Natalie and Brian found me though one of the wonderful Briggs sisters, Julie Dunn! Julie started out as one of my brides, years ago, and also happens to be an amazing and talented wedding coordinator up in San Francisco. Julie (and the other Dunn sisters) have referred me to a number of brides (often times, some of my very favorite brides, in fact. So Ryan, Julie's husband is related to Natalie, who I originally met when I was shooting Ryan and Julie's wedding. When Julie let me know that Natalie was interested in me, I was excited, because like I said, the Briggs sisters always refer GREAT brides to me, and I knew Natalie (and Brian) would be no exception, and that was in fact, the case.
The breathtaking bride. I love the excitement and happiness in her eyes, it's one of my favorite portraits of her...
Natalie and Brian, both from San Francisco, were excited to celebrate their city, and their wedding felt like a very old-school San Francisco wedding (in the best possible way). They were married at a venerated private social club, which I actually am unable to name, but it is a San Francisco institution, and I was thrilled to get to work in a place with so much history, not to mention the fact that it's incredibly beautiful inside!
We started the day in a park at the top of Nob Hill, where all the guys met me for their photos. We had a lot of fun with them, walking all over, taking photos on the steps of Grace Cathedral, going into the Hotel Huntington, and taking pictures of the guys at this really cool old bar, walking around Huntington park, and down to the Fairmont, and ending up in front of another San Francisco private social club, the Pacific-Union club, which has an amazing edifice.
Here's our San Francisco-looking homage to the Beatles Abbey Road cover.
There were so many remarkable landmarks on top of Nob Hill to take pictures around, and the guys were really fun, so we had a blast, even doing some sillier photos, even doing a San-Francisco version of the Abbey Road photo, with all of San Francisco in the background (which I loved!).
From shooting with the guys, we walked a few blocks down to Natalie's parents gorgeous apartment, where all the girls were gathered and in various stages of readiness.While the girls were getting their hair and makeup done, I was able to roam around the apartment taking pictures of the getting-ready madness, which I love so much, along with all the detail shots (flowers, makeup scattered everywhere, the dress hanging up, etc., etc.), which are always so fun for me to shoot. All the girls looked so lovely, and the apartment was so gorgeous that no matter where I shot, it looked great!
The veil, blowing in the breeze coming through the window.
The dress (as it was already set-up -- thanks Julie!), when I walked into Natalie's parents' gorgeous apartment...
The dress, two ways...
I'm grateful to Natalie's mom and dad for making us feel so welcome and basically giving us the run of the entire place, so we could get so many varied shots! Once Natalie had finished getting ready, and the girls were good to go, we did some quick bridesmaid and family shots, and then we were able to get some beautiful bridal portraits of Natlie, (with the light streaming in from the fantastic bay windows - with views of the entire city all around), it was a photographers dream. Not only does their apartment was so elegant, it could have easily been on the cover of a high-end decorating magainze, but Natalie looked radiant; I really didn't have to work hard at all, because the combination of the two were perfect! I loved the bridal portraits we got of Natalie, and then it was time to rush to the church!
Notre Dames des Victoires is sugh an amazing church, which also has a long history in San Francisco, which dates back to 1849! The ceremony was lovely and afterwards we all went back up to the top of Nob Hill, and met in Huntington Park, and shot all the bridal party and faimly portraits. Once we finished those, we did almost the same loop around Nob Hill that we did with the guys, but it was just Natalie and Brian. I really love the portraits that we were able to take, especially the ones where the city is featured so prominently in the background. It was an absolutely perfect day, and there wasn't even a bit of fog in the sky, so we had a clear view all the way to the water, and just enough wind to move the veil around a little.
When we finished the portraits, we zipped over to the club, and we were able to take some fun shots of Natalie and Brian in the library (which is my DREAM library; it even has the library ladder, because the books are basically floor to ceiling, and a catwalk(!) no less, to reach all the books - it was a heavenly room, to me). After we took a few shots in the library, we left Natalie and Brian alone to have some time together, and then the reception went into full swing. The dinner was great, the toasts were funny and sweet, and the dancing was the best! As is true of the best weddings, the dance floor was PACKED the entire time, they had a great band, and everyone was ready to rhumba. Natalie and Brian both have classic, elegant taste and it was reflected in every detail. I felt honored to be asked to be their wedding photographer, and was thrilled with how the photos came out. Thank you, Natalie and Brian, for asking me to shoot your special day!
If you'd like to see the slideshow of some of my favorite shots, you can do so by clicking here to be taken to the slideshow, or if you want to view some of my favorites, I've posted a bunch below, after the jump. Just click on the 'continue reading' link, directly below...
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