January « 2009 « Serena Grace Photo Blog

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Archive for January, 2009

ERICA + JASON | ORANGE COUNTY WEDDING

January 24, 2009

Erica & Jason held a very sweet wedding at St. Mark Presbyterian in Newport Beach. Everything about their day was lovely….Erica in her gorgeous gown, the soft white hydrangeas that decorated the church, Jason’s tearful & loving gaze as his bride walked down the aisle, and the intimate dinner they held at Mastro’s with all their close family and friends. They did a wonderful job of planning out their day….so great, in fact, that we were actually ahead of schedule most of the day. When is a wedding ever ahead of schedule?! And we can’t forget their coordinator, Erwin, who was nothing short of amazing! Thanks so much for keeping everyone on track throughout the day!

Erica & Jason – We are so happy for you two! Thank you so much for the honor of being able to share in your wedding day! (P.S. The food was really yummy!)

Loved Erica’s cute purple flats. And Jeremy got this great shot of her dress!

We went across the street to Roger’s Gardens for pictures with their awesome bridal party.

The guys showing Jason some love.

All the amazing details!

Jeremy got this great shot inside the church. Isn’t it gorgeous?!

Jason & his dad

Erica being walked down the aisle by her mom

They made this cute tree for people to leave their well-wishes & marriage advice.

Jason’s expression here cracks me up!

If you want to see more pictures from their wedding, check out their slideshow below. And in case anyone is wondering, the song used in their slideshow is Joshua Radin’s “They Bring Me To You” from his Simple Times album. It’s been out for a while now but I finally picked it up recently and can’t stop listening to it!

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ALBUMS

January 8, 2009

Just wanted to share a few pictures of some albums that came in over the holidays. They are both 10×10 flushmount albums wrapped in gorgeous Italian leather.

Here’s Cathy & Jeff’s album in black leather.

Love this image of Cathy as she’s walking down the aisle!

Some details from their reception at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

And Sonya & Richard ordered this gorgeous album for their parents in brown leather.

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“Lari Sarables”

January 6, 2009

Late yesterday, my “music informant” friend Michelle told me Sara B was rumored to be the surprise guest at Hotel Cafe, so with fingers crossed I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car, and we all headed to Hollywood. We used to watch her perform at Hotel Cafe all the time, but now that she’s selling out shows and playing at bigger venues, I didn’t think I’d ever get to see her play at Hotel Cafe again. I just love how small and intimate shows at Hotel Cafe are…150 people crowded around a modest stage in a dimly lit room…feels like it’s just you and the artist. So when Sara stepped on stage along with Jay Nash, Joey Ryan, and Javier Dunn, I kind of wanted to kiss Michelle for being right. Ok, just kidding, I didn’t really want to kiss you (well maybe).

Each songwriter took turns playing one of their own songs, while the rest joined in and backed them up. I call Sara B the queen of remixes because I’ve probably seen her perform about a half dozen times and I’ve never heard her play a song the same way twice. She always changes it up, which keeps it interesting and makes her a great performer to see live.

Here’s Sara B singing Undertow

Jay Nash & Joey Ryan

Javier Dunn, Sara’s guitarist

Sara on a ukelele

Charles Gillingham, keyboardist from Counting Crows

The whole gang doing one last song

Here’s Sara singing Undertow

Also, love this song by Sara B & Ingrid Michaelson from the The Hotel Café presents… Winter Songs

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DEE DEE + JONATHAN | ENGAGEMENT

January 5, 2009

I have some of the most awesome clients ever! Two of them in particular got us a “backstage pass” to LAX and gave me the opportunity to photograph on the tarmac and in the engine of a plane. How incredible is that? You might be wondering how they pulled this off. Well, Dee Dee & Jonathan both work for the “Luv” airline. Dee Dee plans the company events, and Jonathan is the station manager for Southwest at the SF airport. They actually met at a company party that Dee Dee planned! So when coming up with ideas for their engagement session, they quickly knew they wanted to take pictures on one of their planes and they made it happen.

Dee Dee & Jonathan are two of the nicest people you could ever meet. Even after we were done shooting, we spent a good half hour at LAX just chatting and chatting away. And we probably could have gone on & on were it not for the fact that Jer & I had to get to worship practice. Anyhow, I’m so glad they found me and I can’t wait to shoot their wedding at the end of this month! Before I get to the pictures we shot at LAX, here are a few shots we grabbed at Manhattan Beach in the gorgeous morning light. I love sunrise shoots!

I love how the sky is a soft bluish-purpleish-pink!

Now onto LAX! Here is the plane as it’s pulling into the gate.

And here they are in the engine!

We even got to go in the cockpit!

A great big shout out to the wonderful Southwest crew at LAX! They were all so friendly & accommodating, and they even shut down half the counter so we could shoot on the luggage belt.

Jer grabbed this picture of me getting the above shot.

Lastly, a shot of their lovely invitations. Jonathan proposed to Dee Dee using post-it notes, so their invitation is spelled out on a little pad of post-its. So cute! Jonathan’s sister designed their invitations. She is an amazing graphic designer whose work I actually came across about 2 yrs ago when I first started planning my own wedding. Check out her work at www.passing-notes.com.