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Darlene and Steve’s Almond Session

Darlene and Steve had their photos taken in the Bakersfield snow, also known as the almond orchards, before they moved to Florida. Darlene has been a friend of mine for a while now so it was fun to be able to get some photos of them in before the big move!

The blooms looked amazing and it was a perfect slightly overcast day when we set out to shoot. Due to the fabulous weather, we just HAD to shoot in mostly film. Darlene and Steve were just so cute together, I could hardly stand it! Darlene wore a short lace dress (my FAVORITE kind of outfit!) with the cutest flats that tied up her legs. Steve sported jeans and a white button up. Their look could not have been more perfect.

Since our photo shoot in the orchards, Darlene and Steve have gotten ENGAGED! I just wanted to send a quick shout out of Congratulations to the happy couple!!!!

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Dylan’s 9 Month Almond Session

Today, we’re talking about sweet Dylan’s 9 month session. His parents, Bethany and Mark, are one of my “As You Grow” clients. I have been photographing Dylan since he was a newborn and his 9 month photoshoot was just as fun and adorable as ever!

Dylan is a dream to photograph! His smile is absolutely heart melting and his eyelashes are GIANT. I love seeing those beautiful things in his photos. As if he couldn’t get any cuter, he has the most adorable wardrobe, thanks to his mama. His outfits were layered with style. His look consisted of a plaid shirt with a cute navy pullover, denim jeans, and the most adorable tan shoes with bright orange laces! It’s safe to say that we were just infatuated with Dylan!

Bethany brought an adorable white wood bench and ladder for Dylan to pose with. They were perfect props for the almond trees. The white from the props and the almond blooms combined with Dylan’s blue wardrobe made for the sweetest color combination ever.

We just love capturing Dylan’s sweet little smile and are so excited to be able to photograph him as he grows!

Kehau and Justin’s Bakersfield Country Club Wedding

Kehau and Justin said I do at St. George Greek Orthodox Church and their reception followed at Bakersfield Country Club. Everything about this wedding was absolutely picture perfect – from the venues, to the couple, to the food. We had a great time documenting everything alongside Evermoore Films. We started off the day at St. George’s. This was my first time photographing a Greek ceremony and needless to say, it was amazing! At Greek weddings the bride and groom face forward the whole time, meaning I was standing on the altar during the ceremony. We learned that there are tons of really neat traditions in Greek weddings and everything happens 3 times! One of the traditions was that the bride and groom both had on crowns that are made and connected by a single strand of ribbon. In the Greek wedding, this is a symbol of the marriage between the couple. The Greek word for the crowns is “stefana.” How cool is that!?

Kehau was the most beautiful bride and had hair for DAYS. Gia Bohannen was the genius behind Kehau’s hair and Erica Cruz did an absolutely amazing job on her makeup! Her red lips were absolutely stunning. The flowers were oh so perfect and done by our friends at House of Flowers, they always do the best job. Justin was dapper as ever in a classic black tux and bow tie.

There were so many fun elements to this wedding, one of them being that Kehau and I have been friends since childhood! Her and I go all the way back to the days of South West Baseball. Not only that but one of Justin’s groomsmen was one of my former grooms and is also one of my distant cousins, it was fun seeing him again. As if that wasn’t enough…one of my other couples were at the wedding as guests! All three of the guys are friends and I had the opportunity to shoot all three of their weddings! What fun!

After the wedding ceremony was over, everyone headed off to BCC for a reception that no one will soon be forgetting. FreeStyle was the DJ for the reception…they never disappoint and can keep the party going forever! The evening was filled with Greek dancing and an ice cream bar! The ice cream bowls were Dodger and Red Sox hats…I have to say that I preferred the Dodger ones (sorry Kehau!). The color scheme was black, gold, and white and you should have seen how everything glittered so beautifully! The couples and their friends and family celebrated into the night and we loved capturing every minute of it! Especially the sparkler exit.

Congratulations Kehau and Justin!

Flowers: House of Flowers

Video: Evermoore Films (Check out Kehau and Justin’s wedding video HERE)

DJ: FreeStyle Event Services

Venue: Bakersfield Country Club

Dress: Hayley Paige

Hair: Gia Bohannon

Makeup: Erica Cruz

Bakersfield Country Club engagement session 1 1

Bianca and Adam’s BCC engagement session

What a great few days for blog posts…it’s just full of the Andrew’s sisters! Bianca is Tia’s little sister, from last Wednesday’s post, and we all grew up together! I’ve known Bianca since I was 14, meaning she was around 8 years old when we first met. I’ve known her for most of her life and got to watch her grow up.

Bianca is now engaged to Adam and he is absolutely wonderful! Their engagement session was done at Bakersfield Country Club (BCC) and we decided to use film to photograph them. Bianca wore an olive green dress and Adam wore dark denim jeans with a black button up. It was pretty chilly when we were shooting, but Bianca braved the winter air and was the most beautiful model!

We had so much fun photographing Bianca and Adam. They are such a beautiful couple and we could not be happier to be shooting their wedding in Tahoe this summer! It is so much fun but also surreal to photograph the engagement session of someone you have known for practically your whole life…especially when it is one of your best friend’s sisters.

Congratulations Bianca and Adam!

The Keeler Family Almond Session

Tia and I have been friends since high school. Tia and her husband are “As You Grow” clients, meaning I’ve been photographing sweet Cameron since he was in Tia’s belly. Tia refers to me as Cam’s “Auntie” and of course he is one of my favorite little “nephews”!

As You Grow sessions are an amazing way to document the first years of your child’s life, allowing you to see how quickly they grow and change. Freezing the moments in time of how little they were.

Cam’s one year photos were done in the almond orchards and we were pretty close to being rained out! Luckily, we founds the most perfect orchard…it looked exactly like snow! In Cameron’s photos, we shot him in a chair with blue balloons and included one of his newborn pictures. We also got shots of him chilling on a blanket in the middle of the orchard having a grand old time…Tia and I MIGHT have been making hilarious monkey noises to get him to laugh (it worked!).

Cam’s little smiling face just gets me every time.

Naturally we also did some family photos, capturing mom and dad with Cam and then the whole gang together in the almond trees. The family was adorned in shades of blue, cream, and denim for the almond session…and the colors could not have been more perfect! Blues are always some of my favorite colors to photograph.

I cannot wait to watch my little “nephew” continue to grow into a little man and capture all of his adorable smiles through the years.

Maria and Jonathan’s California Wedding

Maria and Jonathan said I do in October of 2016. They were wed at their church with a full Catholic wedding and had their reception at Elegante. The church was filled with loving friends and family who were all ecstatic to see this wonderful couple get married.

They included one of my favorite traditions, the lasso ceremony.

We went with film for this wedding and the pictures came out just wonderful.

Maria was such a stunning bride. She wore the most beautiful long sleeve illusion lace with a low back (swoon). The train of the dress was jaw dropping and her long hair was styled so perfectly for her look. I still can’t get over what a wonderful dress it is. Her flowers were all white with greenery perfectly distributed throughout. Her bridesmaids wore long blush dresses and all looked absolutely beautiful.

Jonathan sported a classic black tuxedo with a black bowtie. There’s just something that I love when guys go classic with their wedding day looks and Jonathan sure did pull it off well!

Their wedding colors were blush, white, gold, and black. Everything about this wedding was elegant and so much fun to photograph. Maria and Jonathan were such a dream to shoot. They are an amazing couple and their love for each other just radiates!

Congratulations!