Ashley & Jesse’s Wedding: Hacienda de las Flores

There’s no greater compliment than when a couple chooses you to shoot their wedding.  They put their trust in you to capture one of the most important days of their lives, knowing that your images will be their memories of it forever.  I think that the compliment is even greater when it’s from a friend.  Ashley was around at the very beginning of Simply Knot Photography.  At the time, we worked together and she would listen to me talk about photography and how Ryan & I were striving to become wedding photographers.  She listened to me talk about shooting our first wedding, and the crazy adventures we went on learning to start our business.  Somewhere along the way, in-spite of witnessing our very humble beginnings, she decided that when her day came, she wanted us to capture it.  This past week at the Hacienda de las Flores in the lovely town of Moraga, California, her day finally came and we were so blessed to be a part of it!

This very special day was a long time in the making. Ashley & Jesse met on a trip to Paris back in high school.  He thought she was cute.  She thought his friend was cute :-)  It was a small obstacle of course, but as is the case with all the great “boy meets girl” stories, they ended up in each others arms just as it was meant to be.  Through growing up together, going to separate colleges, living in different states, seeing each other through happy times and sad times, they shared their lives.  And their love grew into something deep and lasting.

(Please sign the guestbook if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)

Their day began at the Claremont Hotel, where Ashley was getting ready.  Her dress was gorgeous!  The detail was exquisite and it fit her style perfectly.

Ashley told us that finding her dress was the easy part, it was the shoes that felt like the hardest decision!  (Hard to believe we could be friends, right? LOL!)  These fabulous, sparkly Jimmy Choo’s eventually made the cut.  The perfect choice, if I don’t say so myself :-)

We just had to include this silly shot of Jesse, modeling his shorts and knee high socks.  Pretty hot, right? LOL!

Their first look was adorable :-)  They kept going from silly to sweet, then back to silly again.  They were both so excited – there was even some jumping up and down!

Love this shot :-)  They had so much fun with each other all day!

Ashley was SUCH a gorgeous bride!  We couldn’t stop shooting her all day.

Couldn’t decide which of these I loved more :-)

They were reminiscing about the day Jesse proposed during this shot.  He took her hiking to a special spot where he planned to pop the question, but he couldn’t get her to sit down so he could carry out his plans!  They had a good laugh about the fact that this pose suited their story so well :-)

A couple cute shots from the ceremony.  Don’t you love Ashley’s sister Seantel’s expression as she looks on?

Mr. & Mrs. at last!

We snagged them for one last portrait before they headed to their reception.

Their first dance was so memorable :-)  They had so much fun with it and Ashley sang the words to Jesse the whole time!

Part of the way through the reception, Ashley changed into a traditional red Chinese wedding dress that Jesse’s mom had created for her just days before the wedding.  What a lucky bride – TWO incredible dresses!  We snuck them away for a few quick portraits in the second dress.  They ended up being some of our absolute favorites :-)  LOVE that you can see the reception in the background and they are just off doing their own thing.

Jesse had a little surprise planned for the removal of the garter – a pair of spider man undies. LOL!

Dance party!  Workin’ the Cha-Cha slide :-)

This just may be one of my new favorite ring shots :-)

I’ll close with a classic Ashley & Jesse moment :-)

There are a lot more photos from Ashley & Jesse’s wedding preview so don’t forget to click on the slideshow button below!

To the Yangs: we can’t tell you enough how honored we were that you choose us to capture your special day.  We feel like the luckiest photographers in the world :-) We had so much fun and we’re so thankful that you were willing to bring all all the way to San Francisco to be apart of it.  You guys ROCK and we can’t wait to share a ton more fun memories with you in the future.

A big thanks to Ashley & Jesse’s awesome team of vendors:
Catering & Event Coordination: Wild Thyme Catering & Event Management (Sally)
Florals: Megan Hayne Designs
Cake: Katrina Rozelle
DJ: Dennon & Doyle (Mark)
Officiant: Weddings by Hank