Loyola Marymount Wedding | Kristina & Joe | Los Angeles Wedding Photography

Kristina and Joe met while attending Loyola Marymount University and to say they feel fondly about their alma mater is an understatement. So many of their relatives and friends attended LMU as well, that after the wedding, we rounded up nearly 60 LMU alumni for a big group photo outside the LMU chapel steps.
K&J wed on 7/11–with just a few days past the 4th of July, Kristina was still in a very patriotic mood earlier in the day, before she put on her wedding dress. But with an anniversary date they’ll never be able to forget, we couldn’t resist stopping by the 7/11 and taking along a cut to the wedding for a joint sip shot, post ceremony.
They look so cute, don’t they?

San Pedro Wedding | Mary, Star of the Sea | Old Ranch County Club

Fireworks were in the air–literally, after Annie and David tied the knot last Saturday–7/4/09.
Annie–she of the most expressive face we’ve ever had the good fortune of photographing–and David, wed at the historic Mary, Star of the Sea church in San Pedro–where we shot our very first paid wedding back in 2003!
The reception afterwards was at the lovely Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach.
Let’s talk about the pictures:
We can’t get enough of the opening shot of Annie, lit like a movie star, holding her flowers in the church.
Next up: Annie and David enjoying the fireworks display at Old Ranch with a heartfelt embrace and kiss, and the couple, earlier in the day, on the same spot, out on the golf course.
For “wedding prep” days, we absolutely love photographing the bride in her home. There’s just something so much more personal and loving there than in a hotel room.
Love this moment with Mary and her mom in the living room of their Rancho Palos Verdes abode.
More shots at the country club, golf course and church, followed by another all-time favorite.
Annie’s dad is taking one last week at his daughter, before giving her away to David. The expressions are priceless.
Look for more here in the coming weeks–one highlight is a video clip of the couple cutting the cake–and the guests all serenading them with “Volare.”

Favorite Los Angeles Wedding Photos of 2008

Here’s Cathy and Earl in a post-wed, sunset embrace, at our favorite, most magical Los Angeles wedding setting, the Malaga Cove section of Palos Verdes.

Cathy and Earl again, smiling at us from the altar at their Carson wedding. They followed up with a reception at the Torrance Marriott.

Gaby and Dave are both UCLA grads, and wanted to have their post-wed shots taken at UCLA, en route to the Mountaingate Country Club reception. We loved having stately Royce Hall as the backdrop. We also always wanted to do a shot with a flying, flowing veil–and are thrilled to present it here!

A simple bridal portrait, lit by natural daylight, at the family home, moments before Toni-Lynne hopped in the limo with the gals for the big church Long Beach wedding. And we love it.

Hours later, here’s Toni-Lynne and the Bridesmaids whooping it up on the deck of the Queen Mary, for our “Sex and the City” shot.

We’re back in Malaga Cove, on a rainy day, with Jenna. After ducking the rain, we needed to find a covered area for portraits, and what better backdrop than the Italian like plaza setting of the Malaga Cove shopping center?

Sex and the City, Part 2:

Up the road in Palos Verdes, at the Trump National Golf Course, where Amy wowed her guests by not wearing one wedding dress–but three!

Our Manhattan Beach engagement session with Olivia and Wesley. What a great couple!

Meet Lidia Pareno, Southern California Bride turned Wedding Planner

 

We first met Lidia Pareno when we signed up to document her Queen Mary Long Beach wedding to Clarence. She loved the experience of planning her wedding so much, she decided to become a full-fledged Los Angeles wedding planner, a Temecula wedding planner.
Lidia just formed By Your Side Events
a Temecula based wedding and corporate event planning service. She’s already got three weddings in the works for 2009–in Puerto Vallerta, San Diego and Temecula, and is looking forward to meeting with Southern California brides to help them put their dream weddings together.
“With most hotels, they have so many events going on, they can only give you just a few minutes of time each day, if that,” she says. “I called my company By Your Side, because that’s what I am. I am there for you.”
Lidia is a former hotel event planner, so she knows of what she speaks. She worked at La Costa in Carlsbad and the Temecula Winery and Hotel before striking out on her own.
With the average California wedding topping out at between $40,000 and $60,000, Lidia specializes in helping to dramatically cut costs. “I can work with any budget and show brides how to really save money.”
E-mail Lidia at byyoursideevents@live.com or call her at 951-219-3984

Beach Engagement Photos by Los Angeles Wedding Photo.com

Here’s our favorite engagement shot of 2008. We brought Susan and Benjamin down to Hermosa Beach for a series of romantic shots, beginning with the pair riding around town on a bicycle. As the sun began to set, Susan jumped into Benjamin’s arms for this iconic shot. By Sam Graham for Los Angeles Wedding Photo.com

Queen Mary Wedding | Long Beach Wedding Photography by Graham & Graham

Toni-Lynne and Robin had their dream wedding at the historic Queen Mary Hotel on Saturday, June 28, and we were honored to be there to document the big day. Toni-Lynne grew up in Long Beach, where the Queen Mary is the iconic figure so closely associated with the city, so after Robin proposed, the Queen was her first choice for the reception. The big, beautiful “Britannia” salon was the setting, and full with friends and relatives of all ages–and lots of kids. Here’s some highlights from the day–we’ll be back in coming days with video highlights too.

Wedding Photography in Long Beach | Long Beach Queen Mary Reception

We love this Long Beach wedding video so much, we had to run it twice. Actually, we wanted to see the difference in embedding videos from our two favorite online video sites, Vimeo and Blip.TV. Vimeo is hands down our first place to post videos, with Blip.TV our second. Then we go to YouTube, which is the Web’s most popular video site. However, the quality at YouTube pales to the other two.
Which do you think looks better, Vimeo or Blip.TV? Let us know!

Long Beach Wedding Photography | Queen Mary Wedding from Graham & Graham on Vimeo.
The music video montage is from Olivia and Wesley’s wedding in San Pedro and Long Beach. The couple wed at the Mary, Star of the Sea church, and then we moved to the classy Queen Mary in Long Beach for the reception. Longtime readers of this blog will remember Olivia and Wesley from their Manhattan Beach engagement photos session from April. Congratulation guys!

Queen Mary Wedding Photography | Olivia & Wesley

It was our pleasure to take part in Olivia and Wesley’s recent wedding at Mary, Star of the Sea in San Pedro, followed by a beautiful reception at the regal Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Here’s a few of our favorite images from the day!

Manhattan Beach Engagement Photos | Toni-Lynne & Robin

Twas a windy day in Manhattan Beach on Sunday, May 11, 2008, but love was in the air and all was okay. We met with Toni-Lynne and Robin, our June 28th Long Beach bride and groom to be, under the Manhattan Beach Pier, and then took a few minutes to set up an umbrella on our light stand–only to watch it want to fly away. So much for that!
After a few shows, we decided to put the light stand and umbrella away and went for a great walk on the sand, stopping by a cool lifeguard station for a little shelter from the wind. Toni-Lynne and Robin were real troupers, and ready for anything–including laying in the sand, jumping in the water up to their knees (Poor Robin’s jeans got soaked!) and Toni-Lynne hopping on Robin’s back.
Looking forward to the Queen Mary next month–and a little less wind!