Andy & Alyssa

This April looks a little different than that one did. It feels a little like four walls closing in and missing physical contact, and people, and silly things like going to Target to browse the paper goods section or be enticed by their impulse buy clothing lines. Yet you know what I’m grateful for this April? It gives me pause, time to look back on perfect moments like this Spring wedding and this anniversary to celebrate today . It was all the things, a perfect day drenched in spring wedding colors of sage, peach, dusty blue, and gray , and a couple as delightful and unfussy as you could possibly hope anyone to be; seriously.

All my couples are rad, and Andy and Alyssa were just pure fun as they spent the time during our wedding formals discussing who could beat whom at Mario Kart, (she can beat him if I recall correctly). They had the most incredible entourage of friends and family that were as funny as they were devoted and helpful, and just made every minute perfect.

You want to spend your wedding day wrapped up in laughter with your absolute favorite people and this was exactly that. Their wedding venue, Windmill Ranch in Escondido, is gorgeous and they have the most wonderful coordinator, yet for the first look I was looking for more of a woodsy feel so I scoped out the area beforehand and received permission from a homeowner about half mile down the road who had land with a grove of trees and we used their space for the first look.

It was ethereal. All the magic that a first look should be with the play of light and shadows and heart pounding whispers that you imagine it can be.

From there it was on to the ceremony full of laughter and promises and then a reception that they had designed themselves.

Budget wedding decor doesn’t need to look that way, this was stunning with antique furniture gathered from family and friends and little details everywhere contributing to the old, new, borrowed and blue. For a very practical wedding with a DIY bride and groom, this one absolutely takes the cake, actually it was wedding pie, for unique ideas for a wedding.

They tied the knot with absolute joy and it radiated to all of their guests-the dancing that night was epic and I found out that my offbeat bride had a wonderfully offbeat family who turned out to be perfectly on beat on the dance floor. Perfect days like this to look back on and look forward to remind me exactly why I love being a wedding photographer in San Diego, perfect weather, wonderful vendors, and the best clients a girl ask for.

If you had any questions on whether this was an ordinary wedding, when is the last time you saw a ring engraved in Hebrew or a hedgehog as a ringbearer? Especially the hedgehog belonging to the bride and groom? His name is Frederick and he was unfortunately less than thrilled with my acquaintance, thankfully he was the only one.