Joyce + Lucas in Menlo Park, CA

We found ourselves at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park again for Joyce and Lucas' beautiful outdoor summer wedding.  It was a perfect day, the garden was gorgeous, and Joyce and Lucas were radiant.  Throughout the ceremony, Lucas kept glancing at Joyce, and as soon as their eyes locked, he would break out into a sweet smile.  Both Joyce and Lucas are very close with their families - Joyce's sister was her maid of honor and Lucas' father was his best man, and it was truly a privilege to witness these two families coming together.  Both of their mothers shared stories and poems about the two during the ceremony, and after the ceremony, they held hands as they walked back down the aisle.  Similarly, both of their fathers gave beautiful toasts, sharing stories of Joyce and Lucas as little ones, and sharing stories of the two coming together.  With all the love and support surrounding these two, we know they'll have a long and happy life with one another.

For the wedding itself, Joyce worked with Andrea and Johanna of Lily and Mint to create thoughtful and beautiful details.  Joyce is a big Scrabble player (I think I overheard that she even played a couple of Scrabble moves the morning of her wedding), and so they used Scrabble tiles to decorate all of the tables.  They also had a soft pink, peach and pale blue color scheme that tied all of the details, flowers and table decorations together.  We love seeing and photographing all of the ways that couples make their wedding unique to them, and Joyce and Lucas' was certainly no exception!

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Next three photos by Adm:

Here are all of the details (photographed by both Adm and myself):

Next three photos by Adm: Adm made this photo below of Joyce and Lucas' first dance, and it is one of my all-time favorite first dance pictures:

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Sneak Peeks: Joyce + Lucas, Jennifer + Eddie

Here's what's in the queue:

Joyce + Jake in Half Moon Bay, CA

Jake proposed to Joyce just a short walk from where they were married in Half Moon Bay.  For guests arriving to the wedding, the first thing they saw was a beautiful painting of these two at sunset, made by Joyce's talented little sister.  By just looking at the painting of this couple embracing in front of a beautiful sunset, you were able to feel the solidness of their love.  The same goes for Joyce, who was so nervous in the minutes leading up to the ceremony, but the moment she saw Jake at the other end of the aisle, all her nerves seemed to flutter away.  For the rest of the night, these two were stuck together, side by side, arms around one another.

It was such a privilege to be a part of their day.  These two come from very close knit families, and so there were many beautiful moments between them and their family members.  Because we had done such a fun engagement session with them a few months ago, we'd had a chance to get to know them so that they were already super comfortable with us from the moment we arrived, which in turn allowed us to capture all of the natural emotion of their day.  Congratulations you two!  We hope you're having the best honeymoon ever and that that carries through for the rest of your lives!

Photo below by Adm:

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Photo on right by Adm:

Photo below by Adm:

Photo on right by Adm:

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Joyce's mom made these paintings specifically to hang around the reception area:

Next two photos by Adm:

Photo below by Adm:

Photo below by Adm:

The painting by Joyce's little sister is on the left.  Amazingly, it was overcast all day until the sun started setting so that we could make the picture on the right. 

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: