Beautiful Day Photography’s Weblog

This shoot is one of my FAVORITE shoots that I have done in a while…what I loved about it was the spontaneity and what Alissa and Rich each brought to the shoot.  They told me that they were NOT beach people, so we figured we’d wing it in Hollywood. He shows up in a slick suit; She brings colorful balloons and cute sun dresses and other than that we had ZERO plan, except to meet at the Arclight in Hollywood.  It was SUCH an adventure that involved running through alleys and halfway houses trying to find access to areas to shoot and just discovering little oasises of cool colors and textures amidst  a concrete jungle filled with some seriously CRAZY people.  The funny thing was that we TOTALLY BECAME  the “crazy people”, especially when I scaled a 10 foot fence in broad daylight…all for the sake of that “perfect shot”.  I have a hurt ankle too from soccer, so it was a bit of a feat for me…but CHECK OUT the crazy life size television set that we found in a locked up parking lot in Hollywood!  Once we saw it we were determined to find a way to get in there…And we did!  I am all about finding crazy colors and textures…Just look at what you can get even in one of the ugliest areas of town!…but it also helps to have a bride who is an actress and a groom that takes Tae Kwon DO…I mean SERIOUSLY!  You two rock!

Here it is…!!!  I honestly was REALLY excited to shoot this wedding.  I feel like Jennifer and Gideon have become friends to me and their family and friends were SO great. Jennifer and Gideon got married on Mother’s Day at the Marriott in Marina Del Rey and it was SUCH A Beautiful Day!  They had perfect, warm, sunny, clear weather, and their rooftop ceremony overlooking the entire city was spectacular.  They chose to have a joint-religious ceremony (Christian and Jewish) with a Monsignor and Rabbi overseeing the ceremony together and it was beautiful.  What I especially loved about this wedding was that they did most of their formal  photos beforehand and we did a “First Look” between the bride and groom (which to me ended up being the most emotional photos of the entire day).  Sometimes I think it’s better for the first time a bride and groom seeing each other to not be in front of 150 other people…they were able to really take each other in and it was a special moment.

So we had the luxury of not being stressed out and having plenty of time to take some fun photos.  The rooftop penthouse where their reception was held was such a cool space, because guests could stroll outside on the balcony throughout the night to view the the entire cityscape of Los Angeles and get some fresh air, but it also was completely glassed in so you had the most amazing sunset from the room.  Dj Natchey did it AGAIN and kept the entire wedding dancing non-stop till we got kicked out essentially.  This is why I refer him, because no matter what kind of vibe or crowd, he can always read them and play what makes them get up and dance.  He’s THE BEST DJ!  He makes my photos that much better!  But seriously, Jennifer and Gideon are such a beautiful couple.  I am sad that they won’t be neighbors anymore that I can get to know better, since they are moving to the East Coast…but I am excited for them on their journey they are about to go on together in a brand new city….At the end of the night, Gideon hugged me and said, “Thank you.  You have been so much more than just a photographer to us”.  And I thought that was one of the best thank yous I had ever received….

To see more photos from this wedding, click on this link.

We decided to shoot Drew and Elena’s engagement shoot at their home in Beverly Hills, not only because it insanely gorgeous with lush foliage and gardens (due to Drew’s green thumb over the past 9 years), but because the wedding itself is going to be there and we wanted to familiarize ourselves with the lighting and their property.  Drew is a bit of a photographer himself with HUGE prints from all over the world adorning the walls of their home, so we knew we had an experienced lighting expert on our hands:)  I brought Ronda, my assistant, with me and we pretty much had a tag team engagement shoot with them.  It was SO much fun and what I love MOST about every time I go to their place is that they always seem to be “Tasting wines for their wedding” LOL, so Linda Pitelli, their wedding coordinator from Eventful Designing (and friend:), came over and all of us sampled more wines and had a fabulous time telling stories and chatting.  They are SUCH a divine couple and the story of how they finally…and I say FINALLY ended up together is straight out of a fairy tale.  I am SO thrilled to be shooting their wedding, they are just very genuine people and I know that with Linda Pitelli designing the event that every details is going to be stunning and be worthy of  being published in a magazine.

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

I mean, I KNEW that it would be impossible to take a bad photo of Jamie, but I never even IMAGINED how stunningly beautiful Jamie was going to be on her wedding day, when I met her months ago at the Special Events Trade Show in San Diego.  Eric, Owner of AGR in Las Vegas (and her boss), took me in and invited me down to the trade show and Jamie and I just hit it off!  I told her I HAD to shoot her wedding.  When she told me “intimate wedding” of 30 people on the beach I never imagined she was going to be decked out like a princess and have two hours of time to run around the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach liked she owned the place:)  LOL, I had her rolling all over the staircases and lawns and draped over their furniture.  It was SO much fun to not be rushed.  I think I took a thousand photos of JUST her before the wedding even started…I’m not even exaggerating.  The ceremony was perfect and sweet…of course Eric waltzes up after she already walked back down the aisle with her new HUSBAND missing the entire ceremony…WAY TO GO Eric!  It’s like he just came for the dinner or something:)

But the whole affair  was so amazingly beautiful; the couple, the lighting…we found these rocks further down the beach to shoot them on after the ceremony and Jamie just did not care how thrashed her dress got.  She was all about the photos..Love it!  Afterwards, She would not let me take a photo at the reception.  Sarah and I were deemed guests and joined the festivities (which tends to always happen at my weddings:).  But seriously, Jamie, you rock and thank you for that incredibly long , sweet message you left me.  I was honored to shoot your wedding:)

If you would like to see more photos of Jamie frolicking around the St. Regis and the Beach, click on this link:)

I LOVE shooting at the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes.  This wedding had the perfect weather too…overcast, but right after the ceremony the sun peeked through the clouds and created this magical light.  It helped that Michelle and Dustin were a lot of fun to shoot! They are both so chill and relaxed, that we COMPLETELY underestimated their wedding crew and how crazy it would get on the dance floor at the reception later.  The whole wedding party ran on the beach in Redondo and all climbed onto a lifeguard tower in between the ceremony and reception and ran around like little kids. Everyone was doing shots of Vodka and it was a lot of fun.  During dinner we thought no one was going to dance, but once DJ Natchey started spinning his tunes it was all over.  Ronda and I had SUCH a blast at the reception.  Honestly, it would have gone on all night had they not kicked us out!  To check out more photos from this event, click on this link.

I was SO thrilled to do this shoot, because Cher is one of my BEST friends and I have seen her go through SO much adversity in the last 8 years, and to see such an amazing man like Ian walk into her life and to be SUCH a strong support force (during a time she REALLY needs one) makes me believe in karma and just Love and Life:)…but enough sappy stuff.  Cher flew my boyfriend Robert and I (featured at the bottom in a photo Cher took with my camera:) to Napa and we had a whirlwind of wine tasting, dinners, and wedding location scouting.  Cher has had AMAZING luck with her wedding planning so far.  First with her dress, she literally got like the first dress she tried on, and finding her wedding location fell into place the same way.  The VERY first place we went to was called Shady Oaks.  It has been renovated for 9 years and JUST recently reopened for weddings.  So it’s a hidden gem.  We couldn’t tell by the photos on the website whether we were going to like it or not, but I knew it had potential….but once you stepped foot on the grounds, it was just a magical place with all of these hidden cottages and paths and gardens!  We ALL instantly fell in love with it and knew she had to get married there.  What was supposed to be a quick walk through, turned into 4 hours of wine and cheese tasting with the two owners of the property out in their yard at a small table while the twilight set in.  It was SO beautiful and probably the highlight of our trip. 

So the next day we went wine tasting and checked out a few more sites (just for good measure) and shot Ian and Cher’s photos at each site/vineyard…sort of on the sly.  It was so fun running around, but the funniest part was at the very last winery, when Rob spotted train tracks and thought it would be cute to have them playing around on the tracks.  Cher was already a bit weary about the tracks, and it didn’t help when we heard the train whistle blow….but my favorite photo of that day was when Ian was running away from the train with Cher in his arms…His facial expression was priceless!  Such a great time…AND the impossible happened! There actually is a photo of Rob and I!  I made like 10 copies and mailed them all out to our families…LOL.  I am NEVER in ANY photos since I am always taking them!

Aubrey Ashburn, not only is a former bride of mine and GORGEOUS woman, but she is an AMAZING musical talent who’s range can cover opera to pop.I remember being blown away by her voice when she sang “Ave Maria” at her own wedding!  We all (including her husband) sat in indian-style on the floor like we were little kids in a gymnasium watching this stunning woman sing opera and I felt it was by far the most perfect ending to a wedding night I had ever seen. This week she came out to Venice to have her head shot taken, because she is about to perform at the Sydney Opera House and needs a portrait for the program…SO EXCITING!  So we surveyed my apartment complex until we found a beautiful place down stairs, what I like to call my “Westside Studio”…AKA, my garage LOL . This is what we came up with after we (Laura, Aubrey and Ronnie with hammer) tacked a black velvet cloth to a cement wall, no studio here, all natural light!

Sometimes, the ONLY thing that makes you feel better when you have a nasty hangover after partying till 8am, is to just do it ALL OVER AGAIN! And that is pretty much what we did. The bride and groom, George and Dina, now referred to as “Georgina”, organized a huge party bus tour to go wine tasting . The bus was stocked with champagne, vodka, chocolate, checha…and of COURSE the tour operators microphone….It didn’t take long for everyone who was barely alive and hungover, to perk up with some more alcohol in their systems and the bus went from a quiet tour bus to a crazy loud, karaoke, drinking party bus!! We had to stop in random towns to use their outhouses and buy MORE alcohol and it was just a wild time! We stopped and had an amazing feast with even MORE Cheesebread and wine and I knew I would be missing the food the most when I left. It is a carnavores dream to eat Georgian food. It is all meat kabobs and grilled meats and thick chunks of cheese and warm bread and lots of fruits and greens and olives and just SO GOOD! We partied on the bus, went straight to the clubs, went back to the hotel and continued partying there on into the next day and the Groom stayed alive ONLY by drinking endless redbulls! They left for Tokyo for their honeymoon the next day and we FINALLY had a day to chill and rest before getting on our 4am flight back home. We made lifelong friends and as I described in my toast that I made over the loudspeaker on the bus, “This trip has been like the opposite of rehab where all of us are like part of some summer camp for rejects that is on a reality show that I am documenting”. That is the best description of the level of partying that Russians and Georgians do. It truly WAS like a reality show that Sarah and I was IN AND documenting…and we loved every minute of it!

If you would like to see more photos from this epic adventure, click on this link:)

Wow, so after days of partying every night, documenting every second, and really building bonds with everyone….we FINALLY reached the wedding day:)  It was perfect.  They got married in a 3rd Century chapel next to their hotel.  They just had to walk over and not ONE decoration or flower was necessary.  Everyone just came in, stood around the priest and couple and held candles and the entire ceremony was sung in Ancient Georgian by candlelight.  It felt like I was back in time 2000 years.  It was surreal. The bride is Russian, so only the groom himself understood the ceremony…which apparently  the priest told his wife to “fear her husband” during the  sermon!!  From there, we experienced what I like to call “Speed formals”  We drove like Mach 10 to the top of the hill overlooking the city, shot like 20 photos, then the driver was like “Go, go , go!” and we flew through traffic, horns blaring literally to the top of another hill, with yet ANOTHER church, go out, shot like 30 photos and then they were like, “We’re done!”.  And that was it.  the Georgians like to focus on partying NOT photos:)  They never even did any family formal portraits.  They didn’t want to!

The rest of the evening was tons of traditional dancing, performances, drinking, TONS of toasting, and partying till 8am.  They just DON’T stop!  It puts American weddings to shame that end by 10pm…seriously.  One of my favorite traditions that the Georgians do is pass around a Goat horn full of Checha, (which is their moonshine that tastes like pure rubbing alcohol) during the toasts.  If anyone interrupts a toast or does something uncouth, they have to drink out of the horn…which you can only imagine after hours of toasts what happens…everyone is pretty wasted and the “Toastmaster “, or MC, himself passed out drunk at the wedding he was hosting !(featured below) But my FAVORITE photo of all is of Sarah and I just DONE at 8 in the morning.  Someone picked up our camera and shot us for a change!  Overall, it was the most fun wedding I have ever experienced! To check out more photos from this event click on this link.

So I had to break down this trip into multiple BLOGS, because it was SUCH an epic adventure that I don’t even know how to express it all in words!! I took over 7,000 photos and have to REALLY thank my right-hand girl Sarah Natasha Horowitz for flying herself out to assist me. I don’t know how I would have survived without her! Basically, there are few trips in my life which I would consider EPIC, and this one DEFINITELY was. My definition of EPIC, is when it takes you like two days to travel there, you don’t speak the language, you are COMPLETELY immersed in the culture, are traveling around spontaneously and of course having MANY MANY adventures! ALL of this came true and I have to give myself some credit, I have never eaten so much and had so much vodka in my life on ZERO sleep and I held my own! LOL.

George and Dina the bride and groom knew my sister through business school. They flew me out to partake and capture their wedding…and by “wedding” I mean a 6 day long adventure that took us on tours of ancient monasteries, wine tasting, into a School for Deaf and Mute children (which the Bride and Groom donated all of their monetary gifts from the wedding to), into peasant’s homes who spent two days preparing a feast for us all, turkish baths, party buses all over the country sightseeing with limitless vodka, champagne and chocolate aboard:), going through the snow covered mountains to the border of Russia to climb up to an ancient monastery…by the way did I mention that during all of this the whole country was preparing for Russia to invade them like they did last year and the MILITARY and their tanks took over the country only 2 days after I left?? YEAH……and OH, I forgot…the wedding itself! LOL By the time we got to the wedding, it was like an afterthought:) More stories to come, but here are some photos from our sightseeing and one of the many welcome dinners we had:) To see even more photos from this epic adventure, click on this link.

PS- I forgot to mention the AMAZING Katchapouri, the warm, thick cheesebread that they serve with every meal. I think a few people OD’d on this during the week (myself included).  I couldn’t help it!  It has inspired an entire chat group on Facebook called “I Heart Katchapouri”…LOL