Michael + Samantha The Fairmont in Santa Monica, Ca, Wedding

Its always an interesting phone call when a future bride calls you, and immediately says- my fiancé and I both hate photos. AGH! Talk about a scary moment! As a photographer, it is a huge portion of our job to make our clients feel comfortable, to feel themselves, in front of the camera. Being photographed, I feel like, is very personal- you really need to open yourself up and allow yourself to be vulnerable and REAl to let those real emotions and those real feeling shine through! So when someone honestly admits that they hate photos- its a bit like feeling like a frog in a pot of boiling water- lots of PRESSURE!

Sam & Mike don’t exactly love the camera. But they also realize how important those photos are, and I am so grateful they trusted me to make the photo parts of their day as smooth and painless as possible! We spent some time BEFORE the ceremony, and literally did ALL of our photos ahead of time! The first look, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the group, the family photos and the romantics ALL BEFORE the ceremony! Then after their gorgeous ceremony under a centuries old fig tree, they got to relax, and join in their cocktail hour with all of their guests. Samantha and Michael, although currently living in Los Angeles, are both from Canada. The vast majority of their guests flew from Canada to celebrate with them, so this was actually a destination wedding, of sorts!

The priorities for their wedding were simple- good food, good drinks, and good times with the people they loved the most in the whole world. I must say, since I very rarely get to attend the cocktail hour (thats usually photo takin time!), I actually got to eat some of the appetizers, and holy cow- those things are AMAZING !!!

Here are my favorite three things from this wedding…

1. Sam got dressed with just her maid of honor, so peacefully and sweetly, and had her family and bridesmaids wait outside for a big reveal!! Such a fun exciting moment when she stepped out of the room for all to see!
2. FAVE!!!! THE GIANT FIG TREE!!! No joke guys, this thing was huge and amazing and so so beautiful. We didnt really even roam around the hotel property, we were so in love with the background of this tree. I have tons of shots of guests climbing in the huge roots for some fun pictures!
3. The uplighting! The reception was in a stunning ballroom, with warm amber uplighting the walls and the tables. It gave the room such a warm intimate feeling, reminded me of a sweet sunset. It also made for some fun dancing shots with that warm backlighting!

Enjoy some of my favorite images of Sam & Michael! If you want to see another gorgeous wedding, check out this post HERE!

Here is some of the vendor information from this gorgeous wedding…

Venue: The Fairmont in Santa Monica
Wedding Planner: Emily, with LBeventplanning.com
Hair & Makeup- Lindsay, with @Girlmeetsbonga
Florist- Rebecca with Blossom Florals
Music/DJ: Kyle with Dart DJ
Photography: Stefanie with Joie de Vivre Photography

Joie de Vivre!

Stefanie

Joie de Vivre!!

Stefanie