Irene on the other hand. . . we met her last year while photographing her cousin’s engagement session.  Hanging around her is a little weird because we act so much alike.  She’s my kindred spirit, my sista from another mista. . . (okay, that was lame) but fact is, it was so hard photographing her wedding because I had to keep an absolute professional and straight face the entire time, which meant, no cracking jokes and laughing in the background.  I love her.

Joe & Irene, congratulations again.  We are so very blessed and honored to have been a part of your wedding.  Love you guys!!  Here are just a few teasers for you.  ;-)

We couldn’t have asked for a better wedding to round out our wedding season of 2011.  We literally spent all day with Wenjie and Ashley, venturing off to the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco to do a first look, pre-wedding session,  to capturing their ten-course dinner reception at The Legendary Palace in Oakland.  It was definitely a beautiful day for a wedding for such a well-deserving couple.

They say that chance occurrences in life all happen for a reason. . . Reasons far from our own myopic foresight. Sometimes you cross paths with someone and instinctively know that you want that person in your life forever.  Strong friendships usually start off this way:  You meet someone who completely gets you and vice versa and BOOM!  You have an unyielding connection.

With Joshua & Michelle, I look at them and they epitomize this exact bond.  A connection so strong and enduring that you know that regardless of what life throws at them their love and faith in God will bring them through it.  I can attest to this, sitting for hours over tea with them, me teary-eyed listening to how they leaned on each other after both losing one of their parents not that long ago.  They reminded me that that bond of friendship with your spouse holds such a strong and important foundation in a healthy marriage.

Joshua & Michelle, thank  you for inviting us into your lives and entrusting us with your story.  There were so many images we loved that Amari had a difficult time choosing which ones to post on the blog.  We are very honored to have witnessed this very special moment and cannot wait to hear more of your new adventures together!  You two deserve all the happiness in the world and we hope that God continues to bless you two with many happy days ahead.  Love you guys!!

After receiving Remilla‘s email inquiring about our photography services for her and Emil’s Fall wedding I knew that they were the perfect couple for us.  They were the type of couple we wanted to photograph.  It sounds silly to proclaim such a statement from something as simple as words in black and white but something drew us to them.  Looking back in hindsight, it was the artist in both of us.

We photographed their engagement session sometime in the Summer and since then we’ve been way too excited to the days leading up to their “big day”.  Not only because it gave us a chance to kick it with them again but because we were excited to see all the love they put in to the wedding details.  From the handmade boutonnieres to Remilla’s hairpiece and bird cage veil, there were so many special intricacies that made this day truly theirs.

Congratulations to the both of you!  Thank you for letting us be a part of your day.  You guys rock!  Thanks, Jong Arcega, for allowing us to photograph your daughter’s big day.  I hope we made you proud!

Oh, and thanks to my little bro, Mike Yra, for copping that significant red umbrella in a clutch when we needed it.  You see how it made such a huge difference, Mike?

Ceremony: St. Catherine’s of Siena Parish

Venue:  Vezer Family Vineyard

Here are a few stolen moments from Matt and Ariana’s wedding.  It was an honor to be a part of your day!

Matt & Arie, thank you for giving us the opportunity to capture these moments for you two.  The ceremony will go down in our history books as one of the most memorable, meaningful, and humorous that we’ve ever witnessed.

Great day.  Great celebration.  Great family and friends.  Adam & Julie you both are truly blessed.  Nirav, thanks for inviting me to Monte Rio to rock with you, man.  Nothing but good times.  Make sure to check out the full story of Adam & Julie’s wedding by my boy, Nirav.  I promise it’ll inspire you.

I think the hardest thing about writing a commentary is being able to put into words an emotion, a memory, an experience. . .  It doesn’t make it any easier when you write a post about someone who has been in your life for as long as my cousin, Eric has been in mine.  Since we were young we’ve always been called “twins” for the simple fact that we act so much alike.  Not to mention, we have a weird sixth sense when it comes to knowing that something is going on in each other’s lives even though we’ve lived across the seas or across the nation for a good part of our adult lives.  For example, the minute I gave birth to my first born, his God daughter, my phone rings and he says, “Wassup, cuz?  Whatchu doin’?”  Unbeknownst to him, I just went through 36 hours of labor.  My brother-from-another-mother. . . we’re kindred spirits.

When Eric told me about Jana I didn’t need to hear too much to know that he was really serious about her.  When they came to visit us from Florida it confirmed it for me that he was going to marry her one day.  Don’t ask me how, I just knew.  First thing that I remember about Jana was her genuine kindness and warmth.  I loved her instantly.  Plus, her Southern draw in her Tennessee accent is one of the most adorable things I’ve ever heard.  Eric loved her and so did Kieran, Eric’s son.  In fact, Eric asked for his permission if he could marry her.  It was in November when he first told me the news and a few weeks later in December he sent me a MMS of the ring telling me he was going to propose that night.

He and Keiran cooked her favorite dinner (which I’m still waiting for the recipe, by the way), Chicken Shells a la Caprese.  During dinner Keiran could hardly contain himself and Eric finally gives him a nod.  He scurries off and comes back with something behind his back.  Now keep in mind that this seven year old has been keeping this little secret for a while.  The anticipation was eating him up inside.  He looks at his dad who, at that moment, starts to get on one knee.  Keiran opens a little box that housed a beautiful solitaire and says, “Ms. Jana, will you be my Step Mom?”   Of course Eric asked her too but it’s not as cute as Keiran’s proposal.

When they asked us to photograph their wedding in Jamaica we were honored.  None of us had ever been there so it was quite an adventure for all of us.   It not only gave us the opportunity to document a beautiful and intimate wedding, but it gave us the rare chance to share laughs with two of our favorite people eating our fair share of Jamaican Jerk Nachos (that we made up) and knocking back a whole lot of Jamaican Smiles.  Best. Time. Ever.

Eric & Jana, we love you guys and we thank you for letting us be a part of such an important moment in your lives.  We are blessed, to say the least, that we have you guys as family.

YAH MON!

Eric and Ann, thank you so much for the opportunity to photograph your special day.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  I loved how you both opened up your home and made it a big family party which I think says a lot about you two as a couple, genuinely loving and caring.  I can go on for days talking about about how fun it was, about all the shot’s that were taken or just about all the moments in general that allowed me tell this beautiful story.

Ann, you looked absolutely beautiful–so excited and full of smiles.  I’ll never forget how your face would light up every time you told someone:  ”I’m a Manuel n0w!”

Eric, dude, you had a taco truck at your reception!  There’s nothing I can say but, “You the man!”  Lol!  Those tacos were on hit! Forreal!  But honestly, Eric, you have all the makings of a good husband and you are a true family man.

Shout out to Christian Antonio for doing an amazing job second shooting and congrats Eric and Ann! I wish you two nothing but the best on your journey together.

To contact us, please email us at info@foot-candles.com.

I can’t recall when I first met Sue.  It had to be sometime when I was younger, way younger so when she told me that she was getting married I just had to meet the lucky guy.  I’ve always admired Sue for being not only an extremely successful attorney but for having such a happy-go-lucky personality.  I also like the fact that her and I can have a conversation about really good wine, although she prefers white wines versus the reds I like.  I have to admit, the girl is cool as hell.  No joke.   So when she chose for us to photograph her and Jon’s wedding story we were stoked!  For those of you who haven’t seen their engagement session that we photographed, click here.

Amari and Christian ran with this wedding as Baby Olivia and I were honored enough to be guests for their wedding.  Our team started off the day capturing their story at their home with the bridesmaids getting beautified by Lanay from The Make Up Girl.  Thereafter, we followed her to the venue, Kenyon Estate, where the ceremony and reception took place.  With the decor set up by Mariel and the cupcakes by Cakebox Cupcakery it call came together as one gorgeous gathering place.  It was truly a beautiful day to have a wedding.  The frames below are some of Amari’s faves.  Hope you like them!

Enjoy!