My friend Talya is an incredibly talented opera singer. She also happens to be gorgeous. She’s one of my long time fans and has made frequent appearances on this blog. This time, I told her if she flew out to California, she had a portrait session waiting for her over here. She got a little bonus too. I even did the styling and all her hair and makeup.
We took a short little trip over to Oakland’s Lake Merritt for some unbeatable California sunshine.
They envisioned an outdoor wedding at a Napa Valley winery, V. Sattui. The courtyard would be strung with lights and guests would be seated in the cozy little square. But mother nature had other plans when the forecasts all turned to rain. Of course, Christine and Scott didn’t let it stop them for one second. All of the amazing vendors worked to seamlessly relocate the ceremony indoors to the barrel room. There was not one ounce of complaint over changed plans. It was beautiful, intimate, and filled with joy and celebration, and Christine and Scott had the perfect wedding in every way.
Christine got ready at the beautiful Avia Hotel in downtown Napa.
V. Sattui’s covered walkways surrounding the courtyard made for the perfect setting for Christine & Scott’s rainy day first look.
I absolutely loved working with everyone at V. Sattui. They made the entire day run so smoothly and were so helpful in accommodating us with all these gorgeous photography locations.
Christine and Scott opted to create two 20×30″ canvas prints of their engagement photos, as well as a custom guest book which I’m sure I’ll post about soon. I absolutely loved seeing all of their beautiful photos on display!
The details were classic and fit the rustic look of the barrel room perfectly.
Candid moments are always my favorites.
The room was transformed into the reception venue and a lounge seating area.
Macaroons! An entire dessert bar! And even an ice cream station.
Cheers!
Congratulations, Christine & Scott!
Wedding Vendors:
Venue: V. Sattui Winery
Hair: Jennifer Smallwood, It’s A Date at the Powder Room
Makeup: Jennifer Smallwood, It’s A Date at the Powder Room
Florist: Paul Stokey, Tesoro Flowers
Catering: Tra Vigne
Dress: David’s Bridal
DJ: Tony Sparks, Close Cut Productions
Wedding Coordinator: Darlene Forbes
Wedding Cake: Jaimee, Fleur de Lisa
Officiant: James Forbes
Photography: Anna Wu Photography
It’s been such a pleasure to photograph the Gardners year after year and watch their family grow. Sadly, they are moving down to Southern California this month, and they will be sorely missed up here in the Bay Area! But I fully plan to visit them down in Ojai to continue the annual tradition, as long as they don’t get sick of me. =)
We kick it off with Isla the explorer. Isla is the best little girl ever. She loves zombies and Star Wars more than any other little girl in the world, she says outrageously awesome things all the time, and Aaron documents it all (along with writing awesome poems and other things) on his blog, which you should definitely read.
Classic Isla. The family was all posed for a portrait atop the Fairyland Hotel, but she was still having a lot of fun in jail.
Meet Miles! He has grown so much since I first met him for his newborn portraits.
Isla has her princess wave down pat.
Baby blues.
Love these precious moments. Telling daddy about how scary the wolf was, and getting a reassuring hug after going down the giant dragon slide!
Finally, a couple little Hallmark moments for posterity!
Joy and Timmy are expecting!
Despite forecasts of rain, we lucked out on some gorgeous sunlight instead. It took a little bit of convincing for me to assure Tim that we weren’t going to create super awkward maternity photos (because yes, there are so many super awkward maternity photos out there in the world). But he was a good sport, and, well, I’ll let you judge for yourselves, but I think these turned out amazingly. I might just stick around this maternity photography business for a while. =)
I love Joy’s baby bump. Eight months!
So sweet.
Congratulations Joy & Tim! Can’t wait to meet the little one!
I will never forget when at the end of this session, Kristen turned to me and said, “Anna, thank you so much for taking the time to make our family feel special for a day.”
It’s an absolute privilege for me to build relationships with my clients and to keep in touch with them even beyond their wedding day. You may remember Kristen and Ryan from their beautiful backyard wedding in Sunol last summer. I was very excited to see them again with Kristen’s family for a family portrait session at her parents’ house.
At the end of the day, with all of the ups and downs that life hands us, isn’t it really all we can do to take a moment to celebrate joy, love, life, and make someone else feel special?
Enjoy!
Four generations of beautiful women.
