Marin Headlands Engagement Photos

Marin Headlands Engagement Photos – Cat & Ross

Cat & Ross met me in the Marin Headlands for their engagement session on a sunny and windy day. We began in the area close to the fabulous Headlands Center For the Arts (if you’ve never been, it is an absolute gem of an artists’ residency and gallery space tucked into the Marin Headlands.) The sun was still a bit high in the sky when we began, so we primarily stuck to the shade. This worked out well, as we were able to make some photos sheltered from the wind before we gave in to the messy magic. But, that is what the Marin Headlands are all about, spectacular windy messy magic. The hills are often windy, and always gorgeous. Tucked away behind the Headlands Center for the Arts we found a field with a row of towering cypress trees, and a eucalyptus grove full of deer hidden away munching an afternoon snack. See if you can spot her. As the sun grew lower, we took off for Point Bonita Lighthouse, but when we saw the Golden Gate Bridge and the beauty of the San Francisco Bay below, we had to pull over to make a few more photographs. The Point Bonita Lighthouse is only open on Sundays and Mondays 3 hours at a time, but the approach is stunning as well. As the sun set further, we enjoyed a few last moments watching the golden hour curl into the blue hour with the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge beyond.

Industrial Chic Wedding Bok Building

Industrial Chic Wedding Bok Building – Eliza & Dirk

Eliza & Dirk had the distinct pleasure of walking from their home in their South Philadelphia neighborhood to their wedding venue, The Bok Building. Part of the vision for the day, as far as photography, was a walk through the neighborhood with bridal portraits in front of Eliza & Dirk’s favorite murals. We got lucky, and happened upon an Italian street festival, replete with red white and green pendants strung across the street. Philadelphia is a city of hidden magic on tiny alleys, and we found that magic again and again as the day unfolded.

Eliza is an urban planner, Dirk a geographer, so it was apt that the backdrop for their wedding was a view of the city grid of Philadelphia from above. The florals were fantastic. I love the arrangement at the altar with the city peeking through beyond. Post-industrial splendour exploding with flowers!

Sometimes as I photograph a wedding I pick up on a subtle dynamic I didn’t see coming. On their wedding day, from getting ready, through the ceremony, into toasts, I was struck by what an exceptionally strong chosen family Eliza & Dirk have cultivated, and now cherish.

Let’s also not forget that there was an astronaut in attendance, and he made every photo he graced with his presence ten times better.

I could write volumes, but these photos!! I won’t keep them from you any longer.

Photography : Hazelphoto

Wedding planner : Nicole Hutnyk / Rabbit Rabbit Crew

Wedding attire : Sarah Seven, Taylor Stitch

Florist : Vault & Vine

Hair : Kerri Fawley/Herringbone Salon

Makeup : JKo Beauty

Catering : Power Events Catering & Weckerly’s Ice Cream

Rings : Bario Neal

Invitations : Egg Press

Mill Valley Wedding – Lisl Zach

Mill Valley Wedding – Lisl & Zach

If I had to choose just one adjective to describe Lisl & Zach, and the wedding they put together, I would choose the word playful. Just as I arrived, Lisl sent a note from her hotel room over to Zach’s hotel room courtesy of a pair of friend-couriers. Zach read the note with giddy pleasure and sent a response back that made Lisl laugh and laugh.

We had a first look at a Mill Valley’s Bayfront Park, and then continued on to the Mill Valley Community Center for the wedding ceremony.

A “plain parchment” marked with the words “mischief managed” was part of the program for the wedding ceremony. That was not the only reference to Harry Potter. The officiant, a Pastor and close friend, structured her sermon by seamlessly weaving Lisl & Zach’s love story into themes drawn from the Harry Potter novels.

The flower girls shot bubbles from multicolor guns as they walked down the aisle. Adorning the wedding cake were Lego people: a scientist with a laboratory flask, and a gamer with headphones, and a player one t-shirt. I love that photo of the high five the two shared in celebration of the cake cutting.

Isabella Freedman Wedding Jonah & Rebecca

Rebecca and Jonah had a full wedding weekend at the Isabella Freedman Center in Western Connecticut. The Center is set around a lovely lake. It hosts retreats, and houses a sustainable farm. I was brought in to document festivities on the Sunday. When I arrived, Jonah and Rebecca had already been celebrating for a couple days, and their guests had settled into a palpable comfort and warmth.

I met Rebecca in one of the cabins where a couple of her closest friends were accompanying her as she got ready. She wore a floral crown from Tiny Hearts Farm.

Jonah had his Tisch in the synagogue space, which is almost a greenhouse in the best possible way, just check out that wall of windows. There was much singing and laughing and toasting. One of my favorite moments was when it got so raucous that the table was shaking, and somebody had to secure the refreshments so they didn’t tumble over.

Rebecca had her Tisch in the library, where she signed her half of the Ketubah. Jonah signed his half and they were joined together under the chuppah.

From their Tisch’s the two were lead out onto the lawn to the sounds of a chorus of voices and a few guitars. I love the moment of elation when they turned around and saw each other for the first time on their wedding day.

The day kept unfolding. The Schtick was particularly joyous and funny. Acrobatics, paper airplanes, juggling, reading, dancing, push ups. It had it all.

Bride’s dress : BHLDN

Florist : Tiny Hearts Farm

Wedding planner : Cindy Sanchez-Lark of Detaille

Hair : DIY

Makeup : DIY

DJ : Avi Maza

Catering : Isabella Freedman/Hazon

Invitations : Designed by Alahna Watson (portrait artist and friend)

Art Museum Wedding

Art Museum Wedding – Nathan and Jeannette

Nathan and Jeannette held their wedding at the Decordova Art Museum. This was certainly apt as Jeannette is a talented artist. Meaningful details revealed themselves at every corner as the day unfolded. I will try to list them, but I know there are many that will elude me… I feel as if I got to know the two better through the intelligence of the decisions they made in planning their wedding. They met when they were teachers, so their wedding favor was a triad of pencils inscribed with a quiet and gorgeous fragment form a Walt Whitman poem, “There we two, content, happy in being together, speaking little, perhaps not a word.” On the wedding altar was placed a table occupied by a bonsai tree into which Nathan had poured his attention and love for more than a decade, and succulents belonging to Jeannette’s mother. Nathan’s father donned three outfits as the day progressed, a suit for getting ready, his vestments to officiate the wedding, and a tux to celebrate. Not only did Nathan’s mother make the cake, and enough ice cream cake to feed all the wedding guests, but she commissioned a sculptor to make a cake-topper depicting Nathan and Jeannette’s three dogs. The florals were exquisite, almost avant-garde in places, perfect for an art museum wedding. Jeannette’s dress was at the same time elegant and sculptural. There were many moments where it inflected the art on the museum walls. Thanks again, Jeannette and Nathan, for having me make art about your wedding!

printed pencil wedding favors

Venue : deCordova Art Museum
Dress : Amsale
Florist : Hanaya Floral Design
Makeup : Christie Torres
DJ and/or band : Fine Tune Entertainment, Joe Kaszuba
Cake : Rachel Coppersmith
Catering : Swartz Catering
Invitations : DWRI Letterpress

San Francisco Vietnamese Wedding Tea Ceremony

T and H had a traditional Vietnamese wedding with a tea ceremony at H’s parents’ house. There were tons of moments I loved. First the groomsmen arriving with the bright red Mâm quả (Red tin baskets full of presents) for the Đám Hỏi (engagement ceremony.) They were led into the house by T’s parents. To enter the house, all ducked through the archway that read Vu Quy (leaving home.) I adore the photo of H’s aunties putting a present of earings on her ears. The way T would bend over to smooch H. The altar to the ancestors where the tea ceremony took place. The three wedding dresses H wore. The traditional red Áo dài, a Vietnamese wedding dress, and the blue Áo gấm, a similar garment worn by the groom. Then the elegant white Áo dài for H during the reception, and a tux for T. In the morning we had a sweet portrait session among the flowers at a botanical garden.

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