Napa & San Francisco Wedding Photography Blog

One of my favorites from this weekend's mini sessions: Valerie, Brent and Josie! 5 hours ago

Jess + Eddy: Cornerstone Sonoma Wedding

February 21st, 2012

After Jess and Eddy’s outdoor wedding ceremony, we headed for the big white tent for their Cornerstone Sonoma wedding reception. Cornerstone Sonoma has numerous venues and spots for all of your wedding day needs, and as Jess and Eddy’s Sonoma wedding photographer, we loved the versatility and natural outdoor beauty of the location.

The crisp white tent nestled within Cornerstone Sonoma created a perfect ‘room’ for Jess and Eddy’s seated dinner reception. It was nice to step into the shade for a break from the wine country sun.

Rather than having the entire reception under the tent, they also created an after dinner space in this beautiful rustic barn. The white and teal paper lanterns added a nice ambient light once the sun went down. You can see a glimpse of their dessert buffet on the right, which the opted for rather than having a traditional wedding cake.

The escort card display was simple, but so cute using natural wood clothespins, bright green satin ribbon, and simple name cards, tying in all of their wedding colors of teal, white, and brown with the lush green landscapes of the Cornerstone Sonoma gardens.

Strands of large twinkle lights were suspended inside the tent, allowing the guests to enjoy the reception even as the sun went down.

Shorter floral centerpieces allowed the guests to converse with each other even across the tables. The white and yellow flowers mirrored the Cornerstone Sonoma garden setting perfectly.

As the sun went down, the lanterns lit up! We love how soft and romantic the lighting can be when you mix floating lanterns and twinkle lights. Jess and Eddy made their way over to the reception site together to enjoy their guests and very funny and touching toasts from some of their closest family and friends.

The girls lined up behind Jess for the bouquet toss!

Just the look of Jess and Eddy’s dessert buffet was absolutely mouthwatering. They chose to go with these mini bite size treats for their guests to sample rather than one larger and more traditional wedding cake. These two are the opposite of traditional! Even at their Cornerstone Sonoma garden ceremony, they chose to mix a mimosa together over lighting a candle to symbolize the two of them coming together as one. We love it!

Now onto the portraits of Jess and Eddy, which captured some of our favorite moments of their big day!

Jess + Eddy: Fun Sonoma Wedding

February 20th, 2012

Jess and Eddy got married at the beautiful Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma, California and we couldn’t wait to be their Sonoma wedding photographer! The Gardens at Cornerstone Sonoma is such a beautiful and fun venue located just between Sonoma and Napa Valley. The most unique part of the gardens is that each section is a showcase of new and innovative landscape architecture from some of the world’s best designers and artists. The gardens range from traditional gardens to funky and more conceptual.

We loved how intimate Jess and Eddy made this outdoor wedding. With friends traveling from all over, it was important to make each guest feel special! As their Sonoma wedding photographer, we loved seeing how the different groups of people ended up mingling together at this fun filled wedding.

Jess and Eddy both got ready for their wedding day at the Westin Verasa, located just along the Napa river. As her Sonoma wedding photographer, we loved spending time with Jess as she got dressed and everything was put into order for the ceremony!

Eddy and his groomsmen were so fun, and Jess and Eddy both described themselves as ‘nerdy’. They were the coolest nerds we’ve ever met!

Jess makes her way to our first glance spot. As a Sonoma wedding photographer, we love capturing the bride and groom’s first glance. We can even suggest spots around your venue that would work best! It can be both one of the most emotional and fun moments of your wedding day if you so choose to see each other before the ceremony.

All smiles! Once we were done with the first glance, it was time to head over to Cornerstone Gardens for the wedding ceremony. The weather was what every bride wishes for on her wedding day and the gardens made for a picture perfect for this outdoor ceremony.

Jess’s father gives her away to Eddy at their wedding ceremony. The reflection pool that surrounded the ceremony site was so nice, reflecting the gorgeous natural sunlight perfectly. As a Sonoma wedding photographer, we can’t get enough of the lush green landscapes of wine country, it just makes our couple’s wedding day pictures that much more beautiful!

The new Mr. and Mrs.! We can’t wait to share some of Jess and Eddy’s couple portraits and some of the fun we had at their Cornerstone Garden reception!

Tim Halberg - Love your cropping in the prep/pre-wedding photos!

Sabina - I sad it before and I'll keep saying it. Yellow flowers for weddings are a perfect choice.

Featured: Lauren + Erik on Rustic Wedding Chic!

February 16th, 2012

We are proud to announce Lauren and Erik’s wedding feature on Rustic Wedding Chic. With the wine country scenery of the Kunde Estate, we can’t stop gushing about how gorgeous and fun this wedding turned out – complete with a bonfire and s’mores rather than a traditional cake. Check out the feature on the oh so pretty Rustic Wedding Chic blog here!

Lisa + Brett: Vintage Barn Wedding

February 15th, 2012

We loved the incredible food at Lisa and Brett’s barn wedding reception, but Tinywater had even more fun capturing their vintage wedding photos and portraits around the Shade Ranch property in Pescadero, California. After being married by one of their good friends, Judge Neil Wake, who Brett worked for after law school, it was time to have some fun in the beautiful fields and forests Pescadero has to offer.

The fields were alive with wildflowers, vines, and perfect local produce. We love these vintage wedding photos of Brett holding a squash plant next to Lisa holding her gorgeous bouquet of flowers!

The couple opted for no wedding party, but their friends were still there in full support! We love this group picture of Brett and all of his childhood and college friends together again.

Lisa was completely perfect on her wedding day, and a natural for her vintage wedding photos and portrait session with us! We already knew these images would be amazing after Tinywater shot their beautiful engagement photos in the Marin Headlands.

We saw lots of wildlife around Pescadero – from cows to fish to birds, it’s a refuge for so many living things! Lisa’s family and friends from her time at Duke took over the Pescadero Creek Inn for the weekend to enjoy the scenery and company in celebration of this big day! Pescadero is absolutely a perfect breath of fresh air and departure from the city for a weekend.

Lisa and Brett were all smiles the whole day! We loved feeling their love in the air as we took their vintage wedding photos around Shade Ranch outside of their barn reception.

The wildflowers growing around Pescadero are so abundant and seem almost unreal! We were happy to be venturing through the tall grasses and flowers for these ultra romantic vintage wedding photos.

The squash fields were full of their lush green vines and perfect yellow flowers. We made sure not to harm the plants as we made our way through!

This one is our favorite shots of the day – a beautiful secluded clearing in the middle of this Pescadero redwood grove. We are absolutely in love with their vintage wedding photos and we hope to be able to continue photographing the two of them as their family evolves and grows!

angélique - I'm a big fan of your pictures and your work. Your style give me a lot of inspiration in my own wedding pictures and I wanted to say to you that when I see your pictures it's motivate me to be a better wedding photographer. The last photo is really amazing ♥

Lisa + Brett: Pescadero Barn Wedding Reception

February 14th, 2012

Tinywater was completely in love with Lisa and Brett’s rustic Pescadero wedding ceremony, and couldn’t wait to get to the reception to capture some beautiful barn wedding photos!

This red barn was a welcome pop of warm, bright color on this perfect Pescadero foggy day. We love how the barn is tucked into the Pescadero hills, the perfect accent for our Tinywater barn wedding photos!

Again, these flowers were absolutely stunning! Especially draped across the trellis that Lisa and Brett exchanged vows beneath.

We loved using the barn as a background for some of the bride and groom barn wedding photos and portraits.

The vintage rustic theme was completed with bouquets of neutral and dried florals next to handwritten escort cards for each of the guests. Lisa and Brett’s event coordinator, Nicol from Little Blue Box, really brought every detail together to create their dream wedding!

The spiral wrought iron staircase, galvanized steel walls, and dark wood structures created the reception space for Lisa and Brett’s wedding. We couldn’t ask for a better setting for these barn wedding photos!

Lisa and Brett were very focused on having great food and wine. With Brett being vegetarian, the sourcing and quality of the food is always very important to them.

Lisa’s brother knew the well-regarded young chef Nate Appleman, who ran some of the best restaurants in San Francisco before making a move to New York City. He was in charge of overseeing the food with assistance from Back to Earth Catering.

We loved taking barn wedding photos of the beautiful food plates and the reception in full swing!

The menu for the couple’s barn reception was mostly vegetarian, and emphasized the great produce and local purveyors Northern California has to offer. Nate Appleman and Back to Earth Catering used only local, seasonal ingredients, and all of the meat and seafoods served were responsibly and humanely raised. Another friend of the couple, Bobby Stuckey, was their master sommelier, and selected all of the wine pairings, making for an overall incredible meal experience!

As the guests enjoyed their beautifully prepared meals, we headed out into the land to take a few portraits of the newlyweds!

Lissa (The Wedding Bistro at Bellenza) - Your great photography captured the look and feel of this barn wedding (and all its lovely details) perfectly!