You may not be hearing much from me for a little bit. Larry and I are taking the rest of the week off to celebrate our wedding anniversary. After observing such wonderful weddings and family celebrations of late, we’re looking forward creating some new memories for ourselves.

I do have lots of new posts in the pipeline however so please check back next week!

If to be surrounded by love is a blessing, then Michelle, Chip and their son Joseph are truly blessed. Their wedding day was overflowing with laughter and sunshine. Rancho del Cielo was the perfect backdrop for this lively affair. The Pacific Ocean lay at our feet and the smell of wood smoke from the outdoor fireplace scented the air.

Peony & Plum’s flowers were picture perfect. I love these soft, pastel colors. The cake pops were such a cute favor too. The guests really seemed to enjoy munching them up.

As elegant as this wedding was, it also had such a charming “down-home” feeling to it. I don’t know if it was the children running circles on the dance floor or the gales of laughter that would spontaneously erupt, but it seemed like we were spending the afternoon in the home of friends rather than a rented venue.

Michelle and Chip, Larry and I know how much you love photography and we know your search for the right photographers was one you took very seriously. We hope we’ve done your gorgeous wedding justice and we hope this is just the beginning of many more photographic collaborations.

I loved Michelle, Chip and their adorable little boy Joseph from the moment we met. They are such an incredibly warm, loving family and I knew those characteristics would be imprinted all over their wedding.

We started the day at their charming home in the Hollywood hills. A wonderful happy chaos that comes from children running around and adults rushing to get to the church on time swirled about us. Chip had set up an antique shaving basin on the patio knowing it would be a fun element to photograph. Everywhere we looked, we found lovely things to shoot. We could have stayed there the whole day and never run out of inspiration. Alas, the guests awaited our arrival at the church and many other visual treats lay ahead.

Check back in tomorrow for the continuation of Michelle and Chip’s wedding story. We’ll be traveling to the gorgeous Rancho del Cielo, where hanging lanterns, blue skies and the warmth of family and friends ushered in this gorgeous couple’s beginnings as man and wife.

The wedding aisle runner has an interesting history. Apparently it was once believed that evil spirits lived beneath church floors. The runner would protect the bride and groom from these malevolent beings, creating a “pathway of purity”.

Is it weird that I think I can acquire skills just by watching other people perform them on T.V.?

I know it seems really delusional to think that art or craft can be learned by osmosis and I would certainly never attempt to rewire my living room after a marathon session of This Old House but there are certain things I have always been convinced I could do; the main one being cake decorating.

When I’m not photographing, I love to bake and when I’m too beat from shooting weddings all weekend, I love to plop down on the couch and watch the Food Network, especially those cake challenge shows. Just from watching, I’ve learned all the proper terms. I know there’s a difference between fondant and gum paste, I’ve learned that the first thing you buy once you win the ten thousand dollars is something called a sheeter and I know never to rely on an air brush machine because it will always fail when you plug it in on national television. See, I’m practically an expert!

Of course cake decorating is equal parts art, science and engineering and takes years to master, but I’m not joking about decorating this cake – I really did do that, with some help.

I have long admired the beautiful cakes that John and his wife Susan create at Cake Crumb in Encino. When I found out they taught workshops in baking and decorating, I jumped at the chance to try my hand at it. I was assured I would learn a ton and that I would have lots of one on one instruction, but when I walked in and saw the demo cake that we would be copying, I almost did an about face and walked right out the door. My decorating experience up to this point (except for the hours parked in front of the boob tube) consisted of piping gingerbread cookies on the occasional Christmas with my little niece and nephew. Often it was impossible to tell my handy work from the 6 year old’s – but no matter, I was forging ahead with this lesson.

Luckily, John and Susan could not have been more patient. They broke down each step into little manageable bites. The fancy little blossoms were cranked out quickly and easily under their gentle tutelage and even the big purple bow and sash came together in just a few simple steps. Admittedly, rolling out the fondant and getting it to lay smoothly over the cake form was pretty tricky and getting those diamonds on the bottom layer to line up was making me nutso but overall it came together much more easily and quickly than I would ever have imagined, and this is a testament to John and Susan’s teaching skills. It’s one thing to be incredible artists, which these two clearly are, but to also be able to communicate and demonstrate in such a clear way is truly amazing to me.

If any of you out there reading this have any interest in cake decorating, or if you are looking for a drop dead gorgeous cake for your next big event, Cake Crumb should be your first and only stop.

Well, now that I’ve mastered cake decorating, I’m onto my next challenge. Hmm, I watch a lot of Dancing with the Stars…how hard can jitterbugging in three inch heels be?

“Warm summer sun, shine kindly here, warm southern wind, blow softly here”.
~Mark Twain

Having a chance to photograph one of our favorite families at such a fun location as Disneyland is a dream come true. We were like kids in a candy shop with our eyes big and heads full of possibilities. I would say it was a tossup as to whether Larry and I or little one-and-a-half year old Lincoln was more excited to be there.

Lincoln’s emotions were running high, as this was his first visit to Disneyland and there were so many wonderful things to capture his attention. It was so much fun seeing the park through the eyes of a toddler. The iconic rides like Thunder Mountain or Dumbo were of no interest to him. Instead little things like smelling a patch of flowers or “driving” one of the many stationery cars had him completely enthralled.

When it came time to meet Pluto, he wasn’t the least bit scared like a lot of other children his age might be. He boldly held out his hand for a high-five before posing with his family.

Larry and I often shake our heads in disbelief at how lucky we are that this is our job. Having the opportunity to photograph this wonderful family over the last year and a half has been a wonderful experience and we look forward to documenting more of their history as the years roll by.