Alice Sokoloff Photography: The Blog

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Joyce & Brian's Wedding (Mission Santa Clara de Asis & Freedom Hall)

If you are planning a wedding and are lucky enough to be able to work with a wedding planner, or if you can't afford a wedding planner and simply read books about wedding planning, the first thing they'll tell you is "you should stucture your wedding around a theme." I tell my brides that all the time, too, partly for the somewhat selfish reason that it makes it that much more interesting to photograph a wedding organized around a theme, and partly because I think it makes the wedding planning a lot more fun for the bride herself.

When I met with Joyce and Brian, I was thrilled to discover they had a theme to their wedding--it was going to be about missions! Why missions? Joyce and Brian are united in their strong religious beliefs and they had only recently gone on a road trip covering every California Mission. How cool is that?!

Everything had come together perfectly. The wedding ceremony was held at the stunning Mission Santa Clara de Asis located on the Santa Clara University campus. The guest book (designed by Joyce & Brian) had photos from the road trip intermixed with lined pages for the guests' wishes. The place cards were held in place by tiny mission bells! Every table was named after a mission. Needless to say, at a wedding planned this well, the couple had their own wedding logo (also mission themed) and beautiful flowers! In fact, as Joyce confessed during our first meeting, when she saw my website, she fell in love with a bouquet in my portfolio and showed it to her florist as inspiration for her own flower arrangements. I was so happy to hear that I could help provide wedding inspiration! :)

Second-shooting with me at the wedding was Yury of East of Pacific.

And here are some of my favorites from the wedding:

The wedding preparations took place at Hotel Valencia on Santana Row.

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Each of the bridesmaids received as a present a tote with her initial. The totes came stuffed with goodies, such as orange flip flops and other wedding essentials.

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Did I mention how beautiful the mission is?

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Joyce is a teacher and one of her students came to sing at her wedding. He sang so well, I almost cried!

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The reception took place at the Freedom Hall and Gardens in Santa Clara. And here are all those lovely details I was telling you about. (Details in #23 are by Yury.)

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Congratulations, Joyce and Brian! Your wedding was so beautiful, so well-planned and perfectly executed. It was an honor to be a part of your special day!

Until next time!
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Monday, September 6, 2010

Sneak Peek from Janet & Tyler's Wedding (Mountain Winery, Saratoga)

This weekend I photographed an amazing wedding at the Mountain Winery. The bride was nothing short of sensational. The groom so rocked his kilt. I just couldn't resist and decided to share this one image with you.

A full post with images from the wedding to come in the next few weeks. :)

Congratulations, Janet & Tyler! You were fantastic! And I just know you are going to be so happy together!

Until next time!
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Friday, September 3, 2010

Bride Tip: Enjoy Your Wedding and the Wedding Preparations

So many brides get stressed out by the wedding planning process, that I thought I should write a separate post just on that topic alone.

I'll tell you a cute story that made me think and that, I hope, carries a message for you, too. I met someone today, getting ready to renew her vows. "Is it an anniversary?" I asked. "Well, yes," she said. She explained, "We renew our vows every five years, so this is our fourth time getting married." She laughed. "It's been fifteen years. I still don't know whether I'm going to say 'yes' this time around," she added coyly.

And I thought to myself, first of all, this is sooo sweet and romantic. Every five years they evaluate their relationship and continue on because they feel as (or more) strongly for one another as they did when they first got married.

But I also thought--wow, planning a wedding every five years, that's got to be so hard. Even planning one wedding in a lifetime seems to overwhelm many a bride. So what's the secret and why do they do? This is pure conjecture on my part, but I am going to say that the reason they do it and continue to enjoy it is that they don't have to. There is no pressure for them to do it, and so when they renew their vows, it's purely because they want to. It's for them and they revel in it.

So that's the lesson that I want to impart on every bride out there who is stressed and can't sleep, as she is getting overwhelmed by the planning process: take a step back, take a deep breath, and remember why you are planning a wedding in the first place. Your wedding is ultimately for you and your spouse! It's not for your parents or your friends, even if at times it may feel that way. And if the wedding is for you, then enjoy it, and enjoy planning it. One day will slip by in a blink, but the planning process may take 6 months, a year, or even longer. Don't suffer through the process because you think it will result in the perfect wedding that you are going to love. Change your thinking so that you are enjoying those 6 months, a year or more, and if you can't, change the planning process so that you can!

Until next time!
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Monday, August 30, 2010

Engagement Session with Jen & Yannick (San Mateo Central Park)

Back in March, Alice Sokoloff Photography had a booth at the Modern Bridal Faire at the San Jose Convention Center. At the faire, we gave away six free engagement sessions to six lucky couples.

Jen and Yannick were one of the couples to win a free engagement session with us. They are getting married in Mexico next year, where unfortunately I won't be able to join them for their wedding. Even though their session was technically free, we pride ourselves on providing professional high-level service to all our customers! Jen says:

"I honestly appreciate your efforts and working with us based off of a 'free' coupon. I won a few things, and have had a few 'trials' on things for the wedding cards, invites, free dinners etc that I won... and nothing was truly free, nor did we get the QUALITY experience that we got with you. I am extremely impressed, and like I said, can't wait to be able to use you again in the future. I was hoping we could smuggle you into Mexico with us :-). And now seeing these pics, I REALLY wished you were coming along."

Thank you for your kind words, Jen! You and Yannick rocked the session. Here are some of my favorites:

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These two are probably my favorite images from the session.

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Although I really like these two as well!

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Congratulations, Jen & Yannick! My best wishes to you for your fabulous wedding!

Until next time!
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Family Session with 1 Year Old Levi (Stanford Medical Center)

A few weeks ago, on a very bright and sunny Sunday afternoon, I met 1 year old Levi and his parents by the Stanford Medical Center for their photo session.

Levi was all smiles. What a delightful baby and a sweet, photogenic family! Thank you for a wonderful session, guys! Here are some of my favorites:

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