The allure of Los Angeles persists. Not in the guide of televised glamour, the sprawl of endless freeways, the rolling coastline, but in the people who live there. People making-doing-being. Buoyed from the previos night’s backyard film screening, I greeted the summer solstice at the wedding of Dan and Grace bright eyed and centered. As with the wedding that officially ushered in last year’s summer (Bronwyn and Jon’s), Dan and Grace’s wedding was one of these delightful pockets of the personal beauty of LA - a gathering of love and joy, people together that were alive with purpose, inspired by personal connections to the divine, and connected to a greater universal experience.
The wedding party met us before the service, and we caravaned it to Santa Anita Park, using the racetrack as a backdrop for an extended portrait session.Officated by the bride’s youth minister, the service, held at Arcadia Presbyterian Church, was accompanied by acoustic guitar. It was a joyful celebration of two souls meeting each other with open hearts.
My clients tend to make weddings their own, imprinting their personalities in the occasion, while simultaneously nodding to traditions. Case in point - when the LA classic Kogi bbq trucks pulled up, and I realized that this is what Grace and Dan arranged for dinner. And for desert, it was foregoing the traditional cake to dive into fresh strawberry Beard Papa cream puffs, filled on site and dusted with powered sugar handed out in paper sheaths to the happy guests. It turned out to be a cross between a strolling reception, and a plated dinner. The guests were inside and outside, enjoying the food, the music and the sunlight on the longest day of the year. Friends, Charlotte and Tom, emceed the evening, performing a rap that was a good-natured roasting of the bride and groom.
I was tickled by the straws bobbing in the long neck glass coke bottles that lined the head table – jaunty white lines held up by classic bubbles had an ebullinet energy much like the wedding itself. The fizzy delight of sipping coke through a long straw.
Best wishes to the newlyweds. A toast to their new journey together, to their new home, to their continued love.
These photos are absolutely gorgeous. The first one of Dan and Grace brought tears to my eyes. I’m so sad I missed this wedding, but thrilled that you captured it so perfectly!
Also, the fact that they had Kogi is simply amazing.
Allana.. I was in the bridal party and had no idea you were workin’ magic out there. These photos are AMAZING!!