Had a blast with Wana and RJ in downtown, I got to watch him serenade Wana with some piano playing goodness before we headed off to Otay Lakes in Chula Vista for some gorgeous portraits.

A few months ago I had the opportunity to photograph a wedding in San Juan, Puerto Rico with the awesome Michelle and Armand. They hail from New Jersey and wanted to have a destination wedding in Puerto Rico and I was more than happy to help capture their memories. The sun, the sand and the food are definitely reasons for me to add Puerto Rico to my vacation destinations. We rocked the La Concha Resort and went around Old San Juan for some day after portraits as well. A big thanks to Uyen Vo for 2nd shooting and also check out the feature on Perfect Bound Blog from this wedding. Also, feel free to watch the slideshow of the wedding day at the end of the post.

Coordination / Karishna Khelani
Venue / La Concha Resort
Hair & Makeup / Leslie Ayala
DJ / DJ Rockhand
Florist / EOS Events
Videographer / REB6Studios

I had met Jordan and Antares at a wedding for another amazing couple, Julie and Dan (whose wedding post is coming soon!) and we hit it off instantly. They had the idea of doing a country look in Julian, the county East of San Diego. Marissa Rodriguez and I followed them into the mountains for one of the funnest engagement sessions ever, love just exuded from this couple. We started off in some fields and ended the session doing their favorite thing, hanging around on the back of Antares pickup.

This was a gorgeous wedding with Kelly and Matt at the Del Sur Ranch House in San Diego, one of the worlds greenest buildings! A big thanks to Keli of Monarch Weddings and to Marissa Rodriguez for shooting with me.

Matt’s best friend Jeremy was the officiant for the wedding, here he is practicing for the moment.

Coordination / Keli Christenson of Monarch Weddings
Venue / Del Sur Ranch House
Rentals / Abbey Party Rentals
Makeup / Kristi Regina
DJ / OccasionMan Productions
Bartender / Kevin’s Bartending Services
Caterer / Perfect Everytime Catering
Florist / Ali Eli Florist

Ah the lovely Aileen and Elson, I have so much fun everytime I see them and their amazing group of friends. The day was gorgeous and we couldn’t have asked for anything more, I even got parking in La Jolla right away for their first look! We did the first look where Elson proposed to Aileen and the sneaky guy even had a hidden camera setup for the proposal for a special surprise video that played at the reception.

Love, its what we live for.

The ceremony was held at the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala and the reception at the Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla. A big thanks Kathrina of Joe+Kathrina for 2nd shooting and seeing how crazy I roll, haha and to Brandi of Skybox Event Productions for having the wedding run without a hitch. A full vendor list at the bottom of the post, so now enjoy my favorite photographs from the day.

Coordinator /  Skybox Event Productions
Ceremony / Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala
Reception / Scripps Seaside Forum
Makeup / Rita Nguyen
Hair / Model Call Salon (Lizbeth Hathorn)
Cake / Sumi’s Oven
Florist / Fancy That! Designs
Caterer / Peartrees Catering
Linens + Drapings / Fusion Linens
DJ + Lighting / Playtime Attractions
Transportation / Top Dog Limo
Invitations / Kalea Inviatations
Videography / NR3 Video Productions

Did a maternity session with my cousin Geraldine, her boyfriend Chris, his daughter Kayla and the dude in the belly Jordan. Since she’s my cousin, I had to enforce the “no nudity allowed” clause. Special thanks to Wilma of Lovely Jubilee for styling the shoot and Eugenia of Petit Plume for the hair accessories.

Yup, this is him, cute ain’t he?

Jelynna, AJ and I had been planning this underwater bridal session when we first booked their wedding, I was actually more excited for this shoot then going off to Hawaii for their wedding, haha. I loved that Jelynna used two dresses for the bridal session, so we can get some different pops of color, it definitely added a different dimension. A big big thanks to Marissa Rodriguez, who helped out as well as took shots 5 and 6 from way down in the pool, she is a way better swimmer than I am. Also to July Chanthamart for the hair and makeup.

Our bridal session also get a few spreads in Issue 16 of Utterly Engaged, check out a few more images as well as the awesome magazine by clicking on the photo below.

I jokingly asked if I should write the blog post for our family photos as a “guest blogger” and Chaz responded with a sure, whatever. Ummmm, I think I was just kidding? But he must have known that I have no problem chatting away during any chance I get. So here I am. In Chaz’ studio listening to cool music that I’m not hip enough to know about on my own surrounded by beautiful pieces of art while I try to find the words to explain how pleased, no, how thrilled I am with the result of these photos. *deep breath*

Here’s the short version of us, the Flores family…my older brother and his wife moved to Hawaii about a year and a half ago and had a baby. We are all completely in love with said baby and longed for their visit to San Diego this year. Perfect timing for updated family portraits to include baby Eliana since she wasn’t around last year. We wanted the photos to be completely out of this world amazing so we can show Eliana when she’s older that we were in fact, pretty cool at one point. We wanted to stay away from anything traditional. With lots of color. Lots of laughs. And as much realness as possible. Enter, Mr. Chaz Cruz.

Enjoy!

-M

Marissa writes too much. Enjoy. – Chaz

The next two shots are taken by my amazing assistant, Mr. Kim Marcelo.