I remember waking up that Saturday morning in my Monterey hotel room and immediately hearing the sound of pouring rain. It continued coming down as I got up and started getting ready, as Hannah {my lovely second shooter for the day!} picked me up to head to the Intercontinental, as we valeted the car and walked up to the hotel room where Jackie and the girls were getting ready. But then something funny happened. I went outside onto the balcony to take (one thousand fifty two) photos of her fabulous shoes, and I noticed that the ocean looked blue instead of grey. And that I was squinting a little because it was so bright. And just when it clicked in my head, I heard Jackie excitedly exclaim that the “sun is coming out!!” And so it happened – those umbrellas you see in the below photos? They weren’t necessary in the least. Because the sun stayed for the portraits, for the ceremony, for the cocktail hour, even blessing us with a rainbow at one point.

Jackie and Cliff are awesome chill people, and I know would be all smiles either way, but the lucky weather we had was the perfect addition to the day. You know what else was the perfect addition? THE DONUTS. There were donuts all up in this wedding, and if you know me at all {if you don’t, hi, I’m Adrienne, I eat bacon like it’s an Olympic sport} that helped make this totally my kind of wedding :)

There are a lot of beautiful things I saw during the afternoon I spent with Tori & Kate in and around their home. A cozy living room with bright cheery posters. A sun-drenched kitchen. Colorful berries atop homemade vegan pancakes. Matching aprons. A wall of hearts. Sweet terriers and cuddly cats.

But the most beautiful thing? By far?

Was love.

Because this is love you see in these photos. That giddy giggly kind of love. That connected souls kind of love. That feels-like-home, best-friend, you-really-really-get-me kind of love.

I’m counting all my lucky stars that Tori’s sister found me online through Green Wedding Shoes and gifted this session to Tori & Kate. Because of her I was able to meet two amazing ladies and capture a glimmer of their lives together :) These kinds of homey sessions are still always my favorites and this one is no exception… it makes my heart so so happy.

{ Thank you to Green Wedding Shoes, one of my most favorite blogs, for featuring this session! Check out the post here! }

In my last post, I mentioned how I felt so lucky to photograph two super sweet and intimate courthouse weddings in the same day! Kaitlin and John were the second couple I met up with that afternoon – from the moment I saw them I could tell how giddy and excited they were to tie the knot. We chatted a bit in the courthouse hallways, they had their ceremony with just the two of them (and I got to serve as the witness!), then we strolled around outside for portraits, where they discreetly opened up a celebratory bottle of champagne for a couple shots! :)

On my way up to the courthouse, I had spotted a cool open lot + alley area just steps away that had beautiful light and pretty pastel colors – I mentally crossed my fingers that Kaitlin & John would be up for shooting there, and was so excited when they happily went along with the idea. I so love when clients trust my vision for shots, even with locations that on first glance seem not so picturesque. Had so much fun with them both!