Such a joy-filled day! Ayumi & Brian are those type of people who radiate positivity & warmth at all times, and their wedding was a perfect reflection of that – the bright pops of color everywhere, the cheerful table settings, the labor-of-love DIY goodness {check out those handpainted signs! the cool toolbox! the invites! the pocket squares!}. Even the retro print fabric that made appearances throughout the day exclaimed, “happy!” Even more cheer – as an alternative to petals or bubbles, they had guests blow up Japanese paper balloons (just like the ones that made appearances in their engagement session!) and toss those during the recessional. The Smog Shoppe, with its quirky backdrops & always intimate vibe, provided the perfect nook to house all this joy :)

As I always say, the most beautiful weddings to me are not necessarily the grandiose ones, with the ginormous budget, or the opulent decor – they are the ones that are by default unique & creative because they incorporate the pieces of who you are, that are naturally stylish because they celebrate your personalities, that can’t help but be meaningful & fun because they focus on your very own special type of love :)

I can’t thank Ayumi & Brian enough for giving me the chance to be a part of this day, and to All You Need is Love Events for coordinating everything perfectly behind the scenes (and designing all the amazing florals!)

{And thank you to Style Me Pretty as well for featuring this wedding! You can see the post & read more about the details straight from the bride here!}

Jess is a friend of mine from oh, maybe the 1st grade? We used to make “green tea” with mint leaves (plus a bunch of other questionable stuff) from my backyard and try to feed it to our younger sisters. She always had the most epic birthday parties and perhaps even let me copy her geometry homework once or twice (SCREW YOU PROOFS). I would like to compare Jess to Mary Poppins, in that she’s practically perfect in every way. She is ridiculously smart, horribly sweet, fabulously silly, abundantly kind, and a great friend.

So when she first told me about Rich, I may have been a bit skeptical. Because who could be so perfect for such a perfect person? But upon hearing about him and meeting him I realized that he somehow also is smart, and sweet, and silly, and kind, and most of all makes Jess endlessly happy. The proof (NOT THE GEOMETRY KIND) is in the photos. In the way he’s gazing at her in this one. The way she’s laughing in that one. Their whole engagement session was so joyful, so personal, so real.

It may have helped that we shot in a wonderful little Italian restaurant {La Sosta Enoteca – oh the light! the rustic chairs! those billowy curtains!} in Hermosa Beach, where they had many of their first dates and first memories. Or that Rich brought along his two awesome daughters (be sure to scroll down!) for the second half of the session on the beach.

As I always hope for in engagement sessions, this one did seem so them – practically perfect in every way :)

How dreamy is this wedding? Especially since so much of it was lovingly DIY-ed by Liv and Greg! Please brace yourself for this impressive DIY list – with a little help from family and friends, they assembled the bouquets, arranged the gorgeous centerpieces, baked + iced + decorated the cake (which was carrot, and banana, and DELICIOUS!) – Liv even hand-dyed some of the bridesmaids’ dresses to match the soft pink palette.

All the personal touches lent themselves perfectly to this kind of wedding – the kind filled with a relaxed, cozy kind of love, the kind celebrating two people who are amazing as individuals, but even better together. The day ended with lots of dancing, a crackling fire, and the making of s’mores. Perfection.