Sarah and I first met sometime around the 7th grade, in Girl Scouts. I joined a troop of girls who all attended a different school than I did, and she was one of the first to reach out and talk to me. I feel like this little snippet of information alone will tell you mountains about my friend. She’s the type of person who makes friends out of strangers wherever she goes, because she genuinely is interested in you – she wants to get to know you, to hear about your day, to catch up, to stay in touch. She is also perhaps one of the most “real” people I have ever met – she definitely was one of my funniest and quirkiest friends growing up, and when we reunited a few years ago I was SO so happy to find that even as an adult, she hadn’t changed one bit.

And I was also so happy to find that she had met this amazing guy named Tory, who somehow complemented her quirkiness just perfectly. It’s a pretty fantastic thing to see your friend – especially someone as awesome and unique as Sarah – be with a person who so totally let’s them be themselves. Sarah and Tory fit together just perfectly, and it was such an honor for Barrie and I to be able to join them up in SF on their wedding weekend. There was an intimate Jewish ceremony at the Sunnyside Conservatory, followed by a casual reception (catered by a delicious Vietnamese food truck) at Project One Gallery.

Once upon a time, in middle school, Sarah and I used to take pictures of each other with our little film cameras and put the prints together in magazines (these were legit guys – with fashion spreads and beauty tips and advertisements and everything!) It was quite lovely and nostalgic having her in front of my lens again :)

Absolutely adored the fact that Sarah chose to get ready in her beautiful light-filled apartment…

Meenah & Shaobo’s wedding was my very last one of 2010, and I could not imagine a more beautiful ending to the wedding season!

I was beyond ecstatic to make my way up to nor Cal to document their day at Thomas Fogarty Winery, tucked up, up, and away in the hills of Woodside. {Have I mentioned how much I love shooting in the bay area? If you’re getting married there, do drop me a hello :)} The drive up the mountain itself was so mystical & breathtaking, and Megan & I were in utter awe – thick forests of evergreens, trees with bright yellow & red leaves, canopies that spread across the entire roadway, and just when you think it COULD NOT POSSIBLY get any more gorgeous, you see the winery. Now green vineyards are amazing, but the rows of golden vines literally took my breath away. It was my first time seeing the vines aglow in fall colors and all I could think about was shooting Meenah & Shaobo in that amazing spectacle. And that we did :)

The weather reports kept announcing a horrific 90% chance of showers, but as always always (always!) happens, the skies cleared for all the important parts of the day. As an added bonus, not one, not two, but FIVE rainbows made appearances at different points during the day, including a perfect one during the ceremony (WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??) But say, even if the weather hadn’t cleared, even if it had been pouring/snowing/hailing during every moment, the thing is you would never be able to tell with Meenah & Shaobo. They are seriously one of the sweetest couples I’ve met, full of smiles, and patience, and love. And, happily willing to trek out into muddy fields of grapes, in 50 degree weather, all for the sake of photos. My kind of couple :)

Meenah & Shaobo – thank you so much for allowing me to document this exciting time in your lives! I knew from our very first Skype meeting that it would be a complete joy & honor to work with you, and I’m so so happy the interwebs allowed us to connect! :) Wishing you so so many more years of love and happiness to come!

When I was in San Francisco for Meenah & Shaobo‘s wedding {coming to the blog soon!} I had the opportunity to meet up with Tiffany & Jeremy for a sweet engagement session in Muir Woods and the nearby beach. I had no idea that just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge lay such beauty – I drove along in utter amazement as I crossed through the magical little town of Sausalito, alongside small bays, through rolling grassy hills, and finally, up to the gorgeous expanse of trees that makes up the woods. All week long the forecast called for an 80% chance of rain, but as it always seems to do, the weather turned in our favor and not a drop fell the entire day.

Tiffany & Jeremy booked me over email/phone, so it was so exciting to finally meet them in person! They are so sweet and perfect together and I can’t wait for their lovely norcal wedding at Fogarty Winery next summer!

Now, have I mentioned how much I LOVE shooting in the woods?