Drew B Photograhy

When I arrived at the Athenaeum on the campus of Cal Tech to shoot Nancy getting ready, everyone was so calm.  Nancy, her three sisters (and bridesmaids), and her mom and dad were getting ready together in the room upstairs probably like they had done in their own home many, many times before.  Except this time there was a big white dress hanging in the corner and the anticipation of one of the biggest events in their families life.  Nancy is the oldest of four girls and the first to get married.  It was really special to capture their family dynamic.  It made me wish I had three sisters!

The Athenaeum is a gorgeous venue to get married.  It’s so historical and has such beautiful architecture.  It was the perfect backdrop for Nancy and Eric’s wedding.  Nancy and Eric met while traveling the world together and they told me that the Athenaeum reminded them of some of the places they had visited together.  It was such a beautiful and elegant affair.  And ran so seamlessly thanks to the vendors and staff on site (special thanks to Samantha from La Bella Dia and Dior from the Athenaeum!)

Congratulations, Eric and Nancy!  I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon in Croatia and are making new adventures together now as a married couple!  Here’s your slideshow!

This ring was Nancy’s Grandpa’s (Poppa as they affectionatly call him) fraternity pin and later her Grandma’s (Dotie) engagement ring.  The fabric around the flowers is the baby bonnet that Nancy wore when she came home from the hospital.

Flowers by Commerce Flowers

Mark with Awesome Entertainment did a great job of keeping the party going!  One of the best DJ’s I’ve worked with!

Remember Dotie and Poppa?  They won the Anniversary dance and Nancy gave her the bouquet.  I couldn’t hear what was being said, but you could tell that Dotie was very touched and couldn’t believe Nancy would give her the bouquet.  Then Dotie and Poppa shared a special dance together.  Poppa whirled and twirled her all over the dance floor.  Dotie sang to Poppa.  They looked like teenagers!  It was really one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

Eric works for a big GPS company.  Inside his ring Nancy had the coordinates of the Athenaeum engraved.  How cool is that?

Quite possibly my most favorite ring shot I’ve ever taken!

Baby Hannah was just 6 days old when she had her first official photo session.  She is cute as a button, but did not want to sleep and miss out on all the action.  After a lot of patience from Mommy (which is not easy when you’re so tired!) we got her to sleep and then she was the perfect subject!  Poor Daniell had a very tough labor and delivery, which reminded me of my own.  The good thing about having to wait around for Hannah to fall asleep is that I got to catch up with Daniell and get to know her a lot better!

Congratulations Daniell and Daniel!  Hannah is just gorgeous!  Have tons of fun with her!

(No, Baby Hannah doesn’t really weigh 14 1/2 pounds!  The scale is not calibrated!).

Christine and Matthew are high school sweethearts.  Christine told me that it was love at first sight for her, but it took Matt awhile  They were inseparable until Christine left for college.  They did the long distance thing and Christine graduated college early to be with her guy!

11 years after they started dating and 3 years after they got married Christine and Matthew had Charlotte.  She’s a girly girl who loves flowers, princesses, and sparkly shoes!  She’s a ball of energy!  Spunky, fun, and a sweetheart!  It took her a bit to warm up, but once she got going she did she didn’t stop!

Dylan is 8 months old.  I love that age!  They can sit, but can’t crawl (ie easy to photograph because they can’t move!) and are oh, so happy!  As soon as he got out of the car he was all smiles!

I had a ton of fun with the Musial family!  Although, we did have a little scare.  I shoot in fields all the time and I knew one day I would have a snake encounter.  Last Monday was the day.  I was shooting cute Dylan and moved to get a different angle.  As I was about to stand up something made me look to my left and there was a big, nasty snake a foot away from me!  It was white and pink and did I mention BIG?  I did my best to not act scared because I didn’t want to scare Charlotte, but I think I jumped a mile high and ran really fast screaming, “There’s a snake!  There’s a snake!”.  Luckily Matthew knew it was an albino California King snake and that it wasn’t poisonous.  But, I’m not going to lie, it scared the crap out of me!  Yuck!

I think a lot of people would have scooped their kids up and ran as fast as they could to their cars, but Christine and Matt were totally cool and we went about our session!

Thanks, Christine and Matthew!  I had a lot of fun getting to know your family!  Here’s your slideshow!