Jake and Irina were married on November 27th, with a ceremony and reception at the Coto Valley Country Club in Coto de Caza, CA.
Because it was rainy on the day of the wedding, we had to move everything inside. Jake and Irina were worried about how we could still get the pictures done, but we captured some fun indoor portraits of them and the bridal party before the rain stopped for just a moment, and we all rushed out to get some pictures while we could. It sprinkled a little, but it wasn’t enough to ruin anyone’s hair, and we were able to shoot family and group portraits outside before we had to hustle back inside. There was definitely a lot of rushing and shouting as we tried to keep everything organized, but it was all done with smiles as we dodged the raindrops.
Thankfully, I had scouted out the area before the wedding, and the country club had some great inside spaces for photos. There was incredible natural light in one of the rooms, and I tried to make use of that. And no matter the setting, I had great subjects to work with. The whole wedding party was so much fun—and I wanted to capture their personalities more than anything else!
For this wedding, I was so glad to have Rusti Svalstrom of Viska Photography as my second shooter. She helped create the amazing lighting, particularly for the portraits, and also got some great candids of Irina and her dad right before they walked down the aisle.
After the ceremony, it was off to the reception, where by far the most touching moment of the night was the father/daughter and mother/son dances. The room was filled with enough emotion so that there wasn’t a dry eye that I could see.
I also loved the fact that Jake and Irina had a barbecue dinner, and everyone there was given bibs to wear. One guest loved his bib so much that he wore it for the remainder of the reception!
Irina & Jake, thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your wedding! I had so much fun with both of you, and I’m glad that we were able to brave the weather together.
Jimmy Bui
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