Beautiful Day Photography’s Weblog

SO…I  have to wish Rochelle and Jason good luck and bon voyage before they both get stationed in Iraq for 2 years.  It was SUCH a pleasure getting to know them and their family.

They had an intimate wedding at the famous Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes and then a luncheon at a nearby restaurant, where my assistant and I were invited as guests.  For a small wedding they did a REALLY great job with the little details; like having a travel theme for their favors and giving out little globes and little suitcases filled with candy.  Even the candy had their names, photos, and wedding date printed on them and the napkin holders were little luggage tags (which I am presently using in my travels to Australia…where I am writing to you all from at the moment:)  It was SUCH a touching wedding, because Rochelle and Jason spent  SO much of their relationship being stationed apart from each other all over the world and Jason got all choked up about it at  the wedding.  Although their FIRST newlywed house together is going to be on a base in Bagdad, at least they will be together…and as he put it, “Home is whereever you make it”….and home never feels like home until you are sharing it with the one you love.  I COMPLETELY agree Jason and I wish you and Rochelle ALL the best in the world!  When you come back to Virginia we will all have to hang out again.  The other thing I wanted to say was that they had the most AMAZING weather that day.  I have shot NUMEROUS weddings at Wayfarers Chapel and NEVER have I noticed the yellow grass field next door….I think Yellow grass inspires me or something (I mean check out the opening photo of my website!..lol), but once you check out these photos, you’ll know what I mean.  It looks straight out of a fairy tale.

To check out more photos from this event, just click on this link.

So Leslie and Sim are yet ANOTHER couple referred to me by Brianne and Derek and the USC Posse;)  I ran into like 5 other couples who’s weddings I shot in the past at this wedding and it was like a HUGE reunion.  Ivonne and Chris are having a baby any day now, Paul and Diana are still in newlywed bliss, Brianne and Derek are still hot as ever…and I THINK Karl is going to pop the question to his girlfriend on their two month world tour starting in a  couple weeks with Leslie and Sim’s second BALI 5-day indian wedding adventure!  I mean SERIOUSLY, EVERYONE I meet that is part of this crew are SUCH solid people and I look forward to many many more events with these guys.  As of a week ago I was not going to Bali to shoot their second wedding, but 6,500 photos later and an AMAZING time at their wedding, Leslie begged me to come and join them on their Bali adventure AND to be an honorary bridesmaid:)  I am SO honored…AND excited!!  I cannot WAIT!  I mean just take a look at how breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL this wedding was…AND it was raining…I can only imagine what the next one will be like.  Brianne said it SO well to me the week after their wedding…There was just SUCH great energy at this wedding.  I had such a blast, because you could tell how incredibly happy they are and how much the two families really love each other.  I just can’t describe it, but it was very tangible.  I urge you to PLEASE take  look at the photos from this wedding and to check out their wedding website they put together for their Bali wedding at www.leslieandsimbali.com.

The funny thing is that Sim was SO frightened about having his photo taken, that he creatively skipped out of their engagement shoot by asking me to shoot their rehearsal dinner instead….then once I was there and I SAW how his family and his mother are about taking photos, I’m like, “How is he NOT used to being in a million photos after growing up in that family?”  They were taking more photos than I was!  Too funny! But once we got over that hump, he really got into it.  He even was changing up his pose during the formal photos… Sim, I KNOW Leslie had something to do with that!:)  But seriously, I love you guys and I am SO thrilled to see you again in Indonesia!

To see more photos from this event, just click on this link.

Thanks Harmony for such a WONDERFUL blog about my recent wedding in the Republic of Georgia.  Although I blogged NUMEROUS blogs about this trip, I felt she CONDENSED it in a super fun way that I would never be able to do in a million years.  So here it is again!  If you want to check out the Bridal Bar’s blog, click on this link.  She always posts amazing and creative wedding tips:)

Wedding in the Republic of Georgia

Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 3:03AM

So we were going to share a post on destination wedding photography by the talented (and well traveled) Laura Grier of Beautiful Day Photography. But in going through all her photos from weddings around the world, we decided it deserved more than one post. Stay tuned for her tips for photos on the road but first up, a wedding she recently shot in the Republic of Georgia. Laura traveled with the bride and groom, Dina and George (now now lovingly dubbed Georgina) to Tbilisi, Georgia and what a whirlwind it was.

The six day adventure kicked off with a huge party bus wine tour stocked to the brim with champagne, chocolate and a variety of native yummies. After the festivities took a turn for the intoxicated, they all stopped off for an authentic feast of kabobs and different meats and cheeses. The party then moved on to different nightclubs, and eventually back to the hotel where it carried all the way through the next four days!

George and Dina sealed the deal with a traditional Russian ceremony in 3rd Century chapel next to their hotel, which Laura has described simply as “perfect.” The ceremony was sung in Ancient Georgian, all lit by candlelight.

The reception was a non-stop scene of partying-putting the typical American curfew to shame. Toast after toast and a goat horn full of Checha, and still no sign of sleep!

Congratulations to the happy couple and thanks to Laura Grier for sharing her images!

Hey ALL!  I just HAD to repost a blog from the VERY fabulous Heather Kincaid, one of my fellow photographer gals, who is kind enough to shoot Sam and Justin’s wedding for Beautiful Day Photography in August.  Just check out the cute pics they shot over Memorial Day! Here is an excerpt directly from her blog. If you would like to see MORE pics from this shoot, just click on this link!

I had SUCH a fun time shooting Sam & Justin’s engagement session a couple of weekends ago at Balboa Park in Encino, CA. I had no idea this park even existed… and even though it was SUPER crowded being Memorial Day weekend and all, we had a great time walking around the park, talking and, of course, taking some fun, colorful photos.

When I met up with them at the park, they looked so stylish and colorful I just knew we were going to get some great photos.

How cute are they together??

Sam brought along this book that both of their moms happen to own, so she was given one as well. Love that special Tiffany blue mixed in with all of the other colors… especially the red on the soles of those Louboutin pumps.

Lovely.

Just one of my favorites.

Loved all of their fashion details.

Justin- super handsome.

Sam- super stunning. Seriously… I love this shot.

Some twirly fun in the field.

Then we managed to track down an ice cream truck! After a not-so-quick and slightly complicated wardrobe change for Sam, we had a lot of fun with ice cream and this awesome striped truck! I just love this shot of Justin on the right.

I could not have staged that look from the ice cream man any better!

This shoot was all about color! But, I happened to like the black & white feel of this one.

Couldn’t resist this shadow shot as a finale.

Sam and Justin — You guys were SO much fun! I cannot wait to shoot your wedding in August!

Recently, on Memorial Day Weekend, I had the EXTREME pleasure of photographing such a fun couple AND to work with the  AMAZING Laurie Davies with Five Star Weddings and Events.  She is always so fun to work with and has such unique couples.  I feel that every wedding I have shot for her ends up in a magazine! The wedding took place at the Palm Springs Riviera Resort and Spa and it was only the second wedding EVER to be had there (the first wedding being JUST the day before!).  When Britney and I met last year, we were in a sales office trailer on a dirt plot.  The hotel was not even built yet and was just a bunch of conceptual drawings!  Talk about having trust for your wedding!  In any case, I had no idea WHAT to expect of this place when we pulled up, but it was GORGEOUS and SO boutique-y and funky.  It reminded me of the Viceroy, but transplanted in the desert.  It’s a photographer’s DREAM to shoot there and we went nuts shooting all over the property.  The couple was more than happy to let us drag them around and since they were wedding guinea pigs there, I am sure most of their photos are going to end up in the Riviera’s brochure.  Honestly, I can’t WAIT to shoot there again.  The pool was insane with a DJ thumping and the bar is open till two and so is the pool, so it was the perfect place to have your guests go for afterhours AFTER the wedding.  We all sat by the pool and the firepits and jumped in the hot tub and just chilled after the wedding.  They were SUCH a fun group that the partying never stopped and apparently they had been partying for days before we even got there…impressive!  The property is 24 acres and pretty vast, my photographers and I got lost on the way back to our room and had to steal a cart to find our way back!  Too funny, but the wedding was so outrageously fun. The bride and groom I am DEFINITELY visiting up in Portland where they are from and I HAVE to share some of these photos to show you just how rad this hotel is!

To see more photos from this event, just click on this link.

So a HUGE thanks to the fabulous Betty Lang with Vanda Events, for organizing this intimate, YUMMY event at Cake Crumbs Bakery in Encino.  PLEASE don’t judge my photography by these horrible snapshots on my crappy point and shoot, but I could not help it.  I was blown away by the ornately detailed cake creations that they had in their store room.  You really need to go to their website to see better photos of these cakes.  They are almost TOO beautiful to eat!, but TRUST me I did.  I actually stuffed my face there and they are equally as tasty as they are beautiful works of art.  I had the pleasure of meeting Ron and Gabrielle with Ron Levy Photography, a husband wife photography team based out of the OC.  I am sure we will find a way to work with each other, they are super talented and have such great energy.  It’s always a pleasure to meet other cool photographers.  My girl, Tara Dowburd-Luftman makeup artist extraordinaire came with me and I met Cindy Park with Floral Elements and Corina Garcia who is soon to be launching CG Events and Design…so it was a great group and I am DEFINITELY putting Cake Crumbs on my referral list!  Tara and I actually bought a little cake to surprise our intern Sarah Horowitz for her birthday  before she leaves for the summer (photo below)..We are ALL huge fans!;)

So by now I feel like I really know Esteela, since not only have I shot her engagement shoot, both weddings (one in Indonesia and one in LA), but NOW her pregnancy shoot.  The fabulous Tara Dowburd-Luftman was on hand doing make-up. She’s such a rock star! She and Stefan make SUCH a cute couple and they were being so fun and silly together during the shoot.  You can tell they are both excited to be parents.  Also, Esteela’s Nursery-to-be is SO ADORABLE!  We will definitely be shooting in that room once her little girl is born.  here is a VERY small preview of what we did, since most of them involved partial nudity (AND Stefan’s belly:) I couldn’t post them.  Congratulations Esteela!  I LOVE continuing to shoot my bride’s through ALL of their most precious moments in life.  That’s what it’s all about…

As usual, the Koffeehouse crew pulled off an INSANE event.  Thanks to Jeremy Koff, Chris Ng, and Steve Aylsworth with Jet Luxury Resorts (whose family sponsored AND hosted the event), we all had amazing wine, music and a view of the Malibu Coast to DIE for!  It’s like they paid the seals, dolphins and pelicans to perform for us or something.  Ps, The Bachelor was filmed at this location and the house is gorgeous!  Ronnie, my great friend and assistant, really helped me out with shooting the event.  We had a blast shooting and dancing and joining the jam session at the end of the night.  It was one of those many moments that I was like, “I LOVE WHAT I DO”. PS, Ronnie and  I are also in LOVE with Steve’s family and how tight knit they are.  Seriously, every person we met at the event was just an amazingly talented and had great energy.  We basically had to get kicked out at 1 am, because we didn’t want to leave!  Anyway, please check out the following portraits of the 8 artists that performed and their websites.  They ALL blew me away…And… thanks Steve for leaving me hanging…(Refer to the last photo below:)

If you want to see the rest of the photos from this event, click on this link.

Mozella

Trevor Hall

Sandi Thom

Chris Pierce

Tyrone Wells

Lukas Rossi

Shawn Hlookoff

Sara Haze

Party Time

Matt and Krista AND little Emily, had such a fun wedding on Electra Cruises out of Newport Beach.  It is SO cute how Matt has embraced Emily as his own daughter. You could tell he was SO excited to get married to Krista!  The dancing never stopped and since the boat was SO massive with 4 decks, there was always a place for guests to wander to have privacy or to go drink and party.  The only crazy thing is that on a boat you can’t leave early unless you jump overboard, so if guests got tired, they just crashed out on couches on the boat…LOL.  I of course joined in with the dancing at one point and Matt, the groom, took my camera and started shooting photos of me and the guests…AND he did a great job actually!  I felt like I was a guest and I just wanted to say thanks for the great time!  If you want to see more photos from this event click on this link.