Vanessa & Luis

I met Vanessa a few years ago at her parents place, though I wonder if she remembers meeting me back then. I am friends with Vanessa's brother, Johnel, who is a dear friend of mine. He casually introduced us, we chatted for a second and that was that.

Fast forward a few years into the future. I see Vanessa at her sister-in-laws baby shower and she tells me she wants to talk about wedding photography (for her wedding, of course). I feel both excited and honored that she would consider me to photograph her wedding. We then email each other back and forth and set a time for me to meet with her and Luis. We chatted, connected, booked the wedding, and then later had a great engagement session. Awesome!

Vanessa and Luis are the kind of people that you want to be friends with. They are kind and love their friends and their families, which was evident at their wedding. These are just a few of the reasons why I was excited and honored to be there at their wedding.

So about the wedding. The ceremony was at the BEAUTIFUL Holy Cross Church. The church was amazing to shoot in. Period. Luis grew up attending this church and knows the Pastor, so there is an emotional tie to this amazing building.

After the ceremony the entire party went out to the Adler Planetarium for a few portraits near the lakefront. The weather was perfect (yay, no rain) and the smiles were genuine. What more could a photographer ask for? There was just enough cloud coverage to provide some texture to our portraits and to block out the sun. We all hung out there for a bit and then started to feel the heat of the sun. It was time to get in the air-conditioned bus and off to the reception.

Vanessa and Luis planned the perfect party. The reception was held at the Chateau Del Mar. One of the coolest things about this place is the golf course. The perfectly mowed grass and trees made for a fantastic view. They had a mariachi band play for the cocktail hour. Those guys could SING! And they looked pretty darn cool to boot. The DJ spun a few tunes while the guests ate. After dinner the band came on stage and played a variety of spanish music. They were an amazing band (I will have to get the band name and post it later) and really pumped up the crowd and got them dancing. It was so cool seeing the dance floor so full. I think that the majority of the guests were actually dancing. I know that every last square-inch of the dace floor was taken.

My many thanks to the Flores and Mugnaini families for having me be a part of such an important day in their families history. Luis and Vanessa, you guys are amazing and I hope the absolute best for your future. I look forward to hearing your part of your wedding story. I hope that you both had a blast.

I want to thank Gary Middendorf for his assistance and for his amazing shots. Thanks dude, you ROCK!

You can see the still images on my Facebook page: Click here!