Intimate | You May French Kiss The Bride

Sep 2014

You may have noticed I have been taking things a bit slower here these last months. And for someone who used to post something twice a week that’s saying something! First, if you’re wondering: no, I am not getting tired of the blog, I’m not tired of showing beautiful pictures of happy couple and wonderful weddings. The reason of this lower frequency of posts is beyond my will: there’s 24 hours per day and I have about 5 hours in total of “free” time. Now in those 5 hours, put breakfast, lunch & dinner breaks, showers, laundry + all basic activities. Done? Well, you get more or less how much time I have left for myself, and I am not ashamed to say I often use it to rest. What happened to me is simply what happens to many of us someday: a baby!

This post is to share a bit of our new life with you. I don’t mean to be complaining… But I have to say I am. I am complaining all the time. Because the baby’s moaning for no apparent reason, because he won’t play on his own (is it really expecting too much from a 4 months old?); it’s a long list. But when he finally goes to sleep and the house is quiet, I start missing him so much I feel like crying. I don’t know if that’s normal, it sure sounds weird to me, but I guess that’s what being a mum is.

I remember I was kind of scared when I was pregnant. I’ve always wanted kids, that’s for sure, but I had never been really good at connecting with other people’s babies either and I honestly didn’t feel very attached to the baby that was growing inside my belly – at least not as much as I thought I should. I remember confessing to Marcio how scared I was that I wouldn’t love him as much as I love the cat!

But then he showed his little face, looked at us and my heart instantaneously broke into pieces. Billions of years of evolution to get to living beings as evolved as we are and we’re still designed for the survival of our species to be what matters the most to us.

Let’s stop two seconds to think about it. Having a baby means changing your life for a new life you know nothing about, sharing your day-to-day with a person you don’t know and don’t choose – you don’t even get to decide if it’s boy or girl! And yet, we do it and are usually happy with the change. Amazing.

I was once offered the series Ordinary Victories by Manu Larcenet, where the main character says, looking at his daughter: “We created the person we love the most in this world.” I guess that sums it all up.

I think I’ve never been happier. I didn’t know one outline of a smile could have such an effect on me, that his little fingers gently caressing my skin would be the sweetest sensation, that his eyes seeking mine would be so incredibly rewarding… I’m in love, again.

(And thank you Stina for the photos!)

Aug 2014

Lacey + Logan

An Elopement in San Diego with a Nearly 9 Months Pregnant Bride

I think I don’t show enough elopements here. What a great way to get to the essence of what getting married means, have less to worry about and spend energy only caring about the main aspects of the day. And I guess, it also has its financial advantages for those of you on a budget. Lacey tells us more about their decision and experience below, and who knows, maybe their story will inspire you too! Lacey is, by the way, an extremely beautiful bride; she calls her bouquet and head piece “amazing”, and I can only agree – amongst the most beautiful I’ve seen! Photography by Yes, Dear. Studio.

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Lacey and Logan’s elopement took place in San Diego, at Sunset Cliffs, facing the Ocean. Here’s the story, from the bride, of how they dropped the idea of having the usual wedding (the one with guests) and decided to elope instead.

What made my wedding day so special was the ease and simplicity. It was everything I ever wanted not to mention, drama free! Whenever we talked about our wedding it was, “Well we can’t do it there… so and so won’t be able to make it, or we can’t do it then because this is happening…” I realized those excuses had nothing to do with Logan and I and how silly it all was. We were expecting our beautiful baby boy and just decided to have a special day between the two of us before life as we knew it forever changed. I was in love with the idea! I had a month to put together my dream wedding. I had always envisioned a green wedding with absolutely no flowers and I achieved that with my amazing bouquet and head piece made of ferns, eucalyptus, ruscus, luecadendron, kale, and Mexican babies breath. The pins on my belt belonged from my grandmother and I added to them with vintage pins found at thrift stores. Our ceremony was held at Sunset Cliffs which is also were Logan and I had an incredible first date exploring caves and examining sea life.

Name one thing you regret…

My biggest fear with eloping was that I would regret something, so I made sure to do everything I felt was important personally. The only thing is that I would have loved to have a different dress.

It was a timing issue, the one I had my heart set on I was not able to find in a store and I was too nervous to order online because I was worried about fitting properly… I should’ve just had it made, it was a simple design, but I didn’t think of that till too late.

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

My number one concern for eloping was documenting and capturing the day perfectly and Yes, Dear. Studio exceeded my expectations!

The word of the photographers.

While nearly nine months pregnant with their first child, Lacey & Logan decided to elope rather than waste any more time on the details of a big wedding . They chose the most beautiful location, Sunset Cliffs in San Diego, to say “I do”. They had an intimate ceremony as the sun was setting, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a moment full of sincerity and love. It was an amazing honor for us to experience something so pure and beautiful. These two have so much love for each other and their baby boy, Hutch. We spent nearly five hours capturing their special day in their favorite spots around San Diego, completely free from stress or pressure.

Mar 2014

Emily + Daniel

Intimate and Personal Wedding on the Beach in Canada

At a time where so many couples think a wedding should always have more details, more guests, more planning (in other words, more stress!), it feels right to share a wedding like Emily and Daniel’s. This couple had an intimate and personal wedding: 20 people in total, including the newly weds, in a beautiful location, few outstanding details and their very own distinctive style… There’s no magic recipe for a perfect wedding, but still, I happen to like this one a lot! And when you can have such a day covered by photographers like the guys of Nordica Photography, it actually kind of does feel like magic.

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The wedding took place on September 10, 2013 in Tofino, British Columbia, Canada.

Dan and I are very mellow and had committed ourselves to each other long before the wedding. We decided to plan this intimate event to celebrate with our families. We contemplated having a big ordeal but it just felt wrong from the moment it was mentioned.

Name one thing you regret…

There really isn’t anything I regret, maybe not spending more time in Tofino!

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

The thing I am most proud of is that we stuck to our guns and did what we wanted. I heard so much regret from other couples saying “I wish we had something smaller and more intimate” or “I wish it was more casual, I didn’t feel like myself”. I think people spend too much time worrying about pleasing other people when they should just be doing what makes them happy.