Luce Loft is a wonderful urban space in down town San Diego.  One of the great things about this space is it’s versatility for events from birthday parties to elaborate weddings.  It’s an open loft style building with a built in kitchen and a sweet up stairs interior balcony.

We partnered up with Sandra from Sandra Nicole Designs and Amanda of Thorne Artistry to create a fun bridal styling photo shoot using the unique aspects of the Luce Loft space.  The concept behind the shoot was to show how different accessories,  jewelry and hair styling can make a single wedding dress look so very different.

Check out what these amazing ladies came up with.

Look one has a modern edge to it between the jewelry and the clean simple hair styling.Look two is a more romantic and vintage esque feelThe third and final look incorporated a veil to show how that changes the look of a wedding dress.

Venu | Luce Loft 

Hair and Makeup | Thorne Artistry 

Accessories | Sandra Nicole Designs

Wedding Gowns | Dahlia Bridal

Model | Brie White

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Stephen and Teresa’s Prado Wedding Reception was the best mixture of elegant and fun.  

Stephen and Teresa were married over at the Carmelite Monastery in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego.  After the ceremony everyone popped into their cars or Limos and headed over to Balboa Park for the reception.  We stole off with Stephen, Teresa and an umbrella for some incredible wet and rainy pictures.  The storm clouds were smiling upon us because it poured all the way from the monastery to the park but when it came time for photos we were blessed with the lightest of drizzles.

After some dancing in the rain Stephen and Teresa headed into the ball room at the Prado to get their party started!  And a party it was, they kicked it off with heart felt toasts and once the dancing started it never stopped.  When people weren’t dancing they were jumping into the photo booth with hats and mustaches for some funny photos.  The cake had been cut, the bouquet tossed and when we thought there couldn’t be any more everyone started dancing the polka!  Stephen and Teresa had the party that their friends are all still talking about.

Coordinator | YOUnique Weddings

Reception Venue | The Prado

Rentals and Linens | Concepts Event Design

Cake/Bakery | Flour Power

Florist | Blush Botanicals

Videographer | Taylor Films

Band | The Kicks

Hair Stylist | Liz Sandor

Make-Up Artist | Lipstick and Luster

Transportation | Elite Image Limousine

Photo Booth | The Fotobox

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Teresa and Stephen did an incredible job of putting together their Carmelite Monastery Wedding. The Monastery is a truly enchanting place and when we stepped onto the grounds it felt like we had walked right out of San Diego and into some quiet secluded spot in Europe.  Teresa grew up down the street from the monastery so when we did our walk through, she told us the most wonderful stories of visiting the nuns as a little girl.  The Carmelite Monastery does not hold a lot of weddings so it was extra special to be a part of  Stephen and Teresa’s.  Their ceremony was amazing, with singing, crowns, readings, and a string quartet up in the rafters.

Enjoy the first half of Stephen and Teresa’s Wedding day.  There were just too many wonderful photos for one post so keep your eye out for more to come.

Thanks Stephen and Teresa for including us in your amazing day and a big thanks to all your wonderful vendors!

Great photos and an incredible party were two very important things to Stephen and Teresa on their wedding day so a first look made a lot of sense to them.  We set them up in the back yard at their home and let Teresa take her time before turning Stephen around to see her for the first time.  There were tears, and whispers to one another, twirling around and emotional hugs.  We just love the intimate moment that a first look affords the couple.

 Coordinator | YOUnique Weddings

Venue | Carmelite Monastery

Officiant |  Father Melvin Rybarczyk

Florist | Blush Botanicals

Videographer | Taylor Films

Make-Up Artist | Lipstick and Luster

Transportation | Elite Image Limousine

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The Keating Hotel is the perfect marriage between modern and historic.  The building is a registered historic building full of beautiful brick walls and the original steam powered elevator.  To modernize things Ferrari car designer Pininfarina was brought in during the hotel’s renovation to design the hotel rooms and decor.

We had worked with Sarah from Urban Style Wedding Network on a couple of themed photo shoots so when she came to us saying she wanted something new and different we immediately thought of The Keating.  All of us being based in San Diego were used to working at the beach and shooting in Balboa Park.  But Sarah wanted a location with brick and urban character for her modern wedding dress photo shoot.

Starbucks planning meetings commenced, The Keating was in and excited and vendors were contacted.

Come shoot day  The Keating  was absolutely amazing and gave us full run of  the hotel, from a third floor corner suite, to their vault in the basement.  Sarah pulled a mix of elegant and edgy wedding dresses and the models wore them exceptionally well.  Sandra Nicole Designs came in and styled all the jewelry accessoires.  Disco Toes brought in an array of fun custom  shoes (that I totally wanted to steal and take home).  Thorne Artistry and Melissa Rae & Co , our wonderful hair and makeup ladies, rocked out amazing look after amazing look.  This was a photo shoot that we will not soon forget.  A big THANKS to everyone involved.

LOVE  LOVE LOVE! these Till Death Do Us Part velvet high heels by Disco Toes

Venue | Keating Hotel, The Merk

Florals | Untamed Floral

Jewelry Accessories  |  Sandra Nicole Designs

Custom Shoes | Disco Toes

Styling & PR | Urban Style & Mackenzie Marketing

Make Up | Melissa Rae & Co

Hair | Thorne Artistry

The Modern Wedding Dresses were provided by |  Sparrow Bridal, D’Angelo Couture & Bridals By Susanti

Classic Filmworks  made a video from the day’s shoot.

Models: Alena Goodman, Melissa Graaff, Amanda Thorne-Pritchard, TraeLee Costello & Kelsey Marie Ross

The Keating Hotel Wedding Photographers | Siegel Thurston Photography

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What girl doesn’t want romantic notebook inspired photos with her loved one? The film, “the Notebook” hands down has some truly romantic scenes that almost any girl  (myself included) would love to re-enact with the man of their dreams.  Well San Diego is well know for its amazing beaches but not its rainy lakes.  Finding a rowboat and an appropriate lake for this couple was a challenge, but who doesn’t love a challenge more than Brett. He made a few calls and as it turns out Lake Poway Park has a small fleet of little rowboats and they were more than happy to let us take one out for a spin.

The day was so nice that we thought to start off Pam and Jeremiah’s shoot with a romantic picnic in the park.  Some large eucalyptus trees provided us with shade and a soft rustling from the breeze.  Pam and Jeremiah were so easy to work with, snuggling onto their picnic blanket, laughing at whispered jokes.  As the sun started creeping down we headed down to the little dock to launch our rowboat.  The hills around Lake Poway created a splendid backdrop, nesteling the little boat and it’s passengers in.  We tossed them a few vintage fishing props we found from a neighbor.  The wooden fishing rod got pam and jeremiah chatting and laughing.  We love what came out of this romantic Notebook inspired photos and we had so much fun working with Pam and Jeremiah.

The amazing Stephanie Rae of Pink Chique did Pam’s hair and make up.

A vintage fishing rod made for the perfect prop.
The point of inspiration is not to re-enact it but to let it push you to create.

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We are excited to share Katie and Ryan’s Mission Beach engagement. It took San Diego to bring theses two east coasters together.   A few of their favorite things are their two dogs and Ryan’s beer brewing habits.   They are incorporating Ryan’s beer and their dogs into the wedding so they wanted to come up with something fun and different for their engagement shoot. San Diego is full of great locations but it’s hard to beat the beach, and with how fun and young at heart Katie and Ryan are Belmont Park seemed like a great option.      

We brought along some bicycles for a little morning ride along Mission Beach’s board walk with Katie and Ryan.I was madd impressed with their cycling skills.  Trying to ride and hold hands is no easy feat.I LOVE theses photos on the roller coaster!  Sometimes there is truly nothing scarier than these old wooden beasts.

Mission Beach Engagement

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I will find any excuse to wear rain boots and walk in puddles.  From my perspective San Diego only gets about 5 rainy days a year (not nearly enough if you ask me).  Yet I own 2 pairs of rain boots and about 10 different umbrellas.  Mostly because we have found ourselves somewhere other than San Diego when it’s raining and havent thought to bring an umbrella.  Each of our umbrellas is different and reminds me of  whatever trip we were on where we had to purchase it.  My  yellow umbrella reminds me of our october Nebraska road trip.  My favorite striped umbrella always makes me think of Paris.  I purchased it at a little corner market when it began to pour one afternoon.

I was thoroughly excited on Tuesday when the weather man forecasted rain all day.  The sky got dark and stormy but no rain really came until late afternoon.  At 4:30 it started coming down and I ran into our closet for my rain boots all the while yelling for Brett to put his shoes on so we could venture out.   By the time we made it the 5 minute drive into Down Town La Jolla the rain was more of a light mist.  But the air had that wonderful smell after fresh rain and we still strolled arm in arm down the wet sidewalks.  This time of year the white flowers on the Oriental Pear Trees around town are in full bloom.  We had to stop to enjoy their beauty and watch the wind steal petals and blow them playfully.

Yes we shoot with our vintage Polaroid.  But it also makes a good prop.   I’m trying to carry it with me and shoot with it often.  A current side project of ours is testing with Polaroid emulsion transfers and lifts.  I’ll let you know how that goes.  On our way back home it seemed a must to drive by our local Windansea Beach to take a peak at what the storm was doing to the ocean.  It was certainly worth the slight detour.  The clouds were ominous and amazing.  A small strip of sky on the horizon was clear and the sun managed to blaze through.

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As far as La Jolla Wedding venues go, the UCSD Faculty Club is a truly unique and beautiful place.  It is tucked back on the expansive campus surrounded by outdoor art instillations and groves of eucalyptus trees.  The Faculty Club hosts several ways for couples to have their ceremony and reception, whether it be an outdoor lawn occasion or indoor formal.  Kian and Stephanie had their wedding ceremony in the club’s lovely courtyard.  A beautiful wooden pergola covers the courtyard and young grape vines are just starting to fill in and drape down from above, creating an extra touch of romance.  Kian and Stephanie wanted to spend as much time as possible with their friends and family so they planned a first look into their day.  The eucalyptus trees surrounding the venu created the perfect setting for Kian to see Stephanie in her dress for the first time.  The wedding party then joined us for some fun portraits around the iconic UCSD library.

The ceremony was truly special and unique involving friends and family members for different aspects of it.  Kian’s best friend got ordained for a day so that he could marry them.  Then at the end of the ceremony Kian’s sister did a reading and explained to all the guests about the Persian part of the ceremony as Kian and Stephanie went through each step.  It was beautiful to watch theses two special people come together.

Thank You Kian and Stephanie for including us in your amazing day!

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Some call it a Trash the Dress we prefer the term Rock the Dress because most of the time your not destroying the dress or getting it any dirtier than it did on the wedding day.  When we do a destination wedding something we like to work into the weekend is a Rock the Dress the day after the wedding.  Most of the time we prescout amazing locations, the Bride  has the opportunity to put her dress back on for one more day and the groom might wear his wedding day formals or dress a little more comfortably and we head out for some truly incredible portraits.

Andrea and Trent destinationed to Nebraska for a beautiful barn wedding and the next day we hit up Gene Leahy Mall in downtown Omaha for some fun portraits. Dont’ let the name deceive you it’s, a lovely little stream way surrounded by trees and banks of grass.

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Evan and Megan are on a roll planning their wedding.

Location picked out – CHECK

Plane Tickets booked – CHECK

Engagement Shoot done – CHECK

Save the Dates – (Megan is on it!)

These two love birds are scooting off to Playa Del Carmen in October for a super romantic wedding on the beach surrounded by crystal blue waters.  We just love the idea of destination weddings with close friends and family along for a week of travel, play and fun!

To kick of their october beach wedding they made the 6 hour drive from Arizona out to San Diego for some La Jolla style engagement photos.  The winter weather was brisk but the tide was way out at the shores giving us the run of the beach, and the opportunity for some beautiful silhouettes.  We had a little extra time with these two and hit up one of our favorite little groves of eucalyptus trees for some cute photos.

Evan and Megan we had so much fun with you both!  Thanks for coming to our neck of the woods for an incredible shoot.

La Jolla beach weather can be finicky sometimes, but Evan and Megan lucked out with a rather beautiful sunset.  The beach also favored us with the gift of a heart shaped sea shell that Megan’s ring fit perfectly inside of making for one of our favorite photographs.

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