It was an overcast day in November. I was sitting cross-legged on my bed in my San Francisco hotel room, laptop by my side, on the phone with the sweetest writer who was putting together an article for Professional Photographer magazine. When I hung up the phone I’m pretty sure a fervent pinching session ensued. Because seriously? Phone interview? Really? Me?

I absolutely love engagement sessions and it is an honor to be included in an article in the February issue, regarding ways to keep sessions fun and unique. I get asked from time to time regarding using props to personalize sessions – who brings them, how we decide what to use, etc. and I was excited to share a little about my experiences in this article. You can download the full story here. A very big thank you to to Rebecca Zoumberos for passing my name along initially, and to Stephanie Boozer for chatting with me, putting my rambly rambly thoughts into coherent sentences, and conveying what I meant to say so eloquently :)

Fact: I cry at 110% of the weddings I shoot, sometimes during vows, or father-daughter dances, or the slideshow (there are BABY PICTURES, set to BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, for goodness sakes), and this time it was was during the toasts. Erin’s maid-of-honor read off a simple but beautiful collection of advice, and the final one spoke so much to my heart. She said it was a piece of advice given to her husband by his friend, at their own wedding 7 years ago, and it read: make sure you never fall out of love at the same time. She continued to elaborate that yes, marriage can be difficult, and feelings can be tested, and times can be hard, but as long as one of you is there to fight for it and hold each other together, you.will.always.be.okay. It is a beautiful concept to me to think that sometimes you have to take turns being the one to hold things together, even if I feel that Erin & Ernie will probably never face such situations – the love they have for each other is palpable, so pure and honest and true. When I first met with Erin over coffee, I noticed a little sparkle would appear in her eye everytime Ernie came up in conversation… and when I finally met him on the big day, whatdoyaknow – he had that same sparkle in his eye as well ;)

Their day was filled to the brim with love, and was the perfect way to kick off this year.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – my dear brides, I will take EIGHT THOUSAND pictures of your shoes, and perhaps, NINE THOUSAND, if they’re as fabulous as this pair.

Meenah & Shaobo’s wedding was my very last one of 2010, and I could not imagine a more beautiful ending to the wedding season!

I was beyond ecstatic to make my way up to nor Cal to document their day at Thomas Fogarty Winery, tucked up, up, and away in the hills of Woodside. {Have I mentioned how much I love shooting in the bay area? If you’re getting married there, do drop me a hello :)} The drive up the mountain itself was so mystical & breathtaking, and Megan & I were in utter awe – thick forests of evergreens, trees with bright yellow & red leaves, canopies that spread across the entire roadway, and just when you think it COULD NOT POSSIBLY get any more gorgeous, you see the winery. Now green vineyards are amazing, but the rows of golden vines literally took my breath away. It was my first time seeing the vines aglow in fall colors and all I could think about was shooting Meenah & Shaobo in that amazing spectacle. And that we did :)

The weather reports kept announcing a horrific 90% chance of showers, but as always always (always!) happens, the skies cleared for all the important parts of the day. As an added bonus, not one, not two, but FIVE rainbows made appearances at different points during the day, including a perfect one during the ceremony (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??) But say, even if the weather hadn’t cleared, even if it had been pouring/snowing/hailing during every moment, the thing is you would never be able to tell with Meenah & Shaobo. They are seriously one of the sweetest couples I’ve met, full of smiles, and patience, and love. And, happily willing to trek out into muddy fields of grapes, in 50 degree weather, all for the sake of photos. My kind of couple :)

Meenah & Shaobo – thank you so much for allowing me to document this exciting time in your lives! I knew from our very first Skype meeting that it would be a complete joy & honor to work with you, and I’m so so happy the interwebs allowed us to connect! :) Wishing you so so many more years of love and happiness to come!