Venue: The Oviatt Penthouse
Catering: Cicada Restaurant
Brideʼs Dress: Designed by bridesmaid Kate Kolb
Hair: Jennifer Injaian, owner of Phoenix Salon
Makeup: Lina Negret
Baker: Helena Wirth Cakes
Cake Topper: Etsy
Cupcake Wrappers: http://www.paperorchidstationery.com/
Flowers: The bride & her maids created all bouquets, boutonnieres and table settings. Flowers bought at the
LA flower market.
Music: The groom mixed all the music himself.
Invitations & Place cards: Designed & handmade by the bride and groom. Home screen printing using Gocco.
Calligraphy: Peter Garcia, LA local tattoo artist.
Wedding website: www.nutterwest.com Designed & coded by Paul, illustration and typography by Aaryn

Don’t forget to read Aaryn & Paul’s story at the end of the post!

The The Oviatt Penthouse is absolutely gorgeous! Complete with tons of deco details and beautiful lines, textures, furniture, colors, art work….

Look at the color on these walls outside!

This bathroom is KILLER.

One of my absolutely favorites is this one below that Moe took while I was shooting them inside… it reminds me of a classical painting…!

This one below is another fave of mine that Moe took… it’s perfection!!!!!!

That’s me in a fishbowl

Check out the awesome Ruffled Blog FEATURE we got today for this DIY wedding, with tons more photos!

Read Aaryn & Paul’s story:

“Paul and I met during Thanksgiving Weekend of 2001, quite innocently on a dance floor in Oxford, England. I was visiting a good high school friend [and future bridesmaid!] who was spending the semester studying abroad. Paul had recently moved from Oxford to London, and was back home visiting a friend for the weekend. He was a graphic designer and doing freelance photography; I was a student in Los Angeles studying both subjects. We traded email addresses and remained pen-pals loosely over a 5 year period. At some point when the stars were finally aligned our communication went from sparse to daily, and soon we knew that we had to be together. We applied for a Fiance Visa and waited over 9 months to get the green-light to have Paul come over so he could marry me and stay while he applied for a green card. On June 20, 2008 we had a tiny ceremony on the roof of my friendʼs
apartment building in West Hollywood. Kate, my bridal dress-maker and bridesmaid, was our minister ,The photos from our first wedding are here.

Things were blissful for months and we began planning a proper wedding ceremony for all our friends and family – when I married Paul neither of my parents had ever met him!! Lucky for me I have great parents, and Paul is a total catch. But then a few months later Paulʼs mother fell ill back in England. Unfortunately for our circumstances we made the compassionate, yet unwise, decision to return to England to try to see her before she passed. Sadly we were unable to accomplish even that, we missed her by only hours while we were on the plane. Due to the nature of Paulʼs immigration status at that time, even as my husband, he was unable to return to the states with me. Less than six months into our marriage I was having to apply for a whole new visa all over again, while Paul waited at his Dadʼs house in England. It took another 9 months and we had to postpone our big wedding / renewal / reception / party another year, but finally Paul returned to Los Angeles. Since then our lives have been happily drama free! Again the wedding plans resumed, this time to take place on our 2 year anniversary. Because we are both graphic designers, we wanted to do a lot of the projects for the wedding ourselves. Paul works in the web-print-game world of graphics and I work in apparel doing textiles and tee shirts, so we tried to combine our talents and create an event that was true to our styles. The invitations were hand printed on Gocco machines by the groom http://www.etchworld.com/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=prodshow&ref=61-3103A&mktsrc=googlebase.

The invitations were designed to have a few paper cards held together by string, which fit neatly inside fabric pockets, hand-sewn like tiny pillow cases, in a variety of 5 different floral prints. The colors for the wedding were purple and green, with the bridesmaids all wearing unique dresses in shades of purple. To save money we did two major things… 1 – I decided to take a community college class on floral arrangement so that I didnʼt have to pay a florist. 2 – Paul bought some digital music mixing software and we made mixes that we could play instead of hiring a band or MC. I canʼt say it didnʼt stress us out a little, but we ultimately averted disaster and saved a lot of money in the end. That way we were able to focus our investment on the venue, photographer and food! Luckily I have an amazing husband willing to play such a big role in helping to plan the wedding! He designed and coded our wedding website, he designed and hand printed all the stationary in our invitations, and digitally mixed 6 hours of music for the event. And it was even he who picked out our adorable, and incredibly fitting cake topper.”

Jenny & Luc are the most precious creatures on earth. They are also ridiculously talented artists! You can (& should) view their web site here at jennyluc.com.

** Check out the DOUBLE giant sparkly features of this wedding on OnceWed today! Here’s PART 1, and PART 2. **

Vendors & Links:

Here’s what Jenny said about her DIY wedding:

“The wedding was a massive endeavor of fun, but without the support of Luc, our families and our friends it would have been impossible. With the hopes of saving money, I went all out DIY: designed letterpress invites, inserts, labels, ‘Save the Date’ coasters, RSVP custom-stamped vintage postcards, scoured the internet for vintage postage stamps, designed our wedding website jennyandluc.com, ordered flowers direct from the farm, found all vendors, made all iPod playlists for the party, etc. and .. eventually I learned how to ask for help. We wrangled some amazingly talented friends and loved ones to participate and they helped make it a magical day. I planned the wedding over the course of a year while working full-time/freelancing as a graphic designer. I felt the most creatively fulfilled when working on this huge project. (Dear Brides, I would love to help you/discuss any print/web design or event design ideas).”

Remember Kestrin & Jonathan and their magical “wedding of the century” that we shot in April? Well Jenny & Luc are close friends of theirs so you may recognize lots of the same people from K & J’s wedding in this post too… I love this whole entire crew!

!! <3 !!

above. silly goose…

Finally! I found a ring shot pose that I absolutely LOVE!!!!!!!

Below, one of my favey faves.

If you’re not already inlove with these two, this should do it for you.

There are a few Holga shots mixed in to this series…

I love these questions they asked themselves during the decision-making process:

Jenny: “So many evenings when Luc would come home from work (he is also a graphic designer at a branding firm), we would bounce ideas back and forth, and below is a portion of the questions we asked ourselves in order to create the best wedding imaginable:

Where do we want to get married? Under a big tree (major bonus for a carousel, ferris wheel, and huge pavilion nearby)
Are we going to play “Pony” by Ginuwine when all our friends get on the carousel? Yes
Are we going to play “Pony” twice? Yes
Look at this amazing photographer Noa’s work, we have to book her, right? (2 years ago) YES.
Should we include Prince’s: “Dearly Beloved. We are gathered here today to get through this thing called Life. Electric word life that means forever…” in our vow ceremony? Yep.
What should we do the day after the wedding? Twin Peaks brunch and Beach Bonfire Camping Party.
Let’s make cocktail names for a Font Bar since we are graphic design nerds. Okay! Good Times New Roman, Bodini Martini, Happy Akzidenz, Futurita, Baskerville Sour, Trade Gothic.
Do we need a fog machine? How is that even a question? Yes.
Should we use these old woodcut Falcon etchings for the cover of our kraftboard CD favor? Of course.
Do you think it’s too much to make 68 hanging candle jars for the tent and 300 candle jars for the tables? No. Candlelight is the best way to create ambiance in the tent.
I can’t interpretive dance to “Come Sail Away” in the long gown. Should I wear a Kate Bush inspired frock for our first dance? Yes. And I’m glad I did: Our First Dance http://www.youtube.com/user/jennyryf.
“Should I cut my hair?” -Luc. Don’t let them say your hair’s too long, cause I don’t care, with you I can’t go wrong. But yeah, maybe just a little.”

Below is Douglas Smith from (one of my favorite TV shows), HBO’s BIG LOVE. He was at Kestrin & Jonathan’s wedding as well… he’s adorable!!

So after our couple session- everyone jumps on the merry-go-round. There’s a boom-box playing Ginuwine’s “Pony”, on repeat, forever and ever….

* Here’s a little clip I shot at the end of the ride with my point & shoot, check out Luc freaking the Merry-Go-Round!! *

And now, for the most incredible first dance of all time, performed to “Come Sail Away” by Styx….

SO XANADU!!! amiright?

Here’s the video one of the guests shot, edited by Jenny, and some of my stills are spliced in. The whole thing is so great but the real magic begins at about 2:00…. amazing!

Jenny: “As we tend to have the uncontrollable urge to arrange fun things to do, we’ve (somewhat sarcastically) coined ourselves “The Ambassadors of Fun” and are starting a blog based on our fun recommendations (coming soon), as a division of jenny//luc. My tumblr: Gold Dust Mountain and wedding tumblr: Band of Gold. I abandoned my cat blog The Catalyst in lieu of the wedding (and work) but it’s still true: ireallylikecats.com.”

Yours truly with Kestrin & Jonathan at the end of the night….
Kestrin, Jonathan, Jenny, Luc…. get ready for a mega Boogie Nights pool party dancethon at our place this summer; We’ll sail away on pool rafts whilst drinking cosmic star stuff… it’s on! xoxo

** Check out the DOUBLE giant sparkly features of this wedding on OnceWed today! Here’s PART 1, and PART 2. **

Feather Love Photography: Artist Workshop (1 day intensive)

There are many incredible technical photography workshops out there (in fact I can recommend some!) but THIS one will be focused more on inspiration, finding your own style & voice in the wedding industry, and being fulfilled as an artist. It’s going to be different and unique to any other photography workshop out there. I have compiled many questions I have been receiving from photographers and put together a talk to cover all those questions. This will NOT be some class on how to make your work look like Feather Love; Instead, it WILL be an inspiring talk and shoot that will help give direction on how to find your OWN unique style and voice, and also on how to do so unapologetically! : ) I strongly believe that each artist has their own path and that sometimes they need to be introduced to their own potential. If you lose your entire grip on reality when you see an incredible f’ing photo, and you want your OWN work to give you that same feeling- this workshop is for you! I went to an excellent workshop in the past and it fully propelled me into my art & my business, and I would love to pay that forward…

When: Saturday, September 4^th 2010
Time: 12 noon- 8pm
Where: My place, Spring Valley, California. San Diego County. (Address & directions available after registration)
Cost: $800 per person
When to book: This is going to be an intimate, laid-back workshop. Space is very limited so that I can pay attention to each guest and have enough time to answer all your questions. We are going to fill up quick!
Food: We’ll be providing lunch & dinner. (Please specify if there are any dietary restrictions so that we can try to accommodate everyone. Send me an email after registration with your dietary specifications at: info@featherlove.com)
Wear: Comfortable clothes and shoes, we will be indoors & outdoors
Bring: Something to take notes on: notepad, ipad, whatevs.. . and IF you feel like it, a camera to shoot the workshop, but that’s not a necessity

Details, address, directions, accommodation suggestions and info will be emailed to you after registration. Payment must be made in full before August 10th- cancellation & refund available before August 10^th only. The only way to reserve your spot is full payment.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT AND PAY HERE:

The day will look like this:

Noon

A talk for about 3 hours which will cover

• How I started in the wedding industry
• What changes I made that brought my business success & made my job & my art personally fulfilling
• Using the blog world to get “free” advertising
• Getting the clients YOU want
• Finding your own influence & artistic style
• Artistic integrity
• Getting & keeping inspired
• Being true to yourself as an artist
• Shooting from “the hip”
• Breaking rules to get the results you want
• Finding & creating processing that you like
• Becoming & staying the Art Director of your shoots
• Intuitive shooting
…and lots more!

3pm-4pm lunch break

4pm- 7pm shoot

I will have a crazy cool ‘surprise’ shoot with a couple to show you how I work, how I engage my clients, & how I come up with ideas etc.

7pm-8pm dinner & more questions

FAQ’s:

Can we bring cameras? Yes you can bring whatever camera you like, and take photos during the workshop. But I will be the only one shooting the couple session, if we try to shoot the session as a group we’ll be stepping on each others toes & compromising our shots ; ) After the workshop, I will post one photo on my blog from each guest with a link to your site if you choose to take any pictures during the workshop. (YOU pick the photo you want to submit).

Do you have a cat? I’m allergic. Yes I do have a cat.

Do I need to be a pro photographer? Or what if I’m just starting out? You can be a beginner or a pro. Again this is not so much a technical workshop as it is an artist’s workshop. That means, if you feel the BURN to create beautiful photos from your heart, you belong here.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT AND PAY HERE:

Day of coordinator: Michele Spring from Mia Bella Weddings & Events
Venue: Walnut Grove at Tierra Rejada Ranch Moorpark California
Hotel: Westlake Village Inn
Catering: Command Performance
Invitations and Place cards: Posh Paperie
Brides Gown: Pronovias
Brides Shoes: Urban Outfitters
Grooms Suit: Jcrew
Grooms Shoes: Cole Rood & Haan
Mens Suits: Jacket from Urban Outfitters, Panur
Bridesmaids Dresses: Jcrew
Flowers & design: Tina Bushling from Tina Bushling designs

We started off at the Westlake Village Inn.

See Christopher & CC’s engagement session at my house here.

see this entire wedding here.

Their wedding took place at Shannon’s parents’ home… to see TONS more GORGEOUS pics from this event, check out the huge feature we got today on Ruffled Blog!!

(Gosh, Moe you really blew my mind with these dude. For serious.)

Vendors:
Design + Planning/Coordination/Invitations/Details/Favors = Bellz & Whistlez
Cake = Shirley Resnick (The Cake Lady)
Flowers/Bouquets = Black Lotus
Everything run by the super-talented and very sweet Charmae & her team at Bellz & Whistlez. The most efficient & organized designers & coordinators I have ever worked with.

Remember our photo from Kestrin Pantera & Jonathan Grubb’s wedding that made it to the New York Times on April 11^th (online April 9th)? Well I finally got back from Europe (stuck in Amsterdam due to volcano- not the worst thing that could happen ; ) and sat down and edited like crazy, I couldn’t wait to blog this! This was honestly the most amazing wedding/ event I have ever been to. Moe & I spent 4 days in Carmel & San Francisco for this 2-day gig & we shot the hell out of it… everything about it was just mind-blowing. Tons of pics and all the info you will need to know are below.
Firstly, the stunning bride is an actress, musician & event producer. She appears regularly in commercials, tv shows & films and will be starring in two feature films currently in production “Bonjour Nostradamus” & “The Golden Age”…  Kestrin also plays cello & drums in indie rock band his Orchestra (great stuff!) & has toured locally & internationally with a number of bands. She produces the RVIP Lounge, an RV-based karaoke lounge that provides free late night drunken transportation at internet conferences & film festivals. You can check out her web site here:  http://www.kestrin.com/

Handsome groom Jonathan co-founded web startups Get Satisfaction and Rubyred Labs. He designed many of the core mobile applications for Yahoo and Vodafone, and probably worked on the phone that is in your pocket right now. He is currently the Principal Product Manager at Lookout Mobile Security, a startup working to keep mobile phones safe from viruses, hackers, and thieves. He co-create and drives the RVIP Lounge.

Day 1 started of at The Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach. Dress number one of three: Kestrin’s wedding gown was by Monique Lhullier. It is based on Monique’s “Poetry” dress, and Kestrin requested a change from the original silk tulle trumpet shaped skirt into an A-line with a bustled train. The designers worked with Kestrin to get the exact shape she wanted, accentuating her waistline and de-emphasizing her hips. Before and after the ceremony she added a vintage velvet pashmina for warmth. Kestrin was absolutely STUNNING!

Kestrin with one of her best friends, the fabulous artist / actress / musician Sarah Carter. You may recognize her from TV shows such as Shark or Dirty Sexy Money, or a plethora of other work. But you MUST also listen to her very pretty music on her very pretty web site here…

Outside of the hotel waiting for our limo ride, the most amazing thing happened: Kestrin is a MAJOR star wars fan, in fact you can read all about how Kestrin & Jonathan met at Burning Man where she was wearing one of her “15 hand-made Jedi costumes and wielding a glowing Luke Skywalker replica light saber” in the NYT article, its awesome.  So at this exact moment as we were getting into the limo- who should walk by but George Lucas himself! He was a guest at the hotel. Erin Schelcher (K & J’s friend, ceremony officiant, stylist & problem solver) said of this moment: “His silver hair and beard flew past like a flock of doves released in Kestrin’s honor. George was blessing the union, not with his words, but with his mere presence, and with it flowed the blessings of Han, Lea, Luke, and the entire Rebel Alliance.” Oh man, do I love these people. I was surrounded by intelligent, witty, cultured, creative & hilarious artists for 2 days straight! The scenic limo ride. Above, one of my faves…

Jonathan wore a black slim fitting Dolce & Gabbana suit, a white Burberry shirt, a not-too-shiny silver tie with ostrich-leather texture,  and black oxford shoes by Prada. All are from Barney’s in Beverley Hills, CA. (Jonathan: “If you live in Los Angeles and you’re going to get a suit at a department store you might as well go over to Beverley Hills. Sure it’s douchey, but the prices are the same, but the service is way better and they valet your car.”) … That’s Jonathan’s dad below, with the ZZ Top beard and the mad style.

We picked up Kestrin’s parents and I honestly couldn’t stop laughing… her mom was so flippin hilarious! Kestrin’s dad is nicknamed “Doctor Commander Pantera” on account of his dual role both as a neurologist & commander in the navy. I heard everyone calling him that all weekend & loved it. Doctor Commander!

So this is how I like to imagine it’s going look like when I die and go to heaven. It’s like they got married at The Shire… This was Carmel River State Beach, the location for the family ceremony. Kestrin’s original wedding vision included 10 guests gathering in front of a particular rock on the beach near her Pebble Beach boarding school. When Jonathan pointed out that his immediate family included more than 20 people they agreed to expand to the parks-department-limit of 50.

WTF? how beautiful is this? Moe and I took the 2.5 hour drive from SF and it was ALL scenic…

The bouquet and corsages were constructed from Tillandsia air plants by Susie Nadler at Flora Grubb Gardens. Their dog Batgirl acted as ring bearer, wearing a Tillandsia and moss decorated harness. She was a real good sport in the limo rides as well.

There was a fresh cold wind that just added so much more intensity to the entire thing. Plus Paul Cartwright, friend & Kestrin’s band mate in his Orchestra played the most beautiful cover of Do You Realize (Flaming Lips) and everyone sang along. The ceremony was repeated on day 2 for all their friends… more of that further down.

It was SO gorgeous out there…

The bench where Jonathan proposed.

Their idea of a post wedding picnic did not sit well with Kestrin’s mother Jan, who wasn’t about to “fly her family all the way out here from North Carolina and give them some god damn box lunch,” so they upgraded to a small banquet venue for a post-ceremony dinner. The area is filled with ideal venues, but none can match the stark beauty of the rocky beach and restless waters at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club Beach House.

All the gorgeous centerpieces, bouquets, corsages, cake decor etc were created by Susie Nadler of Flora Grubb. (Susie also writes for Apartment Therapy)
Stunning view out onto the water, above. Pretty windows, below.

Right above is the beauty that is Flora Grubb, the groom’s sister and genius behind Flora Grubb Gardens… with her son Grayson.
Get a load of dress number two!

I could shoot this chick for HOURS. how gorgeous is she?

I LOVE this precious little vintage green dress!! Made by Rebellion Dogs, Kestrin said: “It felt like I was wearing a ladybug tutu, an absolute dream.” She found it on a whim, just before the wedding, at Tavin on Echo Park Blvd in LA.

Right at this moment, Kestrin was telling me about this amazing photographer that shoots wild animals and humans in unison, sustaining incredible poses. And she couldn’t help but get descriptive… !!
End Day 1… Day 2 started out at their hotel at the Palace Hotel, San Fransisco… beautiful

Kestrin found some cute vintage pantaloons and asked for an impromptu boudoir-ish session (we had 10 minutes). I was like Hell Yes!

I love how “French” these turned out…

Moe was shooting from outside the bedroom door and I’m obsessed with how beautiful his angles were!

This room. Is insane!

I guess Moe spotted McLovin over in the lobby while we were shooting… He’s back there on the left somewhere… ha!

these beauties… I couldn’t stop photographing them, and this hotel was so pretty!

So then we headed off to the Day 2 reception which was held at Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco, an exquisite plant and tree store run by Jonathan’s older sister. About 300 guests attended.

Guests wore formal attire to both the ceremony and the reception, but were free to interpret the word “formal” as they pleased. Jonathan: “We originally thought it was pretentious to tell people how to dress, but having over and under dressed for friends’ weddings we decided to send some guidelines.” An email sent the week before the wedding included these notes:

• Attire is creative formal. Dress for an audience with Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts. It will get cold, so an extra jacket will be nice.
• Gents: One can’t go wrong with a suit, from tweed to tux. Feel free to overdress in strange and unexpected ways.
• Ladies:  This is your opportunity to get wonderful and wild.  No ball gowns required, but you can easily get away with wearing a funky one if you happen to have it.  However, if your style is more subdued, a nice cocktail dress will be perfect.
• One should avoid dirty old Burning Man costumes and clothing items with the word “sweat” in their name, be they shirts, suits, pants, or bands.

I had read so much about this place and seen so many photos and bloggers going gaga over it… now I know why. When in SF, you MUST make a stop over at Flora Grubb! And all the lighting was so great!

I was like a kid in a candy store. The combo between this lively space and everyone’s outfits was overwhelming… It was (& excuse my French here) a total color clusterfuck!!… which is pretty much my favorite thing in the world. EVERYONE dressed up.

If you are a hardcore Big Love fan (HBO) as I am, then you’ll recognize Douglas Smith who was there with his lady friend. He plays in a band (his Orchestra) with Kestrin.

Each guest was given a yellow or saffron-colored flag that Kestrin hand-made in the weeks before the wedding. They created an aisle through the crowd, holding the flags aloft like a giant game of London Bridges.

Jonathan: “We expected it to feel like a processional of Tibetan monks in space, with gongs and gentle flag waving, but our guests had already had a few strong drinks by the time we started. They were, screaming, dancing, and waving the flags like they were inciting a revolution. It was way better than the monk thing.” Kestrin: “We had intended to make it mostly a party with a short set of toasts, but even our less intimate friends were asking for some ceremony. It was a little like my mom’s sentiment: I wasn’t going to have my friends drive all the way up from Los Angeles and give them some god damn boring speeches. We ended up making it a full second wedding.”

And I’m sure Mr. Adrian Grenier (Entourage) doesn’t need much introduction… All the flags flapping together sounded like a flock of birds flapping their wings…

I can’t describe how exciting this was, everyone was screaming when K & J walked in!

The couple stood on a “spinny-platform” that began turning slowly while they read their vows, and by the time they kissed they were spinning at a dizzying speed above a sea of waving flags.

Kestrin: “I strongly recommend any bride (or couple) with a clear vision to do exactly what they want to do and deviate from the plan as much as necessary in the 11th hour. All of my favorite interactive and simple elements came to me in my dreams (literally), just days before our wedding. If you have done your homework, are well organized (ie, the checks to vendors are already written), then you deserve to construct whatever last-minute fantasies you desire. If you want to spin in the air surrounded by your loved ones, it’s completely possible. Don’t let anyone tell you differently… but be very nice to them.”

My absolute favorite part of the entire ceremony was the readings. The couple is non-religious – he is a staunch atheist and she falls somewhere between agnostic and new age – so they looked to science and music to find inspiration and greater meaning for their ceremony. They read thoughts on the universe and love by Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Douglas Adams, Mark Twain, Buddha, and The Beatles, and combined the words and concepts into a few paragraphs that were read by friends and family at the ceremony and reception.

“The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. Our little planet floats like a mote of dust in the morning sky. All that you see, all that we can see, exploded out of a star billions of years ago, and the particles slowly arranged themselves into living things, including all of us. We are made of star stuff. We are the mechanism by which the universe can comprehend itself.  The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth. We should remain grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides. The sum of all our evolution, our thinking and our accomplishments is love. A marriage makes two fractional lives a whole. It gives to two questioning natures a renewed reason for living.  It brings a new gladness to the sunshine, and a new fragrance to the flowers, and new beauty to the earth, a new mystery to life. Kestrin and Jonathan choose to enter this relationship before you, their community, and ask for your support and blessings.”

Teary-eyed beauty above, and I love this pic of Adrian & his pretty lady friend watching the ceremony, below.

When Kestrin described the colored flags & colored lights to me, she said it would be grand and visually stunning… but this was immensely rich & beautifully psychedelic!

The vows were my other favorite thing about the ceremony. K & J were sweet enough to allow me share them here. Rather than repeating a set of traditional vows, the couple alternated speaking promises to each other. Jonathan: “We know that great relationships thrive because of the countless small things each person does for the other, the way they interact day to day, and we wanted our vows to reflect that. I’ve done enough project management to know that commitments should be specific and measurable, and these are the most important commitments I’ve ever made.” Kestrin: “Our wedding vows have already become real guidelines for our relationship. I can actually reference them when he needs to take out the trash or I need to focus on solving a problem instead of getting quiet or resentful.”

“Jonathan: I vow to love you
Kestrin: I vow to love you
J: to respect you
K: to always make fun
J: to be your best friend ever
K: to constantly generate a force field of awesome to guide and protect us
J: to do what I love
K: to actively maintain our relationship
J: to be lucky
K: to live a charmed life
J: to live as long as possible
K: to ask nicely for what i need
J: to communicate my feelings effectively
K: to live a life of hilarious bliss together
J: to provide for you
K: to solve problems
J: to make time for you every single day
J: to remain curious
K: to stand by my man
J: to put our relationship first
K: to build a community around us
J: to build a family life together
K: to give you babies
J: to change the diapers on those babies
K: to be great parent
J: to sing with you in the morning
K: to give you shoulder rubs, intermittently, for as long as we both shall live
J: to remember how lucky I am
K: to rock out with our great grandchildren
J: to take you on one hundred honeymoons
K: to maintain a menagerie
J: to clean up
K: to sing songs to you
J: to speak for you when you sing your voice out
K: to throw radical parties
J: to be faithful to you
K: to take joy in doing nice things for you
J: to be compassionate
K: to be devoted
J: to be committed
K: to be happy
J: to Listen to you
K: to support you
J: to stay with you forever
K: Do you vow to be my husband?
J: I do. Do you vow to be my wife?
K: I do.”

I’ll tell you what, from just hanging out with these two for a couple of days, I can tell you with great certainty that they really DO generate a forcefield of awesome around them… As well as a menagerie!

Then they spun around as Paul Cartwright played a version of The Flaming Lips’ masterpiece “Do You Realize” during the ceremony. Kestrin: “That song made me cry the first time I heard it, and the second time I had a vision of someone singing it at my wedding. ‘Do You Realize’ was part of the ceremony years before Jonathan and I had ever met.”

If you feel like listening to the original Flaming Lips version of this song whilst going through the photos, here’s a link to the audio on youtube. Just imagine EVERY SINGLE person singing this at the same time. It was so powerful & moving that I was totally getting all emo… but once I looked around I realized that so was everyone else.

**UPDATE** click this link to see a video clip online that one of the guests shot! It will give you a little idea of the magic in this moment!!! Kestrin & Jonathan’s ceremony video clip… (video thanks to Mark Trammell)

WE ARE MADE OF STAR STUFF!!

Party time.

They rented this pedal-powered ferris wheel from Cyclecide Bike Rodeo.

And here’s a really strange coincidence. When I was 15 I went to this amazing hippie/ new age school called The Nizhoni School for Global Consciousness in La Cienega, NM. One of the most amazing experiences of my life. I lived with about 50 people from all over the world… one of them was Alexandra Fulton. My old friend is now a successful actor in Los Angeles. And here she was at Kestrin & Jonathan’s wedding! I live in San Diego, she lives in LA and we run into each other at the party of the century in San Francisco!! It was so lovely to see her, wild & beautiful as always…

Then. THEN there was the carnival-style confession booth. Which I was practically forced into ; ) I walked in, a curtain opened, 2 people where sitting up on a platform behind a piece of plexiglass totally drunk, and started hammering me for truth! And before I knew it, they made me confess! ha… It was great.

Kestrin wore a third dress (she likes to dress up) designed in collaboration with Sterling Capricio of Los Angeles. Kestrin: “I looked at his work and drew a picture of the dress I envisioned, something to make me look like Marie Antoinette on mescaline. When I returned to his shop the next week, there it was.” The dress has poofy silver taffeta rising above the knee in front, cascading into a long flowing train in back. For the reception, Jonathan switched to a purple ruffled shirt and black bow tie from Ted Baker.

And here’s one of yours truly with the newlyweds.

And this is Jenny & Luc! We’re shooting their wedding this June… I can’t wait. We’ve been emailing for over a year now & they went to see my husband (Stuart’s) band ASTRA play in LA a few months ago. I fell in love with them instantly when I met them the night before at the Carmel ceremony. Then we all took stupid pictures together.

And here’s the adorable Raviv Ullman, actor/musician/drummer for his Orchestra… he also DJ’d that night after the ceremony.

Jonathan: “We wanted to have so many things happening that nobody could possibly take everything in, and the legends would grow when guests later discussed the event.”

There were four bars. The main bar served standard mixed drinks and champagne. The venue has a full Ritual Coffee Roasters café where guests could simultaneously caffeinate and intoxicate with Ritual’s award winning coffee drinks spiked with top shelf liquor. A group of the couple’s Burning Man campmates ran a Parrot Bar (a variation on their legendary Pirate Bar) that served fresh squeezed grapefruit cocktails. The last bar was simply a jumbo size bottle of Patron and a line if shot glasses set on a vine-covered 1959 Edsel sedan that sits in a far corner of the store.

There was a make-your-own grilled cheese sandwich station, a photo booth, a pedal powered ferris wheel, a dada peepshow (where a whole cast of performers put on a show for two people at a time), a tiny tea party, a dance floor, and a karaoke lounge. As usual, the karaoke stage was the last thing standing at 4:00 am.

First dance with Doctor Commander Pantera!  (He was so sweet: the day before at the cliff ceremony, when I was cold outside taking family photos, he brought me his admiral coat and put it over me… what a lovely gentleman!!)

Overall I can honestly say that this weekend made it to my list of top 20 experiences of all time. Thank you Kestrin & Jonathan for choosing me to shoot this momentous event and for totally letting me be a crazy artist! You guys are seriously the best.  That was fully the wedding of the century / the wedding of the cosmos . we are made of star stuff… xoxo

**UPDATE!** we just got a DOUBLE feature on Style Me Pretty!! Woo hoo! To see even MORE pics on their site, check out both features for this wedding. Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.

Some more juicy vendor info & links… check these out!!

Flora Grubb Gardens http://ww.floragrubb.com Reception venue in San Francisco. Open everyday as a garden store and cafe, available for weddings and other events by reservation. Special thanks to owners Saul Nadler and Flora Grubb (Jonathan’s big sister).
Carmel River State Beach http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=567 Family ceremony site.
Monterrey Peninsula Country Club Beach House http://www.mpccpb.org Family ceremony dinner site in Pebble Beach, CA.
The Inn at Spanish Bay Wedding night hotel in Pebble Beach.
Sea Breeze Inn http://www.montereyinns.com/pages/seabreezeinn-pacific-grove.html Hotel for wedding guests near Pebble Beach, CA.
Hotel Triton http://www.hoteltriton.com/ Hotel for wedding guests in San Francisco, CA.
Palace Hotel http://www.sfpalace.com/ Bride & Groom’s hotel in San Francisco.
Red House Café http://www.redhousecafe.com/ Excellent morning-after-wedding breakfast.
Gott’s Roadside http://gottsroadside.com/ Late-morning-after-reception hangover brunch.

Vendors & Friends

Susie Nadler http://floragrubb.com/cutting/ Flowers for the ceremony, bouquet, table settings & corsages. She also writes for Apartment Therapy. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/author/susie
Jim Kumiega http://www.floragrubb.com/events Event planner & organizer at Flora Grubb Gardens.
Paul da Plumber Cesewski http://www.paulsrides.com/ Spinning platform.
Circle J Ranch Petting zoo for Jonathan’s Los Angeles bachelor party. They brought a whole farm to the front yard: goats, ducks, piglets, a donkey, sheep, chickens, and an alpaca. Seriously.
Pâtisserie Bechler http://www.patisseriebechler.com/ Wedding Cake, Carmel.
The Cake Maker http://www.cakemaker.net/ Wedding Cake, San Francisco.
Peasant Pies http://www.peasantpies.com/ Reception snacks.
Costco http://www.costco.com/ Reception beverages. Huge cost savings over any caterer.
Christophers Catering 415.641.3850 Reception Bartending and food service.
Cyclecide Bike Rodeo http://www.cyclecide.com Pedal-powered ferris wheel, bus ride for Jonathan’s San Francisco bachelor party. Special thanks to Laird Rickard, Jerico Reese, Paul Cesewski, and Moses Grubb.
Parrot Bar & Tiny Tea Party Fresh tropical drinks at reception by Milton Nolan, Samantha Garcia, Mason Carroll, Melissa Craven, Jean Francois Boudier, Katie Boudier, John Fast.
Dada Peepshow Noona Nolan, John Fast, and crew. Concept and structure by Noona Nolan, Spy Emerson, and Moses Grubb.
Photoboof http://thephotoboof.com Photbooth at reception, with online photos at http://thephotoboof.com/events/flora9
Louise Rafkin http://www.louiserafkin.com New York Times reporter.
Darcy Padilla http://www.darcypadilla.com/ New York Times photographer.
Erin Schelcher Ceremony officiant, stylist, and problem solver.
Wade Harpootlian http://tomorrowsbrightestminds.com/ Reception DJ & sound technician.
Paul Cartwright http://www.myspace.com/paulcartwright Ceremony & Reception musician.
Raviv Ullman http://www.myspace.com/hisorchestramusic Reception DJ.
Mark Laramee Reception DJ.
Greg Patterson aka “DJ Spacecat” Reception DJ.
Paul de Jong http://kjpaul.com/ Reception karaoke.
Rebecca Marshall http://thecatbirdnest.com/ Cake table succulent tea party decorations.

There will be TONS more for me to show you in a couple weeks when I am back from overseas & complete the editing etc… but I just couldn’t contain my excitement with this and had to share it right away!! : )

xxoo

venue: El Adobe Capistrano
event coordinator/designer/floral arrangements etc: V3 Weddings & Events
bride’s dress: Designer Alex Stone
cakes/cup cakes: Sweet Emilia Jane
knuckle rings, invites, save the dates: Melissa Loschy Designs

Hey remember that blog I posted for The Knot Vintage Weddings regarding mismatched bridesmaid’s dresses? This is the best example, each one of the bridesmaids looked absolutely gorgeous in her own dress.

Lindsey & her bridesmaids all wore these knuckle rings made by her Maid of Honor Melissa Loschy, who sells a bunch of great stuff on her Etsy store: Melissa Loschy Designs





This pic of Lindsey was processed with OEIL’s insanely cool actions! See more of their actions here….

THE DRESS was exquisite, so well made, and had such beautiful details. It was designed and made specifically for Lindsey by her friend, designer Alex Stone…






Another pic processed partially with OEIL’s vintage actions.

Lindsey looked absolutely stunning.

There is no man more handsome than a happy man on his wedding day. Seriously.

Best bridal party ever.

Of course, I always recommend my friend and fellow blogger Sweet Emilia Jane to all my clients because simply put, she makes the best & most sexiest damn cakes I have ever had.

SET UP. all the reception flowers, cake stands & decorations were all created by the bride’s friend and extremely talented Event Designer & Coordinator, Vanessa at V3 Weddings & Events. She was AWESOME. Here’s what Lindsey said about their decorations:
“We pulled a lot of inspiration from southern country weddings (mason jars, handmade pom pom’s, western union telegram program), most of which we found on 100layercake, oncewed, and east side bride blogs. We tried to use decorations that we would use in our own home… We enjoyed all the handmade crafty things we got to do, such as the bookmarks, and none of the pom pom’s would have been made if it weren’t for our amazing maid of honor, Melissa Loschy, who also designed our save the dates and invitations. There were many individuals who helped create our “handmade” wedding, especially Vanessa Vazquez our dear dear friend and wedding planner extraordinaire. Whenever I told her I needed to buy something she’d reply with “Oh, I can make that”, and she would exceed my expectations without question. For example, the cupcake stands… genius!”


Here’s what Lindsey wrote regarding their decision to use vintage books as gifts for their guests… “Bryce and I have often said that we were born in the wrong generation, and our passion for vintage is best explained by our love of history. We gave our guests personalized vintage books simply because it’s what we would want to receive. We have a nice collection going so it was difficult to give some of those up, but we wanted each of our guests to feel just as special as we did that day.”

VENUE. El Adobe Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano, who also provided the catering… the food was SO FRIGGIN GOOD!









Some Holga shots.

Here’s some of the sweetest words. After I sent Lindsey & Bryce a link to their photos online for them to view, this is the response I got from Lindsey:
“…We are buggin’ over here!!!! The pictures are unbelievable and have blown our expectations out of the water!!! I can’t stop using exclamation points!!!! aaaaahhhhhh!!!… It was such a honor to have you and Moe there to shoot our wedding. I knew you were brilliant, but Noa, my God are you blessed with an incredible gift. You captured all the emotion and love that we experienced on such a momentous beginning in our life… The whole experience has been divine and thank you again for sharing your talent with us … WE LOVE YOU, NOA!!!!!!!”
And this is from Bryce:
“You rock, Noa! Thank you so much for being a beautiful person and an uber artist able to bring a vision worthy of the heavens. Now we just need to make it down there so we can all enjoy a drink together!”
Bryce I’m holding you to it! I would love to hang!! luv you guys!!

Party time.

These were the gifts for the bridesmaids & groomsmen.

polka dots ‘n stripes

For their farewell, Lindsey wore her mom’s wedding dress. It was really pretty & looked so cute on her….  (I know UnVeiled is gonna love this one. And I’ll bet ESB will dig it too).

I love how Bryce is floating in the bottom left pic.

Thanks again everyone & Moe, that was such FUN! xo

He’s such an insanely talented photographer. Check out his awesome work on his blog here.
How stoked am I? I already got my first 2 prints of his fine art that I am going to frame and hang in my new studio when the remodel is done. Moe and I are traveling a lot next year to shoot weddings all over the place!

So anyway, Moe shot Matt & Marc’s wedding- I did the processing and editing when I got back into town. When he handed me the disc of photos and I started looking through them, I thought there must have been a mix-up. This must have been some GQ shoot that got mixed up with these wedding pics. But no. These two dudes that got married were just hot. And SUPER stylish. For crying out loud, everyone at their wedding was stylish. Hence the title of this post. Plus, Matt & Marc are some of the sweetest people I have ever dealt with. Polite, funny, and just plain rad. <3

Thanks for rocking this Moe!!!

Venue: Rancho Bernardo Courtyard

Right? I mean, seriously. Wow.

I want one of these so bad right now.

And the award for the best outfit ever goes to….. this dude.

MAD STYLE!

I’m so bummed I missed this wedding…. looks like a hell of a lot of fun!

(photo credit: Raya Carlisle, via Once Wed)

Emilia just posted a SERIOUSLY awesome blog titled “shake what your mama gave ya” about wearing Mom’s wedding dress on your big day… check it out here:

And our first joint-post titled: “engagement sessions: breaking the rules” can be seen here and features a bunch of photos from Bill & Emilia’s e-session I shot earlier this year. Check it out on our Vintage Weddings by The Knot blog.

Check out our first post here on Vintage Weddings by The Knot.

Oh and PS: Leanne is wearing a Betsey Johnson dress (she works for them) and I love how the colors & print came out in the pics… remember this session I did of the stunning Emilia Jane & her hombre? Well she wore a really pretty Betsey Johnson dress for the 2nd half of their e-session too… hm, do I smell a trend?? If so, it’s a good one.

Well, Zola & Derick got married and it was simply the most beautiful thing ever. She found her vintage dress on Etsy- I couldn’t think of a more perfect dress for her…  I love it! Derick & the groomsmen were in baby blue linen suits. Bridesmaids looked stunning in their yellow early-60’s style dresses. Zola made all the beautiful terrarium centerpieces (she makes and sells these so keep that in mind for x-mas gifts coming up!). I just love everything about this wedding.
Ceremony: Marston House, Balboa Park
Reception: Redwood Circle, Balboa Park.

To see the engagement session I shot for them earlier this year, click this link.

*** UPDATE*** lots of you have been asking some questions about this wedding, here are some answers from Zola.
the bridesmaids’ dresses are the Kate dress from J. Crew, purchased off eBay
Zola’s dress was from the Vintage castle shop on Etsy.
Anyone interested in purchasing terrariums for x-mas OR for their wedding centerpieces can contact Zola directly at: abrahm_zadok@hotmail.com (As of now she’s only going to do local San Diego delivery or pick-up, but might do OC/L.A for bulk purchases)

OK- less talk, more action…

Is she not the loveliest thing you have ever seen???

Portrait of a lady….

And Derick looked so handsome! I absolutely love his suit.

To see the engagement session at home that I shot for Zola & Derick earlier this year, click this link.