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!
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.
Be forewarned that it is likely you will have to re-calibrate your monitor after viewing this post – Masha, the bride is beaming so brightly in each moment that I’m not sure technology has been developed to handle it. Fortunately her husband, Francisco, can and is partially responsible. Having the sweet pleasure of knowing Masha before she met Francisco, I can attest that she had a bright and soft sweetness to her from the start of their romance. Here is the part that gives me chills – Francisco is a genius and a rock and committed to fulfilling Masha’s desires beyond her wildest imagination and each time he does she grows brighter and more beautiful. Masha and Francisco, there is no doubt that together you both will continue to grow brighter, stronger, bolder and if there was one wish I could make on behalf of the world it is that you continue to reveal the way you love as an inspiration for all. In utter joy and love, ENJOY!
I thought it would be fun to share about the neurochemistry of love in this blog, Andreas, the groom completing his Post-grad on the subject at Stanford. What I found was much less inspiring than I had hoped, mostly talk of oxytocin and dopamine, estrogen and seratonin. Although I’m fascinated by the mechanics of the brain and how it functions and reacts to certain experiences, situation, when it comes to love I look to the creative sciences, Rumi, Mumford and Sons, Shakespeare. A good friend and man that I’ve had the privilege of falling in love with described it as “a feeling of wholeness and an experience of dwelling within the complete positive regard of another.” It’s exquisite and delicious and brings joy not only to those in the throes of it but to those all around.
Andreas and Lena experiencing your love was such a sweet gift and one that I see as positively inspiring and effecting all those around you. ENJOY!
Two days before Bryan and Jennifer’s wedding I learnt the translation of an ancient Aramaic incantation. I was having lunch with Mark Morford and he had the transliteration on his t-shirt. I know the word, you do too – we have seen it, used it, heard it hundreds of times. I’d never known the translation and I’ll get to it in a minute but right now I want you to know how this is relevant to Bryan, Jennifer & their wedding.
If you know Bryan and Jennifer personally you know that being friends with them is like being friends with Magic itself, every thing they think or speak comes to life in ways that exceed all conventional imagination.
Imagine having a divine frequency sonar that could pick up the vibration under every word, thought, belief we emit and that the sonar would translate it into language we could understand. I’m certain you would hear this very Aramaic incantation, the one that means “with these words, let it be so” repeated over and over again when you were in the company of these two.
Bryan and Jennifer, let your marriage, your devotion and your commitment to freedom inspire Humanity to experience the limitless potential and full impact of Love itself. May your beauty and brilliance inspire our collective greatness and transcend the world into a Golden Age. May I always have the honor of calling you my dearest friends. Abracadabra.
Alissa’s brothers read The Blessing for a Marriage adapted from James Dillet Freeman at their ceremony and although I typically share in blog posts about my experience of the couple, of the team and the wedding itself, this time I wanted to share with you the words from their ceremony that burst open my heart. And of course, Alissa and Brock’s wedding photos from Holman Ranchin partnership with Allison Weddings. ENJOY!!
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite
excitement marriage should bring,
and may life grant you also patience,
tolerance, and understanding.
May you always need one another –
not so much to fill your emptiness
as to help you to know your fullness…
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice one another, but not compel one another.
May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another,
and not fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say, “I love you!”
and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart,
may both of you hope to have
good sense enough to take the first step back.
May you enter into the mystery which is
the awareness of one another’s
presence – no more physical than spiritual,
warm and near when you are
side by side, and warm and near when
you are in separate rooms
or even distant cities.
May you have happiness,
and may you find it making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.
I think of myself as a researcher of being Madly in Love and part of my commitment to creating a structure for my clients to experience the full impact of Love on their wedding day includes me asking questions that help me understand how they love, what they are most looking forward to having experienced on their wedding day and what they love most about one another. On the morning of Krista and Daniel’s San Francisco Wedding, I asked Krista what she was looking forward to and what she said still gives me those delicious “oh yes, this is madly in Love” chills. Given all the beautiful details of this day, ceremony at the historic Cavalry Presbyterian Church on Fillmore, reception at one of my favorite spots, The San Francisco City Club and a dress that was beyond breathtaking, Krista was most looking forward to having spent the day at Daniel’s side. Chills, right? Krista may your utter joy and happiness at spending your life as the side of Daniel be an inspiration for all! Enjoy!
