This is my first  post wedding shoot and I highly recommend it to those who would like to incorporate some of their favorite spots that just can’t logistically be worked into their wedding day. Megan commented how much she was able to enjoy this shoot without any timeline or worries about getting her dress dirty, etc. I think we’re on to something here………..

Megan is an accountant originally from Colorado and Kyle is a firefighter and local San Diegan. They choose the Thursday Club not only due to its close proximity to their home but felt it was the perfect fit for capturing the “At Home Celebration” wedding theme they were looking for. These two pride themselves on hosting dinner parties for close friends and family that include both fine wines and exquisite dishes so with the help of Brenda from Swann Soirees they concentrated on bringing in personal touches from their home such as vases, dishes, and pictures that would complement their vision. They kept the ceremony personal by having Megan’s father officiate and had their two pugs attend the ceremony as guests. They also had something I have never seen (which is tough after attending hundreds of weddings), cake balls. I have seen cupcakes, doughnut towers, cookies, etc but never hundreds of individually decorated cake balls. I hear they were tough to find but Cake Ball Love pulled through and were divine!

I have worked with many brides and I must say I have never met a bride who looked so comfortable, so relaxed, and was so ready to have fun in her dress! From the moment Megan put it on she was all smiles and ready to just spin and spin…..We plan on doing a trash the dress session later this summer when it warms up so please check back for the update.

Congratulations you two, it was a beautiful wedding, thank you for letting me be a part of it!

Thank you to all the wonderful vendors who brought this day together-

Venue- The Thursday Club                       www.thethursdayclub.org

Coordinator- Brenda Swann                   www.swannsoirees.com

Catering- TK&A Custom Catering          www.tka-catering.com

Music- Michael Tiernan                               www.tiernantunes.com

Make Up- Lipstick and Luster LLC      www.makeupartistdirectory.com

Hair- Shannel & Co                                       www.shannelandcompany.com

Cinematography- Omni Stories            www.omnistories.com

Floral Design- Nancy Stevens                 www.nancystevens.com

Cake Balls – Cake Ball Love                      www.cakeballlove.com

Rentals- Classic Party Rentals               www.sandiego.classicpartyrentals.com

Linens- A Perfect Table                              www.aperfecttable.com

Personal Trainig- Jen Opaka                 www.sdprogressivefitness.com

At our first meeting Monica expressed her concern about not being a big fan of having her photo taken, as she was a bit shy and her tendency was to get a bit “stressed” before important events. Taking that into consideration we decided it would be best for her to skip the getting ready portion of the day and to complete the couple photos after the ceremony. We did choose to shoot their individual and immediate family portraits beforehand, allowing some time to get warmed up in front of the lens and dividing the photo sessions into smaller pieces. We took our time, took breaks as needed, and had some fun letting Mother Nature work her magic on Monica’s veil (the picture below says it all)

The ceremony was an intimate affair, performed by Monica’s grandfather, and continued the Kamphius family tradition of  getting married at Balboa Park, following in the footsteps of Monica’s parents and sister Maria. The reception was held upstairs in the Loggia Room, and the beautiful flower arrangements were created by Monica’s mother. The DJ was a close personal friend who wrote and performed  a “love ballad” for them–it was pretty awesome.

These two were such a joy to work with and having been together for seven years already it was so inspiring to see how in love they still are. Just perfect. I wish you both many years of happiness!

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Their ceremony was held at Kristen’s family church, St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Encinitas, and the reception was held outdoors on the gorgeous grounds of Villa de Flores.  The garden setting fit perfectly with these two’s relaxed attitude and was enjoyed by a hundred of their closest friends and family.

Matt is a pilot in the Air Force so Kristen surprised him with one of the best  groom’s cakes I’ve ever seen (see pictures below) and he surprised us all when he busted out his personalized cow shirt, which had been hidden underneath his uniform the whole day. It was a fitting tribute to how they had met working on a dairy farm while in college at UC Davis.

Currently living in Oklahoma these two are preparing for the next chapter in their new life together with a move up to Alaska. Let’s wish them all the best and many years of safe travels.

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Thank you to all the vendors who helped create this wonderful event-

Coordinator- Rachel Peniche www.planitandiego.com

Getting Ready Venue-The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe www.theinnatrsf.com

Ceremony Venue- St. Andrews Episcopal Church www.standrewsepiscopal.org

Reception Venue- Villa de Flores www.villadefloresevents.com

Catering- Crown Point Catering www.crownpointcatering.com

Cakes -Sweet Cheeks Baking Co www.sweetcheeksbaking.com

Flowers- Joyce LaVigne www.jdesignfloral.com

DJ- Toby Russell www.tobyrussell.com

Rentals- www.abbeypartyrentals.com

Everyone got ready over at the Sheraton Hotel on Harbor Island, then we had both bridal parties meet up for pre-ceremony photos at Liberty Station. I choose Liberty Station since we were going to be working with midday sun and wanted a place where we could not only get some shade but stay out of the way of all the vendors who were setting up at the Thursday Club. We then took some time during cocktail hour to get some shots of just Shira and Gregg around The Thursday Club and the nearby  Sunset Cliffs. Luckily the weather gods were smiling down on us and I could not have asked for better lighting down at the beach, I LOVE when that happens.

Bethel Nathan did a fantastic job creating their ceremony vows, making them very personal, hilarious in parts, and so touching. I have to admit there were quite a few of us who were working hard to hold back a tear or two. A special note I would like to add for future brides getting married at The Thursday Club. Normally the ceremony is set up with the chairs facing north which makes for a long aisle to walk down but tends to get quite crowded up front with all the bridal party. Shira and Gregg chose to have everyone facing west and though it creates a shorter aisle it gave so much more room up front and from a photography perspective works much better.

I want to thank Shira and Gregg for being so wonderful to work with. The day ran so smoothly and the love you two have for each other was felt by all. I look forward to seeing you both soon and enjoy your sneak peek!

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I would like to thank all the vendors who helped make this day run flawlessly:

Venue- The Thursday Club                   www.thethursdayclub.org

Catering, Flowers, Cake, and Linens- Ranch Catering               www.ranchevents.com

The Officiant- Bethel Nathan         www.ceremoniesbybethel.com

DJ- High Energy DJ (he is not kidding check him out on the dance floor-he is awesome!) Paul Peterson       www.djpaulpaterson.com

Coordinator- Sara Brown     www.sarabrownevents.com

I loved their super relaxed attitude from the get go and was excited about their plans of incorporating the people and activities they love into the wedding. Ian is a huge fan of surfing so as an alternative to the guest sign in book they had a custom surfboard made and had the guests write directly on it with special paint. In lieu of gifts they made a donation on their guests’ behalf to the Surfrider foundation, and enlisted close friends as emcee and dj for the evening.

One of my favorite memories from the day is when Ian showed up at the getting ready house for them to do their “first look” and Talia just could not hold back her tears. She kept reciting “just look up, just look up” as the makeup artist had suggested, but her emotions won out as soon as Ian came through the door. There was so much joy, so much happiness, it was just perfect!

Congratulations you two, I have no doubt you will have a blast exploring the world together.

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My husband who works for HP had a vendor summit here in San Diego last month. Some of the vendors from Japan were very interested in my photo business and how wedding photography differs here in the States compared to Japan. I gave them my business card to check out my website and this is the response  I received…LOVE IT!

All pictures are really very touching.

Rebecca-san is a very professional photographer in the happy world. I am
so impressed by her photo works.

Hi all, please look in her web site -> www.rebeccaseal.com

Her works make you feel so happy!

I wish everyone a happy day!

Shojun
DEPRO

11/6/2010 Jody and Rick

Sent to Rick -Great-thanks for the info. So glad your enjoying the photos. Will be in touch soon. Rebecca

Received from Rick- Enjoy? No, we didn’t enjoy. We ga-gaed over them. We are amazed by them.  We can’t take our eyes off of them.  We are ecstatic.

Thank you thank you!

10/15/2010 Laura and Lou

Oh my goodness Rebecca! I am so pleased with these!

My mom won’t stop crying!!! Thank you so much! you did an absolutely fantastic job….but I felt that way before I saw these!

10/11/2010 Jenne and Tim

Love them! Love the post! Love everything!

Good morning Rebecca,

We love the photos-and by we, I mean everyone who went to the wedding has been raving about them.

10/7/10 Kristen and Chase

9/29/10 Carolyn and Robby

Thanks for the sneak peak! It was really to fun to see and we can’t wait to see all the pictures. You were great to work with and Robby and I had so much fun!

9/27/10 Marybeth and Steve

Got them and LOVE them!!!!!!  Its going to be so hard to choose!!!

Thanks so much for everything!!!!!!!!!

7/7/2010 Adonica and Morgan

The pictures are amazing! We love them. We would like to meet with you to discuss album options. Again, you did an amazing job!

6/27/10 Lisa and Jason

The photos turned out beautifully!  We’re thrilled with all of the great shots that took and all the moments you were able to capture.

3/20/2010 Rachael and Greg

Dear ladies,
I wanted to send you my sincerest thanks for all of your assistance during our wedding.  The entire event was so beautiful, we have gotten so many compliments on how amazing everything looked, the awesome escort cards and the gorgeous table centerpieces!  Dalice and Haydee, the work that you did was just amazing!  Rebecca, thank you so much for braving the weather and the mud to make sure we got all the right shots.  I saw the slideshow on your blog, and loved it – I am very excited to see more!

If any of need or would like a recommendation or testimonial from greg and me please do not hestitate to ask.  it would be our honor to let others know what amazing work you all do.  Thank you so much for being a part of the best day of our lives (so far)!

with much gratitude,
Greg and Rachael Cohen

The ceremony was held at the Casa Del Rey Moro Gardens just behind The Prado restaurant and reception upstairs in the Loggia Room. These two opted for a pre-ceremony cocktail hour,  casual non-assigned seating dinner stations (I’m starting to see a trend here), and no formal wedding traditions besides the grand entrance and first dance. The rest of the evening was spent socializing and dancing. I would call it an elegant extended cocktail party which is exactly what these two were going for.

Since the ceremony was at dusk we completed all of the bridal and family pictures beforehand allowing us to use as much available natural light as possible. Jody expressed her concern in our initial meeting about not being a fan of having her picture taken, in fact I believe she said it was a fear of hers but with words of encouragement from her wonderful partner Rick, a little extra time given to work through any anxiety that crept up, and my super stealthy side shooter Jill I think it all came together beautifully!

Congratulations you two on bringing your wonderful families together and cheers to your new life!

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Thank you to all the wonderful vendors who help create this special day-

Venue/  Balboa Park www.balboapark.com

Flowers/ Michelle at Sweet Pea Flower Company www.sweetpeaflowercompany.com

Cupcake Wraps/ Kaitlyn Delaney www.kaitlynlauradesigns.com

DJ/ Bob Brichmann www.artistic-productions.com

Hair/ Megan Moutaw Thomas Joseph Studios, Kearny Mesa

Video/ Madison McGaughy

Officials/ Pepe Stepensky and David Chait

The reception was held on the patio of the La Jolla Financial Buliding, which I must say provides one of the best views of the La Jolla coastline that I have ever seen. It is truly gorgeous, and with the tent and additional lighting brought in it ranks high on my list of reception venues for the La Jolla area.

When I arrived at Hotel Parisi for Laura’s getting ready photos she was on the nervous side and shared a few tears among her bridal party. We had a good time taking things slowly, and Laura’s maid of honor pitched in to help calm nerves by carrying a bottle of champagne through the streets of La Jolla for our pre-ceremony photos. The groom opted out of getting ready photos at his home so we had my assistant meet him and his groomsmen over at The Prospect Bar and Grill for a few casual hanging out photos.

Once the words “I now pronounce you man and wife” were spoken, huge smiles broke out on both Laura and Lou’s face and you could tell any stress or previous worries about the weather, gift bags, timelines, etc. had flown out the window. They were together and that was all that mattered — I love that moment

The reception was such a fun party. Lots of laughter, delicious food, close friends, great family, and I can’t forget the dancing….there were some definite moves happening on the dance floor!

Congratulations Laura and Lou, I wish you all the best in your new life together!

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Thank you to all the vendors who helped bring this day together

Ceremony – Musuem of Contempory Art, La Jolla www.mcasd.org

Reception – La Jolla Financial Building Contact Norman Bradley 619-889-4080

Coordinator – Amy Vargas www.firstcomesloveSD.com

Makeup – Ashley Lowe AC Makeup www.acmakeup.com

Hair- Charlotte Mills with Luxe Hair Design 619-299-5893

Photo Booth- www.sandiegophotoboothrentals.net

Flowers – Haydee’s Creative Flowers www.haydeescreativeflowers.com

Cake – Twiggs Bakery www.twiggs.org

Tent Rental – Raphaels www.raphaels.com

Lighting and Draping- Concepts www.conceptspartyrentals.com

Mother Nature had us guessing whether she was going to let Rachael and Greg hold their wedding as planned on the lawn of the Scripps Seaside Forum up until 30 minutes prior to the ceremony. The bride was about to flip a coin to help with the decision just as the sun peeked through. That was all the sign she needed and it was on! The couple and guests were troopers as they braved quite a bit of  wind, cooler temperatures, and a few raindrops but were rewarded with an absolutely beautiful service uniting these two lovebirds in matrimony. The festivities continued inside with a full night of dancing and lightsaber battles (yes you heard me, lightsabers, Greg is a huge fan of Star Wars). Congratulations you two, rain or shine you two are perfect together!

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Thanks to all the other vendors who helped make this day possible.

Dalice Huffman www.premierweddingsandevents.com

Haydee Creative Flowers  www.haydeescreativeflowers.com

Amber Shy-Hair and Makup mysalonbellagio.com

TKA Catering-www.tka-catering.com

Wayne Foster Band-www.waynefoster.com

Scripps Seaside Forum-www.sio.ucsd.edu/About/Venue_Rentals/Scripps_Forum