Drew B Photograhy

Nikki and Jeff’s wedding was full of unique elements that made for such a fun day! A vintage Porsche, a boat, and a cathedral length veil. Need I say more?

The day started off overcast and the weather forecasters promised drizzle, but as soon as we stepped outside to start Nikki’s pictures the sun came out to make Nikki and Jeff’s wedding day perfect! Nikki and Jeff were married at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Newport Beach. They left in style in Jeff’s Dads vintage Porsche! From there, the bridal party took a boat to the reception at the Balboa Bay Club. Talk about style! Most people get a limo, but Nikki and Jeff got a boat!

I’ve been so lucky to get to know Nikki and Jeff over the past few months! Their families are both so kind and welcoming and I feel so honored to have been part of their special day! A very special thank you to Brigid and Dave for the referral! It was great to see you two and I’m glad married life is treating you so well!

Nikki and Jeff, I hope you two are having an awesome time in Cancun and Jamaica! I can’t wait to hear all about it when you get back! Below are my favorites from your wedding day and a slide show! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Leeper!

The girls got ready at Jeff’s parents gorgeous home on the Newport Beach peninsula.

All of Nikki’s jewelry were family heirlooms. Her garter has been worn by several women in her family. How cool is that?

Nikki’s Mom made her veil! It was so gorgeous! I love working with cathedral length veils.

Nikki’s flowers were done by Planit Floral and Event Boutique. So gorgeous!

I love the area behind Jeff’s parents house. It’s photographer heaven!

Nikki was such a stunning bride.

My favorite shot of the day! Actually, it’s probably one of my most favorite picture I’ve ever taken. I love everything about this shot!

 

The ceremony

Mr. & Mrs. Leeper!

Leaving the ceremony in style!

The guys were looking great!

I love how everyone is always so happy when they see a bride and groom! Everyone was honking their horns and yelling congratulations. It always gives me goosebumps!

Nothing says, “Just married” like a surrey with fringe on top!

Love these pictures on the boat

Nikki and Jeff’s grand entrance at the Bay Club

The first dance

Love this shot with Nikki and her Dad

And here’s the sparkler shot again just because I love it so much

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just got home from my first wedding back after the baby! It was amazing as I expected it to be! But, I am very tired! How did I ever do this carrying around an 8 pound baby inside of me???

Here are a couple of pictures to hold you over until I have time to blog the rest. I’m off to bed! Good night!

What have I been doing with all my spare time now that I’m on maternity leave (Haha!  What spare time?)? Working on wedding albums! A lot of photographers don’t like to design albums, but I actually like it. I especially like it when my couples give me the creative freedom to design the albums with the pictures that I think will work best. Albums are heirloom pieces and the design should really stand the test of time. I know when I got married I jammed as many pictures as I could in my album. But, 2 1/2 years later, I really wish I would have gone with a more simple and clean layout. My albums definitely still have a couple of pages where I will cram in a bunch of pictures, but I want the overall effect to be as timeless as possible.

Here’s one of my favorite albums that I’ve designed lately. It’s from Rita and Scott’s wedding in Puerto Vallarta! What a fun wedding! Check out the whole design here!

I am so excited to announce a new website that is almost a year in the making! J’adore Details is a labor of love created by myself and 3 of my fabulous photographer friends, Trista Lerit, Amelia Lyon, and Jasmine*. The three things we all have in common is that we are all wedding photographers, we have all planned our own weddings, and we love wedding details! We seriously love weddings and we wanted a website that would showcase the best wedding vendors and the little details that can help make your wedding unique and different. So, check it out and spend some time looking through all the pictures to get ideas for your wedding! We’ll update it when we find new vendors that we know will make your day fun and perfect!

A special thank you to Jamie from So Divine Designs for creating our logo! It’s absolutely perfect! And thank you to my friends Trista, Amelia, and Jas. It has been so great getting to know you all over all those pizookies we’ve consumed over the past year getting this website going. You all rock and I’m so lucky to have you all in my life!

We’re home! Finally! It feels so great to be home. The nurses and doctors wanted us to stay another day, but I said no way! I hate being in the hospital and it’s impossible to rest. I got such better sleep at home last night!

We’re all doing really well. I know I’m totally biased, but Brayden is the cutest baby I’ve ever seen. I just can’t believe he was the little guy in my stomach kicking me a week ago. It’s pretty unreal. I love snuggling with him on my chest and even though I know it’s just gas I’ve seen a couple of smiles that just melt my heart. Chuck is the best dad. He really took care of both of us in the hospital and he’s doing a great job at home. The two of them look exactly alike. It’s hilarious!

I have a few more pictures that my great friend Michelle took.

Brayden and Papa G

My favorite picture! Brayden with his Daddy.

I’m so glad she was there to capture these moments because I don’t remember most of them. I don’t know what I did to deserve such a great friend like her. She’s taken such awesome care of us bringing us a care package with everything we needed for the hospital. Then she went out and found everything we needed for Brayden and me at home. We’re so lucky to have Michelle and her family in our lives. Her kids Emma and Owen got to meet Brayden aka “French Fry” this weekend. It was too cute! Michelle, you are the best. Thank you for everything!

And here’s one more from this morning. Brayden was supposed to be doing tummy time, but he fell asleep. Lazy! I wish I could sleep as much as he does

First, it was so worth getting into a car accident on my way home from buying my 85 1.8 lens. That lens is awesome!

Second, I’m so happy the baby didn’t come on Friday night so I could make it to Ashley and Tyson’s wedding! It was everything I imagined it to be and more! Plus, I knew I would be in good hands if I did go into labor because Ashley just graduated from nursing school

Ashley and Tyson were married at the Ebell Club in Long Beach. What a gorgeous venue! The building itself was beautiful inside and I loved how the surrounding neighborhood was very urban. We had great color houses, old cars, and alleys to work with. The best of both worlds!

I have to thank my amazing friend and back-up shooter, Trista Lerit, for shooting for/with me. It was pretty touch and go Friday night whether I would even make the wedding because of the accident, but I knew Ashley and Tyson would be in great hands even if I couldn’t be there. Trista knew I wouldn’t listen to her if she told me not to go so she really stepped up and made sure that I wasn’t doing too much. I’m so lucky to have such a great friend! She put her heart into shooting this wedding as if it were her own. I also have to thank my awesome second shooter Sandie and my husband Chuck for helping me out as well.

Ashley and Tyson, you know you two are more than just clients to me. It’s been so great getting to know you over the past couple of years and I was so honored to be there for your wedding day! Thanks for your support and trust! Have an amazing time in Kauai! Here’s the slideshow!

Even the bathrooms at the Ebell Club are gorgeous!  And Ashley’s not too bad either

The First Look

When I found out I was pregnant at the end of May I was super excited, but one of my very first thoughts was the two weddings I had scheduled for January. I knew it was going to be cutting it very close to my due date, but I really, really wanted to shoot the weddings! I contacted my brides and let them know the situation giving them the option to back out of their contracts and find a new photographer, but both of them still wanted to me to shoot. So, I assembled the best team I could to back me up and crossed my fingers that I would have a complication free pregnancy and would make it until January. I’m SO glad everything worked out!Lauren and Robert were married at Seven Degrees in Laguna Beach on Saturday. It was a gorgeous Southern California January day! I’ve been wanting to shoot at Seven Degrees for a long time and my expectations were exceeded. It’s an amazing venue with lots of great light and places to shoot. Besides having a gorgeous ceremony location, the reception area is to die for. Any photographer will tell you that professional lighting at your reception makes such an amazing difference. The great thing about Seven Degrees is that it’s all there and set up for you. They have flat screens and little ornament balls with a slide show of the bride and groom playing (Lauren and Robert choose to have their engagement pictures in the slide show, which I, of course, thought was a great idea!).

Shooting while 9 months pregnant isn’t the easiest thing to do. But, I had an amazing team that helped. The fabulously talented Jasmine* second shot with me and took over shooting when my feet swelled up so big I couldn’t get my shoes back on. It was a great relief to know that if for some reason I wasn’t able to make it to the wedding Robert and Lauren would still be taken care of by such a great photographer. And my awesome assistant, Jennifer Elaine, brought me water and carried my bags all day. I don’t know what I would have done without her. The videographer, Mike McCaleb, also was a huge help moving furniture and helping out. He’s awesome!

Thank you so much to Lauren and Robert and all their friends and family for taking care of me and making me feel so welcome! I really had been looking forward to this wedding for a long time and I’m so happy that I could be a part of it. Lauren and Robert, I hope you have an amazing honeymoon in Tahoe! Enjoy the snow! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day. Here’s the slideshow!

Robert’s son, Alec, was the ring bearer. I love the eye contact between the two of them in this shot.

Lauren’s gorgeous dress

I love it when dads see their little girls in their wedding dress for the first time.

Jasmine got this shot of me and I think my big belly looks pretty funny.  Don’t tell my husband that I was standing on a chair!

 

Lauren was such a stunning bride!

 

These guys really knew how to work the camera

The first look

Lauren and Robert’s engagement session was one of my favorite to shoot last year. They were so comfortable with each other and have no problem being silly in front of the camera, which makes my job very easy!

The bridal party

Details

They had some tear jerking, yet funny toasts!

First Dance