Dress by Amy Kuschel

My first shoot of 2011 was so lovely- these two are gems.  I’m so glad they have found each other- and I can’t wait to photograph their wedding at the Kunde Winery!

I know they like bluegrass, so I went with one of my favorite songs of all times.  It’s actually about heartbreak, but Bonnie Raitt sings it so beautifully that it doesn’t feel sad to me, more a testament to how deeply a person can feel for someone.  Enjoy!

In case you are curious, this is Barrie and Ariel.  We did their engagement photos at their home in Oakland.  They got married a few weeks later at Chileno Valley Ranch -which is outside of Petaluma.

Marshall is my husband’s first cousin and I was honored to be asked to photograph his wedding with Nahyon, the lovely bride.  Marshall is one of the country’s best birders -and Nahyon is terrified of birds.  Love conquers all, doesn’t it!  Nahyon does, however, adore dogs.  They drove all the way across the country because they wanted to have their sweet dog Chula with them -who is actually quite sick and probably in her last months.  I loved that they refused to leave Chula behind, and she was there for the whole wedding, relaxing in the California sun.

It was a great time -the groomsmen were hysterical- and up for anything.  I stopped by the guy’s house when they were getting ready to grab a few documentary shots.  They asked what should they be doing and I said “Nothing!  I’m a fly on the wall -just act normal.”  Within 8 minutes they had made a human pyramid, juggled crochet balls, wrestled each other to the ground, and wrapped Marshall in paper towels.  No joke.  Then later after the wedding, they wanted to do one of those “groomsmen jumping in the air” shots, so they got on chairs and jumped off -we heard a huge crack when one of the chairs broke.  Really funny -it’s in the photos here.  The bridesmaids were just shaking their heads, all gorgeous and stylish in their killer black dresses.

Anyhow, many congrats to Marshall and Nahyon!!  It was such a great weekend down in Paso Robles, thank you for having me there to capture it.  xo

keywords: Meridian wedding, Meridian vineyard wedding, Paso Robles wedding, central california wedding,

Thank you to my assistant Jenna Alcala for grabbing some of these shots!

Chileno Valley Ranch is a real farm -it is such a special place to get married.  They only have a handful of weddings there a year and I was so happy to be in that world for one day.

Many congrats Barrie and Ariel!!  xoxoxo  Mary

More to come very soon. And on a side note- the weather is gorgeous today!! Hello spring…

I’m not the one who took the cover shot, but I though it was so pretty…

This is from Judy and Duc’s beautiful ceremony:

My shot is the one on the left, with the rose petals:

There is Judy and Duc, slicing the cake!

If you are looking for a beautiful spot near San Francisco to get married, you seriously can’t go wrong here!

(I wish I knew the other photographers in the brochure -if you are one of them, comment below and I’ll give you the credit you deserve!)