Charming Backyard Wedding

Charming Backyard Wedding. Laila and Dee are friends of mine. When they asked me to be the one to capture their day I was happy to do it! Sometimes when it’s a friends wedding I prefer to not photograph it but instead sit back and enjoy the festivities, and sometimes I prefer to do both! Their wedding I did both. I was able to photograph all the main events but I was much more relaxed and was able to mingle with the guests during the reception.

Laila and Dee had a really fun wedding and they did an amazing job pulling it all together. We got some great photos in the Santa Monica mountain range which was just a short 5 minute drive from their fun backyard wedding! They had a tight budget but managed to have such a cute and charming day! A lot of the details were being painstakingly put together within hours of their ceremony. Laila and a couple of her bridesmaids assembled all of the flowers themselves. Dee spent many days prepping the backyard for the event. Enjoy the photos, there’s a lot of great ideas for you DIYers out there!

Photography | Elizabeth Victoria Photography

Venue | Private Residence

Catering | Wood Ranch

Photobooth | In the Pix

DJ/MC | In the Mix Events

Santa Barbara Garden Street Academy Wedding

A couple weeks ago I photographed my friend’s, Amanda and Jason’s wedding in Santa Barbara at Garden Street Academy. This is such a gorgeous and unique hidden gem! Near the Santa Barbara Mission and the Museum of Natural History, this school also offers the space for private events but limits the amount they allow per year. Reach out to them right away to make sure you can reserve a day to have your wedding at this unique venue. It has the traditional Spanish architecture often found throughout Santa Barbara, with several small gardens, a large lawn area that’s perfect for the cocktail hour, and it even has a private chapel that can be decorated and personalized. Amanda has an amazing eye for detail and she made the space look even more beautiful!

Amanda and Jason both got ready at a cute little Air BnB about 5 minutes from the venue. We got their first look photos on the property before heading over to Garden Street Academy for the ceremony and reception. The ceremony was held at the venue’s chapel and was officiated by our friend, Tim from In the Mix Events. The reception was so much fun, since Amanda and Jason are good friends of mine, I was also one of the guests and could enjoy the party with all of our friends. I still kept my camera nearby and made sure to capture the most important moments for them.

Here’s the highlights from their wedding day…

Venue | Garden Street Academy

Event Rentals | Ventura Rental

Florist | Knot Just Flowers

DJ & MC | In the Mix Events

Catering, Cake/Dessert Bar | Lorraine Lim Catering

Make-up Artist | KINShoppe Salon

Gown Boutique | Camarillo Bridal Boutique

Bride’s Gown | David Tutera

Groom’s Suit | Friar Tux

Wedding Rings | Fox Fine Jewelry

Santa Barbara Garden Street Academy Wedding was also featured on Modern Weddings, Santa Barbara Wedding Style, and Glittery Bride. Planning your wedding there? Contact me ans we’ll plan it out!

Santa Barbara Buddhist & Greek Orthodox Church Wedding Photography

Santa Barbara Buddhist & Greek Orthodox Church Wedding Photography. Satomi and Joshua’s wedding ceremony was at the Santa Barbara Buddhist Church and their reception at the Greek Orthodox Church. I met with them for the first time over Skype only a couple weeks before their wedding day. Their first photographer cancelled on them unexpectedly and they were running out of time to find another photographer. Fortunately one of my brides from a wedding earlier this year works with Joshua and gave him my number. I’m happy I was still available that day so I could be apart of their uniquely amazing wedding!

The day started with Satomi getting ready at a private estate in the hills of Santa Barbara. She first got dressed with the help of her mother into her vibrantly colored, traditional Japanese Kimono. All of her bridesmaids wore a traditional obi for the ceremony and changed into a simple gold sash for the reception. She also had a gorgeous wedding gown to wear after the ceremony for the reception and some more portraits.  It was such an interesting wedding, mixing Satomi and Joshua’s two different family traditions seemed effortless.

One of my absolute favorite parts of the day was immediately following the ceremony. All of the guests gathered around the couple and showered them in rose petals! It looked so beautiful! We were greeted with an amazing sunset after we finished taking all of the group and family portraits and right before we went inside! Everything at the reception was perfectly complete with speeches, dancing, and cake. Want to see some of their wedding photos?

Here’s some of my favorites from Joshua and Satomi’s wedding day!

Wedding Coordinator | Ann Johnson Events

Ceremony Venue | Buddhist Church of Santa Barbara

Reception Venue | Santa Barbara Greek Orthodox Church

Catering | Martino’s Catering

DJ | KM Productions

Bride’s Gown | Bella Mucci’s Bridal Couture

Bride’s Shoes | Jimmy Choo Bridal Boutique

Groom’s Tuxedo | Mission Tuxedo

Wedding Rings | Premier Fine Jewelers

The 1909 Topanga Wedding Photography

Last week I photographed a beautiful Wedding at The 1909 Topanga. The bride was someone I knew as a model and a makeup artist. Someone who vowed she would never get married. That day changed when she met a boy at a bar. The actual story is much more interesting than that but I’m not sure she wants the world to know so I’ll leave it simple.

Liz and Travis’ wedding was amazing. I know I say that often but it really was. The entire bridal party was super fun to work with, everyone was in a great mood, the venue was beautiful, the florist made it even prettier, and the couple is super cool, smokin’ hot, and their chemistry made it so easy to photograph them. I may as well have set up a tripod with a remote control trigger and sat back and relaxed. Well, maybe not but they really did most of the work by just being them.

The 1909 Topanga is also a great spot for a wedding, theirs was the first time I had the pleasure of working there. It’s tucked in to the hillside with lots of gorgeous photo areas and beautiful giant tree as a background to their ceremony. The twinkle and bistro lights added to the magic of the location. Unique Floral Design helped make the site look like a fairy tale. It was completely perfect! I love the giant oak trees, and the table decor was truly stunning. Everything at this wedding was beautiful!

I’m gonna get to the pictures now…

Here are the highlights from their amazingly beautiful day. ? Enjoy!

Venue & Catering | The 1909

Florist | Unique Floral Design

Cake | Carrara Pastries

Videographer | Tim & Co

Photobooth | Oh Snap Studios

DJ/MC | Amit Sharda

Need a wedding photographer for you wedding at The 1909? Message me!

Wedding at The Lodge at Malibuo Lake

Tamy and Ryan’s wedding at The Lodge at Malibuo Lake was just a couple weeks ago. They were blessed with blue skies and a light breeze, these two tied the knot in front of family and friends, overlooking Malibuo Lake. The wedding was a relaxed party from the beginning till the end, couples are rarely more relaxed than these two.

They decided to have a first look before the ceremony where they could see each other in private. After they had a little alone time, we were able to get some photos of Tamy and Ryan with their bridal party. This was such a fun group of people! I got to see one of my couples from a few years ago as well, Liz and Travis! There wedding was so much fun as well and one of my favorites. Ryan and Travis are brothers and Travis was Ryan’s bestman, and Liz was one of Tamy’s bridesmaids. Liz is also a makeup artist and made Tamy look even more beautiful on her wedding day. I really enjoyed working with them at their wedding. Especially since I know Ryan’s family a little better from photographing his brothers wedding.

After the ceremony we had the opportunity to walk over to the lake for some of the bridal portraits. The Lodge has a swingset near the lake which they wanted to play on for a minute. I love so many of the photos I was able to capture for them. Here are my favorites.

Reception Venue | The Lodge at Malibuo Lake

Florist | Mulberry Row

DJ & MC | DJ’s At Your Service

Catering | Truly Yours Catering

Cake Artist | Portos Bakers

Make-up Artist | Makeup by Liz

Bride’s Gown | David’s Bridal

Wedding Shoes | Vince Camuto

2nd Photographer | Jennifer Johann Photography

Queen Mary Long Beach Nightmare Before Christmas Wedding

Queen Mary Long Beach Nightmare Before Christmas Wedding.  On my birthday last month, December 13th, I got to photograph probably one of the most interesting weddings I’ve ever seen. The theme of the wedding was based on Tim Burton‘s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the wedding was on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

The cool couple who pulled the whole thing off was Bynette and Greg. Their wedding attire was all custom made, all of the decorations were done by the bride with help from her friends, right down to the linens and the bows on the chairs. This wedding had so many intricate details, and they managed to pull it all together in only a few months. When I got into the main room where the reception was, I was in awe at how much there was to capture. I could’ve easily spent the entire wedding just photographing all the amazing details! Bynette and Greg put so many amazing and cool things together to make the wedding reception site unique. It was really like walking onto the set of the Nightmare Before Christmas!

This obviously wasn’t your typical wedding, everyone was encouraged to come in costume for one. Bryan and Scott from In the Mix Events gave everyone dance lessons to the Thriller song! They had gingerbread making, musical chairs, and singing contests, it was pretty unique and definitely a lot of fun! All of the scheduled activities and games were thought up the couple. I think they should probably quit their day jobs and start planning crazy-fun events, but that’s just my opinion. ?

Here’s a taste of their wedding day…

Venue & Catering | The Queen Mary

DJ/MC & Lighting | In The Mix Events

Florist | Bixby Knolls Flowers

Cake | Rossmore Pastries

Rental Company | Ventura Rental Party Center

Videographer & Photobooth | Water Tree Events

Reach out to book your wedding with me!