Traveling has been a passion of mine since I got my first passport at 6 months old (no joke!) I sat on my moms lap and made gaga sounds at the photographer. I started traveling alone at age 6 to visit my Aunt in Missouri every Summer. I haven't stopped since. Where I go, my camera follows. I love experiencing new places and capturing each one in my own way.
Adam and Jenn found me on Myspace. I love that 
After they hired me, we then discovered we have a mutual friend! What a small world. Jenn and Adam are having an intimate Valentine’s Day wedding. Mandi and I drove up to Valley Center for their engagement photos.
These two are so cute together, laughing and playing the entire shoot!
I’m excited for your wedding, its coming up fast!
xoxo, M
I’ve been staring blankly at my screen unsure of how to start this blog. Brianna’s father, Jeremy encouraged me to share as much about Brianna and her terminal illness as I am comfortable with. I want to start off with talking about Neimann-Pick Disease. Brianna has Type C. Please click here for a basic overview of this fatal disease or click here to read about the Foundation and to donate to the cause. Jeremy is all too familiar with this disease, he lost his oldest daughter Bailey a few years ago to the same thing.
Jeremy and Brianna have an amazing relationship. Being in a room with them for 5 minutes will show you that this little girl is his universe. I hope to have captured their relationship in these photos.
My good friends Jodi and Adam are old friends of Jeremy’s. Jeremy saw some photographs I took that are hung in their home and really liked them. When these two families planned Brianna’s last trip to Disneyland, Jodi knew that she wanted to bring me along to document the day and surprise Jeremy.
After the Disneyland trip, I got an email from Jeremy. The last line said this: “I don’t know how to thank you for taking the time out of your day to do something special for us. All I can say is that you have made an impact on both of our lives that will never be forgotten.” And isn’t that what life is all about?
But guess what? Brianna and Jeremy made an impact on my life too. I hope you can see that in these photos.
Mickey and Minnie came by to visit the girls, Brianna in the middle and Riyen (Jodi and Adam’s daughter) on the left.
And of course, Riyen, who could be called a “regular” on my blog by now!
These next two images are some of my favorites of the day. I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, so I posted both!
I love how Brianna is looking at her dad in this photo
And meeting her favorite, Tinkerbell!
Jeremy and I would like to encourage to you hug your loved ones a little bit closer today and every day after this!
xoxo, M
This is a special wedding for me because Yvette and I met on an online planning website and we were pretty much the only two January brides on there! So we have seen each other through the full planning of both our weddings!
Yvette really had a dream team of vendors! The whole day was smooth thanks to everyone involved, especially Brenda Swann, coordinator extraordinaire!
I’ll make a full list of the vendors at the end of this post and I will let the photos do the talking!
My first visit to the Westgate, I saw this hallway and just knew I had to shoot there!
Possibly my favorite image from the day. So candid, you can just feel her anticipation!
The sun was long gone by the time the ceremony was through. But we pushed through as much as we could with the little light left!
Junior is quite a personality!! Its rare that he takes his sunglasses off, I think this photo fits his personality perfectly!
Love it!
Another classic Junior face
This is such a great photo of Junior. 99% of the time he is “on” so when you can grab that one percent…it is so genuine.
Fit for a Princess…
Last few minutes of the night
Yana and Alex were married on Monday at the Admiral Kidd Club. But hours before the ceremony, I learned about a lot of Russian tradition! Let me backtrack.
Yana is from Russia. Alex studied there years ago and they fell in love. Fast forward to December 29th. Long story short.
In Russia, it is a tradition for the groom to go on a Scavenger Hunt (Or also called Paying the Ransom) to bribe (pay money to) the friends and family of the bride to give her away. Wikipedia explains it a bit here. Alex had to answer different questions, do Russian related tasks and even call out loving words to Yana.
Some details of the elaborate set up!
He had fake snowballs thrown at him that had Russian sayings on them. He had to translate them!
Alex’s brother drew this fantastic photo of him! He had to guess the lipstick mark of his betrothed!
And answering questions about Yana.
He did it! He found his bride
After that, we all headed to Cuvier Park for some fun photos!
And one more stop at Pt Loma Nazarene University, where Alex graduated from!
The final stop of the night was to the Admiral Kidd Club for the ceremony! They were so excited for this part 
The first dance was a traditional Russian dance.
Lots of toasts is also common at Russian weddings. But it is also in America too.
The dance floor was packed the whole night! DJ Bill Calhoun kept the music going!
The groom’s nephew cracked me up the whole night!
Night view of downtown, what AKC is famous for
Yana and Alex, the wedding was so beautiful and intimate, I had such a great time! Thank you for including me and David!
A huge thank you to David Baxter for coming to shoot with me! You rock, of course!
XOXO, M
The morning started at the Ayres Hotel in Orange County.
The beautiful bride getting her makeup done!
Here is a fun little thing. This first shot was taken by my assistant, Chrystal (website coming soon). The shot below it was taken from my point of view!
The couple opted for a first look. It was a very intimate moment even though their entire bridal party was only yards away! Gideon was so nervous!
We headed over to a local park for some sunny photos!
I love that the ladies all wore different red dresses!
On to the church! This is what Gideon saw…
Crimson’s view!
I mentioned tears, didn’t I?
And at the Laguna Hills Community Center:
Lots of laughter, live music, more tears and a room full of love!
Gideon and Mary, thank you so much for your patience! This blog is a bit overdue because of a little trip I had to take!
You two are so perfect for one another, I love that you met each other in the Philippines and then went back again this year for another Mission trip. Your dedication to each other is amazing and are a couple to be looked up to!
xoxo, M
Please enjoy your Slideshow!
