Lisa Whalen Photography Blog!

On August 9th Sharon and Gil were united in marriage at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Palo Alto. The church is absolutely stunning with its deep, rich woodwork and stained glass windows, and was the perfect setting for the music filled ceremony within which Sharon and Gil fulfilled their marriage vows

I loved the way Sharon’s flowers picked up the colors inside the church:

One very happy couple!

Their reception was held at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo park, with the catering done by it’s very own Red Current café. Beautiful gardens and excellent food - as well as some happily decadent dessert selections - were all part of a truly memorable reception (party!)

I must admit, I have never had as much fun photographing friends and family as I did at Sharon and Gil’s wedding. This crowd was fully “in the moment” and having a blast, which allowed for some extremely entertaining photographs:

Sharon and Gil in the gardens:

Sharon's and her daughter, who was also her attendant for the ceremony:

The toasts, and the accompanying slideshow were HILARIOUS!

Gil shares the story of one of their first dates together:

There was some pretty darn good dancing as well:

And Gil, this one's for you, because I know there's something pretty special about that little green backpack - ?

Sooo... CONGRATULATIONS, Sharon and Gil! It was truly enjoyable watching friends and family participate on such an intimate (and entertaining) level throughout your day. And oh, those yummy desserts...Mmmmm...!

Posted by lisa at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A few weeks ago Mary Ellen and Alison flew in from New York City to get married in San Francisco’s beautiful City Hall. When I met them in the city on the morning of July 24th, the weather was already gorgeous, and it just got better as the day went along. By mid-morning, the sky was cloudless and blue without even a hint of that famous San Francisco fog.

We started out by taking a few photos at their hotel. I must admit I quite enjoyed taking pictures in the elevator:

Then we were off to City Hall! We had plenty of time to take photos in-between getting the marriage license and the actual ceremony, so we explored the building both inside and out. We found this amazing stairwell:

We investigated several outside locations as well. There’s this one row of tress in front of City Hall that creates a very park-like feel:

Here they are back inside getting ready to fill in the paperwork for their marriage license:

The whole morning had this wonderful air of expectation to it. It was tremendous fun to be in the presence of so many people getting married, and to be able to catch glimpses of everyone else’s celebrations. Ceremonies are performed at the top of the huge staircase in the rotunda, in a setting as beautiful as that of any church or wedding venue I have ever seen.

A few pictures of the ceremony:

After the ceremony there was time for a champagne toast and few more pictures outside before they left for a honeymoon weekend in Sonoma!!!

Congratulations, Mary Ellen and Alison!

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