As seen on Style Me Pretty.
John and I had the best time photographing Jennifer and Colin. They are such a sweet couple and their beauty shines bright from within their hearts! Their very rainy wedding day couldn’t stop these two love birds from enjoying every second of their beautiful day! Congratulations Jennifer and Colin! We’re so excited we got to capture your stunning wedding day and we can’t wait to see where your journey takes you next!
From the Bride: Colin and Jen met March 16th, 2013 at a mutual friend’s wedding in Los Angeles. Jen introduced herself to Colin at the reception, but did not see him again until the end of the night when he approached her at the hotel bar. One drink and hours of conversation later, they knew they had found something special. Unfortunately Jen was living in Dallas, but after talking every day for the next three months, Colin decided to fly out to see her, where he ended up falling in love with her. After many back and forth trips over the next four months, Jen found a job in LA, where they got to experience the newfound joy of being only five minutes away from each other. The next ten months were filled with beach bike rides, concerts, church gatherings, and parties celebrating anything and everything. They quickly knew this relationship was meant to last a lifetime. Colin proposed on September 7, 2014 on a Windy Hill hike in Portola Valley. She said yes and ever since they’ve been living in pure wedding bliss!!
Colin and Jen were in Jen’s hometown of Portola Valley for a wedding. Sunday morning, Jen woke up and shared with Colin that she had a vivid dream that he proposed on top of Windy Hill, a beautiful hike right near Jen’s house. Colin joked that she had dreams like that before, so he played it off cooly. We had already planned to hike Windy Hill that morning so Jen left in her finest workout gear and didn’t think anything of it. About 45 minutes into the hike, Colin pulled her out to a lookout point and starring at a beautiful landscape, Colin got down on one need and proposed to Jen. Jen started screaming and crying and shouted YES! Colin then informed Jen that his dad and sister were waiting at the bottom of the hill with her whole family. He planned a brunch to celebrate with everyone. It remains one of the best moments of their lives.
Colin and Jen live in Los Angeles in the quaint neighborhood of Brentwood. Colin works for an online expense reporting software company as a Business Analyst. Colin is also currently starting his second year of Business School at UCLA. Jen is a Management Consultant and works in a range of industries.
The inspiration behind the day was came from the desire to have a rustic, yet whimsical and romantic feel for the day. Given the natural beauty of Calamigos Ranch and our simple taste we wanted to keep things simple. We also wanted our character to really be evident so we included scripture, pictures throughout our relationship and monogrammed pieces.
My dress was created by Jim Helm and I found it at JLM Couture Bridal Gown Boutique in Beverly Hills. My bridesmaids dresses were Bill Levkoff. They were all blush colored but there were several different styles the girls got to choose from.
My favorite special touch for our wedding was monogrammed sunglasses that allowed everybody to feel like there was an element of costume and dress up for the dance floor party. We also had napkins that read “all you need is love.” We had mugs that spelled out LOVE in front of our wedding cake. We also had pictures from our engagement photo shoot and a meaningful painting of scripture that read “In you, I have found the one whom my soul loves.”
Our table name display was the main DIY project in the wedding. We went to Home Depot to get wood, paint and nails and assembled the frame in our back porch. Jen used the help of a great upcoming Calligraphy artist on Etsy to write all the guests names and table numbers. Colin and Jen also went to Michael’s to purchase mini clothespins and thread to hang all of the guests names. It turned out even better than they could have imagined and really added a unique element to the special day.
There was no contingency plan for rain on our wedding day because it was the middle of July in Southern California and we were in a terrible drought! Nonetheless, we woke up on our wedding day to rain and very ominous looking clouds. As a bride who envisioned this day for 10 months, it was challenging at first to not feel upset that we had to change course and move our ceremony inside. Everyone kept telling us that rain was good luck and it was actually a blessing and I truly believe that it was. The rain created an intimate and unforgettable feeling for all of our guests. The love in the room was tangible and electric. The electricity manifested itself on the dance floor. Seeing all of the people whom we love the most gathered on the dance floor celebrating our love was unlike anything we have ever felt before.
