kind and loving!

The wedding of Christine and Ryan took place in September in San Francisco. I was honored to be asked to photograph Christine's wedding. Our parents go way back and I remember Christine attended my wedding almost exactly 15 years ago. She was only, I think 11 years old. She was very cute. I hadn't seen her since until I saw her again to photograph her and Ryan two months before their wedding. When I met Ryan, I was very impressed of how down to earth and kind he was. Christine looked like the exact copy of her mother.

The wedding took place the weekend when the Bay Bridge was to be closed for the weekend. The wedding ceremony took place at the Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco and reception was at Spinnaker in Sausalito. So, we were very anxious about getting across the bridge in time for the reception. We were anticipating lots of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge.

This wedding, I guess you can say, is a very highly anticipated one. Ryan and Christine have been together for many years. So you can imagine the emotions that were felt all around. As Christine puts on her dress, tears started pouring out. She hugs her mother. Christine is their only child so you can just imagine how Becky, the mom, was feeling. I tried to fight back tears--I have a job to do! She looked amazingly beautiful that day. Her hair, make up and dress were perfect. The flowers designed by Tomobi Floral Art was beautiful.

The ceremony site was very intimate with candles that lit the alter. It was small so it made for a very intimate setting. After the ceremony, as we left the church to sign the papers we heard applause from the crowd we just left. The minister told us they were applauding Christine's parents--Becky and Tim. I giggled when I heard it because Becky and Tim are so down-to-earth, funny and caring people and it shows in how they raised Christine.

After the ceremony, we headed to the Legion of Honor. We tried to hurry as much as we can because we were anticipating traffic and we didn't want to be late for the reception. So we decided to take the rest of the time for additional photos on the other side of Golden Gate Bridge just in case of traffic. Surprisingly, there was no traffic at all. I wanted to make a U-turn on the bridge to go back to the city for more photos. But, we headed up to the Marine Headlands for more photos. Those photos turned out great and we got to the reception in plenty of time.

The reception was full of fun times. Christine and Ryan who reside in Southern California have plenty of friends from there attending their wedding. The DJ initiated a competition using games between the groups from the north and south. It was pretty funny and wild. There were lots of laughter. I even got a sip of my first Dom Perignon. Ryan was so generous to share his bottle of this premium champagne with me. His father was so proud that he opened a bottle of liquor that a very special friend had given him when Ryan was born.

Ryan and Christine are two genuinely kind and sweet people. They are so lucky to have each other. Click here to view their slideshow.