This wedding season has brought many beautiful, diverse, and even distant weddings to my studio. In July, I was invited to document a wedding aboard a cruise to Mexico, and just recently, I returned from filming a destination wedding in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. And a few weeks ago, I took a road trip down to Los Angeles to document the wedding of Jen and Tim at the stunning Hartley Botanica Gardens. I left home at dawn. The day would start with a radiant sunrise, and conclude with a flurry of sparklers lighting up the warm so-cal night. After a punishingly cold San Francisco summer, I yearned to escape to warmer climates, and I wasn’t disappointed. I spent the day basking in 85-degree weather, surrounded by the lush greens and yellows of the gardens. Jen and Tim’s day was full of meaning, and replete with gifts, words and songs from the heart. The ceremony took place in a beautiful arbor, which shaded the guests and provided the perfect setting. Tim and Jen were beaming, and the positive vibes from the guests were palpable. As the sun was descending, the couple performed an incomparable first dance, and a fun, intimate evening ensued. The toasts were touching, the cake was stunning and delicious, the dance floor was packed (Tim and Jen ‘Brought the Sexy Back’), and finally, the sparkler exit was perfect. In that last photograph, the couple looked out at their adoring guests, who lit the path. I think that’s pretty much the first time they took their eyes off one another.

Videography provided by Matrimony Pictures, Los Angeles Wedding Videographer.