Malibu Sunset Engagement
I was super excited when I learned more about these two and how much we had in common. For starters, Rylan loves themes of 3. For the engagement proposal he planned 3 elaborate dates around the idea of Land, Sea, and Air. For their honeymoon, they are planning a 3 week long adventure to Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand! (Mat and I have considered the Australia/New Zealand trip for our own honeymoon, but adding Fiji sounds amazing! I’m defiantly taking notes.)
We continued to shoot until the sun started to set. I’m so glad Jen and Rylan brought the love and gave some amazing smiles. It really makes my job look easy. =)
I think this last image is my total fave of the evening. Just… wow.
Thank you Jen and Rylan for hanging out. I’m so looking forward to seeing you again soon!