VALLENTYNE WEDDINGS

Chris and Kristine are a very sweet couple from New Jersey who are doing their destination wedding in California! Although we booked over the phone, as soon as I met them for our engagement shoot at The Four Seasons I knew we got along great! It was a very fun shoot and a great opportunity for us to get to know each other and explore the grounds of the hotel they will be getting married at. After pictures at the hotel, we headed down to the beach to have a well rounded line up of locations. Here are some of my favorite images!

I’m so excited today to have written an article for Breezy Mama, an online hub for modern, smart, and sassy mom’s looking for article’s and tips on motherhood. The site itself is the project of my friend (and first boss!) Alex and her friend Chelsea. These girls are truly inspirational and are the kind of people who really make things happen. They recently launched Breezy Mama and already it’s success has well exceeded expectations and has become regularly featured on People.com! The article I wrote was “The Professional Portrait–How to Get Your Money’s Worth” and is a few important tips on choosing a professional photographer for your baby or family photos.Check out the article if you have a chance and if you are a mom, be sure to subscribe!

A few nights ago I had the pleasure of going up to Costa Mesa to see my friend Lori Epner’s new collection of custom jewelry! CLEEO was created by Lori with the vision of jewelry with a modern twist. It was inspired by her great Aunt… “C” represents Cece (Lori’s great aunt), “LEE” are her initials and “O” is the emotional reaction of a woman, when responding to something she adores. I love this unique approach to naming her creation! Be sure to check out here lovely designs here and take one home for yourself!

The line of handmade necklaces and bracelets are crafted from vintage finds of rhinestones, brooches and earrings are given a second life. Lori’s trunk show was hosted by Goat Boutique in Costa Mesa and there were so many beautiful pieces to see, here are some pics from the evening!

This was a wedding were I could not have asked for a better schedule for the day. I just love it when events unfold with plenty of time for everyone to have a great time and get beautiful photos at the same time. This was thanks to the seemless and thoughtful planning of the bride and coordinator, Joan Whalen and also to the fact that The Prado perfectly lends itself to a perfect wedding day. Every time I work at The Prado I am impressed by the day. I absolutely loved working with Elizabeth and Noel, they are both so sweet, they come from wonderful families, and they completely head over heals for each other! The Prado in Balboa Park brings a certain style and elegance to any wedding, but Elizabeth and Noel really took it one step further by adding their own unique style that I loved. They had an all star team of vendors to make the whole affair run perfectly, here were the contributors:

Wedding Coordination: Joan Whalen Events
Venue: The Prado, Balboa Park
Photographer: Vallentyne Photography
Wedding Cake: Flour Power
Wedding Florist: Dawn Stone of Embellishment
DJ: Alex Roberts – 619-466-1455
Wedding Officiant: Pastor Mike Mitschke

As intimate and sweet a wedding as you could imagine, Shawn and Dan were married on the sand only a few blocks away from their adorable beach house in Encinitas, California. With their immediate families and best friends in attendance, the entire wedding party went for a sunny afternoon walk to the beach where the couple was married by the shore. After the vows, everyone headed to one of my favorite locations, the romantic and elegant Rancho Valencia in Rancho Santa Fe. Adrianne Smith did an amazing job on the flowers and Michele Coulon created a work of art for their cake…the day was perfect.