Mitchell + Sarah / Intimate Rainy Backyard LA Wedding

This wedding was almost ten years in the making. These two met as camp counselors in Kodiak, Alaska — where Mitchell lived and where Sarah was leaving SoCal to come up and work. This was the start of an almost decade long journey of on and off again relationships, long distance friendships, but always thinking the best of each other and rooting for one another.

I got to meet them a couple years into their journey to marriage — I too was coming up from SoCal to be a camp counselor. I remember always hoping that they would get the timing right because I was so impressed with how kind they spoke about each other even when they were broken up. I remember respecting Sarah so much for how steadfast she was in caring for Mitchell and his family. Even when they were off, Sarah was always on in his family’s heart. She was family forever.

Whenever they would stop dating other people I would be hoping that they would be at the right place or the right time, and getting to see that wonderful notification on Facebook one day that they were engaged was such a huge swell in my heart.

All the adventures, miles, conversations, and everything in between was used by God to bring them to this point. Please enjoy their sweet sweet wedding day.

Chris + Christina / Good Morning Joshua Tree

It’s a wonderful thing to wake up and drive to a national park. Joshua Tree is just over 2 hours from our SoCal home base in Riverside, aka my parents’ house. We got some coffee before heading into the park and definitely asked the caffeine to help us wake up as the sun continued to wake.

I’m pretty sure Chris didn’t talk the first hour we were in the park. Ha. But after we all climbed on some of the big rocks I think playing on nature’s playground helped us come alive.

Since we were in the park after sunrise we got to use some of the best of direct sunlight — shadows, the colors illuminating between jumbo rock crevices, and of course the vibrancy of the desert.

As the desert brightened up it was so sweet to see Chris + Christiana’s goofy side illuminate too. YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE HITCH HIKING PHOTOS. (A car actually stopped. Whoops.)

Anywho, please enjoy these best friends and their ventures around Joshua Tree on an early Sunday morning.

Love you guys!

Josh + Taryn / Arizona Campground Wedding

Ever been to a wedding at a campground?

Yeah, me either, till Josh + Taryn’s adventurous hearts showcased their favorite things. These two spend free weekends collecting more pins for their adventure wall map of places they’ve been together. Following them on instagram I feel like I’ve learned more about awesome places to go to in Arizona that Nat Geo could tell me. They are truly adventurers. So it makes sense that their wedding would happen at a campground near the White Tank mountains.

This is one of my favorite weddings we’ve ever photographed. The reason being these two created a whole day that was about their whole selves. From Taryn getting ready in their beautiful home, to Josh playing card games with his groomsmen, to their first look in their home, to their “send off” with Harry Potter and their pups.

Josh + Taryn are best friends but they are also so different from each other. Taryn was the bright warm light on the dance floor inviting everyone to dance. Josh came over and talked to us for a while when we were sitting next to his pup Roger (the bigger one). But they are both such fierce friends to their tribe in their unique ways.

If you remember, we did their engagement photos in their home. And the way their wedding day ended back at home with Roger and Alby (nicknamed from Albus Dumbledore) was the most poetic end to one of the most personality driven weddings.

Please enjoy!

TIPS FOR BRIDES + GROOMS

How to make your wedding more about you as a couple:

Taryn and Josh crushed this. One thing I really appreciated about how Taryn planned was that there were tons of details, but each detail was meaningful or sentimental to them.

Another thing was that they had their dogs in their wedding with them. I would 1000/10 recommend this if your pups can handle it. They had to make some accommodations for the dogs but at the end of the reception Taryn had one of the sweetest moments with her pup Roger. They didn’t just have their dogs as an accessory, they were apart of the whole day, start to finish.

Lastly, Josh + Taryn communicated with us so well about what was important to them, but also they communicated to their coordinator/planner and other vendors. It was very clear who and what they cared for. Please please tell your photographers / videographers what you value. We love to give you photos you love , not just pretty things.