Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse is our favorite wedding location on the central coast, and it was a perfect fit for Tim & Nicole’s wedding. The farmhouse and surrounding landscape is definitely not your typical California experience, but that’s what is so cool about it! It actually reminded us of a destination wedding that we shot out in Montana 2 years ago. Anyway, Tim & Nicole had an amazing wedding there back in May and we’re finally blogging it:

Officiant: Jim Fitzpatrick
Caterer: Ono Catering, Willie Martinez
Wedding Planner: Nicole (before), Brianne Lyon (day of)
DJ: Matt Armor, All Occasion DJ
Hair & Make up: Rhonda Johnson
Cake: Sarah Trenschel

A little behind the scenes action during the ceremony:

Now that we finished Tim & Nicole’s wedding photos (shhh, they don’t know yet) – we can finally get back to blogging! We’ve got about 5 weddings that we need to blog… and honestly I’m not sure we’ll get to them all, but I promise at least a few of them will make it.

So get ready for some awesome wedding posts coming soon. Until then, enjoy this one of Nicole getting ready at her Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse wedding.

By the way, Dara took this picture! I love her. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

A few things you need to know:

1. Doug & Christen did not kiss until their wedding day! Dara & I tried that but made it only as far as our engagement.  Do you know how hard that is to do!? Kudos!
2. This castle is a private residence, not usually used for weddings.  So, being a part of one held there was a huge honor!
3. We had a blast – and Aliyah joined us !  Check out the behind the scenes photos at the end.

Check out this castle, before and after sunset:

Ahh – these are some of our favorites of all time!

The view was amazing!

Behind the Scenes:

Doug & Christen were so kind as to invite our little Aliyah to come along! They even provided a babysitter for us – isn’t that awesome?  Here is a one of Aliyah and I dancing during the reception:

I showed this photo of Aliyah (left) to Dara and it made her smile like this (right).  Love it!

As always, a huge THANK YOU goes out to Doug and Christen!  We wish you the best honeymoon and can’t wait to hang with you guys as a married couple!

Love,

Austin, Da(baby)ra, & Aliyah
yes, if you didn’t catch that: we are pregnant!

Andy was one of Dara’s best friends in high school, and getting to know Rachel and their families has been incredible. The fact that their wedding was in Yosemite National Park was a triple bonus: epic family vacation, no cell phone coverage or internet, and quality time with friends! It couldn’t have been better (well aside from the no hot water thing.. haha).

All the guests stayed at the Wawona for the weekend, and at night a group of us would hang out around a hidden campfire site that a cool member of the staff showed us.

The ceremony was just outside of the Ahwahnee hotel in Yosemite Valley, where the traffic sucked but the view made it all worth it! The reception was back at the Wawona, where we were just a few feet from our hotel rooms. The food was delish, the drinks were cold, and everyone was so relaxed.

Afterward, we stayed a few extra days to enjoy the sights and take advantage of the group camping spot that the family had reserved. We had the whole site to ourselves! Hopefully, we’ll get to post some of those personal photos soon…

Andy and Rachel: you guys are beautiful.

Josh & Rebecca, the makers of the the documentary Fuel had a beautiful wedding at the Four Seasons Biltmore here in Santa Barbara.  They went to great lengths to make sure that their wedding was as Green as possible, and it was awesome to be a part of it.

They were married on New Year’s day, and had a red/white feather theme which all worked together gorgeously.

Such a perfect shot to end with:

More on this wedding:

• See the awesome wedding video that our homies over at Shade Tree Films made.
• View/Order photos (password protected) from their print site.
• Learn more about Josh & Rebecca’s inspiring film Fuel which we thought kicked ass.

I was looking through a wedding from last year that I shot along side our good friend AVG, and realized that I hadn’t blogged any of them!  So here is one of my favorites from the day, and hopefully it will inspire me to post more.  This is Tina, getting into a limo just after marrying Jimmy at St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox church down in Santa Monica.  That was a rad wedding… Yeah, I definitely need to get some more of these up!

xo,

Austin

Michael and Jonna eloped to Santa Barbara from Finland, and got married today!

What follows has got to be our all-time favorite wedding moment of all time (on video), and a teaser from the photos we shot today….

Quick backstory: Mike & Jonna met in a bar a few years ago in Finland and they both distinctly remember the song “One” by U2 was playing in the background….

After the ceremony today, as we walked around the Santa Barbara Courthouse, a band doing a sound check in the Sunken Gardens for tomorrow’s Easter service began playing a song and we suggested that they dance to it for a few photos! You see where this is going?!!

As the words “One love,” were sung, Michael and Jonna looked at eachother in surprise and excitement – it was THEIR SONG!
We started this video just moments after their song began:

At the end, you can hear the band congratulate the couple and it was then that Michael realized we had set it up! I had asked our assistant Tabitha to sneak over and request the song as I kept the newlyweds distracted in photo mode.

They hadn’t planned on having a first dance, but how cool is that!? Side note: if you are one of those musicians that I talked to afterward, make sure to say what’s up in the comments – you are amazing.

*Update* The musicians were Aaron Shust and Duffy James!

Here is one of our favorites from the day taken at the pier during our photo excursion around town:

M&J, we hope you a safe and amazing trip home! Thanks for an amazing experience

Love, A&D

We work with the some of the best videographers on the planet – and we’re not exaggerating! Check out this video from our friends over at Shade Tree Films. We had a blast working side by side with them at Rebecca and Josh’s wedding, which reminds me: although we delivered the images to them long ago, we have yet to post our own blog post on their wedding… whoops. We’ll get that up soon though – stay tuned!

If want to learn more about the amazing Shade Tree Films crew, check out their rad blog here.

Dane & Jillie are such special people… There is just something magnetic about them that draws you in and inspires creativity, joy and gratefulness.

This was such a laid back wedding… and so intimate. It took place in a private creek-side estate, nestled deep in the lush Ojai canyon.

There was plenty of time before the ceremony for everyone to enjoy themselves and get ready. Everyone just kept smiling!

The ceremony was officiated by both fathers, Marty and Ricky. So heartfelt!

At one point during the vows, Jillie and Dane nearly skipped to the kiss! “Woah! Not yet!” interjected Ricky. We all burst into laughs!

In closing, the guests were asked to lay hands on Dane & Jillie in prayer. After the “Amen,” came hugs, cheers…

…and of course a big kiss!

The light was perfect for a little photo excursion at this point as everyone else got refreshed and hung out.

We made our way out to an amazing mustard field that Dara had scouted out earlier. She was right, it was perfect!

The reception involved a few musical performances, warm toasts, and savory goodness over candlelit tables. Nobody wanted it to end! It was one of those weddings that confirmed in us why we do what we do! Thank you Dane, Jillie + Family for such a beautiful experience! We were super blessed!

Here is a slideshow for those who’d like a bit more than a preview

Randy & Whitney surprised their “engagement party” guests by announcing that they were getting married that same night! The crowd erupted into huge smiles and high fives – it was awesome! But first, a few detail shots…

Whitney snuck away during the party to get changed in what Dara said was record breaking speed

Meanwhile, Randy welcomed the guests and thanked them all for coming out to … their WEDDING! Everyone was ecstatic!

A special moment between Whitney and Dad just before coming down the stairs.

Whitney’s step-father played “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” on the acoustic guitar – such a perfect song.

Thank you Randy and Whitney for letting us be a part of your wedding   How cool is it that it was the Granada Theater‘s first one ever?!