Melissa McClure Blog

These two lovebirds were married on a cloudy Friday at the San Diego Courthouse.  This was my first Courthouse wedding and I was thrilled to be capturing the day as it happened!  I met Freddie and Carla at the marriage license office, where they waited awhile to sign all the appropriate paperwork.

Then we headed to the ceremony site outside.  This courthouse does indoor or outdoor ceremonies.

We only had a few minutes for portraits, so we quickly crossed the street to shoot!

Then is was on to Roy’s downtown for the intimate reception

Best of luck in Germany you two! It was such a pleasure meeting you and your family!

xo, M

Last Saturday was my second wedding of the year – starting to a GREAT start if I must say!  I didn’t know Mike and Sara too well going in to their wedding day, since they live in snowy Washington DC.  They were so much fun to hang out with, they make me consider moving East just to be their friend!    The Dana was a little windy that day – but NO rain!

Huge thanks to Courtney Tibetts from After the Engagement for making the day run so smoothly!  You rock girl, I look forward to more weddings together this year!  (Courtney even put aside cupcakes for me and Mandi – so thoughtful!)

Teresa Piazza did a fantastic job on Sara’s makeup! It was my first time working with her and I hope to see more of her in the future!

Meanwhile, the boys were being silly with Mandi and couldn’t get their ties just right…

The gorgeous flowers were done by Sally at Exquisite Blooms!  Notice the yellow rose in honor of Sara’s mother.

They opted for a ‘First Look’ which is the reason I am showcasing so many bride and groom photos below – we had a ton of time!

Mike is incredibly funny…

I get asked a lot if I shoot with another photographer. I do, and its mostly Mandi unless she is shooting her own wedding!  One reason I love having two angles?  Check out my version below…and Mandi’s below that!

This was so cute, I had to share it!

Mandi’s view at the ceremony…

And my view of the hand-off!

The yummy cupcakes were from Babycakes Bakery!

Isn’t that some gorgeous uplighting?  I LOVE uplighting!  Mick from Elite British DJ did them as well as kept the dance floor packed!

Sara gave Mike this book earlier in the day

Mandi and I had such a blast at this wedding, she had to drag me away!  Hope you two are having an amazing time in New Zealand!

xoxo, M

Enjoy the Slideshow!

Last night, Cathy, Helena and I attended the Spread the Love tour by Justin and Mary Marantz.  I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes (in a good way)!  It was definitely a fun night.  They only have a handful a cities left in their tour, but if there are seats, sign up!  It’s worth the money!

Spread the Love LA: February 5th
Spread the Love San Fran: February 8th
Spread the Love Seattle: February 11th
Spread the Love Salt Lake City: February 15th
Spread the Love Denver: February 17th
Spread the Love Kansas City: February 19th
Spread the Love Chicago: February 22nd
Spread the Love Maine: March 24th

The tour helped give my business a little kick in the butt and I am excited to be developing some new ideas for 2010!  One of the first things I will be doing is dedicating myself to blogging more.  Everyone in favor of this?  This means I will have a few more personal posts, but I hope you enjoy them (and leaving a comment to let me know helps too!)

I’ll leave you with two photo booth photos from past Saturdays wedding (coming to the blog soon!)

If you know me in real life, I’m pretty goofy. I love to laugh. And I love to be laughed at…I mean with.  Mandi and I always have fun on wedding days!

And here we are with the wonderful Courtney Tibetts, wedding coordinator from After the Engagement!  She likes to laugh too

Photobooth by Red Cheese

Suzanne and Jeremy picked an amazing weekend to get married – my anniversary weekend!  They tied the knot at one of my favorite places to shoot in San Diego – Pala Mesa Resort and Golf Course!

Suzanne’s sister, Claudia, is a professional makeup artist and I loved how her eyes matched her bouquet!  Claudia was also the makeup artist for my wedding and I have known her since first grade!

One of my favorite images of the day <3

Mandi and Allison were over with the guys while they got ready

The handsome Jeremy

Suzanne and Jeremy opted for a “first look” since the Winter sun sets so early!

Jeremy couldn’t keep his lips off of her!

Stunning Suzanne!

Love this image Mandi captured!

I loved that they all had pockets – even Suzanne’s dress!

How adorable are they?  You may recognize Mia from a past blog!

A family friend made their cake – it was delish!

Allison snagged this shot at the reception:

I can’t even begin to describe how awesome the dancing was at this wedding!  Check out the slideshow below for more dancing photos!  It was almost all Arabic music and dancing and I loved every minute of it!  It made me want to get out and dance too!

S&J – I had such a great day with you two!  You are so obviously in love, everyone around you can feel it!  Best wishes while living in Hawaii (jelaous!)

xoxo, M

Enjoy your slideshow!

My last wedding of 2009 did not disappoint!  It was a very small intimate wedding, comprised mostly of Midwesterners!  Francis and Melissa both graduated from the University of Michigan, but didn’t meet until an Alum get together in California!

The day started at the Temecula Mall at the Aveda Salon.  Melissa and her entourage were all smiles, ready for the day to begin!

Love this shot of her Badgley Mischka shoes that Mandi took!  They can be silver or gold depending on what look you are going for!

We spent a little time in Old Town Temecula taking some bridesmaid photos!

Sheri’s Flowers in Fallbrook took care of the bouquets and centerpieces!

Melissa and Francis opted for a first look because of how early the sun sets in the Winter!  They wanted a lovely sunset wedding…and this allowed us a lot of time for photos before!

I love me some vine photos!

Reverend Tuttle delivered a charming, funny and heartwarming ceremony, as usual!

Want to know how fun this couple is?  They did their recessional to “Forever” by Chris Brown, and the entire bridal party (parents and Reverend included!) danced back down the aisle, a la this You Tube video.  It was fantastic!

The cake was absolutely fantastic!  They ordered too much and insisted I take some home to my hubby – he loved it too!  The symbol stands for double happiness, which is also the tattoo Melissa has on her ankle!

Cake fight!

DJ Earl kept the party going – and the dance floor packed!

Thank you Francis and Melissa for such a fun night!  Mandi and I had a great time!  Have an amazing time in the Mexican Riviera!

xoxo, M

Enjoy Your Slideshow!

My lack of blogging has not been because I am not busy enough. Quite the opposite, actually! I have at least ELEVEN photoshoots to blog right now!! As things start to slow down around here, I’ll be able to get back in the blogging swing of things!

First up, a wedding I attended that I never got a chance to blog! Jodi and Ray were married on 09-09-09 (a wednesday!) in sunny/hot Las Vegas Nevada. They live on the East Coast. This wedding was a bit different than normal for me. I was actually brought as a wedding gift by Jodi’s best friend Cortney!

In Vegas, a lot of the packages come with a wedding photographer and there isn’t much you can do to change that! This is what happened to Jodi and Ray. Cortney still wanted to them to have some awesome photos despite the untrained photographer in their package. So here I am! I had a similar situation like this, for Janice and Andrew’s Vegas wedding. I had to pretend to be a guest and fill in the blanks when possible!

Because of that, there aren’t as many bride and groom photos as normal!  We were very limited in our time at the golf course and literally had under 5 minutes to sneak away and shoot!

The day started off at the Luxor hotel with Jodi getting ready!

The handsome groom, ready to marry his bride!

The ceremony was held at the Bali Hai Golf Resort and was short, sweet and easily over 100 degrees!

These next two images are the ones I had under 5 minutes to capture!

After the golf course, we headed to a lounge/bar place for an intimate reception!

An impromptu first dance…the music downloaded from two cell phones and played simultaneously!

It was a very sweet wedding and Jodi and Ray are obviously nutso for each other!  I was so glad to be asked to be a minor part of their day!

xoxo, M

Sally and David had a beautiful outdoor wedding last week…and it rained before and after the ceremony!  They were so lucky to have gorgeous blue skies the short time in between!

Love the traditional Vietnamese ao dai she wore for the end of the reception!

This may be my new favorite getting in to a dress shot!

David is Scottish and I love love love their kilts! And how they blended the two different cultures!

Gorgeous Sally!

That’s Larry Samuels on the left, doing his thing!

I’m posting two overall shots this time…first one is mine, second is Mandi’s! Loved them both! (can you spot me in the 2nd one?)

Another awesome shot by my associate photographer, Mandi!

Fav <3

Mmmmmmmm..Flour Power cake!

The reception was at the Pearl Restaurant in Rancho Bernardo

Sally is a life long dancer, she performed an impromtu tap dance for David!

I had so much fun getting to know you two at the wedding! I hope you are enjoying your amazing month long Honeymoon to Australia and New Zealand! (Jelaous!!)

And big thanks for making the day run smoothly, Courtney Tibbets from After the Engagement!!

Enjoy your Slideshow!

xoxo, M

PS I’m in Chicago until Wednesday so I can’t post the slideshow on here right now!  You can view it at the link above, but I will come back and add it when I get home!

Tanya and Justin were married last Tuesday – yes, a Tuesday!  Can’t beat that!  Tanya was referred to me by Christina Werner of BB Weddings and Events!

I am a bit partial to where these two said their I Do’s.  It’s where I got married – Ocean View Villas in Pt Loma!  Its hard to believe its already been 11 months since my celebration!

Gorgeous bouquets by The Flower Girls!

Somebody’s happy to be married!

My fav <3

Tanya’s nephew was cracking me up…he wanted one so badly!

Stunning <3

Tanya and Justin, here’s to many years together! Thank you for asking me to be part of your special day!

xoxo, M

Brad, Verdette and I had so much fun at their Balboa Engagement Session, I was looking forward to hanging out with them again on their wedding day!

And big thanks to the wonderful Brenda Swann of Swann Soirees for being the fabulous coordinator she is! Couldn’t have done it without you! xoxo

And I got to meet their adorable daughter, Tescia!

While Verdette was getting beautyfied, Brad and his fellas were hanging at the hotel with Mandi!

I love this shot Mandi got – Brad looks so “Godfather” in the limo!

And the gorgeous bride in the limo of course!

I have to stop here for a little shout out to my buddy Jon at Elite Image Limousine!  Its very rare that a bride (ahem Verdette) books her limo BEFORE her other vendors.  But in this case, I am so glad she did – Jon referred her to me and Brenda!  I love Jon, he is the TOP in the transportation industry for sure!  Call him for your limo needs!

We made our way to St Michael’s Church in Poway for their traditional Catholic ceremony

Tescia couldn’t figure out why Mommy and Daddy got all the attention…

Post ceremony, Brad surprised his Groomsmen with some Air Jordans!

We headed over to the Del Mar Racetrack for some more photos – quickly!  It was almost dark at this point!

Photo below by Cathy!

Love the football theme they had for the Reception at the Turf Club!  Brad is from Wisconsin which explains the Green Bay thing

Photo below by Cathy

Their first dance was interrupted but I don’t think they minded

I saved my favorite for last <3

B+V – Thank you for being so warm and welcoming, you two are blast to be around!

xo, M

Enjoy your slideshow!!

I can’t even remember the last time I had been to San Francisco!  Definitely not in this decade.  So of course I was excited to shoot the wedding of Mike and Rachel downtown San Francisco!

The morning started at the Marine Memorial Club, which is also where the reception was held.

Photo below by my assistant Cathy

Ready to marry Mike!

You’re so beautiful Rachel!

Who doesn’t love a man in uniform?

Watching his bride walk down the aisle!

Great shot by my assistant Jamie

The ceremony was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the building behind them!

We took the limo down to Crissy Field – check out that view of the Golden Gate Bridge!

Love this photo that Cathy took!

We then ventured over to The Palace of Fine Arts

My Fav <3

Back to the Marine Memorial Club for some dinner and dancing!

The funny woman on the left…that’s Nicole   My junior high best friend. She hasn’t changed a bit except now she is a lawyer and can legally drink =P Love ya Ed!

This little man had MOVES!

Rachel and Mike – you two are so great together, I can tell how you make each other so happy!

xoxo, M

Enjoy the slideshow!!