Electra Cruises, Newport Beach, California Wedding Photography

The wedding of the woman formerly known as Miss Kimberly Walker was an event that would most definitely be THE event of a lifetime.  With 18 months to prepare, rest assured, there was no minute detail that would not go unnoticed or ignored.  You see, Miss Kimberly has been dreaming about this day since… gosh, forever?

Maybe it all started when she played with Barbie dolls as a young girl with the best big sister ever? 😉

Or after watching countless romantic comedies and movies over the years and oohing and ahhing over the fabulous details of all the movie brides?

Or even possibly, the stacks of books that were read that allowed an imagination to run freely and wildly?

Whatever the cause may be that created the hopeless romantic inside the heart, mind and soul of my baby sister, Kimberly, that romantic spirit within her helped create a beautiful event that would surely change our lives forever.

Now once we add to the equation… the quiet man with a big heart, groom to be, Mr. Joe Chavez… who happens to care as much about detail as his soon to be wife, and boy OH boy, we were either in trouble… or in for a treat.  Turns out, we were all treated to a wonderful night full of fun, laughter & great times!

The planning of this wonderful event was mostly easy and painless.  We had so many wonderful people pitch in and help along the way.  From the bridal shower, to the bachelor & bachelorette parties, and finally, the wedding weekend itself, we couldn’t have done it without the help of each and every wonderful person that took the time and patience to participate.  If I listed every.little.thing, this blog post would go on forever! 😉

As much as I wanted to be the photographer at this event, my sister insisted that I be her Maid of Honor… I figured I should since I am, after all, her only sister and her most favorite person in the world. hehe…  So with the responsibilities involved in the planning, prepping and execution of the most important day of my sister’s life, we knew that we were going to have to enlist the help of some of my amazing photographer friends.  The plan was, I would take the time to take all the detail shots while they focused on the ceremony, reception and general photography responsibilities.  It turns out, trying to be MOH, mommy, AND photographer was an exhausting task.  No complaints though!  I thoroughly enjoyed every moment! 🙂

Let’s start with… flowers.

My sister was very particular with how her floral arrangements should be.  We knew that we wanted succulents and yellow crispidia.  Since this was a destination wedding, we needed to find a florist close to the venue so that we wouldn’t have to transport the flowers from Bakersfield and risk ruining them.  With much google searching and review reading and numerous emails back and forth, we finally made an appointment to meet with Shelby Nolan at Green Leaf Designs.

We couldn’t have been happier with this choice!  My sister and I fell in love with her personality, professionalism and portfolio.  From a photographer’s point of view, I knew that Shelby was going to deliver the perfect bouquets!   And I was right!  We were blown away with what we received on the wedding day.

Side note: With the busy schedule of being MOH paired with mommy of flower girl, ring bearer, escort and groomsman, I didn’t get a chance to photograph my bouquet and  floral arrangements until… FOUR days later… and they were still as amazing as day one!!  Very impressive!  Also, when I took the arrangements apart to re-plant the succulents, I was super impressed with how well they were put together! 🙂

Centerpieces on the table at the wedding:

We searched high and low for my sister’s wedding shoes… walked into the LV store and once she tried on these gorgeous Louis Vuitton’s, it was an instant yes!

A few gifts from the heart for use on her special day:

One of the things that makes my sister so special is her thoughtfulness and attention to detail… she blessed each of her bridesmaids (and flower girl!) with these beautiful sentiments.  The groomsmen received some amazing gifts as well… (not pictured here.)

We had so much fun getting ready with mimosas in hand… (courtesy of our in house bartender all the way from New York City, aka bestie of bride, Shelli Jackson!)

Despite an unfortunately unpleasant experience while dress shopping, my sister found the perfect dress and veil to complete her bridal dreams.  Pronovia makes some breathtaking items!  (Dress & veil are both Pronovia’s.)

Ever since my little one found out his beloved momo was getting married, he was beyond excited.  He would ask me every other day… “When is momo going to put on her princess dress and get married??”   He waited patiently for her while she got ready.  This was taken moments before her first look with her groom…

I worked on my sister and Joe for months to do a first look.  Since they chose a sunset cruise to get married, I knew that we would be very limited on time and locations for the portraits that I knew they wanted and deserved… today, they are so glad they opted for the first look.  We were able to get some amazing portraits!

While we were finishing up the getting ready process and portraits, family members lounged outside and prepared the getaway car.  My dad found the most amazing vacation home for us to stay in during wedding weekend.  It was beyond perfect!

A few behind the scenes once on the yacht…

My boys were so excited for this day!  EJ followed the captain around all night.  He was so impressed by him!  (Pictured above, Jimmy caught the boys practicing their dance moves above deck… so cute!)

… and it was at this point that my camera died and Jimmy put it down to enjoy the rest of the night.  Which after all, was a blessing in disguise because 1) we weren’t supposed to be “photographers” at this wedding & 2) between my camera, Patrick’s & Tim’s, I had the overwhelmingly daunting task of culling and editing over 5000 images!  (Hence the longer than usual wait to share images.) 😉

Thank you, Patrick Ang!  Here are a couple of behind the scenes images of Patrick doing his thing…

To see more of the wedding of Mr. & Mrs. Chavez, be sure and visit Patrick’s blog.  And stay tuned!  Tim will guest blogging his images in the very near future! 😀

Make sure to check out this video courtesy of Patrick Ang!  We had a last minute idea to join the Harlem Shake craze with our own version… ENJOY!

Kim and Joe’s Harlem Shake from Patrick Ang on Vimeo.

 

 

HUGE, HUGE thank you’s:

to the staff at Electra Cruises… you guys absolutely ROCK… Our coordinators Donna & Karen were amazing and made sure everything went smoothly during the wedding.

Shelby & Staff at Green Leaf… WOW.  Thank you for creating the perfect arrangements and for being so pleasant to work with! 

Sylvia & Becky… you girls made us all look amazing for this wonderful occasion.  Our hair and makeup lasted all night long… and then some!!

Patrick & Tim (and Jimmy & JJ)… thanks for capturing the most important day (yet!) for my sister and Joe.  You don’t know how much you are appreciated!

Our family members… (so many to name!)… You know who you are. <3  Life would be boring and lonely without you.  We appreciate every.single.person that we are blessed to call family!  

BRIDAL PARTY!  Thank you for EVERYTHING!  And remember… “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Que no pare la fiesta, Don’t stop the party!” ;D

And last, but certainly not least, Jimmy, thank you a million times over for helping me with everything and “holding down the fort”.  I thank God for you in our lives.  You are a dream come true and I couldn’t imagine life without you.  I love you!

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Vendors:

Dress: Pronovias

Bridesmaids dresses: Express

Venue: Electra Cruises

Florist: Green Leaf Designs

Cake: Porto’s Bakery

MUA: Sylvia Gutierrez of F.L.Y Cosmetics

Hair: Becky Hill

Photographers: Patrick Ang, Tim Chong, Marsha Walker-Zepeda, Jimmy Perez & J.J. Zepeda

Designer (menu cards, thank you signs, bottle labels):  Marsha Walker-Zepeda

Photobooth: Photobooth Pro