Undine's Russian Orthodox Wedding

I was introduced to Undine by a previous Bride I photographed last year named Charlene.

When Undine tolde me that she and Terrell were going to be married in her small Russian Orthodox Church I was so excited.

I have had the honor of photographing Jewish,Hindu,Catholic,

Non Denominational,Civil,Tea Ceremonies

and more in my career as a wedding photographer.

But I had only seen a few images from what appeared to be such a beautiful ceremony.

St. Nicholas Church has such a wonderful sense of family and their wonderful choir
that sang during various parts of the ceremony.

The Priest shared the several stages of the marriage rites, which was a little different from what some of the guests may have been used to.

The rite of Marriage contains two parts:
the Betrothal, and the Crowning. At one
time, it was common practice to perform
these two rites separately, the betrothal being
the "engagement" service, and the
Crowning being the actual wedding.
Today,these two rites are celebrated together as
one whole rite of matrimony.

Look for more images from this wedding on my web site soon.

Sleepless in Seattle...

I just flew in to SF from an engagement session in Seattle and my arms aren't tired (I couldn't resist that cheesy joke) but they are FROZEN.

The next time the thermometer drops below 65 here in the Bay Area, I won't complain.

Seattle is beautiful. Of course I suffered from sensory OVERLOAD from all of the great places to take photos and I could still be there photographing Toland and Nicole because they are such a great couple. Meeting couples like these two who blend so well together is one of the best parts of my work.

This kinda goes back to my "Six Degrees" posting a while back. Toland is the brother of Conan, a Groom I photographed here in the Bay Area last year.

He and his beautiful Bride Margaret are in the "featured weddings" area of my web site.

When Toland asked me would I travel to Seattle for his wedding I was honored and excited. We had a ball and I was so happy that there wasn't any rain to interrupt our 2 days of shooting.

They took me to Pikes Place Market and I fell in love with all of the great food and wonderful handcrafted items. Think of a cross between Fishermans Wharf,The Ashby Flea Market in Berkeley and your local Farmer's Market. I plan to visit Pike's Place again when I go back for the wedding in July.

I was also able to take a look at the wedding site and I already have my shots planned.
I can't wait until July !