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!

Wedding Albums are Modern Treasures

Wedding albums are the way I was able to see my grandmother and mother's wedding day. It was a way for me to see my aunts, uncles and cousins when they were "cool" and stylish. I remember laughing at my grandmother's style with her cat eye glasses, having a ball with my aunts and uncles. She was having the time of her life and so was everyone else! It made me wish I was there. And in a way I was, because this was my family. These were the people in my life celebrating a moment and although I couldn't hear the music or laugh with their jokes, I was able to relive those moments through their wedding album.

This is the reason why we photograph weddings the way we do. We capture your images to tell your wedding story in a way that will be put into a hand-crafted, leather bound book. We don't use cheap album companies where your album will fall apart in a few years. The albums we provide will last for generations to come.

The digital images are awesome to share with friends and family on facebook and social media. They allow you to relive your wedding soon after it happened. But they may not last forever. You may forget which computer you saved them to or where the link is to access your gallery. And this is why we believe albums are important. 

The album is definitely an investment. It's an investment that will realize it's value when your children see you laughing, celebrating and having the time of your life. Your wedding is an investment in your life and your wedding album is the treasure you have to show your family and friends how you celebrated. Take a look at our Album Info page and let us know when your wedding will be. 

We'd love to document your wedding and create a beautiful album for you and your loved ones!

Valuable Tips On Being An Awesome Second Shooter

Rancho Las Lomas Wedding Photography - Reception in El Teatro

A few weeks ago my buddy Tommy, from Thomas Pellicer, texted me and without many details given he asked if I was available to help him out for an upcoming wedding at Rancho Las Lomas.  My schedule was open and I quickly told him, "I'm in!" I've known Tommy for a few years now and this was our first time working together. It was a pretty cool day as he asked me to hang out with the groom and groomsmen and cover their details and formal images prior to the wedding ceremony, while he was with the bride and bridesmaids.

Groomsmen

Groomsmen Candids

WHY WE OCCASIONALLY SECOND SHOOT FOR OTHERS

As Gina and I primarily shoot weddings as lead photographers, we occasionally work with our colleagues to help them out when they need it. We do this for a few reasons:

• As lead photographers, we all need help at one time or another and as our schedule permits we lend a hand to support each other
• It challenges us to work on our photojournalistic techniques without the pressure to capture the main events during the wedding
• The lead photographer is only one person, so having a second set of eyes allows the client to get some awesome images from different angles

Groomsmen at the tool shed

Villa overlooking El Teatro

Pre Wedding Bridal Prep With Her Watchful Ringbearer 

SIX VALUABLE TIPS TO BE AN AWESOME SECOND SHOOTER

Without further ado, here are some valuable second shooter tips I gathered from my most recent experience:

1. Make the primary photographer's job easier; don't be too proud to carry their bags/equipment
2. Set your ego aside and shoot what the lead photographer needs you to cover
3. When shooting in the same space, shoot with a different lens to give the client a different perspective
4. Be ready to shoot as if you were the primary photographer
5. Self-motivation is key; anticipate the emotions during each part of the day as the primary photographer will most likely be capturing the essential parts of the day
6. It's common courtesy to ask if you intend to use them for your own portfolio

Pre Wedding Groom Prep

Pre Wedding Groom Prep

Custom Suit for the Groom

Pre Wedding Groom Details

The Wedding Ceremony in El Teatro

DETAILS AND THE "IN BETWEEN" MOMENTS

Primary photographers rely on second shooters to get the details the bride and groom have taken countless hours and effort to make sure everything is perfect for their day. 

By the way, how cool are those personalized glass flasks for the groomsmen?

Dessert Table

Sweet and Saucy Shop Three Tiered Cake

Cocktail hour outside of the Grand Salon

The newlyweds introduced as husband and wife

Anticipate the raw emotions throughout the day to help tell the full story

Again, these are based on my experience and I hope these help you to become a better second shooter. I also want to say thanks again to Tommy for letting me hang out and rock this beautiful wedding!

Much love and Congrats again to Roxanne and Michael!

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