Then Comes Marriage

There are lots of reasons why I think Allison and Grant are cool.  But, the number one reason is because Allison’s last name is Grant.  And she’s marrying a guy whose name happens to be Grant.  When she gets married she won’t be Allison Grant anymore, but there will always be Allison and Grant  I think that’s cool.  Almost as cool as when my friend Jill got married and her name became Jill Gill!

Allison and Grant went to high school together and started dating when they both attended Cal State Northridge.  Grant proposed to Allison on a beach not far from the one we shot on in Malibu.

Allison is the sister of one of my past clients, Nancy, who got married in May.  I’m SO excited to work with this family again.  I was secretly keeping my fingers crossed that Allison would call me to shoot her wedding when I saw that she was engaged.  It worked!  Can’t wait for next June to work with the Grant family as well as meet Grant’s family!  Here’s the slideshow!

I will never forget the thousands of people whose lives were changed that day.  Who said goodbye to the person they loved the most that morning and didn’t know it would be their last.  The brave men and women who ran into those buildings while everyone else was running out.  I will never forget how scary that day was, but also how our country came together as Americans.  No matter how many years pass I will never, ever forget.

On my way home from an engagement shoot last night I saw thousands of American flags on the lawn at Pepperdine University.  It was an amazing site and my picture doesn’t do it justice.

Karen and Alex were married on a perfect August day in Pasadena. They got lucky with a very mild August day (75 degrees!). I got lucky because a very nice security guard let us shoot at Pasadena City Hall after we had been denied a permit (they were shooting a movie). It’s such a perfect backdrop for pictures!

It took Karen’s bridesmaids quite some time to get her in her dress. They even had an instructional video to follow!

The Courtyard outside the Westin has some amazing picture spots

First look

I just love Pasadena City Hall.  I could have shot there for hours and hours.

Love this moment right before Karen walked down the aisle.  She leaned over and whispered to her Dad, “You ready, Daddy?”.

For you photogs out there, this church was DARK.  No flash allowed and of course we had to stand at the back of the aisle.  This shot was taken with an ISO of 4000!  Thank goodness for the 5D Mark II and for the amazing noise reduction in Lightroom 3!

This shot was taken with the original 5D at only a 1600 ISO, but without the noise reduction in Light Room 3 it would have looked horrible!

A few more pictures after the ceremony

I don’t understand how a Bruin can marry a Trojan!  It’s a good thing Karen is a really cool girl

Karen is so crafty.  She made this cute sign!

The Westin Pasadena is a gorgeous place for a wedding!

Right before Karen and Alex did their grand entrance a huge ceiling tile came crashing down!  I was too shocked to get a picture of it.  Thankfully no one was hurt!

Congratulations, Alex and Karen!  I have enjoyed getting to know the both of you so much.  Your love for one another is so evident and I have been honored to be able to capture it.  I hope you are enjoying your South African honeymoon!  Hopefully you didn’t lose any limbs feeding the great whites  Here’s your slideshow!