Fast forward to their wedding this past weekend..here we are getting ready to do their first look and Terrance holds up his finger to unveil..a finger mustache :-) I had forgotten all about it until then and I couldn't help but burst into laughter...however, for those of you who are thinking "omg..I can't believe he got a mustache tattoo on his finger!", you can breathe a sigh of relief. The mustache washes off..atleast that's what he told Stephanie ;-)

Aside from the unveiling of the mustache finger, there were plenty of other fun moments sprinkled through the day..I'll let the pictures tell the story :-)

Stephanie was gorgeous that day! She was so anxious to see Terrance for their first look..

Loved how cute the bridemaids were peeking during their first look!

The guys were handsome..and just as fun as Terrance :-)

The now infamous finger 'stache :-)

She is so elegant..

The light was gorgeous!

Loved the organic touch to all the florals!

I can't count how many "mustache moments" there were that day :-)

I adore this image..they aren't even looking at each other and you can sense the love and happiness here..

Right after their first dance, Terrence asked Stephanie to take a seat. She gave him an all knowing look of "what do you have up your sleeve?" Well..long story short, Steph and Terrance met on Halloween and he was wearing a "merman" costume. He wanted to recreate that day..see the images below to see how the surprise unfolded ..

LOL..Terrance and his groomsmen did a choreographed routine to "Kiss the Girl" from the Little Mermaid movie..the whole room was literally in stiches watching this!

I had so much making the animation above I couldn't resist doing another one :-)

Terrance getting down in his crab costume :-)

Perfect way to end the evening..

To Darren and Gracie (and the rest of my clients who say "thank you")..you are awesome and I love working with all of you! Nothing means more to me than the smiles you have on your faces when you see your pictures..and I truly mean that from the bottom of MY heart :-)

Now enough lovey dovey stuff..time for my favorites!

Gracie's dress was beautiful..I love lace!

Smiles make me happy :-)

I loved the vintage car...so classic and beautiful!

Gracie looked like a dream..so beautiful!

I could net get over how dashing Darren looked in his grey suit..his new name is Dashing Darren :-)

The light was beautiful and spectacular that day..it was perfect!

I love how this image "feels"..

I loved Gracie's dads speech..it was filled with love, wisdom, and hope :-)

Darren claimed he never dances..but I told him it was his wedding day and he better get on the dance floor..he's a good listener (-:

Check out my recap of Sophie's Big day!

What a lucky girl Sophie is..her grandparents got her an awesome play set for her birthday!

How adorable..the centerpieces were made to look like an ice cream cone! Ok..I admit I didn't realize they were until my friend Sarah pointed that out :-)

How adorable is the cake and cake topper? Sophie's dad built the entire dessert structure himself..how awesome is that?

It was my duty as the photographer to try all the desserts to make sure they were suitable for all the guests :-)

Sophie had personalized dinnerware..adorable!!

Now for the star of the show..little miss Sophie! Her dress even matched the party theme..

Those pigtails are just too much!

A nice family portrait :-)

What better way to get a party started than with lots of presents..

..and adorable little guests like little Hannah? Hannah's mom Henny is part of the fabulous Utterly Engaged team..and she just so happens to be the luckiest mom in the world to have this scrumptious little cupcake of a daughter :-)

How cute is Ellie?? Her mom Sarah is pretty darn lucky too :-)

Sophie was having an absolute blast..how adorable is she?? Okay..Linda is super lucky too :-)

This was the most important part of the party..predicting Sophie's future!! Was she going into finance (piggy bank), computers (ipad), something related to a big book (sorry..I forgot what that stood for)..I'm guessing college professor? And of course..wedding professional (wedding mag)!

Looks like Sophie is going into finance just like Uncle Doug :-)

Parachute time!

Sophie loved it..

and so did Hannah!

Time for an outfit change :-)

The best part..opening presents!

Sophie was a very considerate host making sure to read all of her birthday cards :-)

Sophie says "thanks Mom and Dad for such an amazing party..you're the best!"

And thanks to all the vendors that made my party the bomb! :

Desserts and Cakes: Sweet and Saucy Shop

Florals: Jen K Floral Design

Catering: Lucille's BBQ

Event Design: Grand Soirees

Pink and Green are two of my favorite colors :-)

sooo cute..I loved this little one :-)

hehe..I love her glasses!

love this!

How YUMMY does this candy bar look???

I especially loved how Joe wore one of his uniforms and April dressed up to look like a young couple in and old romantic movie...the outfits and location tied in so well together! I cannot wait for their wedding this October!

Now for some pictures! Here are some of my favorites from the day..enjoy!

So sweet..I can't get over how cute they are!

So, I don't do "dipping" shots very often because to be quite honest, most people look awkward doing this :-) Not April and Joe though..when I asked them if they could do this they said "oh yeah, we do it all the time at home"..what?? How cute is that?!!

They really are a beautiful couple..aren't they?

Love this one!

So cute :-)

I love how comfy they are together..that always makes my job super easy :-)

Mariam is sweet and sassy..just like her dress!

You see how Karland is checking out Mariam? That's exactly how they fell in love :-)

Sexy!

Really sexy..

Their sweet family :-)

Awww..I love this one!

These two are gorgeous together..

Love this!

Here are some favorites from the day..stay tuned..lots of posts coming up! July was a busy month!

Suzy is one gorgeous gal, isn't she?

Love this one!

You can't tell from these photos but it was quite the task getting Blondie to look in my direction!

Blondie is a cutie pie!

My favorite! I finally got her to smile :-)

So, officially this was more a photoshoot for Drew since she will be debuting her new website very soon and needed some up-to-date headshots. We threw in some family shots because hey..her family is ridiculously adorable and you can never have enough pictures when you are all that cute :-)

Here are some of my favs from the day..there were lots to choose from!

Drew rockin' her new Loubie's that Chuck got her for their anniversary..I've always said Chuck was a wise one..

Drew had the idea to hang frames from a tree..too cute!

She is beautiful..plain and simple :-)

I wasn't lying when I said her family was adorable, right?

Hot Mama!

So cute..I love this one!

Awww..they still look at each other with googly eyes..I love it!

Chuck and Drew were so good at getting Brayden to smile..it looks easy here but trust me..getting a kiddo to not only look at your camera but also smile is a miracle in itself!

Well..if you read the title of this post you've probably already come to the conclusion that there was a blackout. Here is the story of how the day unfolded:

The day started out like any other wedding day. I arrived at Alyssa's hotel room to capture her getting into her dress..of course she was beautiful and so ready to see her groom-to-be Eric for the first time! They had their first look which was so sweet and emotional..I tried my best to hold back my own tears but I couldn't! Then off to the church we went..Eric, his groomsmen, myself, and my awesome assistant Gabriel! When I arrived at the church, I was greeted at the door by Eric. I was all happy and smiles until Eric said "Did the coordinator tell you what happened?" "No" I said in confusion.."what happened?" Apparently, earlier that day someone got into an accident, hit a pole, which then caused a blackout on the ENTIRE block, church included. It wasn't until Eric told me what happened, that I looked up and realized that the church was completely dark and with no air conditioning. Mind you it was one of the hottest weekends of the year so this whole blackout thing couldn't have come at a worse time..well aside from the fact that it happened on Alyssa and Eric's wedding day!

For a second I thought "this is terrible!" But I quickly realized that we could make this work and with the help of Alyssa and Eric's AMAZING wedding coordinator Michelle, the ceremony would go on as planned. Now normally, churches do not let you use flash during the ceremony but of course this was an exception and the rules no longer applied here..thank GOD!! I really commend Alyssa and Eric for their ability to just "let go" and enjoy their ceremony despite what had happened. This truly is what the wedding day is all about..letting go and embracing the reason of why everyone was at the church in the first place...to celebrate their love and each other! It really couldn't have been a more special day and I feel TRULY honored to have witnessed this moment in Alyssa and Eric's life.

Alyssa and Eric..thank you so much for not only reminding me of what's really important in life and marriage, but also reminding me of why I love what I do! You two are the best and I KNOW that you'll walk through life together conquering all obstacles with a few tears but also with smiles and a lot of laughter!

I LOVED Alyssa's shoes!

Alyssa has such a warm, vivacious smile :-)

During their first look, Alyssa was giggling and smiling as she made her way to Eric..

It wasn't until they saw each other for the first time that she broke down into tears..I was caught completely off guard by this and totally cried too! Sometimes I just can't help myself..it was really such a sweet moment!

I love this series..look at how happy they are!

Okay, so despite the whole blackout thing, there was also the issue of the seriously hot weather! Alyssa and Eric were troopers though and tried to stay happy and dry during the portraits together..thanks guys!!

They really are adorable together :-)

The details Alyssa and Eric planned were INCREDIBLE! Eric is a die-hard Lakers fan so their theme was purple and gold..executed to perfection!

One of the most memorable wedding moments I've ever had in my career. Alyssa and Eric were going to do a "reveal" of the ballroom once everything was set up. There had been some difficulties getting all the uplights to work but the lighting technician finally got all the lights up and running (the irony of the lights not working at the reception as well is not lost on me!). I'm sure Alyssa and Eric were anxious to see all the hard work they had put in during this whole process so once the doors finally opened, Alyssa just burst into tears and exclaimed "everything looks so beautiful!" Eric embraced her and whispered to her something I can only assume was sweet and romantic :-) I'm sure the stress of what had happened earlier in the day had just been pent up inside and just seeing it all come together allowed them to just "let go" and enjoy this moment..I love it!

This picture sums them up in a nutshell :-)

Thanks to the following wedding vendors for going above and beyond to make Alyssa and Eric's wedding magical!

Michelle Tortuya from the Charming Little Event Company (seriously..Michelle rocks! I've worked with her several times and everything always come together so beautifully!).

Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church - thanks for bending the rules for us!

Westin Hotel, Long Beach

Rossmoor Pastries

Commerce Flowers

Cheesy Photobooth

Fusion Linens

Studio West Video

Atmosphere DJ

I have been waiting for the arrival of these two little ones for a while now and they are finally here! Meet Christina and Allie! They are the precious twin daughters of our friends Mac and Kelly. I was really excited to do this shoot because this was my first time not only shooting newborns but also twins! Let me just say..my hat goes off to all of you newborn photographers out there...it is hard! I was sweating like a pig because we turned up the heat so that the girls would be comfy in their birthday suits which meant that all who were wearing clothing were dripping wet..lol! Aside from the sweating, multiple pee/poo accidents, and mini baby tantrums, the shoot went off without a hitch..lol! It actually didn't feel like work to me though because I just loved hanging out with the girls. They are just so very precious..I could stare at them for hours!

Mac and Kelly..congratulations on the arrival of your beautiful daughters! Looking forward to many more photo shoots with these precious bundles of joy :-)

Sweet little Allie..she is the tinier one :-)

Christina..she is the "fiesty" one :-) Let's just say all the mini tantrums were coming from her general direction..although you can't tell from this picture :-)

I love the little smile on Christina's face..precious!

Mac is thrilled to be a new dad!

*heart melting* Allie was sleeping 99% of the time :-)

Love this one of Christina!

They make such a beautiful family..I love it!

Cat and Jee will be getting married in a few months..can't wait for their wedding! Now for some favorites from their shoot :-)

On top of the UCLA campus being beautiful, so was the light!

Cat is a cutie :-)

The rest of the images below were at the Getty..I loved the location..and their outfits!

Love this one!

Sassy and cute :-)

**Super long post but I wanted to include all the juicy bits! Make sure to check out the end for my anniversary surprise for Doug!**

Since today is the 1 month anniversary of our "5 Year Wedding Anniversary" party, I thought it only suiting to post some pictures from the day to keep the "anniversary" theme alive :-)

When Doug and I talked months ago about what we were going to do to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary, of course the thought of revisiting our honeymoon spot first came to mind (Maui and Kauai). I loved the idea but Doug pointed out that we would have just gotten back from our Europe trip and did we really want to be away from home again? He made a valid point so it was back to the drawing board. Then it hit me..how wonderful would it be to have a party and invite our friends and family over to celebrate with us? Doug and I have actually never thrown a party in our home..we didn't even have a house warming party so the idea to have one sounded really cool! Next thing you know, I was planning away..collecting inspiration pictures, scouring blogs..it was as if I was planning my wedding all over again...of course on a much more smaller scale.

Cue Linda..I met Linda at an industry event and she graciously asked me to join her for lunch one day with a fabulous group of other ladies in the biz. I was talking about my party and how I was overwhelmed at the whole idea of throwing this party. Before I even started my next sentence, Linda offered her help to me..just like that! I was so touched by her offer and feel so lucky that Linda and I crossed paths. Linda's help was invaluable to me and really saved me from the brink of insanity. She helped bring my ideas to life with a twist of her own and I really loved all the ideas she had! On top of that, she introduced me to my caterer for the party (more on that later) and I'm so glad she did..the food was beyond what I could have ever imagined! Without her help, my party would have been a hot mess I'm sure :-)

Fast forward to a few months later and the day of the party was now upon us. The day started off smoothly enough with me getting my makeup done by the fabulous Carina. The linens, chairs, and draping all arrived on time. Then the drama started to unfold...it was just after 3pm and the tables were supposed to have arrived at 2pm. When Linda arrived to help set up I asked her to call the rental company to see where the tables were. She told me not to worry and that the company had an "emergency" line. She called them and nobody picked up. Since the party was starting at 5pm..I started to panic just a little. Now it's 3:30pm and the tables are still not there..at this point, I'm really stressed and Linda is too..we had to move forward with the assumption that the tables will not arrive in time for us to setup for the party. My heart wanted to break at that point because everything I had planned for months was now about to go out the window. You do not realize how important tables are to an event until you have NONE!!

So, the scramble to find tables starts and Linda tells Doug to go to all of our neighbors and ask if they have any banquet tables we can borrow. I call my girlfriends and ask them to come over asap (thanks LoAnn and Lynde!!!) because we are going to need all the help we can get to pull this off. It's now 4pm and Doug finally comes back with some tables..only three..not enough..what do we do? A miracle then happens..the table company calls Linda back and says the delivery guys is 5 minutes from my house. When he arrives, we have no time to waste! We have less than an hour to set up 4 tables with linens, plates, silverware, glasses, favor boxes, centerpieces, etc. At 4:50pm..we are nearly set and Linda orders me upstairs to get ready. My makeup had now melted off my face after all the sweating from the stress of running around I had to do it all over again! In the mean time, cocktail hour has now started and our guests don't even realize the near coronary all of us just had getting the party ready.

I put my dress on and headed downstairs to see all of my guests. Hugging, kissing, greeting and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I go get myself a glass of rasberry lemonade and turn around to proceed out to the back..and then..the worst thing that could possibly happen to any party hostess happens to me...I TRIPPED AND FELL FLAT ON MY FACE IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!!!! I still remember how it felt to be laying on the ground..I was literally in shock..I looked down at my feet trying to figure out what I had tripped on but before I had a chance to figure it out, someone swooped in and got me to my feet. Once I got to my feet I quickly realized what had happened because I couldn't stand up straight. The heel of my right shoe had looped through the bow of my left shoe..literally..it was a freak accident because the likely hood of that happening is nearly impossible when you think about it. There was a moment right after I fell where I just wanted to burst into tears..I mean come on..how embarrassing was that?? However, I had no time to waste and told myself to keep a stiff upper lip so we could get this party started! I wiped the lemonade of my face and hair (yes..the lemonade spilled all over me but managed to not touch my dress..yay!) and quickly pulled myself together.

The party then started and I must stay when I stepped outside for the first time to see everything, I really couldn't believe how everything came together the way it did. I was happy and so was Doug and the only bad thing that happened after my tripping incident was that the party ended too quickly! Before you knew it, it was over and I was all "we need to have another party"..in like 10 years when I've recovered from this one ;-)

Here are some beautiful pictures that my lovely friend Alice took for me! I have to publicly THANK Alice from the bottom of my heart..Alice helped out with everything that day! She arrived and saw the panic of the whole "table" fiasco and immediately helped out with whatever she could. On top of that, she helped with serving food to our guests and helping me distract Doug with my "surprise" for him at the end of the party..read more about that below. All in all, Alice was the bomb and I was so glad to have her there!

Linda put this spread together for the cocktail hour..raspberry lemonade, chocolate kisses, to-die-for chocolate "brownie" cookies wrapped adorably to look like candy, watermelon cosmos, and pink and black fortune cookies.

How chic do Drew and Christina look mingling during cocktail hour?

LOL..this was me right after I fell. Here I am wiping my eye after raspberry lemonade got in it..I'm still amazed I was able to laugh about it!

Sigh..I would totally marry these chair covers..that's how much I loved them!

Okay..seriously? As much as I LOVED all the decor/food, etc from my party..my favorite part hands down was Brett Young's music. Brett sang at a wedding I shot last year and I was amazed at how talented he was. I KNEW that I had to have him for my party..thank GOODNESS he was available!! I'm telling you..one day Brett is going to be huge in the music industry..just you wait! You can see his music video here and you should definitely add him on Facebook! He announces his performances on there and really..you have to see him LIVE to fully appreciate how talented he is!

Two old friends who recently just got married..congrats you guys!

My lovely guests!

Doug and our favorite 5-year-old..Olivia!

Of course we had to sneak in just a couple pictures of the two of us :-)

After our cake cutting, I had a very special surprise for Doug. Here's what happened..

Every year on our wedding anniversary, Doug and I watch our wedding video. I thought it would be great to share that tradition with our friends and family and have us all watch it together..not the whole thing..just a 5-minute highlight video of the day. Doug thought it was a cool idea too so we decided we would do that at the end of the party to "close" the evening.

Here's what he didn't know..I contacted Joe from Today's The Day Weddings to help me with a special gift for Doug. I wanted to record a video "love note" for Doug telling him how much I loved him and all that other good stuff :-) You'll have to watch the video to see what I said :-)

So here is the original highlight video produced by Elysium Productions..I love it so much!

Trista and Doug's Highlights from Today's The Day Weddings on Vimeo.

And here is the video that came up right after the highlight video ended. I can't thank Joe enough for helping me out with this..he came through for me big time and will be forever in his debt! Thanks Joe..you are amazing!

Trista's Video Project-01 from Today's The Day Weddings on Vimeo.

As you can imagine, Doug was super surprised when the video came on..he laughed he cried..I laughed..I cried and then the party was nearing its end. The funniest part of the night I think was when people were saying their goodbye's they confessed that they thought that Doug and I were going to announce that we were having a baby!! LOL..yeah..like we really had this scheme all along to get pregnant right around our 5 Year Anniversary and have this party and then play a video to say "hey, we're having a baby"! LOL..everyone was disappointed and could have cared less about my video love note to Doug because all they cared about was if I was pregnant..a few people even said they had kept their eye on me the whole night to see if I was drinking alchohol..seriously? LOL..my friends and family are crazy :-)

Hope you enjoyed my super incredibly long post about our anniversary..I wouldn't have done it justice if I didn't include all the juicy bits of drama right?

I cannot wait for their wedding which is coming up in a little over a month! Here are some of my favorites from the shoot!

I think Gracie and Darren make an adorable couple..don't you?

Beautiful sunlight..I love it! I'll pick beautiful light over a beautiful location any day :-)

Love this "grass" series below!

Seriously Gracie..you're H-O-T!

I love this one!

One of my favs!

What better way to end the post than with a beautiful portrait?

Maddy and Mason's mom Michelle was a bit nervous about how her little ones were going to do during the shoot but in the end, her kiddos proved that they can handle a photoshoot just fine! Maddy loved my camera and wanted to see how she looked after each picture I took and at the end of the shoot she asked her mom "Mommy you have fun"? to which her mom replied "Yes I did..did you have fun?" to which she replied "Yes" :-)

Here are some favorites from my day with Maddy and Mason!

We started with the hardest part first..the family portrait! The fact that I got all eyes in the same direction is a victory!

Look at that smile!

I love this one!

Is it wrong that this one is my favorite? LOL..

Now for some highlights from their shoot!

LOL..while I was taking the next two shots, we kept hearing rattling noises..it would start on one side of the field and then we'd hear it in a completely different part of the field a minute later..we never found out where the rattling was coming from..thank goodness! I hope rattle snakes have a great fear of photographers :-)

Love this one! It had been overcast for pretty much the whole day until it was time for their shoot..someone was looking out for them :-)

The light was so beautiful!

I love them..they make such a sweet couple!

Sweet :-)

Theresa and Ken..thanks so much for having me play a small part in your BIG day..you guys rock and so did your wedding!