My wife, Alexis, came home from work about a month a go and said that she had seen our friend David down by Union Square. He was acting kinda strange… “I think he got a ring!” Alexis said. Women can smell diamonds. Seriously. A few days later, David confirmed what Alexis had thought: he had gotten a ring that day and was planning on proposing to Alyssa in the next two weeks. We had the great pleasure of being able to help plan, scout, organize, and photograph David’s proposal.
David proposed to Alyssa at Speedway Meadows in Golden Gate Park, the spot where they first met. He had to come up with this elaborate story to get her out there and keep it a surprise. It worked. I took the above photo by stealth with a telephoto lens as David got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She said yes as the random people in the park cheered them on. I took a few other photos from the bushes, and then a few after with their cooperation. They went off to an intimate French restaurant that he made reservations at. After dinner, they went to our friend’s Jess and Stig’s house for what Alyssa thought was a party for David’s birthday, but was really an engagement party for her. David called her friends from the East Bay, and her family so that they could all be there in addition to other friends to celebrate their engagement. It was perfect.
John and Veronica had their wedding at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara on a beautiful day this summer. It was perfect. They meet at Butterfly Beach across the street from the Biltmore, John proposed there, and on July 9, 2011 we took their wedding portraits there. That, my friends, is how you do it. I’ve been buddies with John since high school, and it was rad seeing him so happy on his wedding day. Along with our whole group of friends, we all love Veronica, and are stoked these two tied the knot! How about Veronica’s pink embroidered floral Lazarro wedding dress and pink Manolos? Amazing, right? All of the details were flawless thanks to Liz Brown, and I still die when I see the reaction photos of Veronica getting her bouquet from Heart’s Bloom. Easily on of the funnest wedding sof the year for me. Enjoy!
A huge thank you to the vendors who made the day awesome and my job easy: Liz Brown of Central Coast Memory Makers for doing all things, the Four Seasons Biltmore for being an amazing wedding venue, Santa Barbara String Quartet for the ceremony music, Hearts Bloom for the beautiful floral creations, my friend Cara Robbins for shooting with me, Lazarro for making Veronica’s dress, and Rick Cowling’s Band / West Coast Music for keeping people on the dance floor all night. Cheers!
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It all started when my friends, Peteris and Steven, decided to go on a little bike ride– across Europe – on fixed gear bikes (nbd). On their stop through London, Peteris met Naomi through some mutual friends, at a bar (this actually works for some people). On the last leg of the trip, Peteris and Steven threw a big goodbye party in Barcelona and invited all their friends they had made along their journey. With a slight lapse in judgement, Naomi decided to go to Barcelona and meet up with this guy from the bar. Sparks flew. Despite the fact that Naomi lived in London as an aspiring writer and Peteris in San Francisco as a co-founder of the design firm Asketic, their love grew bigger than the distance between them. Naomi came out to San Francisco, where she won everyone over with her witty humor and charming personality (seriously, this girl is hilarious). Together, they are such a great couple and it was SO rad getting to go to London to photograph their wedding!
Such a fun wedding!!! It was a pleasure getting to meet all of their friends and family from London, Latvia and beyond. I love how they integrated their creativity and different cultures into the wedding. The centerpieces were made up of flowers brought by the guests (a Latvian tradition), and put into various glass jars that they collected before the wedding. They rented one of the iconic red double decker buses to transport the guests to the reception.
They also had a lot of awesome personal touches. Naomi drew the super cool lettering for their wedding invitations, ceremony program, and the reception table plan, and Peteris made their wedding website. They also hand wrote notes for each guest on the back of each of their name cards (a genius idea).
The wedding ceremony was at St. Mary’s Church in London and the reception was at the Westbourne Grove Church in Notting Hill. You can see their slideshow here, or check out all of the images in the proofing gallery. Cheers!
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So glam bro. Love the portraits and the telephone booth, love the moments. So much good stuff!
Josh, THIS is a good post!
Wow, these are so clean. When did you become a Traveling superstar?
Yay! I am so excited to have my images from Amy and Josh’s wedding featured on Snippet and Ink today. It is such an honor because it is one of my favorite wedding blogs. A huge thank you to Amy and Josh, whose joy and creativity made these photos special. Go check ou the full feature on Snippet and Ink. You can see my blog post from Amy and Josh’s wedding here.
If you are planning your wedding, you need to start checking Snippet and Ink. Alexis and I were on there looking for wedding inspiration for our wedding, and I still read it daily. Seriously. Kathryn has such good taste, and she always has something awesome on there.
Another big thank you to the people who made this wedding happen: Venue and Catering – UC Berkeley Faculty Club. Flowers – Jin Kim. Bride’s Dress – made by Amy’s aunt, Grace Fong. Reception Dress - BCBG Max Azria. Groom’s Outfit: SF Vintage, Banana Republic shirt, Hugo Boss shoes. Wedding Cupcakes- Noe Valley Bakery. DIY – Amy and Josh made the invitations, cardboard cake sculptures, and the castle facade.
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Loving these classic Santa Barbara wedding portraits of Riley and Antonella, taken after their wedding ceremony at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. More coming soon…
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Are you kidding me? Ah-mazing.
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So sweet. Love these true moments.
I’m really happy for them. Great photos! And thanks for the post.
What a gorgeous couple! Congrats!
Thanks Matthias, Daniel, and Joel. I appreciate the positive feedback. David and Alyssa are easy to photograph. I can’t wait for their wedding!
Lovely photos of a lovely couple!
First of all, your wedding invitations are hilariously, delightfully, personally you! We laughed and kept looking at them again and again.
B. What a privilege it is to be able to share that amazing moment of your proposal. We cwied, a wittow teaw. You are both beautiful people. We love you. What an awesome God we have!
3. Nice job Josh!
Craig and Janis, thanks for the compliments on the photos. I’m glad you liked the invitations too- I designed them :) Looking forward to meeting you guys at the wedding!