Erica + Mark - San Francisco, CA - Filoli Gardens, Dogpatch Engagement

As photographers, we feel that our powers stop at what is actually there, what exists in our clients and their celebrations, totally independent of us. If the wedding day is filled with real love and emotion, we simply anticipate those moments, catch, and disclose them with clarity and honesty. We’ve found this to be particularly true of clients themselves when we ask them to be vulnerable for us, to allow us to reveal what is great between them.

We’ve been lucky to find tons of love and personality in all of our clients, but Erica and Mark still stand out for their confidence and willingness to be vulnerable in front of us. Couples who hire us always have some degree of swag, but Erica and Mark take it to another level; when we reached into them to find something to show the world, we found tons of heart, style, and the will to flex it.

We loved our hangout with them because it felt like a partnership. We went back and forth with them about we had for a scene, and they would without fail, put a delicious icing on that vision; small details in posture, the placement of a hand or subtle furling of a brow that was all their own took what we had in mind and made it better. We came to understand them as a dichotomy of easy-going but incredibly fierce, and loved that they were gracious enough to ask us what touchstones we might have inspired the mood of our work. The question caught us off guard, but after some thought, and considering that we prefer to show our clients at an elevated, powerful confident version of themselves, we had only one answer.

In the moment, we had to say that RuPaul’s Drag Race probably has an outsized influence on what we try to get out of our clients. Obviously, we can’t bring the [wonderfully] crazy [and fashion fast-forward] drag styles 1:1 to our client sessions, nor do we expect clients to sashay or serve lewks and face like a drag queen. After all, it takes a special performer and years of preparation and practice to pull that stuff off. What we DO feel is fair to ask for them to feel themselves a bit and project that while we work with them — Erica and Mark did this naturally.

Admittedly, it was probably an unusual answer, but they totally got it. Rupaul came up towards the end of our time at Filoli Gardens, and transitioning to our second locale, in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco, we got nothing but fire from them still. Reinforcing our feeling that cool travels, they were just as great and fit right in with the industrial setting of this part of their session as they did with the elegant environs earlier in the day.

We already couldn’t wait to work with them on their wedding day, and after this session, we are even more excited!

Adrienne + John - Fairmont San Francisco Post-Wedding Session

If you listen and watch enough, everyone gives off a vibe, a type of unspoken, unconsciously demonstrated, fundamental style. As photographers, we’re especially keen on those who just “get” our stuff, and Adrienne and John are just that. That element is not uncommon among our clients, but they seem to take it a bit further and put their own sophisticated spin on what we like to do, and on this day, their style combined with the perfect venue for this awesome post-wedding portrait session.

The original plan was to do a dawn post-wedding session the day after their destination wedding on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii; however, as with the best weddings, everyone involved needed that day to recover from the celebration the day before. Not a big deal, but we did feel like we might have missed out on some beachside awesome. Luckily, we had the opportunity to work with the Fairmont San Francisco and their beautiful Penthouse Suite, which we are told hosted US Presidents, up until JFK, where he caused a short panic when Secret Service lost track of him for a short while, not knowing he had absconded to read to the roof through a secret doorway masquerading as a bookshelf.

The Penthouse was glamorous and classic, and fit Adrienne and John perfectly in their sharp wedding outfits. We’re with Adrienne and John on this one, and every chance you have to wear a beautiful Galia Lahav from Kinsley James Couture or really boss Hugo Boss tuxedo, you take it. Seeing them dripping in finesse in their outfits in the environs of the suite inspired something between Old Hollywood and the edgy beauty of a fashion magazine.  We explored the suite and had no shortage of beautiful spaces, and Adrienne and John made the best of them. We love that they definitely were feeling themselves and could turn up the glam, but at the same time, they were incredibly gracious with us and with their love for each other.

We love how these photos turned out [and can’t wait to share about their wedding day when we get a minute!], and we cannot thank Adrienne and John along with the wonderful staff, Emilie Lynch and Sage McRae at the Fairmont San Francisco, and especially Alexis Garhammer of The Claremont Club & Spa in Berkeley, CA for getting this idea off the ground for us.

Venue The Fairmont San Francisco || Gown Galia Lahav from Kinsley James Couture Bridal, Walnut Creek|| Her Shoes Yves Saint Laurent || Makeup @makeupbytoni___ || Hair @Indep_Hairstylist || Tux Hugo Boss || His Shoes Common Project

Amanda+Ittai - San Francisco, CA - University Club Wedding

Meeting Amanda and Ittai for the first time wasn’t the smoothest — the cafe at which we first planned to meet in SoMa was commandeered by what we guessed was a startup’s quarterly team building pep rally (sans mascot), so we pinged yelp for some alternatives.  The next couple of places we tried were either closed or too full, which led us to a nondescript family restaurant built into a convention center parking garage. We TRY to use cool spots to meet couples, keep it #onbrand, but if we wanted this thing to happen that night, this would have to do. We were quietly apologizing in our heads the whole time about the Old Fashioneds made with crushed ice that we had to turn into Manhattans on the next round and resigned ourselves to taking this one on the chin, but much to our amazement, it turned into a great time! What looked like an “L” early on turned into a case study of the adage “It’s not where you are, but who you’re with”.

Amanda and Ittai are definitely that couple who hosts awesome parties at their place effortlessly; they are both imminent conversationalists and generous with their attention and ready to invest in getting to know you. Along with their active enthusiasm in everything we shared, there was a poise and cool about them that you can’t help but love. These cats are just cool. Learning that they booked their wedding at the Deco-laden and decidedly old-school-awesome University Club of San Francisco, it all made sense. To us, that venue is one that we always coveted working because we find it innately stylish, with an elegance that is not a bit fussy — after meeting them for just a short while, we couldn’t think of a better fit.

The dark woods and dramatic flare of the University Club was a perfect complement to the speakeasy vision for their wedding. They both represented this motif: Amanda with a perfect birdcage veil and feather fan, Ittai with an impeccably tailored blue suit, period-appropriate tie pin and pocket watch. Shades of Boardwalk Empire right on Powell Street. It’s to their credit that none of these had the hint of affectation, that they might merely be dressing up; knowing them more, despite their decidedly modern professions and lives, there is something about them that is a callback to simpler times. Part of this was the love they had for their families — Amanda had some incredible moments with her family, and we were regaled by Ittai’s father with anecdotes of literally death-defying family vacation moments. All of this was experienced by them with a joy that was big enough to fill a reception hall, but would have been just at home over a dinner at home, and was indicative of how close they have been. There was a feeling that they knew that days like this are about family, and that message was in their bones.

We also loved how they did things that were true to them and indicative of what was truly important to them — nothing was done just because it was de rigeur. We loved that instead of doing parent dances, they decided to honor all their parents by hosting a dance for them; the left turn of having a California Lottery Scratcher toss rather than a garter or bouquet toss was also popular with the crowd. We loved that they were present enough during their day to pay mind to an impromptu dance-off between Ittai and Amanda’s father, featuring some Chivari chairs.

That said, Amanda and Ittai put on a GREAT celebration, top to bottom. The environs of the University Club accentuated the heart of the ceremony, and really gave their reception a decidedly glamorous, old-Hollywood look with city skyline behind them. We loved exploring the venue with them and their bridal party, where it seemed we couldn’t take a bad frame if we tried — just like them, the University Club was a star in every photo. 

Many thanks and congratulations to Amanda and Ittai for their marriage and absolutely splendid wedding day — we were honored to experience it with them!