Wayfare Tavern Wedding Reception

If you want to start at the beginning of Ruth and Tom’s wedding day you can read about their San Francisco City Hall Mayor’s Balcony wedding here. 

Their Wayfare Tavern wedding reception followed a wedding ceremony at the Mayor’s Balcony at San Francisco City Hall, an Inner Sunset apartment mini-reception, Golden Gate park dog walk, and a MUNI ride.

Wayfare Tavern makes for an excellent intimate wedding reception venue – it has an industrial vintage feeling with dark wood paneling, exposed brick, and painted wood floors. Ruth and Tom’s guests dined in the Bartlett Room which is adjacent to the wine cellar. There’s an old-school, speakeasy club feel to the space that is balanced with the airy, glass-enclosed wine cellar and industrial retrofitting. Located in the Financial District it feels upscale and classy but urban and gritty at the same time. 

Ruth and Tom utilized one of my all time favorite wedding traditions and included hand-written letters to each guest as their place settings. As a continuation of the handmade theme, origami paper cranes adorned the wedding cake – baked by Ruth herself! 

What a wonderful day it was galavanting through San Francisco, and celebrating the marriage of two of the loveliest people you might hope to meet.

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Wedding Ceremony Venue: Mayor’s Balcony San Francisco City Hall

Wedding Reception Venue : Wayfare Tavern

Wedding attire: BHLDN

Hair and Makeup: Kristina Curtis @bykristinacurtis

Cake: by Bride!

Transportation : MUNI

Catering: Wayfare Tavern


Triple S Ranch Wedding

I met Cate and Evan while shooting a wedding in the redwoods of Mendocino in 2019. They were engaged but had to postpone their original 2020 wedding date due to the pandemic. Finally, June 2022 rolled around and I was able to document their wedding at the stunning Triple S Ranch – and boy was it worth the wait. 

Located in Calistoga, Triple S Ranch is a charming, shabby chic wonderland. This historic property has numerous structures with interesting architectural details and rustic ambiance – including a restored “Grand Victorian” farmhouse and 2,200-square foot barn. Accommodations include glamping tents and treehouses, making it easy for guests to stay on site for an extended period of celebration. The grounds included recreational space with pools, around which I was fortunate to capture lots of hanging out before the ceremony. 

One of the most touching moments of the day was Cate and Evan’s first look. They decided to make this intimate moment even more special by including their closest friends. Their friends led them to each other back to back, until they touched, and then they turned around to see each other surrounded by their loved ones. It was a beautiful and exciting reveal and a unique experience to photograph. 

The intimate wedding ceremony took place under a stunning 175-year-old walnut tree. Four friends made up a band for a musical performance during the ceremony. Cate looked radiant in her minimalist slip dress adorned with a delicate lace cape. Cocktail hour followed and I got to photograph the many eclectic and colorful guests striking poses. Among the looks were bolo ties and cowboy hats and head to toe pink fits that popped in front of the weathered “New York Store” facade. The reception was held in the huge barn with antique exposed beams and DJ Lucero started a serious dance party. The vibe was high energy and antics ensued. It was a testament to the couple’s love for fun and celebration.

It was a joy to capture the sincere emotions, friendship, and beauty of their special day. I will always look forward to returning to Triple S Ranch to capture more memories in these iconic settings. This celebration was made possible by the immaculate planning of Sachi and Maja.

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Wedding Planning and Florals: Sachi and Maja
Venue: Triple S Ranch Napa (SSS Ranch Napa)
DJ: DJ Lucero
Catering: Katie Powers Catering
Cake: Love Natty Cakes
Hair & Makeup: Dream Catcher Artistry
Dress: Half Penny London


Thomas Fogarty Winery Wedding

Lisa and Alex were married at Thomas Fogarty Winery on October 23, 2021. Lisa had first reached out to me about photographing her wedding, almost exactly two years previous on October 24th of 2019. While they did intend to have their wedding at Thomas Fogarty on October 24th 2020, I wouldn’t put it past Lisa to find a photographer two years in advance. From that initial Zoom conversation I felt great excitement and anticipation about Lisa and Alex’s wedding. She was so positive and organized, and a delight to communicate with. Well… we all got to hold onto that feeling of anticipation much longer than we thought we might.

Lisa and Alex met as college students at UC Berkeley. Their friends and family were scattered across the country and globe, so gathering at Thomas Fogarty Winery with its hilltop retreat feeling was appealing.

After more than a year, we finally had the chance to meet in person in May of 2021 on the UC Berkeley campus for their engagement session. But more about that in the blogpost about their delightful UC Berkeley engagement session here.

Thomas Fogarty is a special type of winery and vineyard. It is both perched on a mountaintop, and yet a comfortable drive from San Francisco. The approach along Skyline is glorious: a wooded ridge line reveals views out into the valley. The Winery itself is composed of a series of generous buildings built into the hilltop with the view at top of mind. Almost every room looks out over the sky, the vineyards, and the valley below.

We began Lisa and Alex’s wedding day with a Chinese tea ceremony out on the deck under the gaze of a large double happiness symbol and a floral arch incorporated into one. The tea ceremony ritual that centers the elders and the ancestors took on a deeper meaning as a result of the delay caused by the pandemic. Finally the elders were able to gather safely to bless the young couple . Even at the height of the pandemic, an elopement was possible at a dining room table over Zoom, but this in-person blessing of elders could not happen safely before the vaccine, and finally, here it was. After the tea ceremony, Lisa and Alex changed out of their qipao and changshan into outfits a bit more suitable (get it?) for dancing, and we ran out into the vineyard to catch the last of the light and make a few photographs before dinner, toasts and dancing.

Thanks to everybody who made the day run so smoothly, especially Jutta Lammerts of a Day Like No Other, who dotted all the is and crossed all the ts.

Venue : Thomas Fogarty Winery
Photographer : Hazel Photo
Hair and Makeup : Lydia Song, Brides by Lydia
Wedding planner: Jutta Lammerts, A Day Like No Other
Catering : Global Gourmet Catering
Videographer: Justin & Georgina from Weddings on Film
DJ/Band : Stefano Bortolin from BIG FUN Disc Jockeys
Florist: Janelle Jacky from Green Petal Designs


2021 Year-in-Review Bay Area Wedding Photography

In 2021 I photographed 24 weddings in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. All but a couple happened in the 2nd half of the year. I feel overwhelmed with gratefulness as I look back on all of the beauty and connection I was invited to witness and document. There’s nothing like a pandemic to remind a person how incredibly good it feels to gather friends, chosen family, and family to celebrate love.

2022 is looking to be a fuller year for weddings… My year is 70% booked, and will bring me up to Mendocino Sonoma and Napa, out to Walnut Creek and Lake Tahoe, and down to Half Moon Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains.

I can’t wait for all these adventures to come.

-XO

Paul


Documentary Style Wedding Photography San Francisco City Hall – Kathryn & Brian

Kathryn & Brian were complete infectious delight from beginning to end. They made each other laugh in every room and hallway and trolley car, and tree shadow, and ocean breeze throughout their wedding day, from San Francisco City Hall, out to Land’s End for portraits, and back to Nopalito for the reception. I had known this was a possibility. We had met up beforehand to think through the wedding timeline over cocktails at the Garden Court in the Palace Hotel, and that had been all laughter from the get go.

Ahhh… San Francisco City Hall, after ten visits to photograph weddings back in those halcyon days of 2019, you strike me an old friend. We hear you are open for weddings again all the way out here in 2021! A sure sign the pandemic is slowing down here in San Francisco.

San Francisco City Hall is a functional space from where the city is governed, but it also tends to feel a bit of a ruin in its age and grandness. Every San Francisco City Hall Wedding is also an exploration of generous halls, and gorgeous light, the sound of oxfords echoing against the marble floors, the coolness of the stone as one leans, shoulder meets tulle meets stone wall. In every corner a brass bust of a mayor of yore . But it is far from ruin alone. As I remember, there was a Zumba class dancing their way to fitness when I arrived for Kathryn & Brian’s wedding.

After the nuptials in the rotunda, we stepped outside into the sun, where more of Kathryn and Brian’s beloveds had gathered for a Hornblower trolley tour of the city. We passed another wedding at the Haas-Lilienthal House which sparked cheering and shouts from trolley to house, and house to trolley. Out at Land’s End we were greeted with lovely light for wedding portraits. As the day unfolded, more and more of Kathryn & Brian’s closest people arrived, first for the trolley tour, and then at Nopalito later in the evening. It total it was a glorious day from start to finish with very little fuss.


Cavallo Point Wedding – Jessica & David

Jessica & David’s intimate wedding unfolded in three parts – Getting ready at Cavallo Point, vows and a big smooch at the Palace of Fine Arts, and portraits in the Music Councourse at Golden Gate Park.

We started the day at Cavallo Point in a lovely old building where Jessica’s sister helped her into her dress and shoes, while her brother helped David with his boutonniere. They had their first look on the sun porch. We walked out to the pier for a few photos with the Golden Gate Bridge, and were lucky enough to be visited by a seagull at just the right moment.

For the wedding at the Palace of Fine Arts click here.


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