Riverside CA wedding
Adri had already planned everything for her wedding and was chilling when her photographer had to back out about a month beforehand. I was scrolling on Facebook and saw her post explaining this and looking for a last minute replacement. I just knew she had to be stressing. Like imagine you’re just finishing details and then one of your vendors drop out! That sucks. Luckily I was free that day, so I messaged her. We started chatting, had a call and just vibed. Even though Adri was in this kind of weird predicament, so was so chill. Like If she didn’t flat out say it was stressful, I would have never known by her demeanor. Getting to know her more leading up to her wedding day, and the day of though, now I know that’s just how she is. So kind, and so laid back.
Fast forward, to Nov 5th. The big day is finally here!! Im super excited. I live about two hours away so the drive gave me some time to myself before a busy wedding day. On the way up I was listening to The Last Podcast on the Left. If you like crime podcasts, I highly reccomend it. So, Im listening to some creepy stories and just having a nice time driving. About 20 minutes before getting there I had to start playing some uptempo music though to get in the wedding party spirit.
I got to Adri’s family where she grew up. She had told me before she wanted family photos in front of their home. I thought that was such a sweet and sentimental idea. I got there, and her family was so welcoming. We got some detail shots, and some getting ready shots and then her, her mom and I went outside to start with the family portraits. This was one of my favorite moments of the day. You could just see so much love between her and her mom and how proud of her her mom is. Being a mom myself, it was such a tender moment to get to capture. Even just looking in the photos you can see what a sweet moment it was. I think her mom thought so too cause she had even mentioned it in her speech. Then more family photos and it was go time!
I packed up my stuff and headed over to the church. It wasn’t very long before guests started showing up. It was a super intimate wedding, so just their closest friends and family. You could see everyone just buzzing with excitement for the couple. All the parents, siblings, aunties, grandparents etc were so full of love and joy at the union of this couple. Honestly sometimes this is what gets me emotional. Like. In my mind, there is nothing more special and sacred than love. Im not religious, but seeing so many people come together in this way with pure intentions, just to share love and celebrate is almost religious experience. It really gives me so much hope and joy.
After the service we went downtown. Their reception was at a club/lounge downtown and right across the was was a STUNNING hotel. We went over to The Mission Inn Hotel to get some photos outside. Over there is all brick exterior with beautiful arches, and vines growing around. Even being there, before I pulled out my camera I knew these photos were going to be incredible. Not only did we get the couple photos, but I also took this time to do some portraits of the bride and groom individually. It was so cute, cause while I was taking pictures of Adriana, Josh was hyping her up. He definitely was seeing my vision there! (And they turned out perfectly!!)
Then, over to the reception. I walked in and everything was so beautifully decorated (done by withlove.sharon). The neon lights everywhere was such a vibe. ESPEEECIALLY where the cakes and cupcakes were. It looked so freaking cool. We spent the rest of the evening into the night there, dancing the night away. I was seeing lot of groups of people taking shots. Just living it up. I was so happy to get to enjoy this night with them.
Im an extrovert too so doing all this got my super hyped. I was blasting my party girl music on my drive home. You would have thought I was heading to the club for real lol. But nope! I got home, sent them their 5 picture sneak peak and crashhhhed.
Thank you Adri, Josh and your family for making me so welcome into your day. I am wishing you a lifetime of happiness together
