Nicole & Frankie’s intimate city hall wedding was absolute perfection! With a total guest list of 11 adults & one adorable nephew, the pair had all the wanted and more for their celebration. After traveling into the city from LA, they must have brought the LA sunshine with them because after 3 days straight of pouring rain, San Francisco was sunny & perfect the whole day of their wedding & ended with one of the most beautiful pink sunsets I’ve seen here!

Nicole & Frankie opted for the traditional first look – down the aisle & boy was that special! Nicole’s face was full of delight & happiness and Frankie was the sweetest bucket of tears ever. After snapping some photos around the breathtaking city hall building, we caught the sunset on the rooftop of the nearby Proper Hotel, where they & the family were staying and enjoyed an intimate dinner at none-other-than Leo’s Oyster Bar, which was the perfect tropical nod to the fact that the pair met in South Beach, Miami. I loved every second of this day & am so thrilled to share the images with you!

CREDITS

Ceremony Location | San Francisco City Hall

Sunset Location | The Proper Hotel, San Francisco

Reception Location | Leo’s Oyster Bar

Bouquet | Farm Girl Flowers

Hair | Stefanie Cuesta

Dress | Theia

Is there anything better than a Fall wedding in Napa County? Well besides being one of the best looking couples ever, Danielle & Tyler are super sweet and have a fantastic story. They met 5 years ago at a bar (gotta love that old school courage) called Lightning right after they both moved to SF. Tyler proposed in Marin Headlands and the guy even had a bottle of Veuve waiting to celebrate the moment. Peek HERE for their super cute engagement photos! They love to travel, to cook together and do anything active and outdoors – they really are the perfect “dream team” of a bride & groom. They alluded to this with their wedding hashtag #DoremTeam2018 (a word play on Tyler’s last name, Doremus).

Danielle & Tyler’s stunning wedding took place at Solage Resort in Calistoga, CA near where Danielle grew up in Napa. She looked flawless in her Flora Bridal Gown and Tyler looked so suave in his emerald green suit jacket and velvet loafers. The vendor team was incredible and created a natural vibe with tons of wow-factor in the decor. The decor included Danielle’s cascading bridal bouquet with pink garden roses and evergreen accents throughout. Danielle’s sister was her maid of honor and she was surrounded by her dearest gal pals and Tyler’s groomsmen consisted of his 4 brothers & dad [I’m not kidding! There are a lot of Doremus men!] Everyone danced the night away to the tunes of a live band!

Since that day, the incredibly inspiring wedding blog, Style Me Pretty, published this wedding on it’s front page! I was in tears reading the email that my submission had been accepted & floored that they were so excited to feature my work. SMP has inspired me and driven me to be a better photographer for so many years & I’m so grateful to get to contribute my own work in that space. Cheers to every incredibly talented vendor involved in this day – you blessed us with something absolutely beautiful. Most importantly, cheers to Danielle & Tyler’s marriage! It took everything in me not to post every single photo here, so enjoy this very long post!!

Credits

Photos | Cheers Babe Photo

Second Shooter | Praise of Come Plum

Venue | Solage, an Auberge Resort & Spa, Calistoga, CA

Floral | Lily & Mint

Design | Sugar Rush Events

Hair & Makeup | Angela Nunnink

Band | The Class Band

Paper Goods + Signage | JK Design

Rentals | Encore Events Rentals

Chairs | Theoni

Photo booth | Say Ya Photobooth

Dress | Flora Bridal

Suit | Knot Standard

Bridesmaid Dresses | Jenny Yoo

I am obsessed with Christa & Kyle’s vibrant and colorful anniversary session at The Saguaro! Christa & I went to college together, and now both work as wedding photographers. We made a trip out to the desert in November where she shot a wedding with me, and we just couldn’t head back home without capturing she & her husband at the famous Saguaro hotel.

My favorite part of the session was when C & K broke out their swing dancing moves for me!

Did you know that 40% of engagements occur between November and February? The holiday season is the perfect time for engagements, since people have time off work and usually travel home to visit their families. What does that mean?! That means a decent amount of my 2019 & 2020 couples got engaged THIS WEEK!! I am beyond excited to meet each and every one of you, whether you were engaged on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas or even about to be engaged on New Years.

I bet you’ve been playing with your ring, watching it sparkle in the light and your heart is exploding with love + excitement. Suddenly, it hits you…”What are we supposed to do now!?” Don’t worry, there’s nothing to stress over! I’ve got your back with the 3 first things you should do after you get engaged.

1 | Call Your People

First & foremost, call your people. I’m talking Mom & Dad first, then your sibs, besties, anyone you’re really close with. Call them on the phone, don’t text them, don’t immediately hop on insta story. These are your people, and they deserve to know this big news before anyone!

2 | Think Big Picture

It may be tempting to head on over to your “secret” pinterest board and immediately dive in to the nitty gritty details of planning your wedding. Rather than dive in eyes first, set aside a couple hours to brainstorm the big picture with your fiancé. Ask yourselves/each other these questions:

How do we want our wedding to FEEL? List 50 words, then narrow it down to 3 together.

What kind of venue will you get married at? Will their style inform your decor and wardrobe?

What is most important to you about your wedding? The dress? The food? The venue? The party the DJ or band will begin? It’s great to start off knowing where you’ll want to spend the bulk of your budget and begin nailing down the most important details first. This will look different for every couple, so don’t feel like you have the wrong answer here. Do you, boo!

3 | Book the Major Players

Now that you know which elements are most important to you, begin researching and reaching out to the vendors who provide those services and build your squad. I always recommend starting with a planner (here’s an article with some why’s), then venue (to make the date official) and then your photographer (because we book up quick! I’m already 50% booked for 2019 so get that inquiry in!). Having your key players down, you’ll actually have time to focus on the fun stuff like dress shopping and menu tastings!

If you were engaged this holiday season, shoot me an email because I’d love to be one of your major players! Congrats! Xoxo

I absolutely adored getting to know Kara & Mike at their engagement session. Kara just has a heart of gold and I loved Mike’s sense of humor. The pair got engaged in Sausalito at Cavallo Point, so we knew we’d be revisiting that spot for their engagement photos. We began the session by popping some bubbly at beautiful Rodeo Beach and then drove over to Cavallo Point for the sunset! This was such a gorgeous afternoon on the other side of the bridge – I hope you enjoy the photos!

Rodeo Beach

Cavallo Point

Engaged?

Inquire HERE so we can capture your love story!

I was thrilled when Rachel reached out about her Palm Springs destination wedding! At the time, Rachel was working on the accounting team at a jewelry startup here in San Francisco that I collaborate with regularly for their campaign photos. She & Steve aren’t the traditional type and really wanted their wedding day to feel more like a vacation for their guests – how cool is that? Palm Springs was an easy choice for them as they began the search as it’s a special place that they’d traveled to for vacation and they wanted their friends & family to experience a little bit of that desert magic!

The day of was so laid back, casual and fun and the weather was seriously perfect! Believe me, it can get HOT in Palm Springs, but if you wait till late October it’s so gorgeous out! One of my favorite laugh-out-loud moments was when Rachel entered the ceremony from the top of the staircase to Dr. Dre’s The Next Episode and when she got to the top of the aisle said “sorry, Mom!”. I just loved how R & S captured their personalities and relaxed style throughout the whole day – everything was perfect! There was also a pretty dang epic dance party underneath the stars that night. Enjoy these photos!

getting ready

first look

ceremony

the happy couple

cocktail hour

reception

credits

Photos | Cheers Babe Photo

Second Shooter | Jessica Castro

Venue | The O’Donnell House, Palm Springs, CA

Coordination | The Events Department

Floral | David Rohr Studio

Rentals | Signature Party Rentals + La Tavola Linen

HMUA | Mobile Bridal

Dress | BHLDN

Suit | Indochino

Rings | Anna Sheffield

 

planning your wedding?

Inquire HERE today and reserve your date before it’s too late!

I met Chelsea as a bridesmaid at another wedding – an organized and totally attentive bridesmaid at that, who was also partially responsible for the design & beauty of the day. I can only imagine what she & James are cooking up for their special day here in San Francisco next May.

We started their engagement session on the secret rooftop of their apartment in the Marina & then headed to Fort Point for some photos near the Golden Gate bridge. We finished off with some pizza and beer at their favorite local spot, Final Final – a family owned sports bar. I’m still heart eyes over this session at some of the places that are most special to Chelsea & James. This shoot is classically San Francisco and so authentic to who these two are and their journey as a couple here in SF. Can’t wait to celebrate them & see where their adventures take them next!

Cheers!

book your engagement session today!

contact jess

Oh my goodness, Sara & Brent’s Sebastopol wedding was confirmation for me that you can’t beat Fall in wine country. The gorgeous fall colored trees on the front drive and throughout the vineyards were just breathtaking! More importantly, S + B’s wedding was full of family and love you could feel all day. Brent’s vows to Sara were some of the best I’ve ever heard – such a tender spirit in that guy! I loved that they carried on an old family tradition of exchanging roses at the ceremony in place of a unity ritual. Personal touches really made the day feel extra special.

story time!

The road to the altar was not paved in gold for these two. About 2 months after they booked me for their September wedding, they received a letter from their venue that they were being shut down by the city for noise & traffic complaints. We are talking 6 months before their wine country wedding (venues out here book up 12-18 months in advance typically) they had to find a new place to be married! Can you say panic!? I got the news & immediately sent them a bottle of bubbly because real talk: these major setbacks can happen when you’re planning a wedding, but you have to remember that you’re engaged, which is awesome, & that alone is worth celebrating!

But anyway, Sara & Brent handled the situation like total champs & found a new venue in just a couple of weeks. They ended up getting married in October (PTL I was available on the plan B date! phew!) and the day could not have been smoother. Be sure to check out their lovely engagement session HERE too! I just adore these two & wish them the happiest life & marriage!

credits

Photos // Jess of Cheers Babe Photo

Second Shooter // Zoe Larkin for Cheers Babe Photo

Venue // Vine Hill House, Sebastopol, California

Floral // Natalie Alice Floral Design

Hair & Makeup // Devotion Studios

Rentals // Encore Events Rentals

Video // Newlywed Cinema

DJ //AMS Entertainment

Live Music // Justin Diaz

Dress // Pronovias

Bridesmaid Dresses // I Heart Azazie

Suit // Suit Supply

Holy cow – you guys are literally going to FLIP when you see how cute Jillian & Justin are! These two were introduced [*cough* set up?] by Jillian’s Aunt who was Justin’s co-worker at the time. The pair was engaged this summer in Jamaica, how fun is that!? Pretty epic.

We began their session at the iconic Palace of Fine Arts in the presidio of San Francisco, then headed to Baker Beach to catch the sunset near the bridge! Be sure to catch Justin’s ACTUAL backflip at the beach! These two are planning one heck of a wedding party & I cannot wait to capture it all next August. Cheers to J&J!

Palace of Fine Arts

Baker Beach

Engaged?

Inquire HERE about your engagement photos! I’m available in the Bay Area & Los Angeles!