Paul + Connie

While I love flowers and cake and dancing and garter tosses, there's something I love even more about a small ceremony with only the most special of people. Earlier this month I was able to photograph the sweetest of loves in an elopement at Point Loma Submarine Base. Paul + Connie were married at four-o-clock on a Friday afternoon at a church they'd never been to. They exchanged vows and kissed to forever having met both their pastor and their photographer (yours truly) only minutes before. And while a wedding might be about invitations and table settings and elaborate venues, a marriage most certainly is not. I think that's exactly what made this day so special - Paul and Connie filled their ceremony with only the things that were most important them. ...because when you're talking about forever, little details just don't seem to matter.

This might be my favorite church to date.

JB + Gloria

We really should never have met each other. Colton and I made an extra last minute decision, on a Friday night, to drive all the way to Palo Alto for a football game. On Saturday morning I received an email from Gloria - a friend of a dear past bride who was planning her August wedding in San Francisco. And then, on Sunday, JB + Gloria took me to a sweet little bakery called La Tartine where we spent the morning talking about life and love and a summer full of weddingness. It was an excellent weekend! When it came to their engagement photos JB + Gloria knew they wanted the chance to document the place where they met and fell in love. Gloria did the most amazing job of planning every last detail of this engagement session in San Luis Obispo. She mapped an entire walking course throughout downtown and included all of the spots near + dear to her and JB's hearts. And while she claims this was a skill acquired from her time working in advertising, I seem to think it's just her way of being extra awesome.

JB + Gloria, thank you for asking me to be a small part of your adventure of a story. Thank you for exchanging emails with loads!of!exclamation!points! and for planning an engagement session full of all of your most favorite places and spaces. Thank you for showing me a glimpse of your story in San Luis Obispo and thank you - thankyouthankyouthankyou - for letting me capture your love. It's a love that is truly so wonderful and happy and allwarmandfuzzy!

M.

After a quick outfit change we headed south toward Pismo Beach. While both JB + Gloria attended Cal Poly, it wasn't until the two began working at The Cliff's Resort that they finally met each other. It only made sense that their engagement photos capture a little taste of their sweet beginning.

I'll end with this photo because it so perfectly captures JB + Gloria and the happiness they seem to exude together...