Cory & Christina’s Wedding: Japanesese Friendship Garden

On Saturday we had the pleasure of shooting the Valentine’s Day wedding of Cory & Christina!  You may remember them from their engagement session in downtown Phoenix.  Cory asked Christina to marry him on the big screen at a Phoenix Suns game . . . on Valentine’s Day of course!  So it was so very fitting that they chose this day one year later to make it official.  The gorgeous weather and suroundings at the Japanese Friendship Garden made for a lovely (and love FILLED) day.  Here are a few of our favorites from their big day:

Lots of beautiful details – the dress.

The shoes – LOVED the sparkles!

The lovely bride :-)  I have to say, Christina was pretty much the calmest bride ever!  When we got there to start shooting her getting ready, she was pretty much ready to get into her dress . . . AHEAD of schedule!  That NEVER happens!  There’s a ton more of her with a big smile on her face, but I thought this one captured such a sweet, peaceful expression.

Ryan snagged this one as Christina was getting ready to get in the car and head to the garden to meet Cory.  I just love the colors – the sky, the red car.  Call me crazy, but I seriously think the whole image has a feeling of excitement and anticipation for what’s to come!

Christina & the girls.

Cory & his guys.

This first look is probably going to go down in history for us as one of the most sweet and heartfelt we’ve had a chance to be a part of :-)  Cory’s expression when he first saw his bride was just priceless!

There were definatly some tears :-)  SO SWEET!!!

When they were ready to start taking portraits, Christina turned to us and said, “Thank you so much for making us see each other first!”  We thought this was so cute and funny!   Now, I wouldn’t say that we MADE them see each other before their ceremony, but we do strongly encourage our clients to make this choice.  And this is exactly why!  They were so overjoyed to have shared such a special and intimate moment without the pressure of a crowd watching and the need to start the ceremony.  After that point they were able to just relax and enjoy each other – and of course, more time for the party afterwards!  We’ve never had a client that regretted their decision and in fact, like Christina & Cory, so many of them are grateful to have had such a memorable moment.

A few portraits of the lovebirds . . .

Ryan came up with the idea to shoot their sillouette through the walls of the tea house.  LOVE it!  He is always so good at coming up with creative, outside the box ideas like this :-)

Before the ceremony started, the girls got together an prayed for Christina – it was a really lovley and touching moment.

A few shots from the ceremony.

Mr. & Mrs. Boston!

And then, off to the PARTY!  Here are a few shots from their first dance.

Probably the most hillarious thing we’ve ever seen at a reception – when Cory went in to retrieve the garter, Christina was in for a little surprise . . .

They ended up with Octupletts before that pesky garter showed up!  Ha ha ha!  Love it!  Their reception was a such great party – The rest of the night was spent doing a lot of this:

Check out the slideshow for more great images from their wedding!  Christina & Cory – we had a blast with you guys!  Thanks for giving us a Valentine’s Day to remember :-)