A week or so ago I photographed Hong Hyun & Darwin’s wedding at the Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club.  It was a beautiful event that I will share with you all soon!  But in the mean time I thought you might enjoy a peek at their engagement images that we were able to capture this summer.  We met up at one of my favorite beach spots, La Jolla Cove.  

The atrium at the St. Regis is an awesome place to take bride and groom pictures.  The gorgeous sweeping staircase and intricate mosaic tile floor make an incredible backdrop, especially for a couple as striking as Alicia and Reza!  A past bride of mine, Popeh Zeinali from Wild Orkid Weddings, helped this couple put together a beautiful event.  Persian weddings incorporate tradition and lots of details and this event was no exception with it’s grandeur.  Alicia and Reza started the day at the St. Regis, giving us the chance to capture some amazing “first meeting” images.  They also incorporated something extra fun and very unique – giant white balloons.  We headed outside and had a great time using them in various images!  The rest of the celebrations took place at the Orange Hill Restaurant where they held their ceremony and reception.  The restaurant is situated up in the hills of Orange, CA and has a large terrace that is a really nice venue for a wedding ceremony with its amazing views of the coastline, all the way to Catalina Island.

Allison and Jed’s wedding took place at the Naval Sub Base in Pt. Loma.  Sharon, from A Dream Wedding by Sharon Cole, with her assistant Chelsea, helped this great couple put together a beautiful event.  The blue accents they chose were a spectacular tie in with the Bay and the wonderful blue sky that day.  Sharon and her team always incorporate some terrific details.  I especially liked the sand ceremony using these beautiful conch shells.  It was a unique variation on the traditional glass vase.  Very beach like and very San Diego!

Mackenzie and Robert’s wedding was a lot of fun!  I worked with this family once before when I got to photograph the wedding of the bride’s sister, Nickole.  As always, it’s a special and unique occasion for me to work with families again.

These two incorporated a lot of their personality into the event.  It was plain to see from the get go that the wedding was going to have a lot of energy.  For starters, the event was surrounded in shocking pink! The flowers were incredible; in fact they were done by the bride’s aunt, Jeri, from A Tailored Event.  Next it was the liveliness of the mariachi band that accompanied the bride and groom send off.  And finally we had a lot of fun capturing images of them as they drove off in a classic, convertible Thunderbird!

For those of you closer to LA it will be helpful to know this wedding was held at the Church on the Hill in Norco and the reception was at the Eagle Glen Golf Course.

It is plain to see that Stacey and Nick have incredible respect for one another.  I noticed how kind they were during their engagement shoot and that touching element of their relationship was in full bloom at their wedding.  Not that all of the couples I work with aren’t incredibly in love…  absolutely they are!  Just sometimes an extra amount of those adoring moments come through my camera lens and it’s a beautiful thing.  Stacey and Nick’s ceremony was full of them and I have to share a few with you.

They held their ceremony at the Ocean Hills Community Church in San Juan Capistrano and the reception was at the Norman P. Murray Community Center in Mission Viejo.  

Courtney and Brent are well ahead of the game.  With their wedding not until June of 2010 I imagine they are having a hard time waiting for the big day!  We recently met in downtown San Diego for their engagement shoot.  All of the visual geometry there adds a really fun element to their images.  Keep an eye open for them next summer, their wedding will be at the charming La Valencia in La Jolla.