FROM THE BRIDE & GROOM // We could not have asked for a more perfect day or location to get married. We got married at the beautiful Calipaso Winery in Paso Robles. It was the most beautiful and etherial destination wedding in Paso Robles, ever. On our day, the sun was shining and the temperature was a perfect 78 degrees. Our wedding party stayed with us at Calipaso Winery & Villa. My girls came over to our “Winemakers Suite” to get all dolled up and more importantly, to spend quality time with me drinking bubbly in our matching robes while the boys relaxed by the pool. The hours before the wedding turned out to be better than I could have imagined. Knowing I would likely be anxious, Nick surprised me with little notes, cards and meaningful gifts throughout the morning. We both finalized our vows and prepared for a moment we had both dreamt about for our whole lives— the first look.
Even ‘Mother Nature’ was excited during our “first look” moment as gusts of wind swept through the property as I approached my husband-to-be. Although both my veil and hair we a bit unruly due to the wind, it made the moment even more memorable. My heart was racing from both nerves and excitement. Despite instructions to tap him on the shoulder, I was too eager to his smiling face and decided instead to run and hug him. One of the most incredible moments was when we took a moment to look around to see our vision come to life. After a few romantic photos, we went to our staging areas before the start of the ceremony. It was surreal walking down the aisle to see all our friends and family sitting there, dressed to the nines, to support us on our special day.
Our flower girl was adorable, our ring bearer waved to the crowd while cruising down the aisle in his red Radio Flyer Wagon and our dog, Nala, stole the show when she came down the aisle in in her white doggy wedding dress to the “The Circle of Life” song from the Lion King. Our best friend presided over the wedding and knocked it out of the park. Listening to the beautiful vows we wrote to each other for the first time was the highlight of the ceremony. Before we knew it, we were kissing as husband and wife and heading off to party. The appetizers, the food, the specialty cocktails were perfect…even better than we imagined. Another special moment was when we got to sit together at our sweetheart table, alone, looking around at all of our closest friends and family, together at once, to celebrate with us. It was magical. After beautiful toasts from our siblings, cake, and an amazing donut bar we all danced the rest of the night away. The entire day was a dream from beginning to end. In fact, everyone had so much fun they have asked us to get married every year.
If I could say I had one favorite moment from our day was our first dance. Neither of us is the best dancers and only got to practice a few times before the wedding. But when our song came on, we forgot everything we practiced and just had fun with it. We sang the words to the song to each other and just danced as if nobody was watching. We even did the “Dirty Dancing” lift at the end.
The theme of our wedding was lemon and lavender. Calipaso is a beautiful Tuscan inspired yellow villa surrounded with vineyards and lavender. Being that my mother’s side of the family is from Italy, and lemons are plentiful in Italian decor, it was a fitting theme. Our cocktails, food, cake, invitations, decor etc. all drew upon our lemon-lavender theme. It all came together so beautifully. The best part about wedding planning was spending a year planning every detail of a wedding together brought us so much closer. Often times, we thought to ourselves, “if we can plan all of this together, we will be able to do anything together. We were there for each other every step of the way. Nick even helped with the arts and crafts!!!
I would love to offer a little advice to upcoming brides planning their weddings. Organization is critical…especially if you are not going to have a full-time coordinator. We created spread sheets to track invitations, guests, budgets and we also created a very detailed itinerary and style board to help our vendors understand our vision. Most importantly, although it is no doubt stressful, try to enjoy it all. It truly is the most exciting time of your lives. If it gets overwhelming, step away and share a bottle of wine or go on a great date with your fiancé…it will help to remind what all the hard work is for.
We`ve gone all out. All our spots for our new location, South Coast Botanic Gardens, have filled up... SOOOOO I have opened more! ✨️ If you were hoping for your mini at that pretty location, you can grab one now before they fill up again. Wooo!
In the past 3 weeks, we have already captured 25 mini sessions and we are all ready to run to full speed into weekend`s marathon. Up next is evergreen wonderland, then Pasadena City Hall. I cant wait to see what unfolds this year in these iconic spots and to see all the Christmas cards roll in with your pretty faces on them
If you have any questions, please don`t hesitate to reach out! Im here for you, loves!
After doing mini sessions for just about ten years, and family portraits for... who knows how long, I`m finally trying this out. Im hoping that we can get some great smiles from the little ones today with a "treasure" incentive. Those young ones really need a lot of encouragement. Im hoping this helps!
If you still want to join me for a mini session this year, I highly recommend booking right now. They are going fast and I keep having to open up more. If you haven`t booked already, this is the time!! I only have a couple more days I can open up before the Callender is fully booked.
This was taken at Mt rainier and I love the change of pace here. C asked to lay in the grass and capture this pose and mood.. Now I kind if want to add this one in more. Isn`t it wonderful?! I love their connection and how they fully immersed themselves in their engagement session.
This didn`t go as planned. When they arrived, they knew what was about to happen. Both of them.
When i first talked to L, we chatted about the perfect plan for the proposal. We went through our different options.... I could hide, or we would play "photoshoot," and then he would surprise C with his proposal right when the light and angle were perfect.
The day came, but C knew. She knew the plan and had her own, too. It was perfect! When L and I talked that morning, C revealed that she was in on the secret too and that she wanted to propose to L and present him a ring, just as L would for her.
It all came to a pinnacle when the light was right and the angle came into place. I gave them the cue and off the walked into the sunset, perfectly famed by haystack rock on Cannon Beach. It felt like time slowed, and they shared love notes with each other as they placed their rings on each other`s hands... the bliss became more real.
The rest of the session was full of glee and the truest love from these two and It was the greatest gift to capture.
Outstanding!!! Big Tree Little People amazingness.