Katie and David, UC Botanical Gardens, Berkeley

(click on the image above for the slideshow)

Katie and David came out from Texas to get married in their former hometown of Berkeley, at the beautiful UC Botanical Gardens. I love this venue! There are a bunch of microclimates up and down the hills of the gardens, so there is always an extremely wide variety of plant life to see. Not to mention the changeable weather! The wedding I photographed there in May of 2007 went from somewhere around 80 degrees to the low 50s in a matter of hours due to the fog coming in. Yikes!



This wedding day had some shaky October weather in the morning, but the sun shone through the redwood grove and down onto the ceremony beautifully. Gorgeous!













After some family portraits, the bride and groom and I wandered around the gardens for some couple shots. I love October sunlight! You really can't shoot in the same way in July or August afternoon light...

















Katie had some cool handmade or vintage elements to her wedding outfit - simple and very pretty:









Then the party moved to the Bancroft Hotel in downtown Berkeley, where I stayed just for the first parts of the reception. I love how they incorporated autumn fruits, leaves, and colors, and kept it very simple and warm:







I thought this was very cool, as well - the couple brought in framed family portraits and added them to the hotel's bookcases, so it seemed a bit like having drinks and dinner in a big family home or library.















Congratulations, David and Katie, and thanks for having me along to photograph your wedding day!