How cool is it when I am able to not only stay in touch with a couple after their wedding, but photograph other awesome milestones for them along the way? You may remember Hana & Toshi from their beautiful Palos Verdes wedding and dreamy day-before session. Flash forward to today – they’re currently living in Japan and now have a joyful baby boy named Kento! I was so excited when they got in touch with me letting me know they’d be back in town in LA and were hoping to take some family portraits. Kento seriously is one of the happiest little guys I have EVER met – he has a huge smile & killer personality which I know he gets from his awesome parents! So happy I could meet him & reconnect with this wonderful family while they were in town :)

I remember meeting with Mio & Dave for coffee on a cozy winter evening in Brentwood. It wasn’t our first time meeting – her sister-in-law (hi Joyce!) is one of my closest friends and Mio and I were bridesmaids together in Joyce’s wedding. Knowing how awesome Mio & Dave are, I walked into the meeting with all my mental fingers crossed – as they described their dreamy venue {Ponte Winery in Temecula} and vision for the day {an elegant “French country” theme}, I crossed my fingers a little tighter, when she expressed that her mom would be doing the flowers and that the wedding would be a labor of love, I was practically bouncing off the cafe walls in hopes they would book me.

At the end of the meeting, Mio and Dave smiled widely and finally exclaimed, “okay the meeting was just a formality, we knew we wanted to book you from the beginning!” Insert lots of laughter and cheering and happy coffee toasting :)

Their wedding truly was as lovely as they described to me. Mio & her mother worked closely to pull together the rustic theme with bird cages, mossy letters, and opulent florals. They utilized a red and green color scheme that was impressively non-Christmas-y (which I love – you can see another geniusly executed red-and-green wedding here!). They incorporated cultural traditions (like a sake ceremony), but also threw in their own traditions, like having a pie bar (PIE! BAR! THAT’S A BAR OF PIES!) in lieu of traditional wedding cake.

It was a beautiful day and I felt so honored to be there to document it!

{ Thank you to Elizabeth Anne Designs for featuring this wedding! }

For the day before the wedding, when all their guests had arrived in town, Liv & Greg organized a relaxed dinner gathering at the LA Arboretum. The day was warm like summer, there was a fun scavenger hunt for everyone to get to know each other, delicious Mediterranean cuisine, and lots of mingling & laughter. I snuck Liv & Greg away in the midst of it for a few quick portraits around the gorgeous arboretum – filled with all sorts of trees, pretty blossoms, and peacocks everywhere! (Lovely to look at, not so lovely to hear.)

Up next, their beautiful wedding {think a quiet garden, pale pink dresses, and s’mores!}