What could be more beautiful then a California Destination wedding at one of the most historic hotels in California? The Hotel Del Coronado sits beautifully on Coronado Beach and just celebrated it’s 125 anniversary. Being a quintessential destination makes it a favorite amongst brides and grooms planning that perfect wedding celebration. With its iconic red turrets piercing amongst the California skyline, Hotel Del Coronado radiates with a confidence of gracious Victorian splendor that is without equal. This is the perfect California Wedding destination!

From the moment Drew and Reanna laid their eyes on the crown room, they knew they had to have their wedding at The Hotel Del Coronado. Being beach and sand lovers, Drew and Reanna loved the idea of having the ceremony on the beach. The guest were allowed to remove their shoes and watch as the couple started the ride of their lives.

After the wedding, the guests headed up to an amazing cocktail hour inside the Crown Room at The Hotel Del. They all loved having fun in our Retro Photo Booth and it was a hit all evening long.

Meanwhile, Drew and Reanna were having amazing romantic photos out on the beach and then all throughout the property at The Hotel Del Coronado. We even hit up the candy shop for some playful photos. It was so much fun. It was great having my daughter Morgan by my side capturing all of these gorgeous romantic photos.

The reception was filled with love, family and friends and it truly was an honor to be a part of this special wedding day. Thank you to my sweet friend Leah, the Mother of the Groom, for having me photograph this special wedding for your family. I loved everything this special wedding day.

Thank you to the Hotel Del Coronado for the amazing hospitality you showed the vendors, to MJP Photo Booths (This is my retro photo booth for rent) Myles and Cole were great at keeping the photo booth running smooth all evening long. And last but not least to Mark and Morgan for rocking the photos beside me all day long for this gorgeous wedding.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Drew and Reanna’s day!

Oh how I love this family. I have been given the blessing of photographing them ever since Sam, their daughter, was 6 months old. I have photographed every special moment in the last 13 years and it has been a pleasure. Sam is moving on from junior high to high school so she needed some special photos to remember her 8th grade promotion. We were at such a great location that we had to do some family photos and of course get the cutie pie Nate in some too. I just love them all. I had the perfect Pasadena location in mind for these family photos. Pasadena City Hall is amazing. The lighting is always perfect for photos and it is so peaceful and beautiful inside the courtyard. Here is a sneak peak of my fav’s from this super sweet family photo session.

LOVE is all I can say. I love this couple and I love this wedding venue. Ayrin + Travis are just the sweetest couple ever. I am continually blessed with amazing, sweet clients that become dear friends. This adorable couple got married at one of my favorite Claremont wedding venues. The Doubletree by Hilton Claremont is filled with so many wonderful aspects to create the perfect wedding experience. The courtyard is peaceful with the beautiful water fountain as the ceremony backdrop. The banquet rooms are spacious and the staff is incredible to work with. I am so lucky to be one of the preferred wedding photographers at The Doubletree by Hilton Claremont. It really is a blessing and I appreciate it so much.

When Ayrin and I discussed her wedding plans I was so sad to find out that I was already booked with another wedding. I went ahead and put Mark and my associates Robby and Jeanette on her wedding and they did a great job. How could you not? Ayrin is just beautiful and Travis, well, he is not too shabby himself! Their day was perfect. I referred them to La Dawn of Platinum Lining Events and she did a great job as the day of wedding planner. La Dawn and her team are great at keeping everything moving along and making sure each detail is in place. Thanks La Dawn! Travis and Ayrin also rented our Retro Photo Booth. All the guest s had a blast and the photo booth strips are customized for each event so it is the perfect party favor and they loved the photo   all of the guests enjoying the photo booth.

This Doubletree by Hilton Claremont was perfect! See for yourself. Here is a sneak peak into their day. Thanks again to my amazing photographer’s for doing such a great job. xoxo Michelle

I loved this wedding. Everything about it was just adorable and perfect. Ashley and Greg are so sweet and easy going, it was truly a pleasure to be there wedding photographer.
The venue is one of my favorites. Strawberry Farms in Irvine is the perfect rustic barn venue in Orange County. From the moment you drive down Strawberry Farms Road you will see the rolling hills, a white picket fence that goes all the way to the end of the road and roses, trees and flowers are abundant. It is truly incredible. Ashley and Greg put a lot of thought and details into the day. Everything was perfect.

I had my associate Bill second shoot with me at this Strawberry Farms wedding. Bill and I always have a great time photographing together and he is such a great part of my team.
We started with the girls getting ready and then it was time for the “First Look” We headed over to the red barn and captured the sweet love from a distance. Doing a First Look is such a great idea. It totally takes the edge off and then everyone is much more relaxed. We did all of the family photos and wedding party pictures prior to the ceremony. In the case, it was especially helpful as their officiant was 1.5 late so there was no time after the ceremony for photos. The venue had the food ready to go and they were so relieved that we only needed ten minutes for some romantics and everything was great. I got so many compliments from Strawberry Farms on how easy I was to work with and how quickly I get the photos done. This is why I am a preferred photographer for Strawberry Farms. Yay!

The reception was filled with family, friends, food and fun. The guests just loved their adorable mason jars filled with cake as their party favor. I loved all of the details that their florist created and the antique books on all of the tables made for great photos. It really was the perfect day. I am so happy for Ashley and Greg, I know their marriage will be filled with lots of love and lots of fun. I wish them a wonderful life together. Take a look at this sneak peak into Ashley and Greg’s Strawberry Farms wedding. Enjoy.

I just loved this destination wedding in the San Bernardino mountains. This was my second wedding at San Moritz Lodge and it was great to be back. It is such a quaint and charming wedding location. The rustic lodge and gorgeous mountain setting is perfect for amazing photos. Lynsey and Jeremy are from Illinois and they wanted a sweet destination wedding here in our California Mountains.
San Moritz Lodge in Lake Gregory had every thing they needed for their perfect mountain wedding. I loved the details they incorportaed with fresh babies breath and rustic do it yourself signs. The ceremony overlooks Lake Gregory and the gorgeous mountian landscape. After the ceremony we headed into the woods for some romantics photos and we also got some really cool shots of Jeremy showing off his artsy tattoos. We had so much fun! The quaint reception was filled with family and friends, a wonderful meal and cake. For only being at this wedding for a short 3 houyrs, I really did get amazing photos and tell their love story. Here are a few of my favorites from this sweet San Moritz Lodge Wedding. Enjoy. xo

Krista and Matt live in Pasadena so why not use their amazing city for their engagement photos… We had so much fun in downtown and also at Pasadena City Hall. The architecture and lighting make for awesome pictures. It was so fun hanging out with Krista and Matt. Krista laughs all the time and it is too cute. Matt is sort of shy but super cool and hip at the same time. They are such a great couple. I am looking forward to photographing their wedding this August. Here are a few of my favorite Pasadena engagement photos. Enjoy.

I Love Laguna Beach and I loved photographing this couple. We headed to one of my favorite hidden gems in Laguna Beach. The lighting was perfect and Leanne and Bryce were just too cute. They are really comfortable with one another and it was so great hanging out with them. I am looking forward to their wedding in a few weeks. Here are a few of my fav’s from this Laguna Beach Engagement Session. Enjoy.

This super sweet Strawberry Farms wedding was featured today on I Love Farm Weddings. I just knew when I saw all of the Do it yourself wedding details that I had to submit this wedding to get published. I am so blessed to continually get my photography published in blogs and magazines. I just love being a preferred wedding photographer for Strawberry Farms Golf Club in Irvine.

What a great guy! I had so much fun with Matthew cruising around downtown for his senior photos. He is is in the graduating class of 2013 for Damien High School. Matthew is really outgoing and had a great personality. I loved his outfit changes that he brought along on the portrait session. We chatted about his time he spent at Damien and the awesome colleges he got accepted to. I just know Matthew’s future is going to shine brightly. I am so thankful for these opportunities I get to spend with our youth and I am so grateful to my clients for choosing me to preserve their memories. Check out a few photos from this senior from this Damien High School.

I have been so blessed to photograph so many awesome high school seniors this year. They truly are one of my favorite types of portrait sessions.This senior  was just as great as the others. Matthew is graduating from Los Osos High School in May. I met up with Matthew and his Mom up in the mountains and we just had a great time. Matthew is a great guy. He played on the Los Osos Football team. He is looking forward to attending college in Yucaipa. I look forward to seeing how is future turns out. Here are a few of my favorite photos from his session.