I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the new year! I know I am, and so excited about what 2010 has in store. Im still catching up on posts from 2009 so without further ado here is a wedding I shot with Chelsea at the Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa!

Contact Araxi | About Araxi | Wedding Work | Portrait Work

I had the pleasure of shooting Monica and Jesus' wedding a few months back with Nicky of Eight20. Loved this wedding, the couple was beautiful and the wedding was held at the gorgeous Spanish Hills Country Club. Here are a few of my favorites! I have about eight more weddings to blog from this summer so Im trying to catch up on some blogging! Look for more this week!

A while back I had the chance to experience my first Indian wedding, and let me tell you I was never the same! I was lucky enough to be invited to shoot with Nicky and the entire day was an endless blast of color, texture, and celebration. The culture was amazing and I had an absolute blast. I also fell in love with Indian music and dance so much so that I came home and immediately started downloading stuff. Not sure what I was downloading but it's just amazing! Here are a few of my favorites from the day. Again thank you Nicky for having me! The entire event took place at the Glendale Hilton.

Sangini's makeup was done by Beauty by Lishma who did an amazing job!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to shoot Adam and Monica's wedding, and let me just say that it was a perfect day! One of the things that stood most to me about this day was the emotion. Lots of tears of joy, from the getting ready, to later in the reception. I even found myself getting choked up! Their ceremony took place at the Lindero Country Club and the reception followed at the North Ranch Center in Westlake Village. The reception entrance had a photobooth provided by Snapbooth. This photobooth was the most geared up one I had ever seen! Two huge baskets of props really made it fun for everyone. Monica and Adam thank you for lettting us be a part of your day! We loved it! Here are a few of my favorites.

Nick's idea of a shoe shot and I love it.

Brian and Annie where married this Saturday at the Grace First Presbyterian Church in Long Beach. I couldn't wait to see them, having spent time with them on their engagement shoot I knew their wedding would be beautiful, and it was! Brian and Annie opted to see eachother before the wedding and for them it was a great choice, it gave them more time for pictures so we headed over to the Long Beach Nature Preserve. What a little gem this place is. I had never heard of it but one of Brian and Annie's friends suggested it and it was a great choice. The reception was held at Prince Seafood Restaurant where their family and friends gathered and celebrated this beautiful couple, and let me tell you did they ever celebrate! it was so much fun! Brian and Annie thank you for giving us the opportunity to share in this day with you. Of course here are some of my favorites.

A few weeks ago I joined my friend Wayne for Lauren and Matt's wedding, and while it was raining on my way to Carlsbad, the sun shined that day, and it turned out to be beautiful, and so where Lauren and Matt. Their ceremony was held at the historic Mission San Luis Rey and having never been I was completely blown away by the detail in this little church. Definitely going to have to go back for another visit. Their reception was at the Crossings in Carlsbad, another lovely venue! Here are a few of my favorites.

These gorgeous flowers were provided by Bella Blooms.

Kasey over at I Do Weddings did the most amazing job putting all the little details together!

I had the pleasure of shooting Geoff and Rena's wedding last week at the Stagecoach Inn Museum. I had never been to this venue before and let me tell you it has so much character. Geoff and Rena's wedding was completely outdoors, and although they had a backup plan for rain I was so happy that they didnt need it. The sky was blue and it was warm! These two definitely deserved a beautiful sunshining day! A big thanks to Brian Khang for coming out to shoot with me that day! Here are a few of my favorites

Venue: Stagecoach Inn Museum

DJ: Lifetime Entertainment

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting Andy and Emily's wedding, who quite possibly are the nicest people on the planet. The kind of nice that really make you want to be around them all the time! It was a perfect day for family and friends to gather  at the beautiful Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes to share this day with them. The ceremony was followed by a gorgeous reception overlooking the Long Beach harbor at The Reef. Thank you both for letting me capture this day for you and I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon! I think the second leg of their honeymoon was a surprise to Emily. Im going to have to find out more :) Here are some of my favorites

Last week I had the chance to document Jose and Lyssa's wedding at the beautiful La Mirada Golf Course and Country Club. This beautiful young family were surrounded by the love of their friends and family and the collective effort of everyone involved made their day just beautiful! I was so excited to be a part of it and capture this day for them. Thank you Jose, Lyssa for inviting us to be there! Here are a few of my favorites.

I love this one Nick caught of the girls!

This weekend I had the pleasure of shooting Brandon and Rebekah's wedding on the beach in Ventura. Having never met them before I have to say I was a little nervous, but the nerves were put to rest when I met Rebekah and her family. Everyone was so nice and so relaxed. Even her mom after having a slight wardrobe malfunction didn't lose her cool, she came up with a solution and voila she had it figured out. Their wedding was small and intimate and their family and friends gathered around them to truly make this day something special. Brandon and Rebekah thank you so much for letting me share in this day with you! Here are some of my favorites.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of joining the fabulously talented Brian Khang for a wedding in Orange County. You all might remember that Brian shot our family portraits a few months back and it was so much fun to hang out with him again. Jesse and Lisa had a beautiful wedding, and their friends and family truly enjoyed every minute of the day with them. They were warm, and welcoming and it was such a pleasure to be there. Their ceremony was held at Our Lady of La Vang perish followed by the reception at the Doubletree Hotel, but not before stopping at the OC Performing Arts Center for some portraits. The light at the OCPAC was incredible and the surroundings where just beautiful! Here are some of my favorite shots. This just cracked me up. I love Jesse's expression. They had an awesome DJ (need to find out his name) who played some crazy jazzed out versions of popular hip hop songs. Loved it and so did their guests!

A few weeks ago I had the honor of second shooting Alex's wedding with the very talented Chelsea. It was a blast shooting with her, we had so much fun! The wedding took place at the Camarillo Ranch and was coordinated by Zhipi (who by the way did an amazing job especially with all the little details and elements to this wedding).The wedding was truely and event. The personal touches that Alex and Mike planned for their guests where extraordinary. Cigar stations, cookie stations, a photobooth (which I really should have stayed out of lol) where just a few things planned for their guests. The amount of time that they must have put into this wedding was unbelievable. Each guest was not only invited but made to feel that they were the guest of honor. One of the things that sticks out in my mind was the table cards that they made and wrote a personal message on for each one of their guests. Awesome! Their family and friends where all so happy to be there and had a great time. They were such a fun group to be around. This group knows how to party! Here are a couple of my favorites, you can see more on Chelsea's blog!The first look. The Fellas.I loved this moment with Alex's mom.Alex and Mike provided parasols to their guests to beat the heat.Remember this gorgeous couple!! It was so nice seeing them again!

I'll explain the lack of blogging on another post but I have to introduce you to these two extraordinary people first. Drew and Jess give of themselves on a daily basis to help others. He, is a firefighter and she, is a nurse. They are the type of people that you hope that whatever goodness God is giving away on any given day, that he starts with them first. I was so touched by their story, how they met, and fell in love and came to this particular time in their life that I was moved to tears during the ceremony. They are humble, they are kind, they know how to have fun, and they are flipping GORGEOUS! Dont believe me? Have a look. Jess has this beautiful old Hollywood glamour look to her, very Audrey Hepurn. Her dress was stunning and had such beautiful detail. Its not possible to take a bad picture of her. I did a little throwback post processing here it just has that vibe. (used my trustee Totally Rad Actions-Love them) Reservoir Dogs.