You might remember seeing some engagement images of Amanda and David on my blog from Balboa Park earlier. Amanda and David both looked amazing together then, and they looked even more amazing together dressed for their wedding. I’m going to share more than a handful of images here.

Amanda’s Mom watched as her girls buttoned her into her dress.

As if on cue, the sun finally started to break through the clouds of June as the ceremony reached the big kiss.

I have to admit, I love it when there’s a candy bar for favors. I meant to get some Sour Patch Kids, but I got too busy shooting!

I’ll share a few examples here, of some of my favorite dishes that I enjoy  probably way more often that I should…but I can’t help it! In case you’re not familiar with the location, it’s an easy one to find. Just look for the building on Ash St. that’s been an iconic symbol on the San Diego skyline since 1927.

I’ll start with one of the all time favorites: Lasagna Bolognese! It’s one of their staples and popular reason for return visits!

Sometimes when I’m in the mood for vegetarian, which is often, I love their Veggie Lasanga too. One of my other favorites is the Ravioli Genovesi. It’s a four cheese ravioli, but with an amazingly rich basil pesto sauce that is out of this world.

Maybe it’s because Alessandro and Gigio brought a lot of their recipes with them from Italy, but even something as simple as penne pasta with a bolognese sauce is uniquely Sole Luna.

The Mare Salad has a combination of smoked salmon, shrimp, hearts of palm, cucumber and a lemon olive oil dressing. Yum!

Another ‘comfort food’ for me, the Ravioli Boscaioli – mushroom ravioli with their signature creamy bolognese and mushroom sauce.

Let’s not forget desserts! ( and an espresso martini!) I have a daily coffee habit thanks to living above Sole Luna Cafe…their espresso grind is authentically Italian and makes me feel like I’m back in Europe everytime I have a cappucino.

The day itself was perfect. The sky was blue, the sun was warm, and everybody was in a great mood. The day flowed just the way it was supposed to and it all came together for their sunset ceremony on the lawn at the Bayside in Point Loma. One of my favorite photographers, Kristina Chartier, was kind enough to lend her talent to the event and shoot with me that day, so I send her my thanks!

Without further ado, here are some of their images:

I have to confess: I was sent home with four of these cupcakes, and I ate them ALL before all of their images were uplaoded to my Mac!

Sara is a Nurse and this is part of her medical crew!

They act like Bad Girls, but they’re just clever stickers that say “Sara & Phil”

There are a huge range of emotions attached to a wedding day, so when the images are presented to my clients, their family, and friends, all of those feelings come right back as if the wedding happened just yesterday. Maybe it’s strange, but when my clients tell me that they watched their slideshow and that it made them cry, I feel like doing a little victory dance around my office!

I had one of those victory moments recently when I received a card in the mail from Anne Holland, the mother of my client Beth Holland….who is now Beth Vannoy. It was a moment where I thought I might cry! She wrote such a thoughtful card that I can’t help but share it here.

“Oh Philip!

What a talent you have – How lucky could Beth and Jay be? You captured the every element of emotion with the anticipation of the greatest and happiest day in Beth’s life.

Your Photos are absolutely dreamy! Beth is a beauty – but you definitely captured her inner beauty. What a gift you have in your ability to ‘evoke’ and ‘capture’ such lovely photos. We could not be more pleased.

Thanks to Sharon, we were so lucky to have pictures to remind us of that lovely day in San Diego.

With fond memories – and priceless photos!!

Anne Holland

Mother of the Bride.”

It’s been a busy season so far this summer and I know I’ve got a ton of new stuff to blog. I am busy working on getting a new format dialed in here so I can show larger images and get a bit more creative. All the posts up til’ now will stay, but I have a feeling the images are going to seem small compared to what I’ll be blogging from now on. Look for plenty of updates in the coming weeks, as I start catching up on blogging everything that’s been going on. A lot of exciting changes are happening, including a new website set to launch in a few weeks, as well as a partnership that has been in the works for months.

Check back soon! Cheers!

Beth and Jay were married at the Coronado Marriott on April 25, 2009. They brought friends and family with them from North Carolina to be a part of the wedding. Spending time in Coronado is always a pleasure, and everybody involved with the wedding loved it. We had a sunny, breezy wedding day despite a forecast for drizzle. Yay! The day definitely lived up to everyone’s expecations. The ceremony was beautiful, with a view of the San Diego skyline across the water, and everyone danced like crazy during the reception.

Ellie the Wonder Dog came all the way out for the wedding too. She even walked up the aisle.

“Go time”

The room looked amazing with the lights, linens and flowers.

The view of downtown San Diego from the Coronado Marriott at night made for the perfect parting shots.

All of Rusty’s 9 siblings were there ( Yes, NINE ) along with a bunch of family and friends from both sides. Rusty’s family is local, as Russ Sr. has been a family dentist here in San Diego for decades. Kara hails from further north in California.

Everybody was checking the program before the ceremony…”Who goes first?”

The Ceremony went perfectly!

On the way to the reception cruise, we stopped off at Sunset Cliffs for more group shots and a few more of Kara and Rusty.

The recpetion was a real treat for everybody. I’ve shot on the High Spirits before and it’s always been a real pleasure. Even though so many of us live in San Diego, it’s surprising how many people never get out on the bay!

I

always like to close the night with a parting shot, and here is Kara and Rusty’s. We took a few extra minutes to light them up at the end of Broadway for a cool goodnight shot. : )

I always enjoy the father daughter dance (maybe because I have a little girl) but this was special for me because I had met Brian, the father of the Bride, nearly 20 years ago when we worked in a common industry. I hadn’t seen him since then, and booking this wedding was purely ‘coincedental’ in that regard, so it was a real treat to be part of this moment for both Kim, and my old acquaintance Brian.

Much of the rest of the night was in Kim’s words “DanceFest 2008!”

We took advantage of the new waterfall at L’Auberge to create a nice series of closing images for the night.

Devon had a private room upstairs to get ready in…I took advantage of the roof : )

On to the ceremony at the wishing well:

Family played a huge role in the day for Devon and John.

While the guests enjoyed the coctail hour, we had a few minutes to ourselves.

Evening settled on the park, and everybody was in the mood to dance.