San Francisco Engagement Photos: Alison and Justin

I met Alison and Justin a few months ago to talk about their wedding. It’s been fun to get to know a bit about them, their love of good food, jazz and French wine.

Justin proposed in Paris (can you get any more romantic than that?) and the Locally Grown Weddings team is hard at work to bring a bit of that feel to their October wedding in Park Winters.

Alison and Jsutin have a dog they adore, named Zoe. For our engagement photo session together we wanted to include her in the photos. So we chose to go to a couple of parks in San Francisco where she could freely run around.

Here are a few more photos from our session together.

I thought for this wonderful wedding I would do something different…enjoy a slideshow of Marco and Lindsey’s Wedding at Paradise Ridge Winery!

Thank you for all these wonderful vendors who made this happen:

Venue: Paradise Ridge Winery

Flowers: Maria Philbin Floral Design

Cake: Costeaux with floral arrangement by Maria Philbin

Make-up/Hair: It’s a Date at the Powder Room

2nd Shooter: Christopher Mackessy

Wente Vineyards Wedding - Michelle and Matt Part Two

Let’s pick up from where we left off.

Michelle worked closely with Madeline to add flowers and decor that worked well with the venue while being modern and sophisticated. From the beginning she like the color purple and in October, dahlias turned out to be the perfect choice. 

I love this colorful bouquet, especially the green accents.

A boutonniere can be as creative as the bride’s bouquet. I love how Madeline used the different flowers for the groom and the best man.

Dahlias are perfect in their simplicity. Madeline used them in vases all around the reception area and with such a gorgeous setting, they enhanced the location, without being overbearing.

In addition to the flowers Madeline and Michelle selected pears and purple artichokes for the escort cards, adding something unique, as well as coordinating with the purple hues of the flowers and other decorative elements.

Then the same flowers and decor elements were used int he ceremony area.

Here come the bride…

More photos every day this week!

All weddings are the creation of a team of great professionals. I am so lucky I got to work with:

Venue: Wente Vineyards

Flowers and Event Design: By Madeline Trait

Hair and Make up: Cinta Salon

Wedding Dress: Amy Kuschel

Catering and Wedding Cake: Wente Vineyards

Wente Vineyards Wedding - Michelle and Matt Part One

Last October I had the great pleasure of photographing Michelle and Matt’s wedding at Wente Vineyards. I absolutely loved this location! Founded 125 years ago, Wente Vineyards is the country’s oldest, continuously operated family-owned winery. Check out their website to read all about it.

Michelle and Matt saw the engagement photos I took of their friends online and that’s how they found me. How cool is that? My first Facebook wedding ;) Michelle is also friends with Madeline Trait, the amazing florist and event designer I work with in Locally Grown Weddings, so I was really excited when I heard they wanted to work with me.

Usually I like to meet in person, but in this case we couldn’t, as Michelle and Matt had just moved to Wisconsin. So we skyped instead and worked collaboratively to plan their wedding.

Madeline and I see each other every week as part of Locally Grown Weddings, so we also had fun talking about this day as it approached. And we went together to Wente, to scout the location and plan all the details.

So, here’s Part One of this wonderful wedding from last Fall. Let’s start with Michelle getting ready!

Michelle’s dress was designed by Amy Kuschel. After photographing her wedding dresses twice last year, I have to admit I ma now a fan! It’s all Madeline’s fault: she is the best at discovering new and old talent.

There’s nothing more special than sharing this day with a loving family: Michelle was radiant from the very beginning.

While I photographed the bride getting ready, my second shooter, Christopher Mackessy was in the other room, capturing Matt and the rest of the guys getting dressed.

I am a big fan of photographing The First Look and Michelle and Matt were totally game. Chris stayed with Matt and took him downstairs. Chris and I coordinated all the couple’s movements, so we could make sure the first time Matt saw Michelle in her wedding dress would be just as special as they wanted it to be. As I waited with the ladies upstairs, it was fun capturing this little candid moment.

Everybody is waiting for the bride…

The afternoon light in October was just perfect.

Here’s the end of Part One of Michelle and Matt’s Wedding. Check out Part Two and Three next week! And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for a special extra photo from this wedding ;)

All weddings are the creation of a team of great professionals. I am so lucky I got to work with:

Venue: Wente Vineyards

Flowers and Event Design: By Madeline Trait

Hair and Make up: Cinta Salon

Wedding Dress: Amy Kuschel

Catering and Wedding Cake: Wente Vineyards