{ mieka + nate... married! }

Last weekend I got to hop into the car with the super awesome Amanda Doublin and head up to Santa Barbara to photograph a wedding with her. Aaaaaaaaaand it was so fun! The wedding was gorgeous, the couple was adorable (and SO nice!), and Amanda is one of my favorites... ever.

Here are a few of my favorites of the day. Happy Friday!

Getting ready...

They decided to see each other before the ceremony so they could get lots of photos in... LOVE!

Happy happy!

I had to run like a crazy person to catch this trolly for photos... it was worth it :-)

Holy cow, these were some cute kiddos...

Nate's vows were so touching...

The bling:

I luuuuuuuuuuuuv succulents. Mieka is super environmentally friendly so I bet she has plans to plant these centerpieces somewhere...

First dance...

Toasts!

Then we all snuck away to take advantage of the most amazing light on the planet...

Wait, that's not cake! Nope, it's actually a pie whose recipe has been in Mieka's family for a long, long time... yum!

Amanda Doublin,

Thanks again for having me come along to this wedding! I luuuuuuv shooting with you and can't wait to do it again. XOXOXO

{ photo booth fun! }

Yessssssssss! I've finally gotten all my stuff together to start doing photo booths at weddings! It's going to be SO FUN. But before I lug all my stuff to a wedding I thought I had better figure out what the heck I'm doing... so I made my friends be my guinea pigs. I sure like those guys.

PS Ignore the lame background... I just used my living room curtains this time around :-/

Sarah and Jelena were the first ones up!

Yay! I love them :-)

James, bummer about your glasses.... it was worth the shot, though. Just sayin...

James looks so mean! He doesn't like sweeping, I guess...

Jessica's expression is priceless here:

Cheese. Eeeee.

My all time favorite of the day!

How cute are they?

Work that denim jacket!

Uh..... yup, that's my guy on the right. Sigh.

Squishy...

Ok, this might be my other favorite....

Ok people! I want to do these at all my weddings! Tell your friends (and your mom and your grandma and your dog, whoever): The first 5 couples to add them to their wedding collection gets it for LESS!

{ Jazzy is ONE! }

This is such a bittersweet post! I'm always excited to photograph Jazzy, but I'm sad this time because it was her last official shoot of the year... I can't believe she's already one! The Touzard family has easily become one of my most favoritist clients (ever!) and this past year with them has been amazing... now they just need to get started on baby #2 so I can see them regularly again... JK. Well, kind of...

Anyway, here are some of my favorites from her latest shoot... be sure to click on the slideshow at the bottom to see her photos from the whole year :-)

Apparently Jazzy knows how old she is...

Her favorite part about wearing sunglasses? Taking them off LOL.

Gee, I wonder where she gets all her gorgeous hair from?

Omigosh, she was having SO MUCH FUN!

We shot at their house this whole year and I never ran out of beautiful places to photograph...

Remember this chair from her newborn photos?! She's so big! Sniffle, sniffle...

Haha, I couldn't resist including an outtake photo... this is her new favorite facial expression. I actually got more of these looks than smiles...

Of course we had to get a shot in the car...

Peek-a-boo!

One of my favorites from the day... the light was just amazing.

And last, but not least, Jazzy threw me a perfectly cheesy smile. Love!

SLIDESHOW!!!

http://www.amandapatricegalleries.com/darkroom/share/?n=Jazelle_Yvette

{ branden + melissa... engaged! }

Melissa and Branden... I sure do like them.

They're mellow and funny, sweet and laid back... and it's really just easy to hang out with them. Of course it helps that we're friends beyond this whole client/photographer business. In fact Melissa is not only a client and old high school friend, but a colleague with her own awesome photography business (talk about being nervous!).

Branden and Melissa have been through a lot in the last few years... a back injury, a surgery, graduating college, starting a business... and they don't show even the faintest glimmer of it. It's obvious that they would do anything for each other and (sorry for the cheesyness) their love seems so natural and easy... they make a great team.

But enough of me being sappy :-) Here are a few of my favorite photos from their engagement session. Thanks for reading and happy Monday!

They are both serious readers and artists... and love them some Coke...

Melissa is so purty...

They think movies are pretty awesome too...

And they REALLY love museums...

In fact they love this particular museum so much that Branden proposed right here in front of Van Gogh's Mulberry Tree. Beautiful spot, huh?

Ahhhhh, skylights... I love you.

A quick stop back at Van Gogh... I could marry these frames...

And, of course, we had to pay homage to their love for photography :-)

And that's all for now! Check back next month to see pictures from their Big Bear wedding... it's going to be amazing. No really, aaaa-mazing. I've seen all Melissa's wedding projects and they're nothing short of... well... amazing. She's a crafty lady!