Spring has sprung and we have bloomed a whole new look here at Wendy K Yalom Photography. Welcome and Enjoy the divine details of Mira & Curtis SUPER-STYLISH Piedmont Wedding. With two ultra-attractive and slightly quirky designers, an explosion of cherry blossoms, magnolias and a wickedly brilliant March sunshine, I can;t get enough of this gorgeous wedding. Enjoy!
If you like this wedding, like us below and leave a comment! Also, our images are now Pinterest friendly.
in Love,
A friend of mine says he can always judge a man’s character by the radiance of his woman. I think you can understand a woman’s character by the quality of women that surround her on her wedding day. If we were to use this formula when it comes to Megan and Eric they would easily rate off the charts. Megan (like her bridesmaids) is stunning, smart and wildly generous. Seeing her with her women friends reminded me of spending time with mine, it is as if they each wanted to give the most, love each other the most, contribute to each other’s fun the most. Joy in their presence is the only option. And then we experience Eric – directed, overjoyed, happy at the happiness of Megan. It is with genuine and incomprehensible joy that I have somehow landed not only in a career that allows me to use my head, heart and hands in equal measure but one that is in service to people I truly admire and to love that inspires me. ENJOY!
Epic glamour and beauty only scratches the surface. With Destinee, her beauty is buoyant. Her explosion of joy when she sees the chandeliers hung, when Seth responds to her desire, when her cousin and best friend stretches herself to share with the whole wedding how much she loves and admires Dest, when she discovers a yoga class she loves – it lifts up everyone in her presence. It is her gift to the world, her willingness and commitment to open in love and beauty. Seth is the perfect match for her – it equal proportion to her openness and beauty is his strength and willingness to be a structure for her to shine brighter and be freer. Essentially insuring his continued growth and freedom.
During their wedding ceremony at Villa Camino Cielo, officiated by their mentor, Erwan Davon, Seth’s sister read the following Rumi poem. It was the first I had heard it and like Rumi poems are wont to do – my heart burst open. This time, however, it was not simply the poem but how perfectly the last two stanzas suited Seth & Destinee, suited these two lovers –
They are the chosen ones
ho have surrendered.
Once they were particles of light
now they are the radiant sun.
They have left behind the world of deceitful games
They are the privileged lovers
who create a world
with their eyes of fiery passion.
It’s easy to get me swooning – acts of love, words of affirmation and poetry rarely miss the mark. This one from Emily Dickinson, read at Ian & Melissa’s elegant and perfectly curated Off The Beaten Path Wedding was a bulls eye.
It’s all I have to bring today
This, and my heart beside
This, and my heart, and all the fields
And all the meadows wide
Be sure you count Should I forget
Some one the sum could tell
This, and my heart, and all the Bees
Which in the Clover dwell.
It was a pleasure capturing this day, not only because Ian & Melissa are awesome, fun and stylishnor simply because the venue was utterly stunning and the full moon rising over the Sonoma Hills unexpectedly glorious. It was a joy to capture this day because Ian and Melissa and their friends, family and the team from Off the Beaten Path Weddings continually give their hearts AND everything else. This, and my heart beside, This, and my heart, and all the fields, all the meadows and bees and THIS my heart beside, All these beautiful images and my heart beside. Enjoy!
As a photographer honed to feel and watch for the emotional impact of a wedding day, there are few that have the wildly excited, joyful and grounded in tradition quality that Yael and Matt’s has. Yael’s family is wonderfully close-knit and her mom Miriam is the kind of mother that is always looking to her children and grandchildren for how she can give more, love more, care more. The effect being a state of all’s good when she is around. Yael and Matt’s Four Season’sWedding incorporated one of my favorite Jewish traditions, a traditional tish and bedeken. Yael is well-wished by the women of her community while Matt is honored and toasted by the men until a sufficient amount of excitement and tension had built and he is led to her to the loud applause, music hooting and hollering of their guests, each moment filled with greater excitement. You can see feel it as he approached the longing, the joy, the readiness to begin their life together as a married couple and the whole communities total excitement and rambunctious joy! It is the total expression of the joy and delight and privilege at starting a life with someone – explosively beautiful and loudly wonderful. ENJOY!!
I can’t help but feel the full impact of being in love when I read this verse from Pablo Neruda’s poem XVII. My heart races open, my cheeks flush and for an moment there is nothing but rapture.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
I love you in this way because I know no other way of loving
but this: in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.
It is without complexity or pride that Valerie and David love. They love straightforwardly and their love, one born of over two decades of knowing each other is inclusive and kind beyond measure. What a joy to capture you both on your Wedding Day at The Golden Gate Club and being Madly in Love. Enjoy!
It’s a miracle that my particular version of genius has landed me in this career. Each time I’m with a couple witnessing and encouraging their love I’m ecstatic. I come back to my studio, cull through our images and have chills half the time because I somehow by the grace of god captured it. Joy, tenderness, play, devotion all right there captured! It’s obvious in their first photo, their particular flavor of love; adoration rich with fun, passion and play. Ian and Melissa are equal parts stylish, smart and attractive as they are playful, goofy and in love. You’ll see all of it here – buckets of play and softness. Ian cares for Melissa in sweet considerate unexpected ways and no doubt when Melissa responds with a smile that beams as brightly as any I’ve seen. There is so much joy between them that at one point we were asked by a neighbor to keep it down. That is exactly the type of trouble I want to be in. Thanks for being troublemakers in the best possible way and thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my genius with you! Enjoy!
If you were familiar with the the Judaic tradition and you heard the love story of Iva and Nick , you’d respond with one of our favorite terms “Oh, they are Basheret” you would say, meaning they are meant to be. But you wouldn’t stop there. You would meet their families and not know who belonged to which side because the ease with which they come together and you would think “Basheret”. Then Iva would tell you about her devoted older sister who is not only a talented baker working with Cake Coquette, she’s also a thoughtful wedding planner and excited to create an amazing cake and a perfect wedding day for her- “Basheret” and then Nick would tell you that his dad is a longtime executive and friend with Wolfgang Puck and that he will be handling the catering and you can’t help but think “Basheret”. I know I’m stretching here and if my Rabbi were to read this, she would likely school me on the essential meaning of the term – true love, destined love, the kind of love we tell stories about. That is the great beauty of Iva and Nick’s love, it encompasses not only the two of them but their family and friends as well. It is not without utter and constant gratitude that I realize the opportunity I have to witness and capture such a powerful circle of love is a gift of God. Is it basheret for me? I think so. Take a look at Iva and Nick’s Wedding at Julia Morgan Ballroom and you tell me.
