Sara and Eric, the Vintner's Inn, Santa Rosa, California

I knew Sara and Eric's wedding was going to be lovely, classic, autumnal, and lots of fun to photograph! Sara and I have chatted a mile a minute every time we've spoken on the phone or met in person, and I love a girl who knows what she wants - elegance, fun, and LOTS of great photos and portraits.



I've passed the lovely Vintner's Inn (part of the famed John Ash wine country restaurant estate) here in Santa Rosa lots of times, but since I normally work outside of the area, this was my first time shooting there, and I was just blown away! I think it had to be the perfect day to be photographing there - beautiful autumn colors combined with yellow-green vineyards, beaming golden sun, and leaves every color of the rainbow. Sara and Eric came up from Hollywood for the wedding and I was so pleased to see that the weather cooperated (after a week of mostly pouring rain!).



It didn't hurt that Sara is absolutely stunningly gorgeous, AND has a lot of personality, AND has a great eye for photography (having grown up with a dad in the movie industry, who has been friends with Herb Ritts and Greg Gorman - no pressure there!). It was a joy to photograph Sara and Eric all day long.



Sara put a lot into designing the reception, and I have to say it was definitely accomplished. The colors were beautiful reds, oranges, and other autumn tones, and there were beautiful flowers, pumpkin table markers, a Halloween-esque candy bar, and these gorgeous paper lanterns on the patio:



Even the weather cooperated, with the late afternoon sun beaming through the fall-tinged greenery. It was probably 80 degrees but it looked like the most beautiful autumn everywhere on the property.



Sara had a beautiful Lazaro rum pink dress that complemented her lovely skin perfectly, and these Badgley Mischka shoes that I was drooling over a little:



I can't remember the name of their LA area jeweler, but he did a fabulous job on both rings. I love the vintage style of Sara's engagement ring:



Beautiful Sara:




Flowers by Jessica at Amore Floral:



The ceremony was right during the sunset "magic" or "golden" hour - so lovely!





What I love about Sara and Eric's relationship is how perfectly everything about them complements each other - size wise, as well as in terms of personality. Sara and I both can kind of talk nonstop (I don't think we let Eric get a word in edgewise when we met!), whereas Eric seems mellow and content to let her do most of the talking. He's also kind and funny - I think humor is definitely where they meet up. They adore each other, and they really do complement each other perfectly. I wish you guys a lifetime of happiness!



I don't know why exactly, but I am loving this totally random shot of them while we were doing formal portraits:







Thanks for humoring me with this one, guys!



The John Ash food was beautiful:



Once we lost the sun, I still wanted a few more shots of the happy couple...



Some of the autumnal details:












Beautiful cake, by Patisserie Angelica:



And I love this shot of Sara and her dad cutting an adorable rug!



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




PS - here is a sweet thank you from Sara:

"I love them! You are such a true talent and I am so honored that you were our photographer!

There are so many shots that I love, and I guess this is just scratching the surface of what you took!

I love, love, love the shots of me dancing with my Dad. They make me want to cry!

...I can't wait to see the rest!

You're amazing!

-Sara"