When my friend lived in Alameda with her daughter, we spent a LOT of time on Park Street… shopping, lunching, walking around, pushing baby strollers… I always relish getting back there now! I visited one of my favorite shops, Daisy’s at 1347 Park Street for a photo shoot of what’s new and fabulous for holiday decor, and Barbara pulled out all the stops this year!! Get in there soon because she keeps selling the gorgeous stuff, and you don’t want to miss your chance! She’ll be having some special in-store guests during the holidays, so stay tuned to her blog, Living the Fancy Life, for all the details! Seriously, I want everything in her whole store… I love her style! Enjoy!! and shop!! and Happy Holidays! I am soooooo gettin in the spirit!! Also excited to see one of these images featured on Style Me Pretty, one of my favorite wedding blogs!

For all you last minute holiday shoppers, family portraits make wonderful holiday gifts!! Mill Cottage Photography will be holding a holiday open house to celebrate the season, complete with family portrait mini sessions in the next couple of weeks! Check back here for all the details!

Designing a Love Story Book is one of the most exhilarating parts of working with my wedding clients! Here is where we see a group of images come together to tell the story of their wedding day. Bits and pieces that they want to etch in their memories forever, and share with the people who weren’t able to be there in person (including their future family!) Be sure to check out the original blog post for more images from Rachel & Jesse’s Four Seasons Silicon Valley Wedding!

This spread is from one of my favorite times of Rachel & Jesse’s reception in the ballroom at the Four Seasons Silicon Valley. The Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dances. Many of my clients this year were missing their parents on their wedding day, but this lucky couple had all the parentals in full attendance, and that is quite a blessing, indeed! I just love the looks on all their faces… I am sure this dance is always too short in a parents’ eyes… Just thinking that someday I hope to be so lucky as to have this dance with my son at his wedding brings a little tear… I bet these parents can remember when this bride and this groom were two years old… Time goes by so fast!!

Delicious Wedding Dinner in the Cave at Hans Fahden Winery

I am so excited to be working on Kit & Ginny’s wedding album design for their Love Story Book!! They got married this summer at the beautiful and amazing Hans Fahden Winery in Calistoga, and their wedding was one of the most beautiful and fun ones of the year!! Here are a couple of spreads of the amazing details… Can’t wait to meet with Gin on Friday to go over the preliminary design together! She’s really creative, and I know we’ll make an amazing book!! Also, don’t miss the original blog post of beautiful Hans Fahden Wedding Images.

When I got married a few years back, I looked at many wedding locations in Sonoma! One that came really close to being the wedding venue for us was Viansa, and I always love to shoot weddings there!! Thanks again to Shannon Stellmacher Photography for having me along. Here are some of my favorite images from the day. I particularly love the ceremony location at Viansa… a beautiful Tuscan like courtyard with those big wooden doors as the back drop… amazing. The food is always great, and the wine is delicious – We were in the wine club for many years, and looked forward to our monthly shipment of yumminess!

Our trip is drawing to a close, and I had a couple of moments to work on a few images… I would love to shoot a wedding here in the Smoky Mountains – the wedding chapels in Gatlinburg are adorable for weddings as is the beautiful landscape.

Cade’s Cove was a day trip for us the first day, and I was struck by the simple beauty of these little churches, and the sadness reading the headstones in their cemetaries. So many little children and babies… definitely a rough life back then…

Finally getting another few minutes to post some wedding images from an amazing wedding I shot this summer with Shannon Stellmacher Photography. It was such a gorgeous Napa day, and the couple was incredible as well! I love the Meritage Resort - it is simply stunning… warm Tuscan colors, great cave, and beautiful accomodations. Oh, and really amazing food… Here they are!!!