This summer we’ve been super lucky to see familiar faces at almost every wedding. We’ve seen our past brides and grooms as wedding guests, bridesmaids and groomsmen, maids of honors and even officiants! It feels good to see that we’ve made our clients so happy that they continue to refer us to their friends and family. This wedding was also like this – we met Sasha at a wedding last summer where she gave a super sweet and emotional speech as the maid of honor and were excited when she got in touch to have us photograph her own wedding.

Sasha and Evgeny got married at the Palace Hotel in downtown San Francisco – one of our very favorite hotels in the city. Full of history and beautiful light, this venue is ideal for a real San Francisco wedding and it’s always a pleasure to shoot here.

 

 

I’m posting two photos of these shoes because I absolutely was not able to choose which one I like better. What can be better than sparkly shoes with red soles?

 

So which of these two shoes photos do you prefer?

 

As it often happens at weddings, we were a bit short on time, but we still had a few minutes to take photos of Sasha before their First Look. Sasha looked absolutely stunning and we could shoot her forever in this vintage hotel room!

 

A kiss in the hallways of the Palace Hotel:

 

This one is my favorite from the day, love how Evgeny is looking at his bride!

 

 

 

 

 

We were lucky enough to photograph beautiful vintage cars at two weddings in a row this summer! Sasha and Evgeny chose to get an awesome white Rolls to drive them around for portraits. We pulled into a small, quaint alleyway near the Place Hotel to capture this photo:

 

 

Photographs inside such cars always have such a nice old time feel to them:

 

The wedding ceremony was held at the Sunset Court of the Palace Hotel – an incredible room with a beautiful domed glass ceiling which gives the feeling of being outside and looking at the San Francisco cityscape while being in a warm room. We love shooting ceremonies in this room because it always has the most beautiful light no matter the weather and time of the day.

 

 

 

Both the cocktail hour as well as the wedding reception in the Gold Ballroom were beautifully decorated with lots of candles:

 

 

The father-daughter dance in the Gold Ballroom:

 

Loved the guest reactions here:

 

Fun hora dancing in the beautifully lit Gold Ballroom is always a treat:

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Sasha and Evgeny – thank you for sharing your wonderful day with us. We loved being there for you and wish you the very best!

 

Thank you to all the wonderful vendors of the day:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: The Palace Hotel San Francisco
Wedding Planning: Any Occasion
Hair & Makeup: Faina & Mariya Andreyevskikh
Band: Regina All Stars
Florals: Supinere Floral Couture
Catering: Beli Deli

To view one more gorgeous Palace Hotel wedding photographed by Choco Studio visit San Francisco Palace Hotel Wedding Photos

 

We met Barbara about three years ago when she was a bridesmaid at Gina and Jason’s wedding at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club. Mike and I were absolutely delighted when she let us know that she’s engaged now and would love to have us as their wedding photographers! My excitement started the second she began talking about her wedding: with Vintage Travel theme this Corinthian Room wedding was promising to be absolutely amazing! It was super fun to watch Barbara plan her wedding throughout the year (we even had a chance to help her a bit with a few suggestions here and there).

Morning preparations are one of my favorite parts of the day – I just love all the excitement and nervousness in the air, love the smell of perfume and curling irons, the giggles and tears that usually climax in a happy exhale from the bridesmaids when they see their friend all ready in the white dress. There’s so much to capture during this part of the day – preparations, emotions, wedding details… We often don’t have a choice where to shoot the preparations and how much time we have for it, but our favorites are bright and large uncluttered hotel rooms with a lot of time on our hands to really get creative. Fortunately, when we arrived at the San Jose Fairmont for Barbara’s preparations we found just that – a huge bridal suite and a bunch of time for Mike to capture the candids and for me to play with Barbara’s stunning dress and shoes.

 

We were excited to work with Edgar Martinez of Flowers by Edgar for this wedding. Edgar was the florist for our own wedding almost a year ago and I knew that there would be nobody better to bring Barbara’s vintage theme to life! I also absolutely adored Barbara’s hairstyle which was in tune with the overall theme. Love those shapes and curls!

 

I couldn’t get enough of these Loubs! Barbara spiced them up by adding feather clips and they looked stunning!

 

More details:

 

 

Loved Barbara’s use of an iPad for her wedding vows:

 

This is what we saw running out of the church right after the ceremony – a first hug as a family:

 

Barbara and Carlos rented a classic getaway car and we had a ton of fun taking pictures in it, on it and next to it. We love, love using cars as props – they add so much to the photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful seating card arragement at the entrance to the Corinthian Ballroom:

 

For their grand entrance Barbara and Carlos appeared on the balcony of the Carinthian in true Hollywood style:

 

I knew that Edgar prepared something absolutely special for the reception in Corinthian Ballroom, and I couldn’t wait to take a peek inside! As always, he didn’t disappoint. Every guest table had the name of the city Barbara and Carlos visited and the whole centerpiece was themes to that city.

 

 

It was great to see Gina and Jason again – our bride and groom from three years ago! They partied hard and seemed to have tons of fun :)

 

Their first dance:

 

 

The light was beautiful during sunset hour and we went outside for more portraits:

 

 

 

I loved the cake display – simple and beautiful!

 

Dear Barbara and Carlos, we hope you’re enjoying every minute of your honeymoon! Thank you for the honor of documenting your love. – Nat + Mike

 

All the wonderful vendors of the day:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Corinthian Grand Ballroom
Wedding Design: Flowers by Edgar
DJ: Compulsive Soundz
Florals: Flowers by Edgar
Catering: Corinthian Grand Ballroom
Wedding Cake: Cake Expressions
Hair & Makeup: Rose Hill

 

The Dawn Ranch Lodge is truly one of our favorite outdoor venues in Northern California’s wine country. It’s located in the town of Guerneville, right on the Russian River, and the scenery all around this area is just breathtaking. Upon hearing from Erin and Kris, we were thrilled to invite them over to our home studio to learn all about their wedding day.

Right away we knew that this will be a laid back, relaxed, wedding focused on simply enjoying the day and the relationships between the people. We also learned that Erin will be wearing a GREEN wedding dress (which was a surprise for Kris) and we thought it was quite an original idea. How often do you see a bride in a dress as unique as this? Erin and Kris were also working on many DIY projects and we love it when we see couples infuse weddings with their personality. With a relative carefully selected to conduct their ceremony, they were all set for a wedding done just their way.

One of the things we love about Dawn Ranch weddings is that events here really become all-weekend celebrations. Erin and Kris hosted a casual BBQ at the same venue on the day prior to the nuptials and it seems that giving people a chance to spend time together is such a great way to get the party started. Guests were able to meet and mingle with everyone staying at the cute cottages on the property.

The actual wedding day was also beautiful throughout. Here are some faves from the day:

 

Loved the rustic flowers and details which fit the venue so well:

 

 

Preparations took place at the Olive Cottage:

 

 

Erin chose to wear a floral wreath on her head and it looked so different and fresh!

 

 

 

Part of the Dawn Ranch Lodge is an orchard and people often have their receptions and even ceremonies among the apple and plum trees:

 

Erin’s floral reef looked good on Kris too! Love her reaction :)

 

This dress was just perfect for a Dawn Ranch wedding – Erin looked like a fairy in the woods:

 

 

 

Their ceremony was on the giant lawn in the center of the property. Old redwoods provided a stunning backdrop as well as great shade from the sun:

 

Cocktail hour was perfectly back-lit by the afternoon sun:

 

 

 

 

OK I have to confess – this was my favorite part of the day :) I absolutely loved this cake display – different color and size cake stands made for a stunning table. And the various flavored cakes from Miette were to die for!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are excited to come back to Dawn Ranch for another wedding this winter which also promises to be unique and has us filled with anticipation! It’s truly an amazing place to share the day with people who mean the most to you.

All the wonderful vendors of the day:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Dawn Ranch Lodge
Hair & Makeup: Ali @ Studio 12
DJ/Band: Sean Patterson @ DJ St. Patrick
Florals: Studio Choo
Catering: Dawn Ranch Lodge
Wedding Cakes: Miette

To see more gorgeous Dawn Ranch Lodge weddings photographed by Choco Studio visit Dawn Ranch Lodge Wedding Guerneville