Los Gatos Wedding Photography- Laina & Evan!

Nothing like a good love story! In fact out of all the kinds of stories to be told, love stories are my favorite! Here’s Laina and Evan’s told through the words of Laina:

“In December of 2011 I was living in Boulder, CO going to school for holistic nutrition. I had flown out to Santa Cruz to visit my family for Christmas, and was also going to meet up with an old friend who was visiting Santa Cruz with her boyfriend for New Years. She called me up in the afternoon and enthusiastically invited me to come meet her at the house where she was staying. I just HAD to meet this amazing family, she told me. She and her boyfriend were couchsurfing with them for a few days and she assured me that they would love to meet me. A little reluctantly (these were perfect strangers after all) I drove over to the house to meet her.

When I got there, the family was home, but my friend was nowhere to be found! A very jovial man opened the door and welcomed me in saying “You must be Laina!” (this turned out to be Evan’s stepdad Mike.) When I walked in, I saw this handsome man sitting on the floor playing blocks with his little nephew and I knew I was a goner.

As we got to talking, we realized we had a lot in common including a love for travel, languages and good food. We discovered that we had even gone to the same high school (at the same time!) but never knew each other.

My friend finally showed up and we convinced Evan to come out for New Years with us. We talked all night and spent the next day together talking and walking around town. After 18 magical hours, he drove me to the airport and promised to come visit me in Boulder (it was love at first sight after all!)

A few weeks later, he came out to see me, abandoning the trip to Colombia he had previously planned. We spent 3 weeks together (he flew back to San Francisco for 1 day in the middle for his uncle’s wedding and then came BACK to Boulder a second time!) The day after he flew home I quit my job and moved back to California two weeks later.

It was such a whirlwind, and many of our friends and family thought we were crazy, but it’s 3 years later and we’re more in love than ever. Sometimes you just have to follow your heart no matter how crazy it may seem!”

Deep in the beautiful hills of Los Gatos on a perfect sunny day, Laina and Evan with the help of family and friends held a wedding celebration to be remembered by all for years to come!

“As soon as we got engaged, the first thing we knew we had to pin down was the location, and there was only one place we could imagine having our celebration. My aunt and uncle’s AMAZING property up in Los Gatos, which was once owned by John Steinbeck. Part of the reason we love the space so much, is that it is a little wild and spread out. There’s lots of fun nooks and crannies to explore and we were sort of going for a summer camp vibe since people were camping out overnight.”

“I have been collecting colored glass since I was a teenager. Thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets. Anything I could get my hands on, I would squirrel away, imagining having dozens of eclectic flower arrangements at my wedding someday. This was long before I met Evan, or any boyfriends who might have been marriage material. When we got engaged, I ramped up my collecting, and ended up with nearly a hundred pieces of all different colors. We probably only used half of it, but I love that we now have these pretty glass pieces to display in our home.”

“My uncle Dave, who is an amazing artist, drew up the incredible map of the property that we used during our obstacle course before the ceremony that culminated in all of our friends and family looking for the rings which had been hidden in a bird’s nest.”

If you follow my blog this makeup artist is no new face!  Kim Guiley the make up artist I will always referer first met Laina wayyyy back in Kindergarten. They have remained friends ever since. About Laina’s beautiful Meg Ryan dress!! “I have always loved to sew, and used to make my own patterns and make dresses for my girlfriends for school dances and such. When Evan and I first got engaged, I thought about making my own dress, and drew up some sketches of exactly what I had in mind. A few months into planning, I realized that making my own dress was way too much pressure, so I started looking into wedding dresses online. With such a clear image in my mind though, nothing I could find was quite right. I considered going in a totally different direction and looked at dresses that looked nothing like my original sketches, but I just couldn’t get that imaginary princess dress I had dreamed up out of my mind. Thankfully, a friend of mine was getting married just a few months before me and took me to one of her dress fittings with her amazing seamstress Meg Ryan who had designed and made her dress from scratch. When I went in to meet with her on my own, and described what I had in mind, she drew a sketch that looked exactly like the one I had drawn so many months before! Having my custom-made dress brought to life, exactly how I imagined was so special.”

I love the emotion on Laina’s Mom’s face as she watches her daughter get ready on her wedding day. Up the road, the guys were getting ready.  Usually I don’t get to see this part of the day but since I was shooting solo it was fun to see what guys do to get ready!  Let’s just say it took about all of 20 minutes and involved lots of joking around!
Evan’s style was amazing, I loved his wedding outfit! Some of the guys struggled a tad bit figuring out those bowties……except for this guy who then had plenty of time to excercise and hydrate himself!The guys decided to head out and ceremoniously cut down a tree.  Well that was supposed to be the plan til it was decided it was wrong to cut down a good tree so instead the guys just found a tree already down. And then doing what guys do best they sawed at it!  The whole time I was cracking up over the idea of getting dressed up, bow ties and all and then getting sweaty. I will toss this wonder up to me being a woman and not fully understanding the male species. All that being said, it was great hanging with the guys! Meanwhile back in the house, the girls had their own ceremonies going without getting sweaty!Big hugs to her kindergarten buddy for the amazing job on her hair and makeup!Laina switched to her robe to get dressed but stopped to give Evan’s Mom and huge hug. Then took some moments to reflect with her Mom.  I adored observing Laina, her hugs, smiles and kind words- this bride pours out love and gratitude onto everyone. Look at all those approving faces!Laina’s ready and she headed out the door to go meet Evan in the garden for a first look!Patiently anticipating…

After the first look Laina, Evan and myself went on a little walk in the woods. People were setting up the reception area and playing amazing music which lead to some impromptu dancing!  These two were on cloud 9 and for an hour I simply moved around them as they gallivanted through the woods!  I honestly could just follow these two around forever, they are so funny, lovely and their admiration for one another was so inspiring.

While Laina and Evan headed off their separate ways to prepare for the wedding ceremony, back at the house the pre-wedding activities had ended and everyone had gathered to find the last item!Everyone listened carefully… the last item to be found, the rings of course!Found in a little bird’s nest!!The moment had arrived and everyone was all smiles anticipating the ceremony!And then these two started singing and oh my I couldn’t take my eyes off of them! The music they made together was so alluring and thankfully I heard the laughter of the crowd to cue me that a little ring bearer was doing his thing… their name is TATATEO and you can check them out here. The ecstatic groom!And the adorable ring bearer!The stunning bride!Laina and Evan chose one of their best friends to marry them.

“We met our amazing friend and officiant, Melanie just about 2 years ago. She had just quit her high-powered job on the East Coast and was finishing up a 6 month stint of road tripping across the country. She couchsurfed with us for a few days, and we absolutely fell in love! Then she moved in with Evan’s mom Heidi, and we all loved her so much that she ended up staying for 6 months! She now lives in her own house on the West Side of Santa Cruz, but she has been all but adopted into the family. It was so amazing having one of our closest friends perform our wedding ceremony (even though both Evan and I could hardly hear what she was saying because we were in our own little bubble!)”

I’m fond of this image for so many reasons but it is the colors that blow me away. It’s as if all their friends and family plus mother nature got together and picked out the perfect combination of colors for everyone to display. The palette of the whole scene was just magical!

“The backdrop for the ceremony was definitely a labor of love. My mom and I went to an army thrift store in Montana and bought up all of their sheets and tablecloths and then shipped them to California. Then Evan’s mom Heidi and I dyed all the fabric in different colors. Evan’s grandma, and his brothers’ wives helped to rip all the fabric up into strips while Mel and I tied them onto a long piece of wood. Finally, my uncles rigged the backdrop up between two trees. In the end, it turned out beautifully and made for gorgeous pictures!”

The rings were passed around for everyone to give their blessings. Although the ring bearer looks deep in concentration doing just this, between you and I… I heard him saying that he saw a worm inside the nest! A perfect little boy’s blessing for some wedding rings!Laina and Evan then each spoke from deep within their hearts, I do not think there was a dry eye present.And then it was that time, time to kiss that gorgeous bride!Married!

Laina and Evan headed off to have some time alone after their ceremony.  I later joined up with them to take this sweet image of the newlyweds!Laina and Evan headed back to the reception site and were greeted by friends playfully bringing back the wedding arch from the 80s! And then it was BIG hugs, laughter, smiles and lots of goofing around!!!!Laina’s bouquet creativity created by her friends. Everywhere you looked there was something for your eyes to admire, even more than the gorgeous views, such as the old fence or the fuzzy fruit on the trees. And of course, a giraffe statue standing in lavender!Is having musical talent something you have always secretly dreamed of having?  I have. The ability to sing and play music  is something I have always greatly admired!! (Though I have to tell you when I’m driving by myself in the car I’m a total rock star.)

When Laina and Evan mentioned they were going to be having an open mic I was greatly intrigued. And in the end I was BLOWN away by the talent of their friends!  Not everyone sang, some recited poetry and one lady just clowned around! My images here will not do this justice, if only these images had audio!

The youngest little lady there kept herself perfectly busy during open mic by playing with the pretty sea glass!What an incredible display of love, talent and camaraderie.  It was an honor to be there to observe and document the experience!As everyone had their dinner, the sun began to set over the mountains.The cake was made with love by Evan’s mom! 

 “Evan’s family has strong Italian ties, and also love making things from scratch, so a few years ago we decided we would try our hand at making our own limoncello, a traditional lemon liqueur in Italy. After a few different batches trying to perfect the flavor, we came up with something that tasted (to us) just like what you could get in Italy. Our limoncello became something special that we would bring out after dinner parties, and send home with friends. It seemed like the perfect thing to share as our wedding favors, and it also made for a super fun project to bottle and label with my closest friends, and sisters to be at my bridal shower.”

The sun had set and it was time for the California Honeydrops to start off their set with Laina and Evan’s first dance!And then it was time for the band to do what it does best, make everyone go crazy!!Kissing on the dancefloor… that’s how I left them as I headed out.  I have no doubt in my mind that these two continued to have the best night of their lives celebrating their love, marriage, family and friends!  Laina and Evan, it was such an honor to be there!  Your magnificent ways as two individuals and as a couple is truly inspiring!