You may remember Ann & Alex from their EPIC engagement session at their home in LA. I knew their sweet backyard wedding would be equally warm & intimate, filled with personal touches and oodles of handmade details. These kinds of weddings make my heart so happy – the kinds that are focused truly on the love, the kinds that feel like home. Ceremony music played by talented friends, albums filled with rich film photos from their travels, her mother’s lace bolero… and the cake! In the months up to the wedding, Alex had been practicing his way up to building a 4-tier cake and it came out to be absolutely perfect (and delicious).

It was drizzly all morning but you seriously could never guess from the calm, cheerful demeanor both Ann & Alex carried with them, and of course, as it always always does, the skies cleared just in time for the beautiful ceremony. Special thanks to Amanda Rae for shooting with me!

A cake topper in honor of their joint publication…

Ann & Alex’s engagement session blew my mind to UTTER and COMPLETE smithereens. As astoundingly talented artists, they’ve recently created their own publication and frequently put on amazing little events {like this one} showcasing art & music in the community. They are no doubt one of the most creative couples we’ve worked with and their homegrown & intimate session completely embodied their relationship and who they are. It was like a perfect sneak peek into their lives and since it was so them, it was innately & wonderfully unique.

I like to think of their session as broken down into 3 parts of complete awesomeness:

1) An intimate summer backyard dinner with explosions of texture & color
2) A walk through their neighborhood to a cute community garden
3) Fun with projector patterns on a wall…

I’m crossing my fingers that you make it to the end of this post, because all 3 are totally amazing and inspirational!

But starting with the first part….

Ann & Alex recently moved to the west side, to a cute home that they share with friends and have dubbed the “Culver Den”. I was so excited when they suggested doing their session there since I LOVE photographing people at home – I feel like there’s such an intimate side of them you can capture and I love the cozy organic vibe the backdrop provides. When I arrived at the Culver Den, Ann & Alex had created a sweet outdoor dinner, complete with the most colorful & well-thought out details – flowers & feathers in vases, a cup of vibrant vegetables, garnished glasses of strawberry lemonade, a found vintage chandelier. And thus, my mind was blown.

Love the paint on Alex’s hands – he said even after scrubbing it wouldn’t all come off!

Next, they wanted to take me on a little walk through their new neighborhood to a community garden down the street. Ann told me that the houses in their neighborhood showcased the most interesting plants and flowers, and she was in no way kidding. We saw some of the craziest, most gigantic, most beautiful flowers I’ve seen in our walk. When we got to the garden, Alex pulled out an impromptu necklace he had made for Ann from a lovely painted wooden block he was using in one of his art projects. It was so sweet!

For this part of the session, Ann also slipped on the cutest head piece, which she had handcrafted herself (she has a line of them called Amisa). And so, my camera clicked away & my mind continued to be blown.

Lastly, we headed back to the house since they wanted to try out one more thing. Alex had recently illustrated an animation of different patterns and he wanted to try some photos using the projection as a backdrop. Um, YES.

MIND = BLOWN.

Ann & Alex, thank you so much for inviting me to take a sneak peek into your lives! Can’t wait until the wedding!!

As Jaenee and I drove to the lake by her home, where she would be meeting A for their very first look on their wedding day, she smiled and explained to me how she wasn’t feeling as nervous as she expected. She said, “the fact that I’m so calm makes me realize how excited I am for the marriage – that it’s the marriage, not the wedding, that is so important to me.”

I photograph amazing weddings of all shapes and sizes, and Jaenee & A’s wedding was a perfect reminder that you don’t need to spend lavishly to make a wedding wonderful – it is the moments that fill the day and the fact that you make it yours. Their backyard wedding was low-key and intimate, but was unbelievably rich with beautiful, warm, and emotion-filled moments (not to mention stunning personal details that Jaenee lovingly crafted by hand). From the first time I met with Jaenee, she explained the importance of family to her and A, and their wedding was indeed a collection of efforts from all of their family members. The happiness and love exuded by everyone that day was overwhelming and it was an incredible experience to be a part of such an event. I believe I was the only vendor there that day; everything else – the location, the flowers, the centerpieces, the food & drinks, the music – was a collaboration of Jaenee & A’s efforts and the work of their family members. At the end of the night, Jaenee and A walked us to the door and we exchanged hugs – my heart was brimming with joy as we left as I truly felt we had witnessed the wedding of not clients, but friends.

Jaenee & A – Thank you so much for welcoming us so warmly into your home and giving us the opportunity to be a part of your incredible wedding. We feel so blessed to have gotten to know you and share in your celebration and to witness your amazing and inspirational love. I know you will have a lifetime of happiness to come! :)

The lovely bouquets, all assembled by Jaenee herself…

Her veil was adorned with lace from her mother’s wedding dress:

Jaenee’s bridesmaids were her sister and her cousins, her best friends since childhood…

A first glance in the mirror and writing down the last of her vows…

Their first look was so touching. I often recommend first looks to couples and Jaenee & A really showed how special that time together can be…

Love these identical childhood photos of them!

The programs were again works of art by Jaenee:

After the ceremony, we walked right across the street for some more photos…

The centerpieces continued with the tissue flower motif and were beautiful! I can’t imagine how long it must have taken Jaenee to put together each one:

A lovely alternative to paper place cards…

The night ended with tons of dancing!

And a quick shot with the happy couple! Congrats Jaenee & A and thank you so much for the chance to share in your special day with you!