I know, I’m late on the post today! It’s been one of those Mondays where things are running a little slowly. I know it’s because we traveled this weekend for a wedding, but it was TOTALLY worth it (awesome wedding, discovered some of the best margaritas we’ve had in a long time, hung out with one of my bffs Carleigh, and just plain relaxed….heaven).

We went up to Lake Tahoe for a little wintery wedding goodness with Candice and Darren at the Granlibakken Resort. The snow is very important to this couple and their relationship so they decided that a destination wedding in Tahoe City would fit them perfectly, and I must say it sure did! Every detail of this wedding was perfectly tied in with their winter theme. To name a few of my faves there were her furry boots she wore during the ceremony (sparkly Jimmy Choos for the reception), her “frozen leaves” head piece, blue arm cuff, white fur coat, AND her snowflake garter (which she made herself…yep, she made it for around $1.00…she also made the shawls that the bridesmaids are wearing, hello crafty!). Oh and it goes on from there with the fabulous tree center pieces dripping with “icicles”, the snow flake invites (which we designed), and the birch trees with moss they brought in as a back drop for the ceremony. Seriously, I could go on and on, but pretty much it was one big dose of winter wedding awesomeness, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it made the day feel just a bit magical. And who doesn’t want magic on their wedding day right?

Candice and Darren, you two are such a beautiful couple. One thing that really stood out to me about you is your commitment and loyalty  to your friends and loved ones…I already suspected this when I met you, but after hearing the speeches at the wedding and spending time in the airport yesterday with one of your bridesmaids (hi Marissa!) it has been confirmed. Fierce loyalty can be tough to find so you are a refreshing inspiration to have in our lives. We seriously adore you and are thankful for your friendship. Enjoy the honeymoon you lovebirds!!! And internet friends, I’ll stop talking now, but you can bet your little buns you’ll enjoy the following pics…they really are magical. Thanks for stopping by xoxo!

And this post wouldn’t be complete without a little shout out to the following vendors:

Felicia Events for some top notch coordination

Katie Cakes for the beautiful icicle cake.

DJ Sana for keeping the party rocking until they brought out the late night sliders.

Art In Bloom for the stunning bouquets with feathers (yes, FEATHERS! I love them)

Anisse Scoussa for enhancing those breathtaking looks that Candice was blessed with.

Sheffield Multimedia for rocking the video.

Oh, and Jimmy Choo for designing such fabulous shoes!

I don’t have the website for all the vendors so if you are getting married in Lake Tahoe area and need their contact info, just send me an email and I’ll be happy to hook you up.

yes, two ring shots were in order….couldn’t decide!

Invites and logo designed by Rico here at Studio Castillero.

You know the party is getting a little crazy when people start throwing children up in the air (no worries, everyone is safe)

Friends! I feel like I’m TOTALLY out of the loop (I actually dreamt last night that I FORGOT to do the Monday post…totally serious)! We spent last week at the WPPI convention in Vegas and being “out of the office” was tough! I’m big on responding to email right away, so it was difficult having to be a bit delayed…so my apologies, everything should be back on track now. WPPI was pretty awesome though, that’s for sure. We went to seminars, ran around the tradeshow (found a new album vendor to add to our services…they offer an eco friendly album. WIN!), and drank margaritas out of machines (my fave). It was an all around good time in Vegas and we even behaved ourselves enough to not have to “leave” anything to STAY in Vegas (I’m telling ya, wedding photogs are CRAZY).

SO, with that, I bring you one of the best parties I’ve been to in a long time, seriously blew Vegas out of the water. It’s the beautiful modern wedding of Lauren and Brad that happened on New Year’s Eve. They were married at the fabulous hotel The Omni, in downtown San Diego which was the perfect setting for their celebration. Everything was perfect, from her Aire Barcelona dress, to the ceremony with an OPEN BAR, to the sweet lounge furniture around the dance floor (oh yeah, and a late night pizza bar). It really was the perfect wedding for us because this couple is adorable and easy going and they know how to party. Lauren and Brad, you rock and you’re hot and that’s the truth! Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your celebration and  for making New Years 2010 better than we could have imagined. We CANNOT WAIT to hang out again sometime soon…furniture jumping anyone?

Some vendor shout-outs are definitely in order (and in the bride’s words herself):
“Julie Scrivener, The Best Wedding for You, for making sure this event went smoothly.
Mick Scrivener, Elite British DJ, for keeping us dancing until 1 am!
Nancy Stevens Wedding Flowers, for all the beautiful bouquets, centerpieces, ceremony décor, and soooo much more.
Concepts Event Design, for the awesome lounge furniture, chivari chairs, draping, and napkins.
Flour Power for our delicious cake. Soheila Saranghi for making our hair beautiful.
Natalie Dixon for her wonderful job on make-up making sure our faces were picture perfect.
Holly Skinner for her extremely special and touching ceremony.
Ryan Hurd at the Omni Hotel for helping us make this event happen.”

Hello there all my Monday friends! I hope when you read this that it helps brighten the start of the week. It’s actually Sunday night when I’m writing this because tomorrow we will be in Vegaaaaas! Yep, time for a little vacation and some letting loose. We will be attending the annual WPPI conference with pretty much every photographer around and it’s going to be good times for sure. So, that being said, if you email/call me this week I am officially out of the office so I might be a little delayed in my responses. No worries though, come Thursday I’ll be sending you so many emails you won’t know what to do with yourself. In hopes to make it up to you for going away all week, I wanted to share an EXTRA special post with you today. This is the engagement session of Nick and Tiffany. They booked us a couple of weeks ago for their March 13th wedding so we quickly scheduled their engagement session in Julian for last weekend. I hadn’t been to Julian in YEARS so it was great to meet up, eat some pie (OMG the pie…amazing), and cruise around like we were in the midwest (Julian reminds me SO MUCH of Idaho where I was raised). These two were naturals with the camera and willing to try anything we threw at them (walking through wet fields in their fabulous shoes). And the evidence that they completely and absolutely ROCKED it is below. Really, they are fabulous and I will be drinking a margarita in their honor while in Vegas. Nick and Tiffany, you are amazing and perfect for each other, and I CANNOT wait for your wedding this coming Saturday…it will be the perfect end to a perfect week.

Perhaps one of my favorite pictures EVER.