On a beautiful August afternoon, Taylor & Jeremy were married on the same college campus where they had met years ago. On the manicured lawn outside the Berkeley Faculty Club, they held hands under a beautiful Oak tree and became husband & wife. Taylor & Jeremy promised to stand by each other & love each other…to be faithful & true…and to love each other with their whole hearts. And to be honest, that’s exactly what they’ve been doing since they’ve been together. Not only did their relationship begin on the Cal Berkeley campus, but their new lives together in marriage began on the campus…which made the location of their wedding even more perfect. Taylor & Jeremy’s wedding was a perfect reflection of who they are as a couple: fun, elegant & personal. Taylor put so much hard work into making their wedding perfect & not one detail was overlooked! I’m not sure how I keep on getting these brides who are so detail orientated but I’m loving it!
I loved this wedding. I know, I know-I say it all.the.time. But I honestly mean it every time I say it. I love how each wedding is different-how each couple is able to incorporate special elements into their day that are meaningful to them. I loved Taylor & Jeremy’s wedding because it was soooooooo classy. Timeless. Beautiful. Taylor’s dress was to DIE for. And her Cathedral-length veil? To double die for. I loved the vibrant orange flowers mixed with the vivid green succulents & artichokes for their centerpieces. But. My favorite element of their day was the fact that they had Ici Ice Cream cater for the dessert. To say that I am obsessed with Ici & it’s amazing flavored ice cream (and their chocolate-drizzled, homemade cones!!!!) is a total understatement. They set up an ice cream booth on the lawn & guests were able to help themselves. All in all, it was a classic, beautiful & fun wedding that I felt so blessed to be a part of!
Taylor & Jeremy-thank you soooooooo much for having me as your wedding photographer! I loved every moment of your wedding day-thank you for trusting me with your memories & for becoming my friends in the process. I hope that you guys ate the most amazing food & viewed the most amazing architecture on your European Honeymoon (you lucky ducks!) With appreciation…XOXO, marielle.
Loved this little flower girl…she sat in the room where Taylor was getting ready-I’m sure she loved all the excitement!
They’re married!
Favorite. Favorite. FAVORITE.
My second favorite shot of the day…the Berkeley campus is an amazing place for photographs!
Their cake & their dessert table were also from Ici….soooo amazing!!!
I wish more than anything that I had a photograph like this of my sweet grandparents…
I was sooooooo lucky to team up with Laura Miller Designs to put together a styled photo shoot for my photography workshop back in May. I am always a fan of bold, bright & fun color combinations but I had literally no idea how to make that translate into beautiful flowers & a table setting. Luckily, Laura is amazingly talented at what she does-she pulled together brightly colored florals, combined a few fun vintage elements (such as globes, buttons in the flowers, lace doilies) and made it work together beautifully. I have been referring all of my brides to Laura for their flowers because there simply isn’t anyone better. A special thanks to Sophia Coyne of Painted Ladies for doing Jayna’s hair & makeup-I’ve been referring her for hair & makeup to my brides, as well. It’s awesome to know amazing vendors who are so ridiculously talented! Also, thank you to my wonderful friends Travis & Jayna for being our models!
Laura came up with the idea of a wedding brunch. She used oranges, succulents & other amazing florals to create the fun & funky setting for this lovely wedding brunch. Thanks to everyone who participated in making it so beautiful! It’s really refreshing to work with people in the wedding industry who are down to earth & are NICE people! Thank you, thank you-Laura & Sophia for making this all come to life! XOXO, marielle.
Look how darling the set up was!
Jayna looked incredible! Loved how Sophia did her makeup & hair…
The flowers were incredibly perfect…
Not to toot my own horn here (okay, I am tooting my own horn) but I made Jayna’s headpiece. I LOVE how it turned out!
Travis’ boutonniere was awesome-it had a succulent, a miniature orange & miniature fake mushrooms…
They met country dancing. While the tunes of Toby Keith, The Rascal Flatts & Shania Twain rang through the air, Charlotte & BIlly found each other. They had both come country dancing on that particular Wednesday night…Charlotte was about to go home when Billy approached her & asked her to dance. In no time at all, Billy had Charlotte’s number & a date set up with her for that weekend. On their second date, Charlotte’s brother tagged along. While Billy was in the restroom, he turned to Charlotte & said, “You HAVE to marry hat guy!” Charlotte quickly realized that her brother was onto something. Billy made her laugh. He made her happy. And even though it was their only their second date, she realized that what she had with Billy was different than anything else she had ever experienced. They dated long distance (thank heavens for Skype!). One weekend when Billy was visiting Charlotte in California, they went to a Warriors game where he proposed to her (and took her by total surprise!) on the jumbo screen. She said yes & they began planning their wedding. They were married on a beautiful August day in the Oakland LDS Temple & I feel so lucky to have been able to capture the joy that radiates from them when they are together.
I’ve had some couples hire me just for a few hours at the temple & that’s what I did with Charlotte & Billy. In just a couple of hours we were able to get family portraits, bridal portraits & tons of awesome bride & groom photographs. I loved working with you both, Charlotte & Billy! Thank you for being fun to work with-your love for each other is beautiful to watch. Wishing you happiness on this new adventure together! XOXO, marielle.
LOVE.this.one.
As fun as it is to do creative posing, I always get a classic portrait of the bride & groom…these are so timeless…
The most gratifying part of my job is that I get to document happiness in its purest form on THE best day of people’s lives. How awesome is my job?!?!? More awesome than I can even describe. But I will try. Photographing weddings is more awesome than the day when all Easter candy goes on sale for 75% off. And that’s a pretty awesome day, my friends (at least it is for me!). I love being able to capture people’s personalities, their beauty and their happiness with my camera. Being a part of Vanessa & Neil’s wedding was amazing because every time I looked through the viewfinder, I could tell that I was capturing nothing less than pure, beautiful joy oozing from Vanessa & Neil. It was a joyful day filled with more laughter than I ever thought possible. And it was all thanks to Vanessa & Neil’s amazingly fun personalities.
When I first met with Vanessa to chat about her upcoming wedding, I knew that I would love, LOVE working with them. She & Neil both have a spark-a zest for life that is incredible. After telling me about what they had planned-an afternoon ceremony at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, a fun reception at RF80 & including their fabulous dog, Beefy in the ceremony…I knew that if they didn’t hire me that I might have gone home and cried. No joke. Luckily, I was able to document their fun, fabulous wedding filled with details that were so perfect for Vanessa & Neil. I loved Vanessa’s amazing jade necklace & her chunky bracelets, I loved their amazingly perfect cake & I loved the awesome 90′s music they played throughout their reception-they had the best music out of any reception I’ve ever been to! My two favorite parts of the day were Neil dancing with Vanessa after they walked down the aisle as husband & wife and when Neil serenaded Vanessa with “Under my Skin” at the reception. Just thinking back about their wedding literally brings a huge smile to my face. I loved every second of their day…and I loved it more than 75% off Easter candy.
Vanessa & Neil-thank you SO much for making everyone have the best time on your wedding day. You both have the ability to make everyone around you feel happy & filled with joy. It is so obvious that you make each other incredibly, blissfully happy! You are both amazing, fabulous people! Wishing you all the joy, happiness & all the fun that this big world has to offer. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart! XOXO, marielle.
Yes, I died when I saw Vanessa’s shoes…
One of my favorites!
Their bridal party came along with us for the bride & groom photos-I loved that we had so much time for photos…and I loved how sassy this bridal party was!
I laugh every time I look at this one…
Pretty much the most amazing cake I’ve ever laid eyes on…
A special thanks to my friend Kirsten for helping me second shoot this wedding! Check out her work-she’s amazing!
We grew up in a house of girls. Every Christmas morning, we would get up early, trying to peek over the banister to see our Christmas gifts. When our eyelids got too heavy to keep open, all four of us would huddle into one of our beds until the sun rose in the sky. As we would sit together, we would excitedly chat about what kinds of gifts we thought Santa had brought for us. Hours would pass & as we would sit together in our flannel pajamas, I would always think the same thing, ” I am grateful that my sisters are my best friends.” I am so lucky to have three amazing women who I have as my best friends…and every time one of my sisters gets married, I am overwhelmed with the feelings of love I have for them. Needless to say, when my sweet little sister Morgan got engaged to wonderful Dallon, I was over the moon with joy for her!
If you know Morgan & Dallon, you know that happiness is part of who they are. With everything they do, there is kindness shown. With every word spoken to each other, there is love. With every day that Morgan & Dallon have been together, there has been total & complete joy in their lives..as well as the lives of those around them. There are times in my life when I can remember feeling perfect joy. August 4th of this year was definitely one of those days. To watch my sweet little sister marry her prince charming in the beautiful Oakland LDS Temple is a memory that I will cherish forever. Morgan & Dallon radiate happiness, joy and love every day of their lives, but on their wedding day as they were pronounced husband & wife, their happiness was even more palpable as their smiles shined brighter than the sun.
Their wedding reception was amazingly gorgeous. I don’t even know if I can explain how incredible it was. Our mother is an incredible wedding coordinator who literally made their beautiful ideas come to life for their wedding. My favorite part about their wedding was the super saturated colors that decorated every place setting, tree, table & flower. Morgan’s bouquet & Dallon’s boutonniere were made from vintage brooches, dozens of brightly colored lanterns hanged above the reception, their cake was decorated with rainbow colored butterflies. A turquoise vintage hutch was used as a candy bar & stocked with cotton candy, cake bites & rock candy (it probably goes without saying that I stayed by the candy bar for most of the day…). Croquet, vintage wagons, colorful linens, my dad’s vintage corvette & watering cans filled with flowers all made the decor look incredible. Their reception was the first to be held at the Rancharrah Estate in Reno & it was an incredible venue for an incredible event. I could go on & on with how amazing their day was, but I will let the photos speak for themselves!
Morgan & Dallon-I love you both with all my heart. Dallon, thank you for loving Morgan & making her the happiest she’s ever been. It is a joy to witness your love for each other & I know that so many amazing things are in store for the two of you. I know you are still soaking up the sun on your Hawaiian Honeymoon (lucky!!!) but I couldn’t wait to show everyone how beautiful you are together. I wish you all the love, happiness & beauty that the Lord has to offer. You both are so deserving of all of it. With all my love, XOXO, marielle.
They’re married!!!
Right after I took this photo, I totally started crying. CRYING! I literally had to stop, put my camera down & compose myself. I am just soooooo happy for Morgan that I couldn’t contain myself!
The one on the right is one of my favorite photographs ever…
Love this one!
Their wedding reception was perfect. Perfect. PERFECT!!!
Not to toot my own horn here, but I tied every bow around those chairs…and in the process I discovered my bow tying talents are pretty awesome.
