Julie and Tim love to laugh and so do all of their friends and family.
Made for a really fun, relaxed wedding day.
The ceremony was at Saint Monica Church…
built in 1926 and featured in movies.
No surprise there…check out the architecture.
The ceremony was touching and also had a few laughs.
The priest actually forgot what to say at one point even though he’s done tons of ceremonies.
Everyone had a good chuckle,
then headed over to the Fairmont Miramar on the bluffs overlooking the ocean.
Again, interesting space along with classy details.
Julie’s bouquet had succulents in it, ditto for the reception flowers.
The place cards were growing out of a little box of grass…very cute idea!
All created by the folks over at My Secret Garden.
The soup was two parts…started off dry, then waiters came by
with fancy teapots added broth.
Once the yummy food was all gobbled up,
there were toasts with lots of laughs (of course!) including a great one
about Tim’s luscious full head of hair.
Followed by crazy dancing and the best photo booth ever!
PhotoboothScrapbooks, they bring a vintage photo booth with real photo paper (not digital!).
I’m still reliving this great wedding. Enjoy!

It cracked me up to see Ian and his best man watching
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while getting ready.
Dick Van Dyke was touted as a hottie, a real ladies’ man…
I never realized this since I last watched this movie when I was, like, 5 years old.
I remember being way more into that flying car.
Hey…gimme a break, I was 5!

Meanwhile, Lara and the girls were watching “Love Actually”
which is a favorite of Lara and Ian.
In fact, the reception tables were named after Lara and Ian’s favorite movies.
Ian was involved in theatre for years, so it was a nice personalized touch,
along with the custom vows,
recited during the poolside ceremony, with lots of Kleenex available.

Hotel Los Gatos has an amazing Mediterranean restaurant, Dio Deka,
so the food was yummy with a capital Y.
Lara and Ian are surrounded by loving friends and family.
There were lots of great toasts and a fun version of YMCA.
(As a wedding photographer, I have heard this song over and over,
but this time I got to see some creative dancing…).

Congrats to Lara and Ian!

Crystal and Robert brought their own personalized touches to their big day.
They chose The Barr Mansion, a beautiful restored mansion (built in 1898)
with bunches of cool architectural features combined with updated touches.
It’s also a venue that values organic, environmentally positive ways to host events. Yay!

Crystal had vibrant turquoise ribbon sewn onto her dress while
Robert and his guys all wore yellow socks.
Happy colors to match the mood of everyone there.
And…Robert decorated his groom’s cake…it’s some kind of …um…circuit board?
Which he also used as a final assignment for an engineering class.
I didn’t understand it, but I did think it was pretty swell!

addendum: well…I should’ve held a contest about Robert’s groom’s cake.
The guesses have been…ah…interesting.
An engineer friend says it’s a Colpitt’s Oscillator.
Sounds good to me!

Sorry to sully the photo-a-day theme, but check this out:
one of my favorite photographer groups,
photographik, is doing a $1500 Photographer GIVEaway.

Tell your story about how you got engaged, invite your friends to vote for your story,
and you will be eligible to win $1500 towards your wedding photographer…
me!

p.s. I know, not the fun eye candy I usually put on my blog, but hey, $1500 smackeroos is worth it.
p.p.s. I’ll put up two photos tomorrow to make up for it.

What else was there besides a wedding?
Fresh fish and locally grown food.
World-class yoga.
Billiards, rowing, swimming, laying in hammocks.
A relaxed group of friends and family.
Bonfires on the beach.

Farra wore a green Gucci dress.
Juan wrote his vows on his iPhone.
They had not one, but two ceremonies:
traditional and Native American.
Followed by a beautiful sunset, great mariachi music
and mucho dancing.
And what amazing invitations!
Designed by Jonna Isaac and letterpressed by qualityletterpress

Prepare yourself for some eye candy.
Farra and Juan’s wedding was at Hotelito Desconocido,
an eco-resort on a nature preserve,
60 miles south of Puerto Vallarta.

It was a photographer’s dream!
It made for a fantastic wedding.
Stay tuned for that, but for now let me set the scene for you….

Heather grew up in Round Rock and knew that
she had to honor that by having her wedding there.
Jason’s dad lives there, so it was perfect to have the wedding at his house.
He has a gigantic bedroom, which the girls took over for some relaxed getting ready.
The house also had a huge winding stairway in the foyer,
which made for a grand “first look”
(when I told Heather how important a first look was, she totally got it and
then did even better by having a great vision of where to do the first look).
Heather also knew that she wanted an organic, casual party.
The swimming pool and palm trees were beautifully lit.
Everyone was enjoying themselves, eating and dancing.
And…the grand finale…bubbles!