Jennifer and Henry, Monterey Bay Plaza, Monterey, CA

Jennifer and Henry heard about me through Jay and Jamaica - Jennifer and Jamaica teach high school in Mountain View together, and Jamaica has been giving Jennifer tips on how to plan a wedding for the past year. Well, one of those tips was me : ), so Jennifer hired me sight unseen to shoot her lovely wedding in Monterey, at the Monterey Bay Plaza, over Labor Day weekend, and I was honored!



The weather could not have been more perfect - hot and totally still, remarkable for the bay! The water and sky were both blue and clear and just lovely. Lots of kayakers cruised past before and during the ceremony (and, I can only imagine, all kinds of otters, seals, and other creatures).



I introduced myself to Henry as he was waiting in the lobby - after being exiled from the bride's changing room! He was very kind and a bit shy - so I used my long lenses as much as possible to catch him off guard.



Jennifer was giddy and excited in her room.



She chose a tiara that had this lovely dose of color - I loved it! It also went with many of the other pretty pink elements of their day.









The Monterey area was hopping due to the Labor Day weekend combined with the perfect weather. What a gorgeous view!





The ceremony itself was very sweet, with the officiant talking about your spouse being your best friend (which always gets me).





And, once again... that view!







I love the whole, "what is this thing I'm wearing on my hand?!" things that new grooms go through. I remember how exciting it was to look at Devon's hand when we first got married. Like a shiny little surprise!







The cake was beautiful - and so was this cake made of wedding favors! Tricked me at first into thinking it was a real cake.



Some of Jennifer and Henry's guests came from as far as Taiwan (I think there were some Oklahomans, as well)! I loved that this whole table's portion of the seating chart was in Chinese characters!



There were some lovely toasts and celebratory portions to the reception - poems, live duets, and even a song in Chinese!





The food was gorgeous:





And so was the evening air - salty, warm, and just amazing.



Okay, here's the real cake!







And the anticipating cake-fans!






The bouquet toss was awesome, because all of these lovely ladies were eager for the toss - and then when Jen threw it, everyone was too polite to go for it! Finally the woman in the middle picked it up - I love how you can see her "might as well" shrug in the second photo.





These two are obviously very much in love - even shy Henry can't help beaming with joy!



Jennifer's colleagues at the high school really cut a rug - and so did some of their students! It was a great party, with most everyone on the dancefloor.





Edited: Slideshow has been removed, 10/16/2008.