Rancho Sol del Pacifico Wedding: Lissa and Craig

Hi guys! This is Erin :)

I wanted to share with you an amazing wedding I shot in Malibu! I was invited to join my good friend and talented photographer; the newly married Rosanna Herd. We had such a great time with Lissa and Craig!
From the moment I walked into the salon, Lissa and I had a blast! She's a ball of joy and so full of life, I loved her! I've never laughed so hard behind the camera in my life! Both she and Craig were all over the place when Rossana and I were shooting them, haha. They would wrestle with each other, do push ups on the grass, tickle each other, you name it! It was like they had just started dating, they were so cute! Lisa absolutely loved having the camera on her...she felt like a star :)

Craig is an amazing chef, the head chef actually, at the world reknown Montage Resort in Laguna Beach! So needless to say, the food at their wedding was I-N-S-A-N-E. His team paid attention to every detail and made a cake the likes of which I have never seen! Before the ceremony, Craig himself was hand-placing each and every flower and jewel; this man knows food! And if you know me, you know how important that is ;)

When taking solo shots with the groom, I like to get some serious/pensive images, but with Craig he couldn't hold a serious face. "I can't!" he said, "I'm just so happy today!!"....SO CUTE!

My heart melted with excitement for Lissa and Craig. I felt so honored to be there and just be caught in the after-glow of their happiness :)

A huge thank you again to Rosanna, she is such a joy to work with!

"IIIIIIKEA...this is comfortable" -Chandler Bing

Wow, I cannot believe that our wedding is just 14 short weeks away! It still hasn't set in yet that we're going to be married!! We are so excited! Although, this past weekend we did make one small investment into our business as well as our future!

Yes...we went to Costco to get toothpaste and soap...and ended up leaving with a couch!

One of the wicked awesome (and undoubtedly cool) things that Erin and I love to do together is go to Costco and just sit on their couches. We fill up on all the tasty samples, get our little paper cup of Zip Fizz, and go spread out on their display couches. We talk about life, business, our future, and gawk at the "unique" characters that tend to roam the concrete halls that are in front of us. Lol. We've done this I think as long as we've been together, and we love it (even if that makes us like an old married couple). :)

WELL, this past weekend our derrières experienced something like no other, and we couldn't resist but bring a little bit of Costco home with us! Granted, we aren't renting an apartment home/studio for another couple months, but they only had ONE MORE LEFT! So we had to jump on it. Our good friends Jenni and Kris were so awesome and drove down with their truck to help us haul the three MASSIVE boxes to my parents house for storage; thanks you guys!!

I couldn't help but briefly document the occasion on my new iPhone 3GS and figured all of you soon to be brides, close friends, and family would like to get a sneak peak of what you too will soon be relaxing on at our humble abode :)

Untitled from Gavin Wade on Vimeo.

Harveston Lake House Wedding: Cara and Kellen

So far Erin and I have been immensely fortunate to be a part of many wedding days these short 9 months! Caterers have come and gone, bouquets have been thrown and caught, cakes have been cut and consumed, and ultimately at the end of the day, every wedding is packed up and little evidence is left of what occurred. So what is remembered after such a big day? As artists and visual storytellers, how easy is it to just get enveloped in the details? While those are super important, what do people truly come away from? For someone like me, I love the details. I could spend 20 minutes just photographing a place setting if I wanted to; Erin however is so amazing at capturing emotion. And it's along that line of thought where we find the true surviving aspects of all wedding days; the love, emotion, and impressions from the day! It's these emotions that we strive to freeze in time, so that once all the gifts have been opened and all the "repeaters" have been exchanged, all it could take is one image and *BAM* you're right back on the dance floor of your wedding and reliving the moment!

Cara and Kellen's wedding was gorgeous as it adorned the grounds of the Harveston Lake House. It was set up on a beautiful patch of green with a beautiful lake as their background. It was hot, as Temecula in summer always is, but their guests were shaded beneath umbrellas all anxiously awaiting the marriage of their dear friends. Joined by a couple we've photographed in the past, (Carissa and Jackie) everyone at this wedding were just a blast to be around! With beautiful place settings and yummy food, it truly was a time where everyone could enjoy the day with Cara and Kellen; who made absolutely sure to spend time with their guests (they were such good hosts!).

You probably remember how great this couple was from their engagement session down at the Balboa Fun Zone, but both were styling last weekend and we couldn't have had a better time sharing in their day with them and their families!

We hope these few photos have that *BAM* effect, and that you are transported back to this unforgettable wedding. Congratulations to Cara and Kellen, you both are so wonderful!