California Redwood Elopement
K + J eloped this week in the beautiful redwoods of California. I grew up along the California Coast and I love combining the varying terrains on wedding days. K + J stayed at the beautiful Glen Oaks Big Sur and brought their amazing friend Micheal to perform a heartfelt ceremony in the redwoods. My favorite part of their day was how they got ready together in such a sweet way and set aside 10 min for creative photos in the light of their cabin. I’m so often rushed from location to location, to have the time to find light and be creative felt so exciting! They adventured from the redwoods to the beach, where they brought a small cake that their friend made them with the cutest cake topper I ever did see! ( a Polaroid of them!) and warm tea, which was perfect for such a cold November day. They had their first dance alone with the mountains and beach as their backdrop, and I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful day or couple.
K & G booked me for two-day wedding coverage over their wedding weekend in Big Sur. I had so much fun getting to hang with them the day before their wedding for portraits; It’s always so nice to be able to do portraits in a relaxed way . This allowed K & G to really get to know me and relax on their wedding. K allowed me to really just document most of her day which allowed so much opportunity to be creative, have a relaxed loose timeline without rushing from one thing to the next. I loved how they utilized the Wind and Sea property with most of their wedding day happening outside. Using the grassy lawn for the ceremony, the deck for dancing and cocktails, and the fire pit lawn for beautiful farm-style dining. It’s exactly how I think the property should be used.
When B reached out to me, his immediate love of vintage cars came through. His question was how he could include a vintage Porsche during his engagement session and I connected him to Monterey Touring Vehicles locally. When he showed up with this beauty I was sooo excited, their willingness to sit down in the dirt and drive a little farther really paid off. Their shoot feels so editorial to me, and I was so excited they chose me for this one!
Deetjens will always be my absolute favorite place to photograph eloping couples. The history, roaming cats, old leaded windows, unique styling and natural light make it such a fun place to start a wedding day. I loved that J +K also appreciated Deetjens and had stayed there before ! We stopped at the redwoods on the way to their ceremony on the coast, where their friends met up with us for the most windy and beautiful ceremony where her best friend and now husband dueled post ceremony. We ended the night at the beach overlooks as the sun set and it was absolutely beautiful !!