Style me pretty

Today I visited this awesome site about DIY projects for weddings or events. I am so excited to have found it and post the link to the site for all the future brides out there. I often meet brides who look for ideas and inspirations for their wedding decore; I had always wished I could give them a list of places they could visit and get all that they need.

If you are looking for inspirations, ideas, how-to guides, this is the site you need to visit. Style Me Pretty is full of everything you are looking for your wedding; flowers, colors, cakes, invitations, you name it, you'll find it. I wish this existed when I was getting married!

Here it is -
STYLE ME PRETTY

Cool Hand Luke's

Couple weekends ago I attended the VIP party at the newest steakhouse/saloon in town, Cool Hand Luke's. My clients Nezar and Laurel are the owners of the restaurant. Jason and I went and tried out the awesome food the restaurant has to offer. The fried artichoke hearts were awesome. I also tried the grilled apples (accompanied by the juicy sirloin steak) for the first time in my life. Everything we tried was yummy! We loved the Bread Pudding! Jason said it remnded him of the bread pudding he used to have as a kid!

I also had the opportunity to meet Laurel and Nezar's extended family one more time after the wedding. I'm glad Jason was with me this time and he had a chance to meet them all as well. I was sooo positively overwhelmed with the compliments I received for their wedding pictures. Everyone that was at the wedding and noticed me at the party came by and said how much they enjoyed viewing the images. I felt lucky again to have met these wonderfully nice people. I was just happy to be able to capture the sweetest memories for them.

Back to the restaurant business, if you live in Sac or in nearby towns or you are in the greater Sacramento area, be sure to check out Cool Hand Luke's. It is located on Sunrise in Citrus Heights. I know I'm going back soon and ordering the grilled apples and the bread pudding for sure :)

Laurel & Nezar's wedding slideshow

Finally done with L+N's wedding slideshow...Enjoy!!!

Bains Family

This was another super busy weekend for me. A family session and a wedding kept me occupied through the weekend. Saturday morning I headed out to shoot with the Bains family. It was a beeeuuttiful day! Not too hot, not too cold... just perfect.

I met Gagan, Gurinder, Jaap and little Kaashni at the Gibson Ranch and Park(Antelope) for the first time. Little Kaashni is the newest edition to the family and it was her first official photo shoot. She fell asleep as soon as we started shooting. But she was totally camera ready when she woke up from her beauty nap :) Jaap, the older sister, was so adorable! She was trying really hard to make her little sister smile for the pictures. Her efforts paid off, she was able to make Kaashni smile :))

I realized one more time, how much I love to shoot with the families. The opportunity to capture the family moments is something I enjoy thoroughly. Here are a few teasers for the Bains family. Hope you enjoy!

Laurel & Nezar's Wedding

I am so excited to post the pictures from Laurel and Nezar's wedding! I had been waiting to shoot their wedding ever since I did their e-session in June. The day finally came. Last Saturday, the 4th of October, was Laurel and Nezar's big day at the Gold Hill Vinyard, Placerville. It rained the night before; I was thankful that it didn't rain on the wedding day. The sun came out for a little bit. It ended up being a perfectly lit day for a wedding.



Laurel's grandma made her beautiful wedding dress. The workmanship on the dress was beyond imagination. And Laurel looked absolutely gorgeous. Her bridesmaids were super cute, the groomsmen were fun to shoot with. I can't write enough about the bride and groom. The couple and their families were genuinly nice. I am lucky to have such sweet people to work with.

I was already pumped up for their wedding, especially after capturing their henna ceremony. I was going through the images and couldn't decide what not to post. Here are just a few that caught my eyes at the first glance. I couldn't even get to the reception shots yet ;) so you know, there will be another set of shots from their reception.

Laurel & Nezar's Henna Ceremony

Friday night was super exciting for me! It was Laurel and Nezar's pre-wedding Henna ceremony in El Dorado, CA. It was a fun, musical and a very traditional Arabic night for everybody. I had the best Arabic food that evening(and I regret for not having a bit more). Nezar's mom, aunt and sister made the best of the best kababs, dolmas, cous cous, hummus, and what not!

All the ladies that night were dressed in traditional Arabic outfit. The colors were vibrant, and the embroidary works on them were incredible. As I mentioned on my earlier post, Laurel and Nezar looked like the king and queen of arabia. They looked absolutely gorgeous!

After the food started the actual henna ceremony, where Nezar's family presented Laurel with gold jeweleries. How lucky was she! And then Nezar's aunt and mom put henna on their hands.

No party is complete without dancing! This was no different. I loved the traditional music. I was even more excited to hear the song "Nari Nari" that I had an mp3 of, way back when I was in college :) It sure brought my memories back.

It was an awesome experience for me! I felt the warmth each and every family member had for each other. Laurel's grandma came and gave me a big hug when she saw me. Nezar's mom showed how much she cared for everything that was happening around. I was sooo happy for the blessed couple. It was my pleasure to be there and capture Laurel and Nezar's pre-wedding night.

Exciting evening!

I had quite an evening last night! Sacramento area got it's first rain yesterday. It was gloomy and muggy all over. I love rain, but I don't like the dullness nor cal wears during the rainy season. I also don't like driving through the slippery mountain roads when it rains.

Last night was also Laurel and Nezar's Henna ceremony at El Dorado, CA. The traditional Arabic ceremony took place at Laurel's aunt's house. What a beutiful location it was! Although I had a little accident(one of the major in my adult life) when I was leaving the place, I had a blast shooting Laurel and Nezar's henna ceremony.


All the girls were wearing traditional Arabic outfit. Laurel and Nezar looked like the king and queen of Arabia. They were absolutely gorgeous! I wanted to post a picture of them before I head out for their wedding this afternoon at the Gold Hill Vineyard.



Today is also my only sister's birthday. Too bad that I am not with her today; she turns big four-O! Happy Birthday sister...I miss you!



PS: Take these two photos as examples of how the images look when they are taken by a Canon 5D(top) and a Canon powershot series camera(bottom). See the difference?