Lindsay & Kevin :: Love at First Sight

Lindsay & Kevin have a touching love story. They met at a bar in the Mission in San Francisco, total strangers meeting eyes across the room. Love at first sight? Here's the story in Lindsay's own words:

"A whirlwind romance ensued. 5 months in, Kevin is called to war. He receives orders that he has been moved from the reserves to active duty and is being deployed to Afghanistan for 10 months. {We} stay together and make every effort to stay in touch. In addition to letters, we FaceTime almost daily, waking up at odd hours of the night to be able to talk. In September we met up in Italy to take advantage of R&R, the two week break the army allows during tours. On a warm sunny afternoon in Positano, Italy, Kevin popped the question on our balcony overlooking the ocean. He proposed with a ring that {my} mother had sent registered mail from California with a family diamond that had once belonged to my {Lindsay's} great grandfather. We got married almost a year to the date of our engagement in Italy. The ceremony was held at Grace Cathedral and the reception at a private club nearby. Our wedding reflected our story and a love of San Francisco with an traditional, classic style and atmosphere."

See....I told you it was a beautiful story! Thank you so much Lindsay for writing it up for us!

{{ Vendors }}

Ceremony Location: Grace Cathedral
Reception Location: Private Club
Event Coordinator: LMM Events
Floral Design: Kathleen Deery Design
Music: Joel Nelson Productions
Gown: Vera Wang
Cake: Nora's Patisserie

 

Michael & Christian {Quaker-Inspired Elegance in San Francisco}

Michael and Christian's sophisticated, elegant, Quaker-inspired ceremony took place at the Bently Reserve in San Francisco. I love this couple. You can see happiness all over their faces throughout their wedding celebration. When deciding what to tell you about in this blog, I asked Michael and Christian what inspired their wedding choice. Christian wrote me a beautiful note explaining all of their thoughts behind making this the most special day of their lives. So, I've decided to copy some of his thoughts here, because he says it best!

"Michael and I were married about a week before the 11th anniversary of our first date, and our wedding was equal parts celebration of our lives together as much as a marriage in front of all our loving family and friends...

We wanted to combine Michael's love for classic old-world San Francisco charm with my Quaker background and the Bently reserve was the perfect venue for realizing that vision. It's both classic San Francisco, masculine but warm, and elegantly simple in a way that provides a space for the ceremony and the party. We wanted the ceremony to reflect those ideals of Quaker simplicity and most importantly the intimacy of Quaker Meeting for Worship, in which people sit together on simple benches in silence. The concept of the Light is critical in Quaker meeting, so we wanted the lighting designers to flood the space with light. The benches with the green cushions reminded us of the Meeting House where I (Christian) grew up. All present in a Quaker wedding ceremony sign a specially created marriage certificate and as a group recognize the couple as married, giving the ceremony an added element of participation and presence."

And then there were cocktails and jazz music and dinner! "For the dinner and dancing back in the main hail, the room is transformed into a candle-lit look, with a long, dark-wood head table with a stunning coiling centerpiece running the length of the table constructed with wood, lichens, kumkuats, succulents and billy buttons, juxtaposed against the more sleek and modern platinum napkins and silverware, creating the perfect blend of some rustic and masculine earthiness with a contemporary look...To take classic, old-world San Francisco charm and combine it with the intimacy and warmth of both Quaker tradition and candlelit meals. A night with different moods, but that had elegance, unity and flow and most of all fun!"

And one last note, Michael and Christian's wedding was chosen to be featured on Out Magazine's website! We're very happy for this couple and wish them many many years together! Cheers!

{Vendor Love}
Ceremony/Reception: Bently Reserve
Event Coordinator: Vibrant Events
Floral Designer: Ixia Flowers
Cake: Jasmine Rae Bakery
Catering: LRE Catering
Rental Company: Hartmann Studios
Lighting: Got Light?
Music: Golden State Productions
My Second Shooter: Rana Faure 

Alycia & Neal :: Love is an Eternal Flame

Alycia and Neal's love story began even before they knew it. Their lives before they met had many similarities and they knew of each other for a long time, but didn't really know each other. They grew up in neighboring North Bay Towns (Novato and Petaluma), both attended Chico State, both of their fathers worked for the San Francisco Fire Department, Alycia's brother became a firefighter around the same time as Neil and finally, after 2 department-organized trips, Alycia and Neal felt the sparks! And that brings us to the wedding...

The couple chose St. Patrick's Catholic Church as Alycia's family ties to it go back a few generations. Father John Greene, the San Francisco Fire Department's Chaplain (and close family-friend) conducted the ceremony. And Neal's 96-year old grandmother served as the flower girl. The ceremony was beautiful and heartfelt and the family ties were special.

After the ceremony, we followed the bridal party to the Embarcadero for some fun shots. There was excitement and fun in the air for sure. We moved on to the reception at the Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco. Lots of smiles, speeches and dancing.

Thank you Alycia and Neal for letting us all be part of your day! Congratulations!

Ceremony: St. Patrick's Catholic Church
Reception: Marines' Memorial Club 
Floral Design: Floramor Studios 
Hair/Makeup: Sherrie Long 
Cake: Branching Out Cakes 
Lighting: Got Light 
DJ: Feet First Entertainment 

 

Melissa & Yasuo :: 300 Love Letters

Melissa and Yasuo have a classic and almost old-fashioned love story. I have to thank Melissa right off the bat for writing me a beautiful essay about their romance so that I could share it here. Anything in quotation marks is written by Melissa. Here's how it starts: Melissa, a spunky, sophisticated Chinese-American girl lived on one side of the ocean and Yasuo, a young Tokyo business manager lived in Japan. They met through a mutual friend who insisted on a group date in Tokyo. Afterward, Yasuo finally mustered the courage to ask Melissa out to dinner for English lessons. "Being from different worlds didn't stop their chemistry. Yasuo pursued Melissa with daily surprises, and Melissa brought Yasuo out of his comfort zone and on countless adventures."

"But soon, Melissa and Yasuo would be separated by an ocean. Yasuo attempted to proclaim that marriage was certainly in their future, but Melissa set Yasuo on the seemingly impossible task to write 300 handwritten letters before it could happen. Though unspoken, something inside both of them knew that the “international long distance relationship” was something they could conquer together. Somewhere between moving over 5,000 miles from Japan, learning English, getting to know Melissa’s culture and family, and proposing under the Golden Gate Bridge with a Ziplock bag of cherry blossoms in hand, Yasuo completed his 300th letter to Melissa."

"On May 6, their wedding day, they both read their 300^th letters to one another as their wedding vows in front of family and friends gathered at Cavallo Point – the Lodge at the Golden Gate in Sausalito, California."

Congratulations to Melissa and Yasuo. May your love be never-ending!

Ceremony: Cavallo Point Chapel :: Reception: Cavallo Point Callippe Ballroom
2nd shooter: Kevin Meynell :: Flowers: Naco Floral Art 
Cupcakes: Lynda Vuong :: Hair/Makeup: Juan Li, Elite Stylist
Lighting: Swank AV :: Photobooth: MNM Photobooths
DJ: DJ Trixx :: Ceremony/Cocktail Music: Quartetto Fabrizio 

Melissa + Yasuo Engagement Session :: Hotspots in San Francisco

 

Katherine + Bob {Love and Laughter @ SF City Hall}

Privately united on the Mayor's Balcony at beautiful San Francisco's City Hall, Katherine and Bob shared their vows with their closest friends and family.  The reception was held at San Francisco's waterfront finest restaurant - The Water Bar.  A special 'thank you' to Kathleen Harrison for helping me with this wedding ~ you are a pleasure to work with my dear.