Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach | Wedding Rewind

Celeste and Chris were married at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach right before I started blogging.  Thought it would be nice to rewind and blog about their beautiful wedding!

This wedding had so many DIY elements.  Celeste designed everything from the custom save the dates, invitations, programs to all the reception stationary to match the beach themed wedding.  One of the best moments was when Max the lab walked down the aisle with the wedding rings.  Tim and I also loved the father dance, see the photo below and you’ll know why.

Here are a few of my favorite images from the day.  Thanks to Facebook, I still get to keep in touch with all my past couples!

Ceremony & Recepton: Hyatt Huntington Beach
Planning: Oc’s Finest Weddings
Entertainment (DJ):  Mark Davies with Sterling DJ
Floral Decor: Bella Blooms
Cake: Tomgirl Bakery

orange county child portraits | annah

It’s that time of year again!  I can’t believe Annah is turing 4 this year.  She is no longer the baby that was scared of the grass or the toddler that called older kids “babies”.  This year, Annah followed directions and I didn’t have to chase after her to get a shot!  Ok, maybe limited chasing.

Happy birthday Annah and I look forward to meeting your new baby brother this summer.

Parents ask me all the time about how long a kid and baby portrait session is.  My answer is always…we’ll know when they are done.  Here is Annah- done.

orange county photographer

A lot of people are curious about how I started in this industry so here is my story.

In 2003 while I was going to FIDM for Merchandising Product Development, I interviewed for a job at WeddingChannel.com.   I’ve always been fascinated by weddings and at one point, thought about being a gown designer.   I was super nervous for the interview, but everything went well and I started my first day there on March 17, 2003 as the Wedding Shop Merchandiser.  So what exactly did I do? My job was to photograph all the products that were sold through WeddingChannel.com’s Wedshop.  You can still see a few photos on theKnot.com right now!  Follow this LINK.

I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am today without working at WeddingChannel.com. ..

  • My first bridal shoot was on top of the building’s roof with Vera Wang gowns.
  • I got to meet Robert Evans and watch him shoot at his studio.
  • Practiced shooting with the best models/coworkers!

Slowly, I started to photograph more people and the rest is history.  I shot my very first wedding in 2005 and haven’t stopped since.  Here are just a few from way back when…

Here’s Andrea & Jason with Ben at 1 week old…

My very first maternity shoot

This might be my first baby portrait too!

This was from my very first wedding- ever.  I was hired for about 3 hours to cover the ceremony and reception at I can’t even tell you how much I was paid.

Here are some recent photos of my old WC coworkers who turned into clients and great friends.  You guys are the best!

Hope everyone learned a little more about me today and enjoyed this post  :)   I’ve been so lucky to have amazing magazine and blogs such as Inside WeddingsStyle Me Pretty, Wedding Chicks, Rock n Roll Bride, Amy Atlas Blog, and just this week…Daily Candy featured my work.  Thank you everyone for all your support and I hope to keep creating images that you will enjoy.

vintage wedding | valentine’s day wedding inspirations

What’s more fun than a photoshoot? A shoot in the rain!  Here is a fun session Amanda Heer (Fantasy Floral Designs) and I put together to feature her brand new love letter bouquets.   The flowers in these bouquets are made from vintage love letters and vintage diaries.  It’s a great addition to the amazing brooch bouquets Amanda already creates.  Enjoy these images and get inspired for Valentine’s Day!

Thank you Weddingchicks.com and Rocknrollbride.com for featuring this session!

diy friday | floral arrangements

Here’s a special rainy Friday afternoon post!

I love to learn new things from my talented friends in the industry.  Cindy from Floral Elements was kind enough to come over this morning to hang out with my mom, Stephanie from Stephanie Ann Photograph, and me.  We started off the day by going to the Orange County Flower Mart to pick out flowers we wanted to arrange.   Then a quick trip to Shinoda Design Center for the vases and we were ready!  Here are a few photos from our fun filled morning.

Stephanie working on her bouquet and the final product.  No photos of Cindy because she was camera shy.

My Mom had a lot of fun too and this is her masterpiece.

Thank you Cindy for teaching us all the tricks and making my house pretty!

One last thing, my little brother got accepted to Boston University’s IMBA program today and we are all so proud of him!

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