1. An awesome wedding ceremony location—The Fullerton Arboretum at Cal State Fullerton

2. Grandma’s ring and a gorgeous summer wedding dress

3. Bouquets of vibrant flowers

4. A stunning bride

5. An equally handsome groom

6. A touching ceremony

7. A great looking bridal party

8. An intimate poolside reception at a private home in the hills of Brea

9. Lots of emotion

10. And lots of fun

It’s easy.  All of this adds ups to one happy couple in love—Tiffanie and Brandon.

We first met Brandon and Tiffanie about a week before their wedding. It must have been quite a leap for this couple from Texas to trust their wedding memories to a couple of photographers they never met (they booked us over the phone)! But we’re glad they did.  This southern duo couldn’t have been any nicer, nor their family more hospitable.

For those who haven’t been to Cal State Fullerton—or for those who didn’t know it has a picturesque backside—the Fullerton Arboretum is a wonderful spot for weddings. The arbor has a beautiful, vine-covered archway that leads to a shaded area for the ceremony, and tons of lush landscaping perfect for formal portraits.

The reception was hosted by the bride’s extended family in the hills of Brea with a fantastic view of north Orange County. Congrats to the new Mr. & Mrs. Bell! We hope you enjoy this sneak peak!

And because every post looks better with a photo, what better than a shot of this awesome couple that was taken during a recent session at our secret Irvine location.

And they are talented, too!  We had brought along this awesome red guitar (thanks, Dad!) as a prop.  We had no idea that any of the couples we’d meet that day could actually play.  But Daniel provided some fabulous music as he strummed through the session.  Plus, the red added a nice punch to the photos.

Be sure to check out the slideshow for more images.  Enjoy!

As their wedding photographers, we were quite pleased to discover lovely details throughout the ceremony and reception. We particularly liked the matching Raiders garter and cufflinks—his and hers tributes to their favorite team—as well as the solid choice of wedding colors (Raiders-inspired black and silver – what else?) and Kassie’s wonderful beaded wedding dress.

Congratulations to Kassie and Jason!  It’s hard to believe that your first anniversary is just around the corner.

• LA Style Unveiled included April and Matt’s big day as one of their featured “Real Weddings,” complete with a ton of detail photos and an interview with April.
• Wedding Channel featured several shots from the wedding as their site’s “Wedding of the Day.”

But the blogging didn’t end there.  Keith and I had the honor of writing a guest post for the Wedding Decorator to discuss the many details April and Matt included to create the unique look for their wedding.

If you have some time, hop over to check out these sites.  And if you’re a bride, you might find some great ideas for your own wedding.

The year Keith and I got married, we started a tradition of our own—adding photo ornaments to our Christmas tree.  Toward the end of each year, we go through our photos and select one shot to add to our tree.  It’s a great way to remind of us a place we visited or something fun we did that year.  And I’m hoping that in fifty years, we’ll have a tree loaded with nothing but photo ornaments (and twinkling lights, of course!) to show our journey as a couple.

And last year, we started that same tradition with our clients—we sent each family or bridal couple one of our favorite shots from their photo sessions.  Since we got a ton of great feedback, we decided to do the same this year.  And all the effort of printing, cutting, and prepping the ornaments for shipping was well worth it, especially when you see how adorable they all look sprawled on our dining room table.  We feel so lucky to have worked with so many great families.  To all our 2009 clients…thank you!