Sarah and Daniel’s wedding at TPC Stonebrae in the Hayward Hills was special to say the least, but we won’t simply show you pictures and end the conversation right here. There were elements of character and family bond present during this day as a wedding can only bring. The day began at Sarah’s friends house for the getting ready portion of the day, this is where the bride warned me that her father is an enthusiastic semi pro photographer and that he might try to simultaneously do my job. I mentioned not to worry as I have been in this situation several times in the past and that my efforts and images would eventually win him over, and hopefully relax him into putting the camera down a little more often.

Once we arrived at the venue we hopped on golf carts and were escorted out onto the course by the events staff for the first look which overlooked the Bay Area.

We then made a few quick portraits during the early afternoon light and saved the remaining time for pre ceremony formal bridal party portraits, doing so allowed us to dedicate more time post ceremony for formal family portraits. Sarah and Daniel have a large family.

Then it was time for the ceremony. I suspect if Sarah’s father could take his very own picture of he and his daughter walking down the aisle he would, what an enthusiastic photographer he was. Coming up… you can see his excitement for this day which speaks volumes as only a photo could…

Ceremony lead by the talented Saundra @idoxtwo

After the ceremony we went right into family portraits and one trick I use at venues that overlook the Bay into the light is to use a high powered fill flash, it allows faces to be clear and bold with color... Sarah’s father was side by side with me and of course I had to document his appreciation for the family photo that gathered in front of us. I turned to my side and knew capturing this father/photographer would come with a smile from ear to ear. At this point we were practically working together in harmony!

Then it was time for the bride and groom’s first dance, along with the father daughter and mother son dance.

Here is where the biggest outpouring of laughter happened… Like I said earlier, Sarah and Daniel have a large family and they have been at weddings before and even listened to some of the same people giving speeches in the past. I honestly can say Sarah’s father is a genuinely funny person, he has a natural zeal to his comedy and he definitely had the crowd in a good mood.

During his speech he referenced a few times that he would try to make his speech short and that his daughters cousins might be timing how long his speech would be. At this very moment one of the cousins revealed that he had a stop watch already running and that the table had a bet of an over under set at fourteen minutes, the entire room burst out into laughter! and as a wedding photographer these are those rare special moments that I get to be apart of during my coverage at a wedding, and capturing said moments has become a hallmark of my work.

Now we come to the portion of the evening where the light is right for the perfect sunset portraits for just a few short minutes. Sarah and Daniel took this opportunity to take a two minute walk to the hill of boulders among other locations along with way. This is where we made warm images that boast of bold colors due to using lighting equipment and a large softbox.

The tea ceremony followed… and the twenty foot retractable windows were open adding to this moment at Stonebrae.

Let there be cake!

The special day ended with family, friends and even the little ones dancing the night away…