It was an especially sunny & warm day in February. Christina, accompanied by her mother & her two “BSF”s (that would be, Best Sisters Forever), prepped in a pink-walled room at the beautiful French Estate, a cozy venue that doubles as a bed & breakfast in the heart of Old Town Orange. The estate {which stole my heart the moment we stepped in} provided the perfect backdrop for their intimate yet lively affair, a day that effortlessly reflected who Christina & Rick are – warm, amiable, down-to-earth, & a little bookish :) They portrayed their love for books with a stack of a certain genre upon each table – philosophy, mystery, science fiction, children’s books – I loved the creativity & execution of the idea and the fact that it was so them! And of course the day went off without a hitch thanks to superwoman Uyen of Sassy Girl Weddings!

Christina & Rick – thank you so much for inviting us to document your wedding. From the moment we’ve met, I’ve been pinching myself silly to make sure we’re really lucky enough to meet & work with such a sweet & loving couple :) Thank you for your kindness & trust in us every step of the way. Hope you had an utterly amazing time in Scotland!

I LOVED the combo of her red nails with the bright blue palette:

Love this hug between Rick & Christina’s grandfather:

During the mother-son dance, Rick & his mother walked over to his father mid-song for an embrace. I love the joy on all their faces:

Venue: French Estate
Coordinator: Sassy Girl Weddings
Florals: Creative Force Floral

My very first meeting with Dawn over tea at Novel Cafe had me crossing all my fingers & toes that I would get to work with her & photograph her wedding. She excitedly described her vision for the day – a vintage-inspired December wedding that was wintery without being Christmas-y, with tons of details that were infused with Dawn & Craig’s backgrounds & personalities.

But during that initial meeting {which may or may not have lasted an excess of 2 hours}, Dawn also shared with me more about herself on a deeper level – about Craig, about their story, the 17 bicycles they had in their garage, their love of food & travel, their battle & triumph over cancer. I could feel her love for Craig resonate in her words, and I knew the day would be a true celebration & beautiful on every level. Dawn shared the below story on her blog, and I’m sharing a part of it here, as I feel it so sums up their inspiring relationship:

I remember the exact moment I knew that we would be together forever, the moment I realized we were already one. It was the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer. When I called Craig to tell him the diagnosis his response was a simple “Oh my God, we have cancer”. It was that “we” that has been the foundation for every moment since then.

Though Dawn painted me a beautiful picture of her wedding plans during our first meeting & I watched her ideas unfold via her blog, I was still taken aback by the sheer amazingness of their wedding day. Every aspect was filled to the brim with Dawn & Craig’s personality – there were colorful shoes, tables named after bicycles, vintage books, birch details, and all sorts of wintery genius brought to life by the insanely talented Shawna Yamamoto. And of course there was laughter, there were sweet glances, lots of spontaneous clapping (Dawn’s trademark expression of excitement ;), and above all, an overabundance of love.

Dawn & Craig – Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to share in this exciting time in your lives & capture your most beautiful day. I feel so blessed to have met such kind & amazing people, and to walk away from this with new friends. So excited for you & your many more years of experiencing life as a “we” to come :)

I was pretty much madly in love with Dawn’s birdcage veil & stole, so elegant & stylish:

Love this one of them with their cameras! :)

And the reception. I think I literally forgot to breathe when I entered the room – it was a total & complete winter wonderland, shining bark-laden centerpieces, birch branches, sparkly “snow” – every inch was absolutely magical.

The escort card table alone was a wintery masterpiece:

With the help of a few friends, Dawn folded 1000 cranes, a Japanese tradition for good luck. Cranes are said to mate for life, so this tradition represents longevity & devotion in marriage. Every crane I have ever folded in my life has come out to be an amorphous non-crane catastrophe, so I have IMMENSE respect for Dawn who folded so many, especially out of such tiny paper. She found someone in Hawaii to assemble the cranes into a birch tree and the result was stunning.

Dawn wanted something unique for the guestbooks. She found a handful of vintage upcycled books on Etsy and filled them with lovely marriage quotes (suggested by her blog readers) & their engagement photos. Guests then filled the pages with photos from the photobooth accompanied by sweet messages.

A tradition of jade necklaces from Craig’s mother & aunts:

Venue: Our Lady Queen of Angels + SeaCliff Country Club in Orange County, CA
Florals & Event Design: Shawna Yamamoto Event Design
Lighting: Amber Event Design
Videography: Garner Films
Photobooth: Capital Photo Booth Co (these guys are awesome, they do custom color photobooths!)
DJ: Battleson Entertainment

Afternoon tea is quite possibly one of my favorite things in the world. Just the thought of colorful pots of tea, dainty cups and saucers, and sweet conversation over cream-covered scones makes me feel relaxed and wonderfully girly (which makes up for all my non-girly times when I’m scorching things in the kitchen and running around the house in sweatpants). A couple weeks ago I was delighted to have the opportunity to photograph the beautiful Alice In Wonderland-themed tea party Joanna Chong of Joanna Events organized for her mother’s birthday. She is just getting into the wedding and event planning industry and wanted some shots of the table settings and guests. I was giddy at the very idea of a tea party, but was SO unprepared for the incredible camera-candy she ended up putting together!

Joanna was still setting up when I arrived and I got to witness all the beautiful items being brought one by one to the table. As each vase of flowers, each platter of pastries, each little teacup was hurried over, my eyes grew bigger and bigger, my squeals of delight louder, and my camera clicks more flurried. I couldn’t believe the colors, the concepts, the creativity!! From the paper lanterns to the tea-party music wafting through the iPod, there was not a single detail overlooked. After witnessing firsthand her event-planning prowess, I can only imagine the amazing work she would do as a wedding coordinator!

The floral arrangements were simply stunning! Sue Cook of SooziCook Events (soozcook@gmail.com) put together each unique collection of bright blooms – they really set the mood for the entire tea party!

There were endless platters of the most delectable treats – mini tea sandwiches, scones, delicate cakes. No one would be leaving this tea party hungry!

I instantly fell in love with these hand-crafted blossoms, lovingly planted around the table :)

The guests all wore the most awesome oversized hats…

And a quick photo of Joanna and her mother, the guest of honor!