Remember the ridiculously cute, fishing-themed engagement photos that was featured on Green Wedding Shoes last year?  Well, Nikki & Andrew got married and based on their engagement photos, I couldn’t wait to see their wedding!  In a nutshell, in case you missed it, he loves fish & she loves dog.  They told Heather, of Amorology, and being the crazy talented/creative genius she is, she came up with the theme… dog beach.  Now honestly, when Nikki told me the theme, I scratched my head (that’s why I’m not a wedding planner).  I had never heard of a dog beach theme before and had no idea how they were going to incorporate it at Pelican Hill.  If you’re scratching your head too, then you’re really in for a treat!

Flowers were by none other, Squareroot Designs.  I just love succulents.  And you see that gorgeous ring pillow above?  It was made from Nikki mom’s wedding dress!!!  And I just adore how her Ines Di Santo dress sparkles!

Nikki is an amazing graphic designer with good taste.  Heather introduced her to Courtney from Brightly Designed, and the minute she walked into her studio, she KNEW they’d be a great fit. Nikki told her about the color scheme, theme, and a few details she wanted (like the wood dog cut-outs, the fonts, the letterpress, the background patterns, etc.), and Courtney took everything to the next level.

They also had the cutest flower girl ever.  I just adored her pink tutu from Fluffy Tuffies.

Above are the groomsmen gifts – pixel cuff links!

And how insanely creative are their escort cards??  It’s a dog beach!  Please fetch your name!  My favorite element is the tiny paw prints running through the sand:

Yummy drinks, including a champagne bar:

Cutest candy bar ever.  Amorology created a gorgeous ribbon backdrop.

Another fav element of mine, table names printed on old pages from a dictionary!  And the fish & dog graphics are so freakin cute!

I also love the subtle use of fish scales throughout, like in a centerpiece above, and on the CAKE!  Who knew fish scales could be so elegant!

And for late night snacks, they had a donut station, where you got to “Take a Dip” and put on your own toppings.  They also had mini milkshakes and sliders.

The cutest groom’s cake:

And a fun lounge by Concepts Event Design for guests to hang out into the wee hours of the night.

**This wedding was featured on 100 Layer Cake and will be in the new Ceremony Magazine!**

Remember Lauren & Stephen’s beautiful Chicago Engagement photos from last year?  Well, they’ve tied the knot!  They had a modern wedding in the city.  We started in their penthouse on the 60th floor!  What an amazing view of the city from their home.

I really loved how the getting ready was all done in their home, including the first look.  Just makes everything even more meaningful and personal.  See their first look below and you’ll know what I mean… after the cute ring bearer allowed for it.

I absolutely LOVED her Vera Wang dress!  It’s perfect on her!

Lauren went to Northwestern, so it was perfect that they chose the Alice Millar Chapel on campus to exchange vows.  We were lucky enough to take some shots around before guests arrived.

Check out the beautiful stained glass windows!

And then we headed to Millenium Park for some fun at The Bean before heading into their reception at The Art Institute of Chicago.

Chicago’s skyline:

I just love the modern space & furniture here:

How cool are those chairs?

And I love that colorful swirly wall/floor.

You can see the rest of their wedding on Junebug Weddings blog and in their real weddings.

Fun fact:  I brought Cameron with me on this trip.  One of my Chicago couple’s from last year babysat while I shot this wedding!  Big shout out to Eileen & Roland!  Cameron misses you two!  I love my couples.  <3

Photography: Caroline Tran Photography
Ceremony Site:  Alice Millar Chapel
Reception Site: The Modern Wing, The Art Institute of Chicago
Catering: Bon Appetit, at the Art Institute of Chicago
Wedding Cake: Take the Cake
Wedding Favors: Truffles from Take the Cake
Floral Design & Decor: John Hensel of Heffernan Morgan
DJ: Style Matters
Officiant: Rev. Thomas Perrucci
Wedding Favors: Truffles from Take the Cake
Dress Designer: Vera Wang
Wedding Dress Shop: Vera Wang
Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Jenny Yoo
Hair: Starlight Makeup, Lillian Toma
Rings: Wedding Bands and Co. and New York Jewelers

I have THE sweetest engagement session to share with you today!  This was recently featured on Green Wedding Shoes, so if you haven’t checked it out, go see more photos there!  Tianyi is the owner of TISELLE, a line of gorgeous letterpress cards.  I first met Tianyi long before she was engaged, and absolutely fell in love with her work.  It’s witty, clean, and feminine.  When she contacted me last year about shooting her wedding, I was (needless to say) estatic!  I knew we would click asthetically & personally.  I didn’t meet Dan until this shoot, but when Tianyi told me how they met, I already liked him.  Guess where their first date was… oh, just Tibet.  Yes, Tibet.  In Tibet, they hung up traditional prayer flags together, which you’ll see represented with silk ribbons at the end.  They are world travelers and spent most of their relationship long distance.  They would meet up in different parts of the world and kept this journal together:

Tianyi’s favorite book is Anne of Green Gables.  We wanted to use it as our inspiration for the feel of the shoot, but really keep it about their story.  Another piece of their relationship that worked really well together was Dan’s family tradition of making cherry pies.  His mom has a secret recepie and gets special cherries that are $20/lb!… or something like that.  They shipped the cherries to LA to bake for their wedding!  With those two elements, we came up with a unique shoot, just for them, and all about them!

I just love how happy they are together, and so happy for them that they’ll finally live in the same timezone!

Special thanks to Kelley from Picture Perfect Events who helped with the styling and was my photo assistant this day!

Dan can cut a PERFECT slice of pie!  Even the first slice!!

I love these last few shots we got with the ribbons:

Remember this photo-bombing lhama at Saddlerock Ranch?  I finally get to share the rest of the photos with you!!  Just featured on Style Me Pretty today!  Check out even more photos there!  So to make this wedding even more special, April and Tyler planned their wedding in THREE WEEKS!  I was just coming out of maternity leave and boy was this a great way to jump back into the game!  Grab a cup of tea because you’ll want to snuggle up as you enjoy this!

“Our original plan was to elope during our honeymoon in Fiji.  Three weeks prior to our departure, I received a phone call from my father saying he wanted to walk me down the aisle and didn’t want us tying the knot in Fiji.  Three weeks to plan a wedding is stressful to say the least.  To top it off, I was in my last year of grad school and Tyler was in his 2^nd year of law school.  Add final exams, term papers, job interviews, and my graduation to that planning period, and we were thrown into an immediate state of panic.

Despite the stress we were able to book the venue of our dreams, find an amazing wedding dress, and book our first choice photographer –Caroline Tran.  Thanks to the help of our wonderful friends, family, and wedding coordinator we were able to pull off the most incredible and memorable day of our lives!”

Below is April’s ring on her grandmother’s handkerchief.

Wait a minute, is that a zebra?  …that’s what I thought too!  I was so excited to see the animals there!

The dome where April was getting ready, and the bench where Tyler and his family hung out:

I’m so glad they got married here instead of FIJI because just look at how happy her dad is:

It was a super overcast day, but the sun peeked out for split second during their ceremony!

Cupcake tower from crumbs…  They ordered each guests (including myself) a unique flavor!  I felt so special!

And I love the boutonnieres by Unique Floral Designs.

I love this Door to No Where:

CAMEL!

I love this big yellow frame they have on the property!  It’s like National Geographic!

And I LOVE this image of Mr. Camel:

For the record, this frame is pretty high off the ground…

And April was in heels!  Good thing April was a gymnast!

LOVE his striped socks:

Thank you, April & Tyler, for letting me document such a happy day in your life!  I look forward to see how this chapter unfolds and what the next chapter holds!

Ready to be overdosed with gorgeous details?  That’s how I felt shooting this wedding.  Every nook and cranny had some beautiful detail with an equally beautiful story behind it.  I met Elizabeth & Jamie a year before their wedding and it was instant chemistry.  I still remember swooning over their description of their wedding… and you know what?  It was even more beautiful than anyone could ever describe in words.  Good thing we have photos!

This Santa Barbara wedding took place at the majestic Rancho Dos Pueblos.  Like what you see?  It’s for sale!  Only $95 million, last I checked.  Tricia Fountaine is the genius behind this.  She rennovated much of the ranch, including these three horse sheds.  I love “The 3 Piggies” sign.  So appropriate.

One of the sheds was transformed into the Groom’s quarters:

The other shed was converted into a photo booth!!

And last but not least, a shed became the bride’s dressing room.  Tricia even decorated the place so cutely!

Gorgeous shoes by Poetic License:

I love this cozy vintage lounge area, adorned with vintage furniture & a chandelier:

What I love most about this wedding is how the styling fits the venue so well.  It’s seamless!  I had a hard time telling what was added just for the wedding… everything looked like it was just supposed to be like this all the time.

I love Elizabeth’s gorgeous Claire Pettibone dress.  Look at that detail!!

Tricia did all the florals & event design. Amazing, right?  Just wait till you keep reading…  Elizabeth & Jamie brought the church into the woods, under a 200 year old sycamore tree.

Love the old barn doors and old church pews.  This next image is one of my favs photos ever:

I also love the wedding party’s attire:

…and it gets better.  (Yeah, I didn’t think it could either!)  Elizabeth made personalized scrolls for each guests as their escort card.  Each scroll had a unique quote that the couple chose for each guest.  The scrolls also had the prettiest table to hang out on:

The honey is from the ranch!  And here’s another cool lounge:

Flowers in boots!  ha!

I just LOVE the table settings.  It’s entirely vintage China!

And I just love this cake.  So rustic and elegant:

Elizabeth is a clothing designer, so you’ll notice lots of vintage sewing notions in the decor, such as these old thread spools:

Jamie is a writer, so Tricia decorated a vintage typewriter for their head table.  And Elizabeth had a decorated vintage sewing machine!

One of my favorite touch is the “make your own pot of tea” station.  Each guests got their own vintage teapot too!  And I also love the vintage handkerchiefs, with a spig of lavender.

Have you noticed the use of raw cotton throughout their florals?  Well check out this wreaf made up of entirely raw cotton!  Elizabeth’s mom HAND PICKED all of the cotton from North Carolina and shipped them for Tricia to use.  This wedding was really a labor of love from everyone!

As if hand picking cotton for your daughter’s wedding isn’t pouring enough sweat, she also made these little chocolate mousse for the dessert table:

This was really such an amazing day to be part of.  The whole day went off without a hitch, thanks to  Kelly Oshiro.  Other fabulous vendors involved include Ambient Event Design, Bread + Wine Catering, & Christine Dahl.