Throughout the years, I have given countless wedding advice from the perspective of a photographer, but after hosting a wedding of my own, I’ve learned a few new tips from a bride’s point of view — and I’m sharing them here with you. Hope you find something useful in here and can make it your own.

This past month, I had the honor of getting to photograph Stacy at her home studio. Better known to the world as Shaskia, she is a talented painter, a loving mother, and effortlessly cool in every way.

For their wedding day, Natalie and Brian invited their family and friends to join them at the legendary Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California. He wore a black suit covered in roses, she surprised him with her own upcycled rendition of his mother’s wedding dress, and their guests came sporting an all-pink wardrobe for one of the greatest parties I’ve ever attended.

A look into Natalie and Jake's intimate day on the Oregon coast. A quiet morning with family, a ceremony on the beach, dinner on the patio and a few special dances in the dunes.

Favorites from Yiseul and Eric's ten year anniversary celebration in San Francisco, featuring a vow renewal at city hall and an intimate breakfast at Loquat with their parents.

On a warm day in June, Emma and James met me just outside of San Francisco, picked me up in a little red mustang, and we spent the afternoon taking their engagements on this tiny stretch of the California coastline.

A look into my favorite wedding venue in Mallorca, Spain. An old finca turned hotel, Es Raco d'Artá is a nature lover's dream. With all around mountain views, incredible design, a farm-to-table restaurant and top-tier hospitality, this is easily my favorite spot for weddings on the island.

Vesta and Skyler brought all of their favorite people to an avocado farm in Simi Valley and hosted the most beautiful wedding at Quail Ranch. A ceremony under a decades-old olive tree, sunset in the tall grass, and a dance party at blue hour — a perfect way to marry your best friend.

I believe that getting a great photo is a collaborative experience — a skilled photographer can make “anything” look good, sure. But with a little bit of help from you, we can make magic.

No two weddings are ever the same — each has it’s own unique group of people and details which means I get to witness something different at every one. If I took the time to write my favorite part about each one, we’d be here for hours. Instead, I’ve categorized my list into this collection of broader bullet points; so without further ado, I present to you my favorite part about photographing weddings.

This year, I found a book called the Art of Gathering (by Priya Parker) that introduced me to a more intentional way to gather people. These are my biggest takeaways from her book, and an insight on how I’m incorporating these lessons into my own wedding.

Journal entries and photographs from this impromptu trip up to Death Valley with one of my best pals.

An afternoon of soaking up the sun and drinking (non-alcoholic) bevvies in her dad’s backyard to celebrate the coming arrival of our new best friend.

In the process of planning my own wedding, I’ve been brainstorming concepts to build a dinner table that would be as low-waste as possible (zero-waste, if I did it right.) Often times, people think we have to compromise aesthetics for the sake of sustainability, but I’m confident that the two can coexist. Thus, this series was born. With the help of some of my friends and local vendors, we are setting out to show the wedding industry that low-waste wedding design is not only doable, but can be beautiful as well.

For their wedding day, Julie and Michael rented a home in the hills of Calabasas. They filled the backyard with pretty florals, their favorite people, and at least a few gallons of aperol spritzes and threw one of my favorite intimate weddings of all time.

This summer, I had the privilege of getting to photograph a wedding for two of my favorite people in the world. Sam and Dylan held the most beautiful, intimate wedding at Our Place, an AirBNB on the Oregon coast. They filled the house with their closest family and friends, got married overlooking the ocean, and sang karaoke as the sun went down — a picture perfect day.

Megan and Gray gathered their family and friends at Sparrow Valley Retreat, a small cabin nestled underneath the California redwoods. They shared their vows under the trees, ate dinner together on the lawn, and ended the night with a giant dance party on the patio. Here are some of my favorite photographs from their day.

A glimpse into Ellen and Kevin’s wedding at El Rey Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A day filled with good cocktails, great food, and amazing people. Weddings (and people) like these are the reason I love this job so much.

Did you know the average wedding creates 400 pounds of trash? I believe there’s a better way to do things. Inspired by past low-waste couples, I’ve put together this list of all of my favorite sustainable swaps for you to consider implementing into your wedding day.

As 2022 comes to an end, I really wanted to spend these last few days reflecting on all the good things that happened this year — from the people who helped me survive, to the shows that made me laugh, to the music that made me feel alive, and everything in between. So, in the spirit of the holidays, here are a few of my favorite things.