Well-loved wedding vendors

A friend I met through my friend Belinda got married on July 4 in a cloud of hot pink flowers and decorations, and when I mentioned I’d love to do a blog post on her wedding, she sent me a huge list of testimonials for her wedding vendors. LOL. If only all brides were so enthusiastic!

Villa del Sol D’Oro in Sierra Madre, gussied up for a wedding

Susie and Chris had a beautiful, all-in-one location wedding in Sierra Madre. Most of the pictures I will include here will be from my friend Belinda, but I did lift one from Susie’s Facebook page, which features her (now) husband. After the jump, the following is all Susie, with a few formatting and copy editing changes from me.

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Find A Wedding Photographer: Christopher Becker

I am such a fan of photojournalism. Seriously. I’ve been enamored, sometimes even infatuated, with photographers that I’ve worked with in the past, they were so effortlessly talented. I like to think I attract similarly talented people. But anyway, combine photojournalism and wedding photography and you’ve got a recipe for incredible memories for life.

All photos by Christopher Becker

Only because I had a bunch of other posts in the queue, I’m only now blogging about Becker. He’s a photographer out of Orange County and he’s spectacular. Not only that, he seems to have massive fun as he works. Who doesn’t want that at their wedding?

Above, is a wedding Becker shot in Colorado at the Roaring Fork Club (what a great name!). Hehe, with scenery like this, you don’t need much in the way of decorations! By the way, you can click each photo for the full size.


I’ve only been a casual reader of his blog for maybe two, three months now, but the man really has a sense of what to capture. Check out the groom above, seeing his bride for the first time — I love this photo. Society says men are not supposed to get emotional, but I love the tenderness of the awe and love in his eyes. I don’t know about any other bride, but I’d want to engrave that image in my mind forever. This was part of Becker’s all-time favorite wedding images post.


Again, here, Becker gives you details that you might miss in the hullabaloo that is most weddings. At this wedding at the Ponte Family Winery in Temecula, you might only focus on the rose petals, the gorgeous skies, the tastefully decorated trellis. But I love the details on the back row — pink, black and white ribbons tied to the backs of the chairs in the rear. Cute and simple.


Becker, in his favorite wedding images post, said that this one was among his most commented images. I can see why! I love awesome, slice of life stuff like this. What a great story to tell the kids…”kids, when we got married, it was on the beach and it was a beautiful day, and while we were taking pictures, this nude old man walked by and gave us a dirty look…” Awesome.

Anyway, enough from me. If you think Becker might just be the wedding photographer for you, shoot him an email and tell him I sent you. But even if you don’t think he’s for you, here’s what he has to say about choosing a photographer:

i’d say to meet with as many photographers as possible, narrow it down to the ones who’s work they admire, then hire the photographer with the best personality match to the couple. after all, you are stuck dealing with your photographer long after the wedding and you are going to want to make sure you like that person.

Find a Wedding Photographer: Lori Anderson

The best way to find a wedding photographer is by referral in my opinion, and I’m about to give you a testimony. Meet Lori Anderson, freelance photographer.

Photos by Lori Anderson


They say a photo speaks a thousand words, and I really think that Lori’s photos speak for themselves.


I have a background with Lori, by the way. She and I worked at the Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan together, her with the website and me with the news side. I can tell you from experience this woman works hard and smart.


In college, Lori blew me away with her forethought on our newspaper website — which won many awards — and not only that, when she began designing, she became the designer I wanted designing my special project. Really.


So if you’re lucky enough to come across Lori in your quest to plan your wedding — ask her not just about her photography, which is beautiful, but also ask her about designing your wedding site and maybe your invitations. Talk about one stop shop!
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Be a great guest, shoot great wedding photos

Memorial Day weekend, thus many weddings, are at hand, and we’ve all got our cameras ready. But, are you wondering how to get great wedding photos? Well, I gotta say — its not your job. But if you want to be known as the guest who shoots great pictures that everyone want to invite to their wedding? I suppose I can give you a few tips.


The above photo is actually shot by my husband at a wedding I was a bridesmaid in a few years ago. I couldn’t take the photo because I was standing at the front, to the left of the couple kissing their first kiss of marriage.


I am actually a journalist by trade, so a lot of what I do when taking pictures is learned from the lone photojournalism class I took in junior college and from hanging out with really great photographers. The great thing about digital cameras is you can take tons of photos and check em out during a pause in the action, deleting the ones you don’t like. Above, I shot this photo of my friend Cathy, not realizing that the light would be perfect for a silhouette. All I saw was Cathy’s mom putting a necklace on her and thought, “aw!”

This picture was a beautiful accident. I was all over the hotel room that Cathy was getting ready in, taking pictures of everyone and everything. In fact, Cathy’s photographers probably wanted to smack me because I was in their way. Anyway, when I first saw this picture, I nearly deleted it. Luckily, my genius-at-Photoshop husband stepped in and saved the pic by coloring it with a sepia tone. Now, I tell people I did this on purpose. Heheh. So take note — don’t delete everything! But see the potential in a raw photo.

This photo is one of my favorites. You see, I was at the cake table, helping my mom with last minute fixes and stuff, when I saw Cathy and her new husband rehearsing their first dance as the banquet staff milled around and set the tables. It was wonderfully intimate, even with all those people around — a couple working on their first steps together. My only regret is that my camera was not of a better quality and that I wasn’t a better photographer to make this picture better.

Need more? I found some great photojournalism tips from Vincent Laforet. The first seven tips are things any aspiring photographer should take note of. I plan on focusing on some great photographers I know, too, in a future post.

Wedding dress, schmedding dress

This has nothing to do with decorating weddings, but I still love the creativeness of this.

Photo by Fickr’s berger.erica

I’d been meaning to blog about the trend of trashing your wedding dress for pictures for a while now. I saved this one article from the Ventura County Star:

A couple of weeks before her Dec. 21, 2007, wedding, 24-year-old Brenna Ross walked across Silver Strand Beach in her bare feet, the ivory-colored train of her mother’s 33-year-old wedding dress trailing in the wet sand. Thousand Oaks photographer Ginger Hendrix clicked away as Ross draped herself over a lifeguard station, then waded in the foamy surf framed by powerful winter waves.

“You get a chance to do something in a wedding dress that is rarely seen,” Hendrix said. “The thing I like about it is the grandness of the photos.”

Ross and Hendrix were taking a twist on a trend that has gowned brides across the nation doing everything from sitting in Dumpsters to floating, Ophelia-style, in the nearest body of water.

The “trash the dress” trend is a form of edgy post-wedding photography in which the bride ditches the pre-wedding “careful, don’t get the dress dirty!” mentality.

Why do I love the idea? Well, in a way, it emphasizes the fact that your wedding day, while it is a milestone, is one day. Make it great, but don’t take it too seriously. Click for some more great photos I found on Flickr’s Trash The Dress pool.

Photo by Flickr’s Nick Haskins


If the hotel nearest this shot above had been smart, they would have bought this photo for their wedding brochures.

Photo by Flickr’s UltimateImageWeddings 

This one is also awesome because of how non-bridal this shot looks. Usually, you see brides looking all soft and demure, while this lady is in the ocean, practically forming her hair into a mohawk. Awesome.

Photo by Flickr’s Mil0 [Millzero Photography]


This photo, out of these four, is my favorite, I think. The colors are vibrant, its a crisp shot, yet the couple is in the distance and out of focus, almost like we caught them in an intimate moment (skinny dipping, anyone?).

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