| Thursday, September 25, 2008 |
| John and Paola's wedding in New York at the Monteverde at Oldstone Manor |
So what can I say... John is now a married man and he married someone so amazingly wonderful, Paola. John and I go wayyyy back, before we were born. Our parents were friends first and then we grew up together. He is one of my very best friends and I'm so happy for both of them. This is an awesome thing for him but not so good for me... you know what kind of razzing I'm going to get (have been getting) now that he's married!?!? I might be the last man standing in our group of friends... ouch!
Anyway, they had a beautiful wedding in upstate New York at the Monteverde at Oldstone Manor. It was a beautiful day and everything was perfect. Paola was an angel and John actually looked like a stud! I know I'm at weddings all the time and each and every one is amazing, but to be at a wedding where you know just about everyone there is another story. I saw friends and family that I haven't seen in a long long time. We screwed around before, during and after the ceremony and then we started drinking! haha
My whole family, minus two who couldn't make it, flew/drove out to the wedding and my cousin Carlo (NJ Wedding Photographer), my two brothers and I shot the wedding as "guests". There were Filipino traditions intertwined in the ceremony and John asked me to be one of the cord sponsors so I had to put my camera down, but not for long. I really tried to stay out of the way of the hired photographers but if I didn't and you're reading this blog, sorry.
There are a bunch, but here are some of my favs!
                                 Labels: Monteverde at Oldstone Manor, New York, Santa Barbara Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
posted by Ricky @ 6:28 PM   |
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| Monday, July 14, 2008 |
| Adriana & Michael's wedding at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum |
What a great weekend, busy and fun! Friday started Adriana and Michael's wedding weekend with a rehearsal at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum and a rehearsal dinner at El Paseo restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara. Family, friends, great food and pitchers of Margaritas... what else do you need?
Karen and Craig drove up Friday night for the wedding and a great friends daughter also came along to shoot this wedding. Andriana loves photography and is really getting into it so I asked her if she wanted to come along and see what wedding photography's all about, first hand. I was super happy she came along, she's a doll and it was a pleasure having her there. I was also happy she was there because this wedding was a good size, 350+ guests and a wedding party of 20, awesome!
Everything was beautiful and everything went as planned, talk about awesome planning! Adriana was especially beautiful in her dress... the bead work was incredibly detailed. Her dad walked in and saw her for the first time in her dress and just stared. I did the same when I saw her too! The ceremony was held in the lower area of the museum, right in front of a vine covered trellis. All the bridesmaids started crying when Adriana started walking down the aisle. Michael also lost it the first time he saw her.
The dinner was served in the upper courtyard by Pure Joy Catering. The toasts and speeches started before dinner and I must say that the best man's speech was one of the funniest speeches I've heard in a long long time! The food was amazing and everyone partied hard right to the end.
Michael surprised Adriana with a horse and carriage ride that took them from the museum to their suite at the Canary Hotel downtown. Here are some favs from the day.
The girls started their day out at Mishay Salon on De La Vina, catching up on celebrity gossip, getting their hair and make up done... the usual. Everyone was so nice and calm and they were having a blast.
    
The guys on the other hand were having a blast in a different way. Jammin music, dancing and an open bar. On a side note, there was this incredible sand rail at the house that I couldn't stop drooling over. This thing was amazing, polished aluminum everything, full electronics and an aluminum block Corvette engine that puts out around 500 horse...... ok sorry, back to the wedding!
We all had a blast at the wedding and it truly was an honor to be a part of such a special day for Adriana, Michael and both families... thank you so much!
                               Labels: Santa Barbara Historical Museum, Santa Barbara Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
| posted by Ricky @ 8:35 PM |
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| Monday, June 30, 2008 |
| Boubulina and Marcus Wedding at Elings Park |
Boubulina and Marcus were married this past weekend at Elings Park in Santa Barbara. They did such a great job using all the park has to offer! They had their ceremony down in the amphitheater, cocktail hour on the deck and dinner was served out in the grassy area with the DJ and the dance floor. There were gas lamps for heat and lights were strung up over the party.
Boubulina's brother Stavros was her Man of Honor and there were around 150 guests there to celebrate the wedding. The DJ was playing requests that kept everyone dancing hard right to the end. At the end of the night, Marcus projected a slide show onto a huge screen of fun pictures of themselves over the years.
Both families and all the guests were so nice and it was an honor for us (my awesome team Karen, Craig and I) to be there, thank you.
Here are some favs! Check out these first 3 detail shots by Craig, Karen's husband, nice job!
              
Here's a great example of how 2 perspectives, a 2nd shooter (Karen), make a nice difference in a shot.
             Labels: Elings Park, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
| posted by Ricky @ 2:48 AM |
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| Saturday, April 19, 2008 |
| 2008 Santa Barbara County Wedding Directory |
So here's some really exciting news. I've recently teamed up with Cade Carper of Open Door Directories to create the 2008 Santa Barbara County Wedding Directory. This is going to be the most comprehensive Wedding Directory anyone has ever seen! Any and every resource a couple could need to plan their wedding in Santa Barbara County will be in one place.
Ventura County's directory was a huge success and this magazine is going to be even better. This directory will have a circulation of 60,000 issues distributed all year long throughout Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria, Montecito and Santa Ynez. With full color images printed on heavy stock paper, this magazine is nicer than most national magazines out there for sale.
I did a preliminary design for the cover for everyone to check out. The bride pictured below is Stephanie Lodge. She was married in Hollywood, CA last September and is the founder of Zencierge, the first and only luxury concierge service in the world to look at lifestyle management from both a holistic living and earth-conscious approach. She's pretty amazing so make sure to visit her site.
I'll keep everyone updated on when this directory will be released. If you'd like to be added to a mailing list, go ahead and email me so you can have one sent out to you as soon as it's printed! Also, email me if you're interested in advertising in the directory. They're filling up fast so let me know soon.
 Labels: Santa Barbara Photographers, Santa Barbara Wedding Directory, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
| posted by Ricky @ 4:15 PM |
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| Friday, April 04, 2008 |
| My Skater Niece and Nephew, Sarah and Jordan |
Every once in a while, I get to keep the kids with me over night and it's called "Camp UR", which stands for camp uncle Ricky. I love having them over, they're so much fun. Well, they're really into skateboarding so here are some pics of them being goofy on their boards.
What's so great about these kids is that they are best friends. They get along so well and never.... well I guess I shouldn't say never, but very rarely fight. I love these kids!
    Labels: Santa Barbara Photography, Santa Barbara Portrait Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
| posted by Ricky @ 1:19 AM |
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| Sunday, December 02, 2007 |
| Sarah's Girl Scout Graduation at Alice Keck Park |
My niece, Sarah had her Girl Scout graduation this past weekend at Alice Keck Park in Santa Barbara. I didn't realize how large of an organization the Girl Scouts was until this weekend. Since Sarah has lived in Europe for the past 4 years, she's participated in the Girl Scouts over seas so she has some badges that the other girls don't have.
When they graduate, they call it bridging so they all walked over the bride at the park to signify their accomplishments! I had to look all of this up online! haha
They all sang their songs and when Sarah walked across the bridge, she had to recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law. She's such a rockstar, I was so proud of her.
Jordan was a little rockstar too. Here he is, the little brother at his sisters Girl Scout Ceremony surrounded by what else.... girls! haha He kept himself busy with his scooter doing jumps the whole time!
Here are some pics.
     Labels: Alice Keck Park Santa Barbara, Girls Scouts of America, Santa Barbara Event Photography, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
| posted by Ricky @ 11:53 PM |
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| Alegria by Design Holiday Party! |
I had the privilege of attending a Holiday party put together by Armando Martinez, the man behind Alegria by Design. The Santa Barbara Club was all decked out and the place looked pretty amazing! The lighting, the rooms, the food, the mock ceremony setup by Wesflora Inc.... all awesome. Scott Topper was the DJ for the night and kept everyone partying.
I had a ton of fun and met some really great people. Here are some pictures from the night with Dia, Katie and Nick, Armando bustin a move, and Melissa Musgrove who's probably going to kill me for blogging a picture of her dancing! haha
 Labels: Alegria by Design, Holiday party, Santa Barbara Club, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer, Santa Barbara Wedding Photography |
| posted by Ricky @ 12:30 PM |
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