hannah and cadman"s engagement session in los angeles

being from san diego, of course we love all things southern california.
hannah and cadman also love so-cal, as in the university of southern california.
since we had never done a session there, we decided to cruise up to hannah's alma mater to do their engagement photos. i have to say usc has an amazing campus. hannah decided to attend usc the very first time she walked on campus. she said "it's what i always pictured college to look like." after seeing it for myself, i know what she's talking about. my shutter finger got itchy just looking at all the cool places on campus.
it was a good thing we brought our backpacks because hannah and cadman took us to school :)
hotness 101 is now in session.

have you ever been sitting in some class, bored out of your mind, daydreaming out the window, and see something like this? the class behind me knows what i'm talkin about. we had our hall passes and an utter disregard for higher learning. commencing the hilarity... now. check hannah's face as cadman goes by :)

cadman gettin aggro

i think the majority of us agree with cadman's shirt. it says "anyone but boston."
sorry shy :)

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apparently there's some sort of rivalry between usc and ucla. anyone out there know anything about that?
let us know who you think is best.
whichever school gets the most people to leave a comment by midnight on Sept 30th 2009 wins.
we'll tally up all the comments on Oct 1st and post the winning school's logo on a special blog post.
to make it interesting, if usc wins our little contest we'll give hannah and cadman a free enlargement from their engagement session.
if ucla wins we'll think of some way to get a picture of hannah and cadman with a bruin.
let the comments begin!
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hannah had us all laughing so hard we were crying with her impression of grover.

as we walked around campus a challenge was thrown out to leap-frog some posts. hannah said "heck ya" she could do it, followed by cadman. let's see how it turned out.
it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff, the men from the boys, the awkwardly feminine from the possibly canadian.
in 23 years of broadcasting i thought i'd seen it all, folks, but it looks like cadman has actually blindfolded himself.
he will not be able to see very well, cotton.

and cadman beats hannah in a shocking upset.
i feel shocked.

looks like it's gonna be a two-on-one, a menage a trois of pain.
usually you pay double for that kind of action, cotton. :)

oh! right in the testicles!
ouchtown, population you bro! :)

after cadman got his breath back we headed over to the los angeles memorial coliseum, home of the usc trojans, to see if we could get lucky.

i had to step back to capture hannah and cadman's excitement as we walked onto the freshly painted field.

having the whole coliseum to ourselves, hannah and cadman shared a little field of dreams moment.

as the marine layer headed in, we headed out.

i don't care where you're from, it was pretty sweet being in the empty coliseum. thinking about the olympics and all the other awesome moments that have happened there.
add to them this day, when hannah and cadman stood at mid-field and shared a few quiet minutes together, then walked through the tunnel toward a bright future together as husband and wife.
we can't wait for your wedding and your reception at the san diego museum of photographic arts (mopa)!

san diego style party at la casa de valle

there are some things that neither time nor distance affect. things that we hold dear. things that have a special vip room in our heart reserved for them. i am talking about friendships. the kind of friendships that are forged in youth and tempered through commonality. by enduring the same trials and reaching a shared goal we become bonded in a way that life, with it's many twists and turns, cannot undo. my closest friends from childhood no longer live on my street. we don't ride our bikes together every morning or meet up for lunch every afternoon, yet i think of them every day. the times we share today, rare and fleeting as they may be, are special to me.
elizabeth, jeff, and all their friends must feel the same way because every year they put everything aside and meet at la casa de valle for an amazing party. it's one of those rare times when everyone gets to catch up and have a little fun, or a lot :)
every time i walk into their home i feel like i am stepping into a platinum wedding reception. this party was no exception. last year's party was awesome, but elizabeth and jeff outdid themselves this time. it was so nice that one of elizabeth and jeff's friends came up to me and said the decorations were nicer than some weddings she has been to. another friend told kim that, since the home looked so nice and we were there with our cameras, he wanted to bring his daughter and her fiance' to have their reception there.
to sum it up, this party RULES ALL PARTIES!
i'll let jeff and elizabeth show you around :)

this party was made even more special when they brought out a surprise birthday cake for elizabeth! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

a party wouldn't be a party without a super sweet candy bar. these are always a big hit every time we see them at a party. for more ideas on setting up a candy station of your own check out some of the work by amy atlas events. (she didn't do this party, but she does some beautiful work.)

tangerine mango blow pops... check :)

mini sirloin burgers :)

literally every person at the party was beautiful except for one, but i was hiding behind a camera :) seriously, everyone looked sooooo good.

how do you know when your party is a success?
everyone is smiling at the end of the night :)
thank you for having us over again elizabeth and jeff. we had more fun than a dancing queen :) can't wait for your next party!
also, i have to send a huge mahalo to Justin at Authentic Flavors Catering for putting everything together so beautifully, making delicious food all night long, and giving us so many incredible details to shoot.
fyi potential clients, everything Justin touches turns to AWESOME. if you ever need an event to be perfect give him a call.
now that you've seen the beautiful details, make sure you watch the slideshow below to see the beautiful people.

allison and jason's san diego wedding at the bernardo winery

it all started with a simple wink. two actually.
jason winked at allison and she winked back.
that's all it took for two strangers to become friends.
those two friends then exchanged emails and, after a few weeks, phone numbers.
jason called allison and a date was arranged.
a date that would take them to see the harlem globetrotters at the honda center, starbucks in playa del rey, and finally to dinner in fullerton, making one quick stop along the way to fall in a puddle :)
it was a wonderful date where two friends would first see the face of true love.
i love allison and jason's story because they didn't grow up together, they didn't go to school together, they didn't work at the same job, and they didn't see each other pass by on an elevator going the opposite direction and then randomly meet up at a kegger.
allison and jason met on match.com
who knew just winking at a pretty girl in cyberspace would do the trick?
memo to all the single people, drop the sad pick-up lines and start winking! ;)
ok, so now you know how jason and allison got together, now i'll show you how they got married and who helped make their day amazing.
annie at the bernardo winery provided the great venue.
ashley from ac make-up somehow made all the ladies look even hotter than they already are with her make-up mastery.
leanne stroman had the script and made everything official.
brittany at in the now weddings helped get everyone on the same page with her coordinating skills.
joyce at j and l pots and posies brought some incredible floral arrangements.
cafe merlot provided the delicious meal.
david patrone kept everyone's toes tappin.
the scrum-diddily-umptious cake was baked at bon bon bakery.
and on hand to cover all the action were top san diego wedding photographers, ohana photographers.
psst. that's us :)
ok, enough of the shameless plugs. on with the photos!

allison looked absolutely stunning! i love the way she lights up a room.

it's all about tha shooz! we loved allison's yellow wedding shoes from calvin klein. super sweet!

as allison was getting ready to put on her shoes i noticed something different. something cool.
if you look closely you can see what i'm talking about. allison and all her bridesmaids had something on their heels called Solemates. they are little rubber footies that slip onto heels to keep them from sinking in the grass or dirt. they totally work!

now, i've seen allison's smile before, but i think she smiled a little brighter on her wedding day. all she had to do was think of jason and...

ta-daaa! beautiful.

we all had a laugh when allison and her sister jennifer did a little tribute to our favorite trio, the three stooges. we love the three stooges, and these two lovely ladies!

the rancho bernardo inn was such a wonderful host to all of us. they let us temporarily take over their lobby so we could get these shots of allison and her posse (aka jane, felicia, and jennifer). we heart everyone at the rancho bernardo inn!

if you mix sunlight with allison you get awesome. and that is a scientific fact!

checking in with the boys side of the camp i found jason looking like a page out of gq.

grooms usually have a special bond with the guys they ask to be their groomsmen...

jason has that kind of bond with joe, jeremiah, and brandon.
a really special bond :)

after having a little fun with the guys it was time to get jason and allison married. everyone took their places and allison's father walked his beautiful little girl down the aisle.

jason was absolutely busting with happiness. if it were socially acceptable i think he would have done a backflip.

one of the first things jason ever told us was that he loves allison's big smiles. so do we jason :)

these two are the definition of "the happy couple."

after their ceremony we snuck off with allison and jason so they could have a little "alone-time" and we could practice our paparazzo skills :)

apparently a brittish tagger got one of the wine barrels at the bernardo winery. allison is definitely a "happy" gal.

this shot is a depiction of something allison once told us. she said jason makes her feel safe and that he is her home.

we absolutely love all the details that allison and jason had "perched" around their wedding and reception, like all these amazing little birdies.

speaking of birds, these two lovebirds landed on a wire during the reception and had a bird's-eye view of all the festivities.

meanwhile, these two lovebirds were getting cozy to the mating sound of glasses tinking in the background.

i am not afraid to admit that i love the whole birdie theme. they're so cute!

the bride and groom birds were my favorite.

here's one of our favorite shots from the album / guest book of allison and jason's engagement session in laguna beach.

i could take pictures all day long of allison's smile :)

allison's dad gave a very touching speech that had everyone crying and smiling at the same time.

as the evening was winding down we rustled-up the wedding party for one last night time portrait at the bernardo winery.
we brought the light. they brought the awesome.
well, jason and allison, what can we say. we've been looking forward to your wedding for quite a while and now it zipped past us like a lamborghini gallardo. we truly enjoyed doing your engagement session and your wedding. you are such an awesome couple. we are so thankful for the time and friendship you have shared with us. hope your honeymoon in canada was fun and relaxing! congratulations you two! we wish you a lifetime full of fun and happy memories together. we love you guys!!

and of course, a wedding at a winery needs some ice...

and grapes.

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