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.

Oh man, so much fun with Jelynn and AJ in Hawaii, their whole wedding was gorgeous and so well planned from start to finish. It literally felt like 3 weddings in 1 with the dress changes and all the details! It was held at the Oceanfront Oasis and is the estate where Elizabeth Taylor stayed when she was in Honolulu! A huge thanks to Marissa Rodriguez for photographing along with me, it seemed only natural since she’s moving to the islands at the end of the year!

I photographed Leigh and Steve’s engagement session up in Del Mar during an unusually overcast Summer day. I think its because they recently moved to Seattle  that they had to have the beautiful and soft light that covers the city.

I headed up to San Jose for the wedding of Mary and Eddy, it was a stylish affair at the San Jose Hilton in downtown, which I must say is a pretty swanky spot. I loved their engagement session that we did in San Francisco because of their style, so their wedding definitely didn’t disappoint. A super huge thank you to Megan Welker who drove up to photograph with me, enjoy my favorites from the day.