Marian + Michael in Oakland, CA

Being a part of Marian and Michael's wedding was like stepping into another era.  For starters, their ceremony and reception took place at Preservation Park in Oakland, which is a beautiful block of restored and well-maintained Victorian homes.  Marian also had an a distinct vision for her December wedding: Christmas in the 1950s.  The amount of detail and decorating that went into creating "the look" not only for their venue but for Marian and her bridesmaids was truly astonishing.  Marian and her sister Sarah, an extraordinary event coordinator and designer, have been decorating Preservation Park every Christmas for years.  Every wreath, garland, bow, tree, really anything Christmas-related, transpired from their lovely handiwork.  Furthermore all of the ladies, Marian and her eight bridesmaids, looked as if they had stepped right off the set of Madmen.  Actually, they stepped out of a 1939 Rolls Royce for their grand entrance.  The Rolls served as a backdrop for a series of pin-up pictures that our good friend Brad made of all of the women (see a couple below).

Despite the amazing scene that Marian and Michael created, the best part of their wedding was truly how happy and excited these two were to be marrying one another.  They both had perma-grins the entire night, and with all that smiling how could they not have the foundation for a beautiful and happy life together?  Congratulations, you two!!!

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Ngoc + Steve in San Francisco, CA

San Francisco wedding photography on a cable car We ended up having a later season this year, and so we still have one more wedding to share after this one!  But, I am getting ahead of myself...

Remember Ngoc and Steve's engagement session in Berkeley just a couple of months ago?  Well, these two brought everything together, with the help of their family, to throw an amazing December wedding at San Francisco's iconic Yank Sing Restaurant in The Rincon Plaza.  Their wedding was definitely a family affair as Ngoc and Steve are super close with their siblings: Steve's brother officiated over the ceremony and almost all of the bridal party were family members, which led to some pretty sweet toasts.

We brought along our friend Brad Zweerink to help us photograph the wedding, and it was so much fun to be a part of a celebration for two people who were so obviously in love:  Steve couldn't keep his hands off his beautiful bride as he kept wrapping her up in his arms and kissing her all night long.  Ngoc and Steve, thanks so much for having us, we think you two are an amazing couple!

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Photo below by Adm:

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Joyce + Jake Engaged

Joyce and Jake's engagement session was our last photo shoot for 2010, and I gotta say, it was pretty incredible. We wandered all throughout Half Moon Bay - we started with a stroll through downtown where we stopped in for drinks at a local restaurant, and despite initial curious looks from the wait staff, once they saw how sweet Joyce and Jake were with one another they let us transform their outdoor patio into an impromptu photo studio.  Next, just down the road, we scaled a fence to climb into a gorgeous pumpkin patch and corn field that provided the perfect backdrop as the sun streamed in between the mountains.  For our third stop, just a quick car ride away, we arrived at the beach just in time for a beautiful golden sunset in the exact spot where Jake had proposed to Joyce.  If all of that wasn't enough, we capped the night at the Ritz with a bottle of sparkling rose in front of a crackling fire.  It's shoots like these where I'm like, seriously, this is our job?

Joyce and Jake couldn't not have been more fun and easier to work with.  These two are doing a long-distance relationship at the moment - Joyce is in California and Jake is in Australia, so they really seemed to cherish every moment they spent together.  Furthermore, Joyce brought along her little sister, Alice, who was photo assistant and stylist extraordinaire.  We had a blast with these three - thanks for making the end of our 2010 so memorable!

Adm made this photo: