This wedding was such a lovely and a memorable one thanks to the inspiring architecture, the bride’s beautiful horse who joined the bridal party and the day that was full of summer warmth and love. Here’s a sneak peek from Christy and Jeff’s wedding at Stanford Memorial Church and the Menlo Circus Club, much more to come….
The Menlo Circus Club brings back the best childhood memories for me, so I really enjoyed getting to document such an amazing wedding there and watch as new memories were being made. Laura’s family have been long time members of the club and all of the people there spoke so kindly of them. I could tell that everyone put in their best effort to make sure that the day would unfold perfectly for such a deserving family…and so of course it did! Laura and Jon chose to do a first look, which started the day off in such a relaxed way as they had some time to connect with each other before they began their ceremony under an old and majestic oak tree. I love that Laura and Jon continued the oak tree theme throughout their wedding, as there were oaks on their invitations and sugar oak leaves and acorns wrapped around their cake. The oak tree has come to represent the family tree, strength, wisdom, growth, as well as happiness in marriage…so I can’t imagine a better symbol for this wedding. It was the family who created so many of the highlights of the day, from Jon’s aunt officiating the ceremony, to the amazing speeches given by both Jon and Laura’s siblings, to watching the father and son tear up the dance floor in unison. As the night progressed that dance floor continued to get rocked by each and every single guest thanks to their band ‘The Notorious’, which was honestly the best band that I’ve ever heard play a wedding. After hours of dancing, the end of the night was joyfully punctuated by a rose petal send-off and we all watched as two very happy people were driven away. I think that that wedding will be going down in Menlo Circus Club history, just as Laura and Jon’s marriage will be making that wise old oak tree proud!
Audra and Matt are straight up awesome; kind, smart, and tons of fun…so together they are quite the dynamic duo and an absolute pleasure to photograph. Audra said that she loved all things French, so we headed for the European inspired gardens at Allied Arts Guild for their engagement session. Matt brought some french pastries and champagne to share with his love, and Audra brought some rockin’ outfits, and together they brought the romance. We got really lucky and had the gardens to ourselves, making it easy to capture the intimate and real connection between these two, who came all the way from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania for this shoot. After our afternoon together I’m more than positive that their summer wedding at the Cypress Manor Estate in Monte Sereno is going to be filled with pure beauty and fun.
I knew that I was going to enjoy photographing this couple after I met them at their house one evening. They both immediately made me feel welcome, Patty with her down to earth nature and an organized brain full of great ideas and Amin with his gentle spirit and kind eyes. They decided to start their engagement session in their own backyard, but since it was completely dark when we first met I had no idea that they had such an inspiring garden outside, complete with a zen pond, numerous fountains, exotic fruit trees and a custom built daybed. I love that Patty and Amin discovered a tiny little bird’s nest in one of their trees while we were shooting, it seemed like the perfect symbol for the beginning of their life together. After the garden we went to their historic local train station (it’s one of the oldest in California) and then moved on to a beautiful nature preserve nearby where we hiked up the hill just as the golden hour arrived. These two have such a obvious connection, so there was little need for direction, I just simply documented what I saw before me. I love the images at the end of this post, as they convey how comfortable and in love these two truly are. I can’t wait to share the images from their amazing yacht wedding soon!
