Jennifer and Scott's 5/6/07 Wedding, Dunsmuir Historic Estate, Oakland, California

I have been waiting to write about this wedding for what seems like forever! Definitely all week, but I wanted to finish editing their photos first.



We did Jennifer and Scott's engagement session waaay back in November, at which point I took a ton of photos of them playing in the rose garden and on the swings, and I had a blast getting to know these two. Not only that, but Jennifer taught me how to subscribe to blogs and have them all neatly organized and updated when new ones are published via Bloglines. Thanks Jennifer!



Then, I got to attend an event at their venue (Dunsmuir Historic Estates) in December. We've been emailing here and there since then, going over details and ideas, and I've been SO excited to shoot their wedding! I knew it would be a big, all-day event with tons of family and friends, on a very big, lovely estate, with beautiful colors and fun details. I revamped my "self portrait station" set up so that it would be ready to deal with all that direct sunlight, and so that it could be right smack in the middle of the action without getting knocked over or otherwise disturbed. We decided to go with a brand new, handbound, gorgeous cloth album for their wedding photos.



I was really excited for 5/6/07!



And you know what? It was a totally wonderful, amazing day in every aspect - the people, the weather, the place, the food, the emotions, the ceremony. Especially the couple!

Here is their slideshow!


Here's the slideshow from the self portrait setup we did - I don't always give it its own slideshow, but these poses were just too awesome to narrow down any further!

edited 1.2.08 - the slideshow has been taken down for server tidiness. Please let me know if you're interested in seeing it.



We had a really great group, of family and friends and more family and friends! There were a ton of pregnant women, babies, and kids running around (okay, the pregnant women weren't running that much, but they did really cut a rug!), which just reinforced the very springtime and family feelings in the air.





I loved their daisy florals, so bright and cheerful:


(provided by Gina at Design Florals)

The food - oh my gosh, the food! It was AMAZING. I remember Rachael and Jamal had used this caterer, Back to Earth, last May for their wedding, and I was even more blown away this time. So delicious! Back to Earth does everything organically, and can do vegetarian meals (as with J&S) or all vegan (as with R&J), and I promise you, it is all so delicious. I don't think any of the even strictest meateaters were disappointed. Yum!



I think they did the wonderful dessert buffet as well - the cupcakes were out of this world:



Jennifer and Scott worked with Nicole D'Ambra Wedding Consulting, who were fabulous, very organized, and kept the whole day running on time. Wedding consultants are definitely work their fees in my opinion! Nicole had brought her assistant, Nicole, so it was pretty easy to remember their names and get them when I needed help.



Finally, Jennifer and Scott's band, the Shtetlblasters totally rocked the party. They were really friendly, very talented, and really adept at (as their business cards say), "Jerusalem to Motown". They played a ton of traditional Jewish songs and taught some Jewish folk dances (remember when I was gushing about the energy and enthusiasm of the hora? These guys had a ton more great songs like that up their sleeves, including a number where the guests were treated to a bunch of goofy and/ or impressive dances from their guests, and another in honor of the couples' parents), and were just generally a lot of fun to work with.




And from Jennifer and Scott, on the beginning of their (2 month!) honeymoon:

"Amazing, Jessamyn! Thank you! We're at a beach in Thailand and internet access is slow, but we were able to see your pictures! Thank you thank you."

Thank YOU two, it was a fantastic wedding and we were thrilled to be there!

Have a great loooong honeymoon, and I will talk with you when you get back.