• Wedding Photography in the San Francisco Bay Area

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    Welcome to Choco Studio!

    Hey there, you found us! We are San Francisco wedding photographers Mike and Nat.  This journal is where we share all of the awesome weddings, engagement sessions, as well as more personal news about us.  We absolutely love to capture emotional and candid wedding photos as well as crazy creative portraits of our couples.  We hope you'll share in our passion!

    If you can't get enough and want to see many more pictures please visit our wedding and engagement galleries.   To view the various topics shared in our journal, check out the "categories" menu above.  Enjoy your visit and we look forward to hearing from you!  
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Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery has always been one of our favorite wedding venues and we were excited to come back to it for Eumee and Jonathan’s wedding a few weeks ago. The details and moments of this event truly made it a memorable day for us. We love to get to know our clients during their engagement sessions and it was great to have this opportunity when we photographed this couple on The Embarcadero.

Here are some favorites from their fabulous wedding day:

Bride and groom portraits in the vineyard

 

Eumee was getting ready at Casa Real’s Bridal Suite:

Bride getting ready at Casa Real bridal suite

 

Jonathan’s getting ready:

Groom getting ready in Casa Real

 

Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery

 

Candles were all over the venue, providing beautiful warm light:

Reception details of Casa Real wedding

 

Eumee and Jonathan decided to see each other before the ceremony and I love the look of anticipation on Eumee’s face!

First Look at Casa Real

 

The ceremony room lighting and decorations were just WOW:

Casa Real wedding ceremony

 

Wedding rings and Christian Louboutin shoes

 

Loved the reception decor as well:

Reception decor at Casa Real wedding

 

Their first dance:

Bride and groom first dance

 

Casa real dark reception room

 

Casa Real portraits

 

Bride and groom at the fountain at Casa Real

 

A gorgeous sunset brought the finishing touches to the beautiful light we had on this day:

Sunset photo session at Casa Real

 

Congratulations to Eumee and Jonathan, we wish you all the best!!

All the vendors of the day:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery
Hair & Makeup: A-list Makeup
DJ/Band: Fantasy Sound Event Services
Florals: Nicole Ha
Catering: Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery
Wedding Cake: Margaret’s French Bakery

To see one more gorgeous Casa Real wedding photographed by Choco Studio visit Casa Real Wedding Photos

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About Choco Studio: This is the blog of award-winning San Francisco wedding photographers Mike and Nat. We appreciate you visiting our blog and invite you to view more galleries and connect with us!

CONTACT US                        VIEW PORTFOLIO                         FIND US ON FACEBOOK

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The San Francisco “Empress Events” yacht wedding was just featured on the 7×7 magazine blog! We are always happy to see our clients spotlighted, but this feature is even more special to us as Michelle and Sergio are also our dear friends!

San Francisco Empress Events Yacht Wedding

 

And here is their super cute story:

Technically, Sergio Villarreal wasn’t actually crashing—it was a holiday party for the tenants of a San Francisco office building where the start-up he worked for had just opened shop. But Michelle Gonzalez, who was the property manager at the time, says he might as well have been an uninvited guest. “In the older and conservatively dressed crowd, he and his coworkers stood out like sore thumbs,” she says. “They seemed like party crashers!” Because she was the only other person in the crowd in their peer group, Sergio and his coworkers came over to chat with her. Cards were exchanged, lunch dates were made, and five years later, Sergio and Michelle were getting married.

“We thought about eloping, but our parents really wanted to see us getting married,” says Michelle. “We didn’t give ourselves much time between our engagement and wedding day, so it was a bit stressful. I decided to attack it like I was planning an event at work.”

The biggest trick to pulling it together in a matter of months was going with vendors she had used in the past. From the photographers to the boat for the reception—at one time or another Michelle had worked with them all. “Going with people you know means that you know their work and you know what to expect—and they know you,” says Michelle. “It was a lot less stressful that way.”

The day started at the St. Regis, where the couple stayed and got ready for the wedding. “Of course, we live in San Francisco, so technically we didn’t need to get a room,” says Michelle. “But it made it more special to get out of our every day apartment.”

Next the couple went to City Hall, where they were married in a brief ceremony. Then they all headed out to Pier 40 for cocktails and dancing on the Empress yacht. “I’d used them before for work events,” says Michelle. “I knew that it would be a lot of fun, and it would give our guests, many of them from out of town, the opportunity to see all of San Francisco. We also got to watch the Blue Angels perform and dolphins swimming by—and everyone joked that the dolphins were so perfect, we must have hired them.”

Something about being on the water got the party started. “Once we set sail, everyone just let loose,” says Michelle.

Back on land, the couple invited many of the guests to join them in a private dining room for a special meal. “Not only do I love the food at Boulevard, I loved the rich red color of the room,” says Michelle. “It was very romantic.”

Given the settings, it wasn’t the most traditional wedding. “We aren’t traditional people,” says Michelle. “We are more laidback and playful, and our wedding showed that.”

By Mary Jo Bowling on November 25, 2011

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About Choco Studio: This is the blog of award-winning San Francisco wedding photographers Mike and Nat. We appreciate you visiting our blog and invite you to view more galleries and connect with us!

CONTACT US                        VIEW PORTFOLIO                         FIND US ON FACEBOOK

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For years we kept hearing about Auberge du Soleil – a magical place to get married in the heart of Wine Country, but we’ve never had a chance to actually check it out. Well, a couple of weeks ago we were excited to have the opportunity to photograph Karen and Gemmy’s big day at Auberge! Karen and Gemmy are a sweet couple and we enjoyed getting to know them during their engagement session at UC Berkeley. We’ve been looking forward to their wedding day ever since and I have to say that Auberge probably has one of the most beautiful ceremony views I’ve ever seen – you can see almost the entire valley from the Ceremony deck!

Here are our favorites:

Auberge Du Soleil wedding photography

 

Karen had one of our favorite make-up artist – Penny Do – helping her to get ready for the wedding:

Auberge Du Soleil wedding preparations

 

Bride getting ready at Auberge Du Soleil

 

We love large and bright bridal rooms because there are so many possibilities when there’s light and some room to move around!

Putting on make up at Auberge Du Soleil

 

This one is my favorite from the preparation series – Penny and a bridesmaid helping Karen to put on and bustle her dress. I think this angle made it look slightly voyeuristic and I just love that! :)

Bridal preparations in Wine Country

 

Vintage sink + a pair of awesome shoes:

Wedding shoes in a sink

 

Karen looked absolutely breathtaking:

Auberge Du Soleil bride

 

Gemmy was getting ready in the next room over:

Groom getting ready in Wine Country

 

He also looked OK :)

Auberge Du Soleil groom

 

Karen and Gemmy opted to see each other before the ceremony (which we absolutely loved by the way) and here they are seeing each other for the first time:

Bride and groom first look

 

This was shot in Karen’s preparation room and is probably my favorite portrait of the day:

Creative portraits at Auberge Du Soleil

 

Well, I guess I also love this one:

Mirror reflection at Auberge Du Soleil wedding

 

Auberge du Soleil looked beautiful with all the Fall colors and wedding flowers around:

Auberge Du Soleil wedding wedding details

 

The ceremony view from the Terrace of Auberge:

Wedding ceremony at Auberge Du Soleil

 

Right after the ceremony we drove a golf cart down the hill into a quaint olive grove nestled on the edge of Auberge du Soleil’s property:

Bride and groom walking at Auberge Du Soleil garden

 

We love shooting portraits at sunset time – the light is gorgeous everywhere and the bride and groom can finally relax after a stressful morning and an emotional ceremony:

Emotional moment at Auberge

 

Last rays of sun on the desk of Auberge:

Bride and groom portrait with flair at Auberge

 

 

Wedding portrait in the olive grove

 

 

Bride and groom in the olive grove of Auberge

 

The sun already set when we came back to the Ceremony Deck and the beautiful valley looked peaceful:

View from the Ceremony deck of Auberge Du Soleil

 

Bride and groom reflection in water

 

One more photo on the deck:

Bride and groom on the terrace of Auberge Du Soleil

 

Lovely reception details:

Wedding reception in Auberge Du Soleil

 

As always, we were happy to see familiar faces among the guests – Megan and Albert had their wedding last Fall at the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus:

Wedding flowers

 

And of course a picture of the rings:

Wedding bands at reception

 

All the vendors of the day:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Auberge du Soleil
Hair & Makeup: Penney Do
DJ: Dan Doyle @ Platinum Disc Jockeys
Florals: Lavender Florals
Catering: Auberge du Soleil
Wedding Cake: Peeples Baking

--------------------------

About Choco Studio: This is the blog of award-winning San Francisco wedding photographers Mike and Nat. We appreciate you visiting our blog and invite you to view more galleries and connect with us!

CONTACT US                        VIEW PORTFOLIO                         FIND US ON FACEBOOK

Comments 1 Comment »

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