Beautiful Day Photography’s Weblog

I have known Larry and Maya through my great friend Jill Thirlwall for a while now.  I had planned my Lake Tahoe weekend with my mother for her birthday, but we decided to come back a day early to shoot their wedding (Yep, my mom assisted again:)  And I MUST say that for a last minute wedding (Yes Maya is pregnant:) Larry REALLY pulled it off!  I had not been at that hotel to shoot a wedding since it was renovated from the BelAge Hotel and became The London Hotel in West Hollywood, CA It is AMAZING! The rooms are gorgeous and the lobby and rooftop are super swank.  I was MORE than pleasantly surprised.  When I first got there my mom and I went to Larry’s room where he was getting ready. I have NEVER seen a groom more excited about getting married than Larry was.  It was SO cute!  He was asking our advice on what to wear and touring me around the hotel to check out certain spots to shoot and it was so FUN!  I was drinking champagne with my mom and taking photos and YET AGAIN, I had one of those “I-LOVE-WHAT-I-DO” moments:) Larry really went out of his way to make sure we had a great time and my mother?….Yeah, she was like my professional liaison…she infiltrated herself into everyone’s conversations, making TONS of friends and by the end of the night some people ACTUALLY thought she was the mother of the groom or something, because she knew EVERYONE AND THEY ALL LOVED HER!  I told her the only other person I know that can pull that off is my boyfriend Robert….Some people are JUST born to bring people together and make them feel comfortable.

Maya wore this REALLY hot Oscar De La Renta short dress and DEFINITELY pulled off the “Pregnant Chic” thing.  We had SUCH a blast taking silly photos in the hotel room before the ceremony and TRULY the highlight of the wedding MANY times was her little 6 year old son Jerry.  He is SO going to be an actor or comedian one day. He REALLY brought the families together and you would be blind to not see how much Larry embraces and loves him!  I LOVE blended family weddings!  At one point during the ceremony, Jerry was in between the couple during their vows and the photos are PRICELESS from that moment.  He tried to break the glass for Larry too and it was hilarious!

Right now Larry and Maya are in Bali, Indonesia on their honeymoon and I will be there myself in 5 weeks.  Larry actually texted me from there to say that it was AMAZING and I was going to LOVE it when I go AND to thank me for shooting their wedding…I can’t wait!!!  and SERIOUSLY, although it was SUPER sweet to thank me for shooting your wedding, WHAT are you doing texting me from the remote island of Bali on your honeymoon?? GET OFF the crackberry!!!:)

If you would like to see more photos from this event click on this link.

I have technically known Jennifer Zinner for years.  We met though our mutual friend Jennifer Meyers (and I blogged about their engagement shoot extravaganza  that took place ALL over Los Angeles a few months back).  I was SO excited to be a part of her wedding (especially after meeting Paul) AND to be shooting again at the Adamson House in Malibu. I LOVE that location and I knew it was going to be gorgeous.  I had brought a photographic POSSE with me consisting of Meg Perotti and Danielle Klebanow and I SWEAR the kids at that wedding were hired by Jen to be professional flower girls…they were SO cute that we could NOT stop taking photos of them!  The wedding NEVER stopped!  Even after we got kicked out, we all went to Chloe Bar in Santa Monica for more late night partying!!  This was one of those weddings where the dance floor was out of control and one of my FAVORITE highlights of the wedding (other than one of the groomsmen recognizing me from an embarrassing reality show I was on 8 years ago…lol),  is when the groomsmen brought out this HUGE framed portrait of Paul during his bachelor party in Canada.  I LOVE it when groomsmen do something funny creative and not to mention EMBARRASSING rather than go to a strip club.  He had to wear this bright green thong outfit with a wig on and the American flag at a Rodeo and the photo and framed outfit was PRICELESS!!  To see more photos from this event please click on this link.

Yet again ANOTHER successful internet connection!! These two met on the internet and the rest is blissful history…They are SUCH a cute couple. Anna is simply GORGEOUS and I was SO excited to be able to connect her with the fabulous Tara Dowburd-Luftman for make-up on her upcoming November Wayfarers Chapel wedding. They had the idea to do jumping photos at the beach and it was SO hilarious. I had to OF COURSE do my favorite silhouette beach shots while they were doing that. I LOVED the way it turned out that I have been inspired to try it with other couples since then. No matter what it always makes for a hilarious situation:)

I remember first chatting with Monique on the phone and she was concerned that I would know how to make her look good and know how to photograph her inked up clan:)  The only dilemma I ever encountered was whether to shoot the wedding in color or B+W some times….I LOVE the look of the tattoes in B+W, but Monique had SUCH a rad color scheme at her wedding that I wanted to shoot it in COLOR.  Everything was black, except for these accents of HOT pink, like the flowers and the girl’s shoes…even her own.  I LOVED it.  Not to mention, when you see that much love between a couple (they really seem to be at home when they are with each other),  mix in a bride and her friends who are creative hair stylists, (AND of course myself:) you are bound to get FABULOUS photos! I truly felt like I had known Monique forever and even her friends asked if we knew each other from before because of our rapport together. (She is TOTALLY going to be the person to do my hair from now on!! Not to mention that I want to COPY her hair on my wedding day one day!!)  I am ONLY bummed that I was not contracted to go on to shoot the reception.  I’m SURE it was equally as fabulous!  I just love super NON-traditional weddings and I can’t wait to make a book of this one to leave at Wayfarers Chapel!  To view more photos from this event, please click on this link.

I had the pleasure of first meeting Kerry and Neil at her sister Rebecca’s wedding that I shot in upstate New York (Thousand Islands) last year.  My great friend and SUPER talented musician/songwriter Jay Nash FINALLY married Rebecca and it was SUCH a blast.  They flew me up to Alexandria Bay, New York for a few days filled with parties, great music, riverboats, fishing and BBQ’s.  The WHOLE family treated ME like family, so when I was asked the following year to shoot Kerry’s wedding, I was HONORED!

I had never been to the Hillstead Museum in Farmington, CT and my boyfriend, Robert, and I had so much fun renting a car and exploring the little town, which some people refer to as “Charmington”….for good cause.  The town looks like the movie set from Pleasantville with all of the white picket fences and it was SO gorgeous to be there as the leaves were changing.  One of the MAIN things I miss about living in LA.  The Hillstead Museum is an old plantation home with sprawling acres of green rolling hills, beautiful trees and a sunken garden….When we got there it was POURING rain.  Although, THAT excited me as well since that is probably number 1 on my list of things I miss about living in LA, I am sure it was not what Kerry had envisioned for her wedding day…But seriously, WHO ever said that rain ruins a wedding day is SO wrong…Not only was it STILL so photographically gorgeous, but I think every one drank and partied even harder.  I have NEVER seen a reception go as nuts on the dance floor as this wedding…and Kerry’s dress was black and muddy by the end of the night, but that didn’t stop her from taking the party back to her hotel suite and continuing the celebration.  I AM SO sad that NOW ALL of the Bierly girls are married off.  I was telling their dad that he needs to create another event to fly me out for since I feel like part of the family even MORE now!! LOL.  To see more photos from this event please click on this link.

What can I say? Over the past week I feel that I have met lifelong friends in LeDon and Romain. LeDon and I have been emailing over the past few months about her October wedding and I felt like we had known each other for years. They live in Houston and due to the hurricanes and devastation, we were not sure the wedding was even going to happen. I SWEAR the week leading up to their Wayfarers Chapel wedding was probably MORE of a whirlwind for them, but through it all we have had a TON of great food, fun and OF COURSE a GORGEOUS wedding full of lots of love. Although I CAN NOT WAIT for their Bordeaux, France destination wedding next September, I think their USA, Southern Cali wedding was very charming, elegant and fun. I had the supreme pleasure of putting together QUITE the power posse of vendors that will hopefully be able to attend in France as well; The UBER fabulous Ricardo Luna with Luna Gardens for flowers, The one and only Tara Dowburd-Luftman for make-up, Mel with Classy Chassis and Jovina Kelly-Pass with Total Body Management..who’s healing hands came to the rescue NUMEROUS times that crazy week:) ..Thanks to the ever-famous, FABULOUSLY talented culinary artist, Chef Christophe Eme, owner and Executive Chef of Ortolan Restaurant in Hollywood, California ( and good friend of Romain’s) their “small, intimate” reception turned into a 12 course extravaganza of gourmet food and wine! JUST my style! OF COURSE, NO good wedding ends without the bride and groom cramming into the back of my car…THE TOYOTA RAV 4…LIMITED EDITION, full of presents and flowers, for a lift home…OR the VERY INTIMATE acapella serenade that Romain gave to LeDon in their kitchen (STILL wearing their wedding gear)..I could NOT resist getting out my camera to capture that moment…even though it was like 1am and it TECHNICALLY was their honeymoon night and I practically jumped into their hot tub I was having such a GREAT time…until I realized that It was DEFINITELY time for me to go home!!! LOL. If you want to check out more photos from this WONDERFUL evening, please click on this link.

Of course my BLOGS are SO out of order!  I have been SO slammed the past few weeks with family visiting and weddings, that I am trying to catch up on my BLOGGING..SORRY!

But here starts when my Mami came to visit from Virginia for her birthday weekend.  I had a LOT planned for her, but I ALSO had a lot of shoots and work to do…so I just brought my mom to ALL of my shoots as my assistant this week…and THIS shoot being one of them.  It actually was PERFECT, because little Malena, her mother Theresa and father Steven live in gorgeous Ojai California, so the drive up was amazing for my mother.  We took the famous PCH up the coast and it TRULY was a glorious day.

I’m really glad my mother was there at the shoot, because when we first got there Malena was NOT happy being dressed up for a photo shoot.  It took hours to coax her down and my mom being a veteran and all:) was REALLY helpful during the shoot with dealing with Malena.  She also served as my light blocker and my muse to make Malena laugh…LOL she DEFINITELY did not know what she was in store for, but  think she really has learned to appreciate what all goes into my photography and in the last couple years she has been able to witness me in action.

With that being said, little Malena TRULY is a special child.  She just glows and Theresa feels that she is spiritually gifted.  After hearing the story of her birth, she REALLY is a miracle child to even be here.  Steven and Theresa are a very Zen, spiritual couple and spending the day with them out in nature was yet another reason why I LOVE what I do:)  Here is a little preview of our shoot…Little Malena DEFINITELY was happiest when she was running around naked…TOO funny!

This isn’t just ANY Family portrait…it’s my older sister’s family portrait.  Christy, or “Kiki” and Matt have three kids, Havana, Javier and little Alejandro.  I ended up going home to Virginia for 2 days and snuck in this photo shoot.  My boyfriend Robert and I were up in Farmington, CT, shooting a wedding and did not realize that our flight home was routed through Washington Dulles Airport.  Not only was my other sister who lives in London laying over at the SAME terminal at the same time, but my DAD was still there and had just dropped her off.  On a whim, Robert and I decided to miss our connection, change it for two days later, find my Dad and jump in the car to go surprise my older sister and her family that had NO idea we were in town….It was a HUGE success…and , OH, by the way, Robert had NEVER MET my dad before, so talk about NOT being prepared AT ALL!  Everyone of course loved Robert though.  So I came just in time to take her Christmas Card Photo…It’s amazing that EVERY time I come to visit I get suckered into it somehow, but I have to admit I SAW the ghetto photo she was going to use instead and I just could NOT let her send out such a hideous photo.  I guess I have become a bit of a photo snob:) So  five minutes and 100 shots later we narrowed it down to 3 usable ones where everyone looked good at the same time…YEP, NO photoshopping heads from different photos this time!