agnieszka and paul's wedding at st. maximilian kolbe church in san diego

hard to believe it all started less than one year ago. our good friend peggy at PERFECT GATHERING EVENTS met with agnes and together they planned out agnes' vision of her perfect wedding to her perfect man, paul. little did i know at the time that we would be blessed with an invitation to photograph her perfect wedding. so much has happened since the day agnes and her sister anna first met with me (see previous blog posts). we've followed agnes and paul on a journey that has taken us from san diego to THE SALTON SEA and ,just recently, brought us to their wedding day. since they had been one of the most amazing and fun couples we have ever worked with, we knew that their wedding day was going to be awesome. we were joined by our friendly neighborhood photo ninja NELY and met up with agnes and her beautiful bride's maids at THE INN AT RANCHO SANTA FE to get some pre-wedding shots.

agnes' pit crew was doing a fantastic job getting her ready until...

the sound heard round the room.
you could have heard a pin drop (or my shutter click) when the stitching on the top loop of agnes' dress popped. it was a horrible sound, like teeth scraping on a fork, or nails on a chalkoards, or children in pain, or... well, you get it. maria's eyes pretty much tell the tale of how everyone in the room felt.
with the cinching of agnes' dress rendered impossible the call was put out.

super mom to the rescue! violetta is not only the most awesomely nice mother-of-the-bride EVER, she's also an excellent wedding-dress-emergency seamstress. jenny pitched in with moral support.

with an emergency dress repair already under her belt, violetta added the finishing touch for her daughter, or would it be for paul?... either way, she put the garter on.

agnes looked absolutely stunning.

it was a little warm that day. just ask anna. :)

the father of the bride had one last moment with his daughter before walking her down the aisle.

father jerry and father steve combined to make this a tag-team wedding that kept everyone smiling.

ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE CHURCH was so cool. it was very quaint, and if not for the fact that i don't speak a word of polish, i would have had the feeling that i was in church with everyone i grew up with. such a cool sense of community.

one nation under GOD

after agnes and paul were announced mr. and mrs. we snuck away to a quiet park to get some fun shots of the bridal party. memo to me, get permit next time so the ranger doesn't try to shake me down for $300 bucks.
paul was rockin a beard and looking good as an accessory for the ladies.

if this isn't the best looking bridal party you've ever seen then buy me a drink. if any of them are single a year from now i will be shocked and chagrined.

agnes and paul brought along their own security...

and sirens.

you're with your new spouse on your wedding day enjoying a quiet moment in the woods when suddenly you're attacked from the trees by six ninja groomsmen. what do you do? what do you do?

you stand tall and look fierce. your force field of awesomeness will fend them off.

agnes and paul's travel themed reception was held at the RANCHO SANTA FE GARDEN CLUB. Near the giant canvas from their salton sea shoot Agnes and Paul had a basket of rocks upon which guests wrote nice little messages like congratulations, we wish you the best, and have a rad summer. i don't know who wrote that last one, but i can guarantee it wasn't me.

let me state for the record that the food at the Rancho Sante Fe Garden Club was edible awesome with a side of bombsauce. it was sooooo good! mango salsa on grilled fish can not be beat. period.

prior to the evening festivities there was a little tattoo show at table 9. this has to be the raddest tattoo ever. rock 'em sock 'em robots rule!

following in a very close 2nd place was the paratrooper. the sweetest thing about these tattoos are that they aren't given, they're earned. thank you for your service to our country.

quick check back on agnes and paul. yep, they're still awesome.

and now, the rings.

i know some of the guests were wondering what the heck i was doing walking around with a bottle of brew. like bono said, we don't know what it is so it must be art.

fact, a woman's funny bone is under her dress.

kim took this awesome shot of agnes throwing her bouquet. her actual game-used bouquet! i love it. (that's agnes in the lower left)

do a little dance. make a little love. get down tonight.

the rule is, after their first dance, whenever the bride and groom are on the dance floor, everyone within a square mile of them should be on the dancefloor too. this crowd knows the rules.

by a show of hands, WHO'S HAVING FUN TONIGHT!?

twist and shout

jenny and matt's entry for best dip of all time.

not to be outdone, agnes and paul make their entry into the dipping contest.
WINNER! WINNER! nobody beats the bride and groom on their wedding day.
agnes and paul, we could say it till we run out of breath, but you two are such wonderful people. to say we are thrilled and blessed to know you is a monumental understatement. every minute we have spent with you has been more fun than A WHIPPED CREAM FIGHT ON YOUR WEDDING DAY, well, maybe not that fun, but pretty close. we are so happy for you two and we can't wait to do your day-after session. more agnes and paul awesomeness on tap!

if you're like us you can never get enough of agnes and paul so be sure to play the slideshow below set to their first dance song, over and over and over and over and... :)