Laguna Beach Engagement Session | Kate and Jeff

Through the hustle and bustle of life, it's so easy to get caught up in the stress of everything going on and it may be hard to take time out to allow ourselves to let our true feelings out. It may be cliche, but we absolutely love bringing out the best in our couples and we hope we were able to do that for Kate and Jeff. 

We've been to Laguna Beach many times for various engagement sessions and weddings and this session was very intimate. I'm not sure where to start as the vulnerability and raw emotion that Kate and Jeff brought to their engagement session made it an absolute pleasure to witness and we can't wait until their wedding day to celebrate with loved ones. 

Kate and Jeff may seem like you're everyday friends, which they are, but when they got comfortable they became overwhelmed with emotion as they realized the reason why they're getting married. They let themselves love on each other in a way that let the other person know they deeply cared for them. I'll let the images speak for themselves as their story is personal and unique yet their love for each other was on full display. 

Enjoy and be sure to give them some love in the comments!

Hurst Ranch Wedding | Tina and Brian

Tina and Brian's wedding at Hurst Ranch in West Covina was such a blessing to be a part of and absolutely enjoyable to photograph. 

First off, I have to mention, every now and then we get asked to help out our colleagues and if our schedules sync up, we will definitely do so. This wedding we worked with our good buddy, Thomas at Thomas Pellicer. He's super awesome, talented and he absolutely loves what he does. Check him out and give him a follow on his Instagram account; you won't be disappointed. 

This wedding was so beautiful to be a part of as there were so many layers. They were a blended family as Brian was stepping into their lives as husband and father. It was so beautiful to see the energy they put into the details of their wedding, and there is no doubt they put a ton of energy and effort to join their family together with love. 

We couldn't be more grateful to be able to photograph the details and emotions throughout their whole wedding. Many Congratulations to you guys and your beautiful family!

Three Tips for Planning Your Wedding

Planning a wedding can be exciting as all of your ideas begin to develop. You may soon realize that there is a lot of energy that goes into every facet of your day and can become overwhelming for some. Creating a planning schedule leading up to your wedding day can help relieve the stress that comes along with balancing your day-to-day "life" schedule and wedding planning.  

So we've included a few tips below to help you plan your wedding.

Meaningful Dates:

One of the most important dates in your life will be your wedding anniversary. You can use your first date anniversary or use the month you and your fiance made it "official". You may also want to make a note of important dates you would not want to be married as well. For example, other weddings that are already planned, graduations and parent's anniversaries. One key tip to be are of, flowers and food may be a significant part of your wedding also, so be sure they are in season for your preferred date.

Budget:

There are many variables to consider when creating your budget. California weddings typically take place during spring and summer with Saturdays as the most preferred day of the week. In regards to your budget, Friday and Sunday weddings may be easier to plan if Saturday's are already booked for your preferred wedding date. Keep in mind, some venues and wedding professionals may provide an "off-season" price for winter weddings.

If you don’t have one already, click here for a budget worksheet to help you stay on track: Wedding Budget Worksheet

Wedding Planners:

One of the most invaluable wedding professionals you can have before and during your wedding is a wedding planner. A wedding planner is someone who can assist you during your planning. This isn’t what you may think. The key word here is, assist. You will still be in charge of making the decisions, but a good planner will help you plan your wedding. In our experience, wedding planners and coordinators make sure the wedding day timeline is adhered to, the other wedding professionals are where they need to be and everything is in place throughout your wedding.

Here are a few benefits from the wedding planners we have the pleasure to know and work with:

Kristeen LaBrot Events | www.kristeenlabrotevents.com

Email: kristeen@kristeenlabrotevents.com

Kristeen, owner and principal contact and 2014 Winner of California Wedding Day's Best Wedding Planner in Los Angeles, shares her advice on wedding details below.

She specializes in providing graphic design for monograms, save the dates, invitations and wedding programs for her clients. She has your best interest at heart and will respect your budget by looking for the best deals available to you.

“Make sure you’re including a detail because it’s special, not because it’s the hot new thing on Pinterest”

— Kristeen LaBrot

Charis Events & Design | www.charisevents.com

Email: info@charisevents.com

Grace, owner and principal contact, has over 10 years experience planning bridal showers and weddings. She provides a distinctive design with the color palette and current trends inspired by her couple's story. She believes in quality over quantity and only takes on a select number of events to provide the utmost service to her couples.

Bonus Download!

We hope these tips help you plan the memorable wedding you want to have. Our bonus tip is to create a schedule to meet with the wedding professionals you want to ensure they are available on your wedding date and are in your budget. Fill out your info below to get a pocket planner to make sure you have everything covered!

St Alphonsus Wedding Photography | Connie and Nick

Surprisingly, one day last year, I received a text asking if we would photograph her wedding. I told Gina and I was like, "Of all the people she knows, she asked us to shoot her wedding!" I was humbled, intimidated and yet honored she thought of us to be a part of it. 

This couple has a special place in our hearts as we've known Connie's family for a few decades now. Nick and Connie met locally at Whittier College (you can see their engagement session here: Nick and Connie at Whittier College) however, Nick is currently on active duty in the Army which means he can be deployed anywhere in the world he's needed. He recently returned from a tour in the Middle East which had Connie impatiently counting the days to his safe return. We couldn't be happier to see these two to finally tie the knot after all of their time on separate ends of the world.

One of the other things that makes this wedding special for us is the fact that Connie's dad, Mr. Romero, and her brother have had their own wedding photography business for many, many years. In fact, before Gina and I started our wedding photography business, they allowed us to follow them around and learn how to shoot a full wedding. Many things we do today in our wedding workflow is owed to Mr. Romero as his process is automatic. Thanks for being so awesomely, kind to us!

We had so much fun at this local wedding. The ceremony was held at St. Alphonsus with the reception held at Almansor Court. You can totally see the love between Connie and Nick and their family. The father daughter dance was so moving; I normally don't cry at weddings, but I had to use the camera to hide the watery substance from my eyes this time! Haha!

We hope you enjoy these images as much as we did shooting it! Be sure to give Connie and Nick some love in the comments.

Much love and Congrats again guys!

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Mr. Romero gives Connie a kiss before the processional

Mr. Romero and Connie getting ready to go down the aisle

Nick was so excited to see his Bride

Nick can't contain his emotions

St. Alphonsus Church in all of its glory

Nick and Connie saying their prayers

Nick and Connie as Husband and Wife

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Falkner Winery Wedding Photography | Rochelle and Kyle

We had the absolute honor of photographing Rochelle and Kyle's outdoor wedding at Falkner Winery in Temecula a few weeks ago. Their new marriage was signified by the young grape buds throughout the vineyard that were beginning to flower in the early spring. Rochelle looked stunning in her dress and the energy and effort to make sure the day was beautiful was evident by the handmade elements throughout the wedding. 

Rochelle's father wore his legendary top hat and gifted Kyle's father showing both families were in unison with pride and happiness to see them join together. Add in the live band, the Southern California winery views and it was a beautiful day to watch unfold. 

Congrats to Rochelle and Kyle and we can't thank you enough for letting us be a part of it. We truly enjoyed every minute of it. 

Cheers!

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