The location you choose for your wedding can help tell something about yourselves: Whether you're outdoorsy, beautifully traditional, urban, very rural, extroverted, introverted, etcetera. In the end the location you choose will perfectly fit your personality and demeanor. All weddings are as amazing and unique as the couples getting married. Non-traditional outdoor weddings are always highly unique. Weddings that we've photographed outdoors have ranged from a literal fort in Puerto Rico, to nature preserves in the mountains of California, to Midwest barns, to beaches, to beautifully manicured backyards, to adobes, to state parks, and to ranches!
In many cases, we've found outdoor wedding to use a family member or best friend as the officiant and this held true for Michelle and Marcelles' wedding. In less than a week Michelle and Marcelles will celebrate their second wedding anniversary out in California! We loved photographing their wedding together (everybody loves M & Ms) and are so happy that they have since been living so happily together as new homeowners!
Michelle and Jason knew each other since high school in his hometown of Lancaster, California, so she reached out to him about wedding photos when we were living in Santa Barbara. Jason and Marcelles were also friends, with Marcelles having graduated from our same alma mater. This being said, we definitely wanted to help these two capture some memorable photos of their wedding.
The wedding took place at Blue Star Ranch: A sandy little non-profit ranch that on weekdays utilizes its horses as therapy for those with PTSD and emotional instability. Upon arrival we were happy to see the familiar faces of many Jason's friends... some of whom we saw months prior at Christmas and some he hadn't seen in several years. When we arrived early Michelle and Marcelles were still putting the finishing touches on the venue. In a manner true to both of them, they were relaxed as could be dressed in laid back clothing and straw hats. The two greeted guests and put made sure everything was going smoothly until just a few minutes prior to the ceremony. While they got prepared, we went went to work photographing cute wedding details on the tables set up around the corral as well as photos of attendees enjoying a cocktail hour.
As the wedding began to fill in we got ready to photograph everyone coming down the aisle. Having a great amount of natural golden light is always amazing, and the timing of the ceremony couldn't have been better. We were able to capture some great shots of the wedding party, bride and groom, and the adorable flower girls. Michelle and Marcelles were grinning from ear to ear from the moment they saw each other. The two chose to exchange personal vows to make the ceremony a little more unique to themselves. Their officiant was Michelle's cousin who did a tremendous job.
After the ceremony we pulled the bridal party aside to capture a few formal photos of the group as well as the couple themselves. Jenny went out and found a gorgeous spot for the group photos down the nearby path that lead out to the road. Since it was still very early summer (still technically the end of spring) the leaves and foliage were still beautiful and full. We then moved to a location just across the road from the ceremony venue. The timing couldn't have been any better with the golden light of sunset coming through the tall browned grass of the field. The shot came out simple and elegant while showing the beauty of the natural surroundings.
After the formal photos everyone enjoyed another cocktail hour followed by (wait for it.....) a taco cart serving dinner-!! (A dream of a meal that we actually got to re-live a couple weeks later while photographing Ivan and Alex's wedding!) Everyone enjoyed some amazing tacos while the sun set in the desert and the dance floor opened up for dancing. Michelle then took to the floor and sang Marcelles a heartfelt song played on her acoustic guitar.
The two then cut their cake under beautiful globe twinkle lights/altar where they had initially held their ceremony. This concluded the events as the night set over the desert. It was a beautiful and memorable time and quite the celebration of the love these two share for one another. Congratulations to you two on the anniversary and here's to many more happy years together!
Up next week we have another awesome wedding to share! In the meantime, check out our Instagram page www.instagram.com/jennyandjasonphoto to check out what we've been up to recently! AND if you're in the area you still have 4 more days to check out The Best Week Ever in South Bend www.bestweekever2017.com : A week filled with many fun, free activities for everyone! We're meeting with a few of our new wedding clients this weekend and beginning of next week, but we're excited to partake in some more of the events in town this weekend in-between work!