India and Jeremy's Wedding, Nipomo CA

I choked up twice at India and Jeremy's wedding at the Kaleidoscope Inn in Nipomo. Once when Jeremy was reading his vows, and once when Jeremy's dad was giving his toast. What an incredible couple this is, and what a fun, sweet wedding they had.













































































Here's the best man (Aaron Shintaku) giving his speech. He also happens to be a wickedly rad wedding photographer. Check him out: Aaron Shintaku



















This couple had BY FAR been married the longest of anyone at the reception (52 years, I think). I love the cheerleading section. ;)

Sophie and Dave's Engagement, Pasadena CA

Sophie and Dave gave me a little tour of downtown Pasadena and Cal Tech for their engagement photos. Sophie's a darn good photographer in her own right, so it was fun to geek out on photography a little while we were shooting. :)

Nicole and Jesse's Engagement, San Luis Obispo CA

I think you can probably tell from these photos how fun Nicole and Jesse were to hang out with. :)

Keely and Mike, San Luis Obispo CA

Keely and Mike were so fun to hang out with! They came to town for the weekend for a little mini-vacation and their engagement session. We went to Shelter Cove and Edna Valley vineyard for their engagement photos. Shelter Cove is one of my favorite spots...it's such a nice beach, and is almost always sheltered from the wind if there is any. Plus there's rarely many people down there, which is great. Edna Valley Winery's vineyard was beautiful too - I love the view of Islay hill behind it. At least, I think it's Islay hill. If it's not, I'm sure someone will call me wrong in the comments. ;)

Meagan and Austin's Wedding Album

Here's a slideshow of Meagan and Austin's awesome wedding album. I'll make sure to post some photos of the finished product when it comes in!

Sasha and Ryan, Santa Maria, CA

Sasha and Ryan got married at St. Mary's of the Assumption church in Santa Maria, and had their reception at the Santa Maria Country Club. Their guests were insanely fun, and I'm not sure I've ever seen a greater percentage of a wedding guest list that could dance really well. It was crazy.

Sasha and Ryan are super kind, compassionate, and really go out of their way to make people feel appreciated. They texted me the morning after the wedding just to thank me, which was really awesome of them.

Have fun in New York you two!!





































































There were certainly not many dry eyes during the father-daughter dance.



It didn't take me long as a wedding photographer to realize that the expressions on the bride's mother's face watching her husband and newly married daughter dance are often just as sweet as the dance itself:

Hire a coordinator!

I thought I'd provide my input as far as wedding coordinators go. Here's my advice: get one. :)

Wedding coordinators can really make things run much more smoothly, and take a lot of the craziness and questions out of a wedding day. They leave you with less things to think about, and more brain-space to enjoy your wedding day. I've been to too many weddings where the bride and groom are the ones answering questions and running the schedule on their wedding day, which really shouldn't be their job. Hiring a coordinator gives you a visible point person for guests and vendors to go to, and lets you not worry about the many details of your wedding day. YOU shouldn't be the one having to fret about your slideshow DVD missing, staying on schedule, your cake melting, or the wine running out - let someone else do that stuff so you and your new spouse can just enjoy your family, friends, and events of your wedding day.

If you need recommendations, let me know. I know of a few GREAT coordinators in the San Luis Obispo area who are willing to travel too. If you think you don't have the budget for a coordinator, let me know as well. I have a couple of awesome coordinators that are just getting into the business and are still relatively cheap, but do an awesome job.

And also, it's my opinion that not having a coordinator at all is better than having a bad coordinator. It's better to have a bride/groom/etc. as a point person than having a clueless coordinator that doesn't know what's going on and is giving bad direction or no direction at all.

So if you need coordinator recommendations, let me know! :)

Ericka and Nathan, San Luis Obispo CA

Ericka and my wife (Courtney) go waaaay back, and they now both have one-year-old-ish sons. We've been super blessed to have their friendship over the years, and look forward to seeing them every time they come to the coast!

Nicole and Ryan, San Luis Obispo CA

Nicole and Ryan and I went through downtown SLO and Edna Valley for their engagement photos. They were a super fun couple to hang out with - really kind, easy to talk to, and up for anything. :)

Happy Fourth of July.

We spent the fourth of July like we usually do - at the Pulls' house in Grover Beach. It was pretty much a perfect evening of filling our stomachs with awesome food, smiling while watching our children run around and play, and playing with fire. :)

Melissa and John, Cambria CA

Melissa and John got married at the Cambria Pines lodge on a BEAUTIFUL saturday. Cambria doesn't get sunny often, but it was perfect for their wedding. What a super sweet, rad couple.

John's vows mentioned Star Wars. :)

Venue: Cambria Pines Lodge
Flowers: April Flowers SLO
Dress: Melissa Sweet
Wedding Music: Jeff Peters



























I LOVE these next two. Why, you ask? Because the first shot is the new married couple, and the second is the bride's parents. Melissa and her mom are doing the same exact thing. :)















John requested that there be Scotch under his seat at the reception, and everyone was enjoying it. He even gave me a sip at the end of the day - holy cow that was good Scotch.































The garter went STRAIGHT to this guy. I mean, like all he had to do is hold out his hand and it fell into it. As soon as that happened, he crossed himself, looked towards the sky, and said something along the lines of "why me?" ;)





Here's John getting a dance lesson:







Here's the bottle of Scotch at the beginning of the reception, the middle, and the end. :)



We went to San Simeon state beach for a few photos after the reception.

Kim and Scott's Wedding, Clovis CA

Kim and Scott's wedding was at Copper River Country Club in Clovis, CA. It was a beautiful (and hot) day, and the sky and sunset were amazing. The last time I was at Copper River was my junior prom, so it was fun to be there again. :)



















Dr. Copeland manning the mimosas:

Cana Video Productions

Just thought I'd share a little about some friends of mine - Cana Video Productions. It's run by two of the coolest guys ever, and if your jaw isn't on the floor after watching this video, you might be a robot.

And they showed this video AT THEIR RECEPTION. That means it was put together in a matter of a few hours. That just blows my mind.

Preview: Daniel and Laura from Ben Potter & Drew Barefoot on Vimeo.

Their site is at http://www.canavp.com and their blog (where the above video can be found) is located at http://canavp.blogspot.com. I just couldn't help mentioning them after watching their latest videos. Super, super amazing stuff.