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Monthly Archives: August 2008

Ginny & Dave: Wedding at The Grand Del Mar in San Diego

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Okay, you may want to settle in; this is going to be a long post.

Ginny and Dave’s wedding this past Saturday at The Grand Del Mar in San Diego was pretty much the perfect storm of beauty, class, fun, amazing bride and groom and their respective families & friends, exquisite location, band, food… and did I mention FUN? Rebecca Gaffney and her team at Red Letter Days Events, together with Ginny and her mom Terry, pulled together a truly wonderful event. But even as beautiful as the venue and details were, it would not have been as much fun without Ginny and Dave.
Dave is my friend Sarah’s brother, so I first met him and Ginny a few years ago before they were even engaged. I photograph their family throughout the year and told Sarah when I first met Ginny, “If they ever get married, I would LOVE to photograph their wedding! She is literally the cutest, sweetest person ever, and your brother is just so cool!” So I was thrilled when they eventually did get engaged and decided to hire me.
Ginny and Dave both went to UCLA, but did not really meet and fall in love until they both ended up in New York City for different jobs and reasons. As their Priest said during their full-mass ceremony, they were definitely destined to be together.
The talented Jeff Youngren, wedding photographer & Pictage User Group leader in San Diego, had the day off and came over to second shoot with me. He was great to work with – thanks again Jeff! Together with my sister Shannon, who also helped shoot, the three of us had several moments during the evening where we looked at each other, shook our heads and said, “That was awesome!” (Most specifically when Ginny & Dave got up on stage with the killer band and sang “Honky Tonk Woman” with as much gusto as any professional singer might.)
So I won’t go on forever, I’ll just get to the nitty gritty…



Her gorgeous Monique Lhuillier gown



Who can beat a classic pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes

I love this shot Jeff captured of Dave getting ready



Some of the beautiful details

Taking the vintage Rolls Royce to the church

I love this shot Shannon took of Ginny below

Fighting back the tears

A fisheye shot of the church that Jeff took


There were two in the series of Dave with his Mom that literally made me cry.


I mean, does the expression of pure joy get any better than this!



One more my sister took

We all arrive at the Grand Del Mar, which has some pretty extranordinary staircases







An above-angle that Jeff captured of them on the Grand Del Mar staircase



A couple I quickly took in the bathroom before heading out for some more pictures

More beautiful reception details…

A super wide ballroom shot by Jeff.

Let the festivities begin… Dave’s brother-in-laws (and my friend Ted in blue), playing “Dumb and Dumber” as part of the grand introductions.

Some moments during the awesome toasts (funny, touching…they both hit all the right notes)

Dave and Ginny ROCKING it during their rendition of “Honky Tonk Woman” with the killer Stellar Show Band. They had the entire crowd going – it was awesome!

Some more reception moments…

My friend Sarah with Ted’s brother

Congratulations Ginny and Dave! You guys are the best and we loved being there to capture your day and share in the celebration. Have fun in Bora Bora :)

Categories: 01. WEDDINGS

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September 20, 2008 - 6:38 am Bek - Jennifer, you're delightful and SO TALENTED!!!!! Thank you for capturing the beauty and magic of Ginny and Dave's day (We're in complete agreement with you, Girl ... those two are something special!) Warmly,
Rebecca Gaffney and Mia Saling, Red Letter Days Events, LLC

August 29, 2008 - 7:13 am E - Simply amazing!!!! You did a fantastic job Jennifer! Every one of those pictures just made me so happy :)

August 28, 2008 - 11:46 am yoga roads - Great to see some shots. This wedding was so fantastic! Their families were so fun and geniune. It was fun to shot with you Jen and see how hard you work first hand. I could not believe how much goes into just stage one of capturing a wedding. Thanks for posting on the blog and adding a few of mine too. Hope you stay off your feet for a few days. xoxo

August 28, 2008 - 11:20 am Liene at Blue Orchid Designs - Gorgeous! It looks like such a fun wedding!

August 28, 2008 - 10:45 am Olivia - AWESOME JOB JENNIFER! I love them all! The one of Dave and his mom got me all choked up! Beautiful :)

Homeward Bound!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

We are officially hitting the road back for Phoenix today! While I am very ready to get home, I am most definitely going to miss the amazing weather here. I wish I could bottle it up and bring it with me. Check back this week for lots of posts and updates, including images from Ginny & Dave’s A-M-A-Z-I-N-G wedding yesterday at The Grand Del Mar here in San Diego.

Categories: 10. PERSONAL

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August 25, 2008 - 2:09 pm Kimberly Jarman - so glad you are coming back!!! Missed ya!!::):) Can't wait for you to meet Kailee!!

August 25, 2008 - 1:33 pm Rachel - Jen,
I can't wait to see your Cali vacation pics- and I'm super excited to see what this AMAZING wedding looked like:) Hope you had a great time and welcome home to the HEAT!
Rachel

August 25, 2008 - 1:31 pm Rachel - Jen,
Can't wait to see your Cali pics and read all about what a great time you had. I'm also waiting for some pics of this wedding everyone is buzzing about:)
-Rachel

August 25, 2008 - 12:46 pm Ryan and Blair - Jennifer,

It was so nice to finally meet you this weekend at Dave and Ginny's wedding! I *can't wait* to see your photos... I can only imagine the fantastic images you captured, seeing as it was maybe the greatest wedding of all time...

Blair

San Diego Bound

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I’m so excited to head down to San Diego today. I have a big wedding at the ultra-gorgeous Grand Del Mar this weekend with a killer couple that I am very excited to photograph, plus a little more down time before that with my Mom, sister, niece and daughter. It’s a girls fest for a few days!

I also have SO MANY exciting things in the works. I can’t wait to start sharing some of the good news in the coming weeks… a potential new partnership that I am stoked about, some exciting personal news, fun and rewarding contests and much more! Stay tuned over the next month for several announcements and lots of pictures (including the four shoots from this past week).

Categories: 10. PERSONAL

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August 23, 2008 - 7:42 am Shannon - oh i can't wait to hear about all the GOOD news!!!!

August 20, 2008 - 2:44 pm Jeff - Yay! So excited to kick it on Saturday :) Get ready to rock it!

The Place of a Million Dreams

Monday, August 18, 2008

That is what they tell you when you park your car, when you first enter the gates, and when you walk through the park: The Place of a Million Dreams. For a child, and even as an adult experiencing it through their child’s eyes, that is indeed what it is. From the smells of freshly baked sweets making you feel right at home, to the sights and sounds, to the very-well-oiled-machine that is Disneyland and how they run the park, it was still as fun a place now as it was at 11–albiet fun in a different way. Chris and I got to experience it as parents of a 3 1/2 year old, who found herself in constant shock and awe (the good kind) and it was as much fun for us watching her as it was for her experiencing it.

We felt like we waited until the perfect time to take her. No, she was no longer free (2 and under get in free) and it was an expensive day, but she was also old enough and tall enough to ride most of the rides, and past the “scared of people dressed up like characters” stage and just appreciated it in general. Plus she was a perfect angel all day since she was #1) in Princess heaven and #2) mainly past her toddler tantrum stage that used to pop up even in the most unlikely of places. Suffice to say, we had an absolute blast last Thursday at Disneyland!
I didn’t want to lug my big camera, so I only brought the point-and-shoot. Here are some shots from our fun day::


Dad and Jordan on the flying dumbos. Mom avoids any rides that spin in a constant circle so as not to throw up.


In line for Autopia, the “race cars.” This was the only thing that we could have done without. Man, these cars seemed so much faster as a kid! They are painfully slow now and the line was LONG.

Showing off our drivers licenses. Note the difference between posing with boring-old-Mom, and…


A REAL, LIVE PRINCESS. I think all you parents with little girls can appreciate exactly what this means for them to meet a PRINCESS, especially like Aurora and Jasmine, who soon came out to tell a story…



This is probably what my face would look like if Brad Pitt and George Clooney walked on stage to tell me a story.


Sitting on the same throne where Princesses Aurora and Jasmine actually SAT!


Meeting Mickey, another big celebrity, after touring his house in Toontown.


Are we having fun yet?!?! Oh yes!


And finally the parade at the end of the day, which we just happened to catch the last 15 minutes of, and where we saw Princess Ariel, the Lion King, Cinderella (CINDERELLA!), Alice in Wonderland, and so many more. I wish I could have bottled up her laughter and giggles of delight at how cool this was for her, which in turn made it pretty darn cool for us. 

Here is to being a parent on days like this. :)

Categories: 10. PERSONAL

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August 19, 2008 - 4:37 pm Liene at Blue Orchid Designs - She is so adorable! What a great memory you guys get to share with her.

August 18, 2008 - 8:38 pm Chris - Great post babe! It was truly one of those days to remember. You forgot to mention her chatter all the way home!!!

August 18, 2008 - 4:40 pm Olivia - These are so cute! Penelope loved the same things! Glad you had fun :)

Enjoying Cali weather

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Jordan and I made it safely to Hermosa Beach yesterday afternoon and are enjoying a little down time at Shauna, Steve and Ella’s before the shoots pick up in a couple days. Chris arrives in about an hour and we are taking Jordan to Disneyland tomorrow, so I’ll probably be offline most of the next 24-36 hours. I’m just way to excited to be a kid again and get Jordan some Mickey ears! If I’m slow to respond in the next couple days, I hope you understand. But if you are a friend on Facebook, you may have seen a few pictures here and there. I am addicted to that thing right now! Disney pictures to come soon…

Categories: 10. PERSONAL

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August 14, 2008 - 8:16 pm Cristi - oh i love disney! have fun and i'll be looking for some mickey ear pictures on facebook.

Do I smell a 5D 2 on the way??!!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

So I almost went and bought another Canon 5D today and then thought I better wait and see if I can find any more out about those pesky 5DmkII/6D/7D/3D (whatever it will be named) rumors circulating. It has been 3 years since the 5D release and Canon is well overdue for an upgrade. And sure enough, after digging through multiple sites, I think I found some decent sources here and here indicating the 5D replacement might be out later this month or next month in time for the Photokina show. I don’t know that I would lay all my savings on that bet, or even if these specs are 100% accurate, but I know they will want it to compete with the latest Nikon D3 and am hoping it might be right around the corner. Canon: I really want this before my big wedding at the end of month in San Diego, hint hint.

Anyone else hearing any buzz?

Categories: 08. RESOURCES/ 09. NEWS & PRESS

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September 17, 2008 - 7:24 am Betsy Wall - It's finally announced!

http://www.macworld.com/article/135585/2008/09/eos5d.html

August 20, 2008 - 2:46 pm Jeff - I'm with ya! :) I just caved and bought another 5D - for 3 total - and you'd better believe I'll line up the day the 3D is announced!

August 12, 2008 - 11:33 pm megan - wouldn't that be nice if it were here before the end of this month!!!!!!
no rumors from my pj world- although I'm asking everyone, so hopefully we'll get some word soon.

August 12, 2008 - 1:55 pm katrina + andrew = sedona bride - oh... I hope it's as good as they say it's going to be! so excited! - katrina

August 9, 2008 - 3:33 pm Creative Clicks Photography - I'm eagerly waiting too. Biting my nails actually.