This is one of those weddings {there are more than a few of them}, where I’m sitting there editing the images late in the evening, the computer monitor glowing brightly, with maybe a snack (aka THIRD DINNER) on my desk, and I find that suddenly, I’m misty-eyed. Because how crazy beautiful are these moments? The moment of joy as Christina sees her aunts walk in to congratulate her as she’s getting ready, or the excitement Mark has when he presents Christina with a wedding gift (a ukelele, and she gave him a surfboard!) Or the significance of a rose placed gently on a chair saved for Mark’s mother, who had passed away earlier that year.

Christina and Mark are both the kinds of people who will greet you with the warmest hugs, and laugh unabashedly, and constantly radiate love in every which-what direction, and the fact that they found each other & ended up together is something pretty wonderful. Their wedding day was a string of beautiful and joyous moments and it was such an honor to be there to capture them!

I’ve known Kristen since middle school, and from the very start of her wedding planning she explained she wanted something simple, relaxed, and super intimate. The result was spot on. Thirty of their closest family and friends, flown in from all across the country. A beach house right along the shore, so they could run out onto the sand for a quick ceremony. A taco truck to provide lunch, freshly made margaritas, frosty beers & waters in buckets, a hand-painted ice cream cart for desserts.

To pile more awesome on top of all of this, they asked for donations rather than gifts, and as favors, included personalized tin pails for everyone filled with both candy & seashells. Kristen and Cody had both chosen charities they felt passionately about, and we were asked to place our shells in the jar of a charity of our choice. For every shell in the jar, they donated $1 to the charity.

I was invited as a guest, but since they didn’t have a photographer, I offered to bring my camera just to capture a handful of couple & family portraits. In the end, I found myself snapping away wayy more than planned, because of how organically beautiful everything was and how there seemed to be a piece of Kristen & Cody’s personalities tucked into every aspect of the day. And that kind of wedding? It’s always the most beautiful kind :)

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!}