Excited would have been a huge understatement. A beautiful spring wedding in the middle of New York City, a ceremony set under a canopy of twisty green wisteria, urban portraits around Central Park & Grand Central Station – I was practically bouncing off the walls the night before we flew out (I was also the most un-packed a person could possibly be, but tis the story of my life.)

I had an absolutely phenomenal time photographing Erika & Julian’s wedding in NYC! It had the bustling excitement of the city built in, but was also wonderfully intimate, a sweet collection of their closest family and friends. They chose to have the wedding in New York since it provided a central meeting point for Erika’s family/friends from the West Coast and Julian’s from the UK. Everyone flew in to meet together and celebrate their love.

Thank you Erika & Julian for inviting us on your cross-country celebration & treating us so kindly every step of the way, almost making us feel like we were guests! :) We had so much fun exploring the city with you & photographing your day!

Erika was a bit worried about the weather, but the day turned out to be beautiful! It actually rained right before everyone flew in and starting raining again the following Tuesday when we were all set to leave – the sun essentially came out just for their lovely wedding weekend :)

I LOVED the textural feel of the bouquets, such a whimsical mix of colors & varieties. All florals were created by Flowers by Richard:

The reception was held at the Beacon restaurant. The food was amaaazing and it had such a cozy yet modern vibe.

The adorable cake topper was handcrafted by Yumi, Erika’s maid-of-honor… she sweetly included their dog Shep and the likeness of all 3 of them was uncanny!

Loved their “International Candy Buffet” – lots of my favorite Japanese candies were included as well!

Kelie and Kaare were married in Long Beach on a sunny May afternoon. I met with Kelie and her bridesmaids at the juicy-colored Hotel Maya, followed by a sweet first look right along the waters edge, and portraits around the hotel’s grounds. The unique & mod hotel was actually Kelie’s main reason for wanting to do a first look – she was smitten by the bright colorful architecture (as am I! smitten silly!) and knew that doing a first look was the only way to get portraits there since the ceremony took place at a different location.

Fastforwarding to today, I actually met with Kelie this afternoon and as we reminisced about her wedding day, she shared that she was really glad they made the decision to see each other beforehand, and that the portraits we did around the Maya was one of her favorite memories of the day. It made my heart so happy to hear this – I often mention the benefits of a first look to my couples, but to hear her share her experience through cheery smiles was a wonderful testament to her decision. As you’ll see below, we really got to take our time, relax, and explore the vivid space!

And as you’ll also see, this allowed time after the ceremony to focus on an awesome offering from Skylinks – the golf course gave them a cart to ride around in for the day! Their fabulous coordinator Jenn adorned it with a gajillion balloons and it was such a cheerful & fun photo op (and so wonderfully reminiscent of Up! :)

Thank you Kelie & Kaare for inviting us to photograph your amazing day, and to my dear friend Jenn Yamauchi {jennyamauchi@gmail.com} for flawlessly coordinating every minute of it! If you’re looking for an endlessly warm, super sweet, and meticulously organized person to have on hand for your day, Jenn’s your girl!

Loved how Kelie’s vibrant orange & purple color palette matched the hotel’s vibe so perfectly!

True story: Kelie’s sparkly Toms for the reception rocked my world. Another true story: I always take way WAY too many shoe shots at weddings!

It is sometime past midnight. A dreamy makeshift cafe, nestled in the middle of a woodsy area, sweetly lights up the otherwise dark surroundings. Cozy candlelight, warm tea, beautiful vintage furniture.. the absolute perfect stop for a newlywed couple! And all making for an inspirational shoot so creative & lovely, that it would entice even this can’t-function-before-10am-photographer to drive into the woods at 3am to photograph this beautiful setting. I’ve photographed many sessions that have gone from sunset to night, but this was my first time shooting from night through dawn!

A big big thank you to Amanda Auer of the super stylish and amazing wedding coordinating team In the Now for conceptualizing and organizing all the fabulous details of this shoot. And to Amanda at Ruffled for featuring this shoot on her blog! Ruffled is one of my favorite stops for gorgeous vintage wedding inspiration. And of course a big thank you to the beautiful newlywed couple who remained so pleasant and so in love despite the chilling temps!

Scroll down for a beautifully told backstory on the concept of the shoot, written by Amanda. And be sure to hop over to Ruffled to check out the post there!

I imagined a couple deeply in love, newly-wedded, who got distracted with the idea of a cup of coffee and some dessert on the walk home from their wedding. After the grand send off, after the dancing and drinks, after the party…. THIS is where the end up. At a quaint cafe, open late, laughing and loving the night away until dawn strikes and they mosey on towards home.

I love the idea of these two lovebirds reveling in the memories of their wedding day. Their feet ache, her head hurts from being pinned up, they’re exhausted… but they’re elated. Full of joy. Full of newness, hope, and love. Full of lemon crumble cake!

The idea is that these two order a slice of cake, a tea, and a coffee, and chat the night away until the cafe closes and as they walk down a quiet side road in the breaking dawn… they give a whole new meaning to the term “walk of shame”. I adore the idea of a wedding “walk of shame”- like you spent the WHOLE night out and you’re walking down the road now barefoot, shoes in hand, veil off and hair let loose, ready to head to sleep finally.

{ As seen on Ruffled }

Styling – In The Now, Amanda + Rachel
Rentals – Classic Party Rental
Furniture and Decor – Jeni @ FOUND Vintage Rentals; In The Now
Hair/Makeup – Carlie Buys at Carlie B
Dress – The Vintage Bride
Veil – Candi Merle @ Crowning Glory Veils
Models- Nick Bowser of Crafthouse Productions; and his lovely wife, Yanessa
Photography – Adrienne Gunde
Location- Trabuco Canyon, CA