It’s a great honor when someone chooses me as their wedding photographer. It’s even a larger honor when someone that I’ve known for a long time contacts me before there is even a wedding date selected to be their photographer. I’m so glad the wedding date ended up lining up with my summer wedding schedule because I was so thrilled to be there for Sophia and Frank on their wedding day.

Grand Tradition Estate Wedding

The first thing that I noticed about this wedding venue is that it’s set up like a wedding machine. Just like a finely tuned machine, every part of this place has been thought about and designed to make weddings beautiful and efficient. It’s green all over like a tropical garden with tall trees to provide shade on those hot summer days. The walkways guide guests directly to the ceremony location and right back to the reception tent. There are even hidden paths to hide family for processionals and recessionals. Even the getting ready rooms have a walkway that hides them from guests as they arrive. There was clearly a lot of planning into the layout of this venue.

The bride and the groom getting ready rooms are next door to each other which makes it easy to go back and forth between them. This was great because I got to go back and forth between the rooms to be there for special moments on both sides. Some of my favorite moments are during prep and this wedding day was no different with lots of great memories made. For me, the first one on this day was when Frank’s mom received a gift from Sophia thank thanked her for raising the man of her dreams (see photo below). It was a very thoughtful gift. Another great moment was when Sophia finished getting ready and her son walked in and they shared a moment before the ceremony. I love capturing those little moments that mean so much.

This was one of those wedding days that I felt moved really fast. As soon as Sophia was done with prep, we went straight into the ceremony and from that moment on it felt like time was just flying by. Sophia and Frank decided to not see each other before the ceremony which I think really made their feelings start to build. You could see the high emotion from the moment that she walked down the aisle and they both teared up a little. It was a beautiful ceremony against the waterfalls in the background and with it officiated by one of their friends it added a personal touch.

After the ceremony, we started family and wedding party photos. Since it was nearly a hundred degrees on that day I kept them as close to the waterfall as I could. The waterfall cooled the surrounding air and gave them a break from the incredible heat. Whenever it is possible to keep a couple comfortable on their wedding day I make sure to try and do so.

Once we moved on to the reception it was just pretty much party time. After a very emotional wedding day, it was great to see the couple let loose and get on the dance floor with friends and family.

Vendors that made their wedding day a success include:
Venue – Coordinator – Catering: Grand Tradition Estate and Garden
Makeup Artist – Karen Dela Cruz
Photo Booth: Photo Booth Rave
Donuts: Donut Bar San Diego
Flowers: Nobutama Weddding Studio