Image by Ari:

Image by Ari:

Image by Ari:

One fun part of shooting along with a friend photographer is a little friendly competition.  We were kinda put on the spot to make an interesting portrait of the couple while they were sitting on the stage in a spare moment.  We both did just one setup, taking turns holding flash for each other.  Mine is up first:

Ari’s up next:

Who won?  Saira + Mohsin!

Happy accidents are great.  I love that is looks like Mohsin is conjuring up a cosmic blue orb in this one.

Image by Ari:

Thanks to Saira + Mohsin for having us along for the ride, it was a blast!

Cliff

4 days of shooting (we had another wedding this weekend as well) was too much for Malarie, as she works with me in addition to having her own demanding career, (love ya wifey!) so I was lucky enough to have a friend and a fabulously talented fellow photographer Ari join forces with me.  Thanks dude!

One of my favorites of the day:

Next 2 shots of Mohsin are Ari’s:

Only had a few minutes for portraits, and had to keep them hidden from the guests, but we made those minutes count!

The days details:

Venue: Hotel Sofitel

Planner: Avant Planners: Purvi Shah

Florals: Waterlily Pond: Natasha

Makeup: Farhana Baig

Cake: Studio Cake

Next 2 shots by Ari:

Another one of my favorites of the day.

The dancing was krazy!  I love the energy of Pakistani weddings!

They were spinning around like you used to do on rollerskates as a kid “cracking the whip” style.  I was shooting this at 16mm, so you can imagine how close to the action I was!  Glad to have lived to shoot another day.

Did I mention I loved shooting their dancing?  Such elation on their faces!  Another personal favorite.

This guy does a thing where he spins as fast as he can until he can barely stand and people have to hold him up.  I think it’s kind of his thing.  He did it all three nights, and everyone knew to clear out and make room!

Next shot by Ari:

Mohsin and Saira’s Mom:

Next shot by Ari.  Love the feel of this one, nice job dude.

Last 2 also by Ari:

Day 3 coming up next!

Cliff

We’ll start off with an image from Malarie:

Friends and family did some rehearsed performances for the couple before everyone joined in the dancing.

Then the party got started!

You know the dancing has gotten serious when you stumble upon this scene:

Stay tuned for day #2, the Shaadi!

Ok, let’s see if I remember how this blogging thing works!

Here is an elegant, yet lighthearted affair thrown by two of the sweetest people ever to find one another.  We started things off at The Palace Hotel for the getting ready.  The fabulous Giao Nguyen and her team took the lead on hair and makeup, and she’s quickly become one of my favorites.

We were lucky enough to have the chance to shoot in the restaurant with no one around.  I was pretty happy to be able to make some images with the most beautiful ceiling in the city as my backdrop.

Gwen Helbush of Where to Start Weddings even pulled some strings to get us access to the upper tier.  Definitely above and beyond Gwen, thanks!

We moved on the Asian Art Museum from there for a few more portraits before the ceremony.

This is Malarie’s shot of the little flower girl going into melt down mode when walking down the aisle. Kids.

The deets:

Florals: Nancy Liu Chin

Event Planning: Gwen Helbush

Makeup/Hair: Giao Nguyen

Dress: Melissa Sweet

Cake: CakeWork

Caterer: Global Gourmet Catering

Videography: iq Videography

I loved the restrained elegance mixed with the playfulness of the video game theme.

A spin on the father daughter dance was the father/daughter slideshow, which brought out some great emotion.

Thank you so much for having us!

Cliff

I first met Karleen as the Maid of Honor at Tracy and Scott’s wedding back in 2009.  It’s always the highest compliment when couples have enjoyed working with us enough to send their closest friends our direction, and we loved the chance to get to know Karleen and Todd as a couple.

They had planned their wedding as a sunny outdoor affair, but on the day of the weather had other ideas.  Speaking much to their personalities, they took it in stride and didn’t let it get in their way one bit.  Things moved indoors for the most part, but the weather became a bit of a dancing partner as well.  It cleared up just when it was time to shoot couple portraits, and a double rainbow popped up just as everyone was getting settled into the reception.  It may not have been the way they imagined it, but I don’t think they would do it any other way if given the opportunity.

Tracy and Karleen with a little moment before the ceremony.  Yes, Tracy was very pregnant, she’s now the momma of a beautiful baby boy!

Shot through the curtain as Todd anxiously awaited Karleen to arrive for the ceremony.

Cornerstone is such a playground for portraits, the toughest part of the day was narrowing down what we were going to use.

The days details:

Venue: Cornerstone Sonoma

Coordinator: Leslie Goldberg of Dandelion Events

Florist: FleurEssence

Catering: Alex’s Catering

FYI, the ’65 Mustang convertible (a woman after my own heart) is Karleen’s and make sure to take note of that aforementioned double rainbow! Yes, there were a few “all the way across the sky!!!!” jokes.

Put on your dancing shoes!

Congrats you guys, can’t wait until our next cocktail date!

Cliff

I think he’s impressed with how she looks in her dress!

Malarie shot this image of Victoria reading a note from Arif.  Love the light.

A really touching moment of Victoria and her grandmother.  She had just walked in and saw Victoria as a bride for the first time.

Kind of a quirky moment while awaiting the ceremony.  One of my favorites of the day.

Watching guests arriving down below:

Malarie grabbed this from above.

Lots of beautiful details.  All star lineup of vendors:

Florals: Leighsa Montrose of www.branchoutflowers.com

Catering: Global Gourmet Catering

Cake: Jasmine Rae Bakery

The day didn’t include time for couple portraits, but we sneaked out quickly for a couple of shots on the balcony:

Another favorite.  They had movies going in another room for the kids to keep busy.  I don’t even think they knew I was there.

Arif made the photo booth himself, it looked great!

We got one last portrait with them before heading out for the evening:

Thank you so much for trusting us to shoot your wedding, we loved being a part of it!

Cliff

This is my favorite image of the day.  Love that moment just before the hands embrace for the walk down the aisle.

Malarie’s shot during the ceremony.  Nice!

Another favorite.

The days details.  The Calistoga Ranch looking great as always, and we had the chance to work with a wonderful planner Alicia Falango from Alicia K Designs. She and her team kept things moving smoothly, and handled all the florals as well.  That elegant dress is by Pronovias Barcelona, and hair and makeup was handled by Jocelyn Gomez from JS Makeup Artistry.

Congrats you two, thanks for having us!

Cliff

First sight!  Did Shonna stick him up?

After the first sight we had a little time to shoot some portraits around Casa Real before heading to the church:

If you remember the yoga poses from their engagement session you’ll already know they have an athletic side, so we had to work that angle a bit during portraits.

My favorite shot of the day.

Shonna and her dad peeking at the crowd before heading down the aisle.

Love this moment after the ceremony with Shonna and her parents.

Photo booth fun.  Who knew Norm looked so good as a blonde?

The dragons were awesome!  One of the most interesting things I’ve shot in a while.

This wedding holds the new record for # of kids at a reception.  They were a blast!

Another favorite.  Could they look any more longingly at that cake?

The anticipation of the little girl in front is what makes this image for me. She ended up with the bouquet!

Thanks for a great start to the 2011 season Shonna and Norm!

Cliff

Lan + Bryan Wedding:  St Josephs Basilica + Casa Real

MacKenzie + Steve Wedding: Palm Event Center

Leslie + Andy Elopement: SF City Hall/Golden Gate Park

I’ll have another full wedding post sometime this week and we’ll be back on track!

Cliff

Thanks to the judges and the couples in the images: Brenna and Jon, Monica and Garrett, and Justine and Brian!

Cliff