With Sadness the doors of Adorn Bridal will be closing soon. After the first of April we will no longer be meeting clients at this beautiful location. But if your looking for fantastic deals there will be some great closing sales. I will continue to meet with clients and to refer the wonderful people who were part of the vendor team down there. I’ll just have to keep you updated on our new meeting location. 
Just wanted to share a little bit with you about a great organization that has just started up here in the bay area. It is called Wish Upon a Wedding. Starting on Monday is National Raise Awareness week for the organziation. The purpose of Wish Upon a Wedding is to produce weddings and civil union ceremonies at destinations across the USA for terminally ill individuals, regardless of sexual orientation. Below is the first recipient’s story and her wedding is only a few days away. With twenty chapters across the nation, we are ready to begin making dreams come true. To find out more about them and ways you might be able to help you can find them on the web, facebook, and twitter.
In 2002, Florence had moved from Oklahoma City to be with her mother in the San Francisco Bay Area. After moving there, she decided to stay.
A few years later, in 2006 Florence was on her way to a birthday party, to hang out with her girlfriends. As usual, she waited for the Route 93 Bus. That evening, Michael the bus driver noticed Florence and began a conversation with her. Route 93 was his regular route, and Florence and Michael began to see more and more of each other.
He asked for her phone number, and eventually called her. After playing hard to get, Florence finally decided to answer the phone. For their first date, Michael asked Florence out to dinner in San Francisco. They ate dinner by the wharf, watching the boats come in and out of the bay, and they began to fall in love.
Michael told Florence he’d found his other half and wanted to be her husband.
When Florence was diagnosed with cancer, she worried Michael might leave. But he was always there for her, supporting her throughout the entire experience, including a double mastectomy.
Michael proposed to Florence by saying “I want to make you my wife” and “make our family official”. He let her know that no matter what happens, he loves her and wants to be with her unconditionally.
Wish Upon a Wedding is proud to grant Florence and Michael their wish of a very special wedding, set to take place on March 13, 2010.
Congratulations John and Pilar for your wedding being featured in Today’s Bride. I”m so excited that it was picked. You had one of the most colorful weddings I’ve ever seen. Congratulations also to the great team of vendors that made this event so beautiful. Cristine Thomas and her staff always does such a beautiful job with this wedding guide. It is one of my favorites in the area. It is the perfect size for brides to carry with them. If you have a chance pick a copy up of their 4 page spread in Today’s Bride at Adorn Bridal or from many other vendors and locations in the bay area.
To see more or their photos you can look at the following post on Aboutweddings.com or here in my archives. Click on engagement or wedding.
What a great wedding to end my 2009 wedding season. Sara and Derek were awesome and it was so much fun sharing in their day. They exchanged vows at the beautiful San Juan Bautista Golf Club. It was a beautiful intimate ceremony out on the terrace. Instead of doing a unity candle, they planted a tree together. It was really different and I love how they can keep the tree potted or plant it at their house. Like their marriage it will be fun to see it grow and I hope it will be something they can take with them in their adventures. Another little touch they did which was very touching was that they tied little red ribbons around their flowers in memory of Derek’s brother. It was such a sweet and sentimental gesture. It was a fantastic day and the couple and their party was full of laughter. To see more of their day click here to see there slideshow and remember to leave them some love below in the comments box.
San Jose, CA Febrruary 09, 2010 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Jill Johnson Photography has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Photography.
The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.
Jill Johnson Photography is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.
“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”
We are happy to announce that Jill Johnson is among the very best Wedding Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.
There was a lot of Tricks and Treats as Lisa and Jeff celebrated their wedding day at the Ranch Golf Club in San Jose, California. When I first met with Lisa and Jeff I had to laugh because they were going to be getting married on Halloween but it wasn’t going to be a Halloween theme. I was so glad when they added just some subtle little things that made the day tie in to Halloween but it didn’t overshadow the celebration of the wedding. Just the little things like carved pumpkins lining the walkway for guest, the life size skeletons in the bathroom, tables named after candy bars, and carmel apples for favors were just a few things that added to the days charm.
Lisa had the most beautiful champagne colored dress designed by Private Label G. It complimented her coloring amazingly, but my favorite is what she wore under her dress. Yes, the witch tights that no one even saw til it was time to take off the garter. You should of heard the laughter as her new husband did the worm across the dance floor to every one’s request and delight and then she unveiled those babies. The laughter that roared thru the place was undescribable. This crowd was really fun and I had to especially give points to Jeff. He wasn’t in the family but maybe an hour when he had to do something to impress his new father-in-law. Like with many weddings there are an abundant of different speeches and toast of champagne. But when Lisa’s dad did his toast he handed the couple two mini bottles of tequila that they were suppose to drink. Now a shots a shot no big deal for some but this was special. It had the little worm on the bottom and it needed to be gone. Both Lisa and Jeff did it to the hoots of friends and family. I wonder if that is what gave Jeff the inspiration to worm his way across the dance floor to his bride later that night. To see more of the fun and shenanigans of their day click here to view their slide show.
Julie and Ryan are just two of the sweetest people you’ll meet and a lot of fun to boot. Julie, her mom, and her talented vendors did a wonderful job selecting and creating everything for this big day. They were married at the Santa Clara Mission and the reception was at the Palo Alto Country Club. Besides their big beaming smiles and animated faces, there was so many little touches that added to the magic of the day. For starters just the simple things of “something blue”, to the flower in her hair, and Julie’s orange toenail polish were just a simple beginning to details that would unfold and wow everyone . There is so much to talk about that it is best for you to view the photos but some highlights that I loved. Bikes! Yes bikes Julie had Ryan and her classic Schwins brought to the church for photos that made a fun moment for the two of them. I love when clients take the initiative to bring some fun props. The flowers created by Bloomsters demanded your attention. From the bouquets, to the hanging flowers behind the head table, to the centerpieces so intricate that if you didn’t take the time to examine them carefully you would surely miss something woven in to these pieces. They were so full of color and texture it was like a sensory overload. Her seating chart and place holders were by far some of the most creative I’ve seen to date. She created a riverbed table of rocks, succulants, flowers and moss. Each rock had the persons name and a color coded leaf hand painted on each rock so the servers knew what that guest had ordered for dinner salmon, vegetarian, or beef. It was truly a colorful and whimsical wedding. Simply said ” Just beautiful.”
To view more of their amazing day click here for their slideshow.
Their “A” team list of vendors:
Florist: Bloomsters
Car: Elegant Journey
Cake: Cake Coquette
Band: Jesse Charles Band
Wine: Topa Vista Winery
Like most of my weddings there is something that always stands out to be that makes it unique and special to the couple. There were several things about Chau and David’s day that stick out in my mind, but I’ll only tell you about a few. The first thing was the church they were married in. I love the story behind it and I don’t think I could give it justice but lets just say the story has an amazing act of faith and the power of prayer. So, it seemed fitting that David and Chau exchanged vows in front of family and friends at St. Joseph’s Parish in Mountain View.
The other two things are not as sentimental but just kind of fun. I loved Chau’s headpiece. I thought it was really unique and it looked fantastic on her with both of her hairdo’s. It just gave her such a simple and classic elegance that just really enhanced her natural beauty. It was just amazing. I love what brides are doing with headpieces these days.
The last thing is Lito, the best man has to be my most photographed groomsmen. I”m not sure what the count is right now but I believe he has been in at least 3 with a possibility of 4. He’s always a groomsmen and not a groom. I’m so looking forward to when I get to photograph him as the groom, I mean look how much practice I’ve had.
This crowd of friends is so much fun and we had a great day photographing all over the south bay area. In fact, some of my favorite shots are of the wedding party in the limo as we headed from place to place. From the Crown Plaza Cabana hotel in Palo Alto, to the church in Mountain View, to San Jose University , and finally ending up downtown at the San Jose Fairmont. A special thanks to my second shooter Gustavo for making the day go easy. Please feel free to leave a comment for David and Chau below. If you love what you see vote for their post.
To view more of their wedding day images click here.
If you missed their engagement session click here to see how much fun they had.
Her beautiful handbead supplied by Jonathon Nguyen
The family church and its beautiful artwork.
Flowers by Crispy and having some fun at the San Jose University Campus
A little fun in downtown right outside the fairmont. A great little place to shoot.
I love how much fun Chau’s having cutting her cake. She did a great job smashing it on his face.
……..and my most photographed groomsman Lito codename “Prada” with his Grandma. I believe she’s 93. I love photographic oppurtunities like this one.
Some of their vendors
Florist Crispy Luppino of Nataliniflowers.com
Wedding Coordinator Michele Aviles-Hana
Videographer www.davidkalaniphoto.com
DJ Alvin from www.729mixx.com
Make up Artist Jonathan Nguyen
First of all I’m not even sure where to start on this adventure or even what to share. There is absolutely no way to fully capture the feeling of the day, the people, or the location with just a few photos and words. The sites and sounds were so much a part of the excitement. From the vibrant colors and smells of the Campo de Fiori where I started documenting the day til the pouring rain and lighting storm that brought the day to an end. There was so many great moments during the day but I decided I would share with you my favorite one. This left me awed.
I’ve photographed weddings for years and in my opinion this was the most breathtaking entrances ever for a bride. I felt like I was watching a classic black and white movie but realized I was there live in color watching it unveil thru the lens of my camera.
The outside of the Pantheon was just buzzing. Who gets married at the Pantheon? Is that the king of the Phillipeans? Is she a famous actress? Hundreds of people huddled together to get a better view as the Rolls Royce pulled up to the Ancient Monument with its towering columns. Irma looked like a version of Audrey Hepburn as she revealed herself from the car. Congratulations and best wishes were being sent to her in so many different languages and cameras were just clicking away. It was so sweet as she stopped in shyness, smiled, and waved at all the people. It had to be an amazing moment to experience her face was just beaming. With a parent on each side her mother tenderly pulled her veil over her face as she entered the Pantheon with its massive and majestic doorways. To think of how many brides thru the centuries had entered thru the threshold of this church to be wed was just awesome. I can’t even imagine what went thru Ernie’s mind as he saw her enter. It was one of the most majestic and dramatic entrances I’d ever experienced. It was truly breathtaking.
To see more of their day click here.
I couldn’t resist sharing a few more. Like I mentioned before there was so many moments it was hard to pick.
The first one here is of Irma getting ready in her Italian apartment overlooking Campo di Fiori.
More pretties…….
Some shots from our superfast bride and groom session. Rain was just waiting to fall. Our driver wouldn’t take us to the Coloseum he said to much traffic. Irma wanted the Coloseum so we made the best of it and had fun in the process. They had guts have you seen how the Romans drive?
Ernie getting down at his reception. This crowd was a blast.
I loved this girl she walked around with her camera on this big pole and took photos with her in them.
The end of the night with the most unusual cake I’d ever seen. It was huge and round but flat. It was like a pizza cake. The stairs well that is just beautiful.
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