{ Thank you to Style Me Pretty for featuring this wedding! You can see the post here! }

When Holly first asked me to be her wedding photographer, I was so so excited, but also a bit nervous – as much as its an amazing honor to shoot the wedding of a) a friend, and b) a fellow photographer!… it’s also all kinds of nerve-wracking. I really wanted to do a stellar job for Holly and Jeff & create the best photos possible making me a bit jittery about it all.. but I found, when I showed up on her wedding day, that with how beautiful and heartfelt everything was? This really wouldn’t be very difficult at all :)

Holly’s wedding planning story is one that warms my heart and that I’m excited to share. Initially, as someone in the wedding industry, she understandably felt some pressure to put together something extravagant, super unique, magazine-worthy, trendy, top-of-the-line. After going through all sorts of venues, rummaging through wedding blog posts, and enduring quite a few stressful weeks she realized – that none of this was what she really wanted. What she really wanted was something true to her & Jeff – that was an extension of who they are and a reflection of what’s in their hearts. And as pretty as huge reception halls and giant flowering centerpieces can be, those things weren’t quite them. So she thought of what they loved to do, a pastime that for years was part of their relationship – which is attending baseball games together – called up Dodger Stadium, and took the planning from there.

So this is the wedding I walked into that day.

A wedding on the 4th of July, at a baseball stadium, during the opening game.
A small ceremony on the sunny Loge Patio, encircled by their closest family and friends.
Casual sweets and hot dogs, cups of ice cold beer, tickets for all their guests to watch the game in lieu of a traditional reception.
Personal vows, and tears, and a very very happy Holly and Jeff.
It was beautiful and perfect and so so them in every way.

I’m seriously counting my lucky stars that I was introducted to Tanya & Marcus by my friend & coordinator extraordinaire Uyen! Tanya & Marcus are currently living on the east coast, so they booked both of us without having yet met us in person. Uyen got to meet them first a few days before our session, and she excitedly told me afterwards how fun and sweet they are and how we’d have such a blast working together – she was totally spot on! So excited for when we all get to rendezvous again for their wedding this fall! :)

“When I was ten years old, my father and I took a trip to Paris, leaving my younger brother and mother in London where she was filming a movie…We went to the Pompidou museum, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre – the usual spots. On the plane back to London he asked me if I knew why we had gone, just he and I, to Paris for the weekend. I said no, but I felt so lucky for the trip. He said, ‘I wanted you to see Paris for the first time with a man who would always love you, no matter what.'” – gwyneth paltrow

The city I was most excited to visit on this Europe trip was Paris. I had some spotty memories from trips there when I was younger, but half of these were based off of photographs and recollections my parents shared. Happily, it turned out to be my most favorite city on the trip. Paris is not romanticized and exaggerated in the least. It is just as gorgeous as the photos you see in magazines. It is just as stunning as described in books. It is just as ridiculously classy and lovely and romantic as the movies. It is everything everyone raves about, and truly one of the most magical places I have ever been.

And it is not just the buildings,
and the museums,
the corner cafes,
the tree-lined promenades,
the chocolate mousse –
it is also the people.

I’ve always maintained this opinion, even before the trip, but I’d like to confirm again – I never found French people to be rude in the least. From literally the moment we stepped off the train, everyone was warm, friendly, helpful, polite. An old woman at the station smiled at us and asked us where we were from and about our trip so far, a girl in the subway stopped to ask if we needed directions as we stared bewildered at a map, every server we had was cheerful & patient and just as great as the food they were serving (AND OH WAS IT GREAT), even on the plane ride home, the elderly French couple next to me were so sweet & friendly even with their limited English and my even more limited French. It warmed my heart :)

On an added note, I swear even the light is prettier in Paris, is it not?