Siegel Thurston Photography

Katie and Ryan pampered themselves before their wedding, as they should, by staying at Estancia La Jolla.  Katie, her sister and her mom relaxed and got ready in their lovely suite over looking the pool while Ryan cracked a home brewed beer with his best man across the courtyard.

We are always super excited when our couples decide to incorporate  a wedding first look  into their day.  It gives the couple the chance to have a unique and special moment together where the groom gets to see his beautiful bride in her incredible wedding dress for the firs time without having to stand on his tiptoes to see over all their guests heads.  He can whisper to her how beautiful she looks and take a long moment to hug and hold her.  There is always laughing, smiling and sometimes crying during a first look.  Katie and Ryan had their first look infront of one of Estancia’s most iconic wedding ceremony locations.  She walked down the spanish steps, tiptoed up to him and tapped Ryan on the shoulder.  His look of happy surprise was priceless.

We all leisurely  wondered around the grounds of Estancia photographing while Katie and Ryan laughed and chatted enjoying their extra time together.

When it was finally time to leave the paradise of Estancia and head over to the wedding a beautiful vintage white Bentley came to pick up Katie and her Father.  We always recommend traveling vintage and traveling in style!

I’m seriously in love with Katie’s lace Monique Lhuillier wedding dress. Katie’s sister gifted her and her mother the cutest custom dress hangers she found on Etsy.

Luce Loft is a wonderful urban space in down town San Diego.  One of the great things about this space is it’s versatility for events from birthday parties to elaborate weddings.  It’s an open loft style building with a built in kitchen and a sweet up stairs interior balcony.

We partnered up with Sandra from Sandra Nicole Designs and Amanda of Thorne Artistry to create a fun bridal styling photo shoot using the unique aspects of the Luce Loft space.  The concept behind the shoot was to show how different accessories,  jewelry and hair styling can make a single wedding dress look so very different.

Check out what these amazing ladies came up with.

Look one has a modern edge to it between the jewelry and the clean simple hair styling.Look two is a more romantic and vintage esque feelThe third and final look incorporated a veil to show how that changes the look of a wedding dress.

Venu | Luce Loft 

Hair and Makeup | Thorne Artistry 

Accessories | Sandra Nicole Designs

Wedding Gowns | Dahlia Bridal

Model | Brie White

Stephen and Teresa’s Prado Wedding Reception was the best mixture of elegant and fun.  

Stephen and Teresa were married over at the Carmelite Monastery in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego.  After the ceremony everyone popped into their cars or Limos and headed over to Balboa Park for the reception.  We stole off with Stephen, Teresa and an umbrella for some incredible wet and rainy pictures.  The storm clouds were smiling upon us because it poured all the way from the monastery to the park but when it came time for photos we were blessed with the lightest of drizzles.

After some dancing in the rain Stephen and Teresa headed into the ball room at the Prado to get their party started!  And a party it was, they kicked it off with heart felt toasts and once the dancing started it never stopped.  When people weren’t dancing they were jumping into the photo booth with hats and mustaches for some funny photos.  The cake had been cut, the bouquet tossed and when we thought there couldn’t be any more everyone started dancing the polka!  Stephen and Teresa had the party that their friends are all still talking about.

 

Coordinator | YOUnique Weddings

Reception Venue | The Prado

Rentals and Linens | Concepts Event Design

Cake/Bakery | Flour Power

Florist | Blush Botanicals

Videographer | Taylor Films

Band | The Kicks

Hair Stylist | Liz Sandor

Make-Up Artist | Lipstick and Luster

Transportation | Elite Image Limousine

Photo Booth | The Fotobox

Teresa and Stephen did an incredible job of putting together their Carmelite Monastery Wedding. The Monastery is a truly enchanting place and when we stepped onto the grounds it felt like we had walked right out of San Diego and into some quiet secluded spot in Europe.  Teresa grew up down the street from the monastery so when we did our walk through, she told us the most wonderful stories of visiting the nuns as a little girl.  The Carmelite Monastery does not hold a lot of weddings so it was extra special to be a part of  Stephen and Teresa’s.  Their ceremony was amazing, with singing, crowns, readings, and a string quartet up in the rafters.

Enjoy the first half of Stephen and Teresa’s Wedding day.  There were just too many wonderful photos for one post so keep your eye out for more to come.

Thanks Stephen and Teresa for including us in your amazing day and a big thanks to all your wonderful vendors!

Great photos and an incredible party were two very important things to Stephen and Teresa on their wedding day so a first look made a lot of sense to them.  We set them up in the back yard at their home and let Teresa take her time before turning Stephen around to see her for the first time.  There were tears, and whispers to one another, twirling around and emotional hugs.  We just love the intimate moment that a first look affords the couple.

 Coordinator | YOUnique Weddings

Venue | Carmelite Monastery

Officiant |  Father Melvin Rybarczyk

Florist | Blush Botanicals

Videographer | Taylor Films

Make-Up Artist | Lipstick and Luster

Transportation | Elite Image Limousine