Kyle Hepp

March 22, 2011

Before I get into this post forgive me for getting all “Me, me, me!” but I have some good news to share. First of all, I was featured on Moment Junkie yesterday! I should be far less excited about this considering I’m the co-founder and I could probably post my own photos every day for at least a solid week before Ryan Brenizer noticed and changed all the passwords to the blog. But I sent him a few photos of my own and asked him to please only use one if he thought it was worthy, not to use one just because I’m one of the blog’s creators. So I’m really honored to be published there! And then in more featured news, Polka Dot Bride, one of my favorite wedding blogs, all the way over in Australia, has featured Marcela and Felipe’s wedding! I feel so special. Dorothy does a great job featuring cool weddings, so it’s a thrill to see my work there.

Now, on to Sydney and Brian’s wedding at Kohl Mansion in San Francisco!

First of all, I want to talk about the wedding as an event in and of itself. As an event it was AMAZING. Sydney and Brian’s family put SO much work into this big day. From the really cool cake that Dana, Brian’s mom, had commissioned for the rehearsal dinner, to the delicious raspberry preserves handed out as favors as the end of the reception that Shonna and Doug, Sydney’s parents, made.

Dana and Shonna even put together goodie bags for the out of town guests and delivered them to everybody’s hotels. When we flew in, I can’t even tell you what a nice surprise it was to have fruit and water and yummy local treats waiting for us. We felt so very welcome, and we hadn’t even seen Brian and Sydney yet! When we finally did arrive to the wedding itself, we were pretty much blown away by how gorgeous everything looked. The flowers, the place settings, even the cool black champagne, wine and water glasses were unbelievable. The aesthetic was really unique and it looked great. You could tell that all the details in this wedding were truly a labor of love.

And I have to mention the caterers, Thomas John Events. First of all, the food was delicious. Second of all, they are the FIRST caterers we have ever worked with that recognized that we need to eat when the bride and groom eat in order to not miss anything. Most of the time I have to chase someone down and practically beg them to feed us and they tell us they’ll be able to let us eat after everyone else is done. If we eat after everyone else is done, we’ll miss something because by then the bride and groom are back up and doing photographable things. Anyway, this caterer set up the appetizer for us and as soon as Sydney and Brian sat down to eat, which was a very short window of time, they rushed over to bring us our main course. Oh, and I should mention we did not receive a vendor meal, they gave us the same thing the guests were eating. I mentioned that and the woman in charge said “We take care of our vendors,” which I thought was wonderful. She even came over at one point during the meal to make sure everything was ok and offered to go get me a drink when she saw I didn’t have one, though Seba was already on it. The guests’ food also came out quickly and was cleared quickly — everything ran smooth. I was pretty much amazed by them the entire time.

Alright, clearly this blog post is getting windy and I haven’t even gotten to the most important part — the couple!

Sydney and Brian are wonderful. They are. There’s no other way to describe them. And their love for each other is wonderful too. Both of them, all day long, exuded a kind of absolute joy, a kind of pure emotion that you feel when you’re a little kid, a kind of genuine love that only people who put each other first can feel. In short, they were an example. They made me love Seba more. They made me want to be more selfless with him and appreciate him more.

Their vows were telling. Their vows showed their relationship perfectly. Rather than the groom talking at the bride making a vow, and then letting the bride respond, Sydney and Brian had a conversation on the alter. Sydney would speak and then Brian would speak. And then Sydney would make a promise and so would Brian. They went back and forth echoing each other’s sentiments. It felt so real and so beautiful.

Sydney is still just as tiny and cute as she was at Emily’s wedding, fitting into all kinds of fun compositions

Brian’s Valentino tie was pretty sweet.

Evyn, Sydney’s sister, clearly has also inherited the adorableness gene.

Looooove this shot. Sydney looks beyond stunning.

I asked Seba to take some groomsmen shots during the getting ready portion of the day. This is not exactly what I had in mind

Sydney gifted Brian some really cool rock climbing cufflinks because he is a hardcore mountain man. And I hear he had to cut holes in his shirt to wear them

If you see this picture of Sydney and don’t instantly love her, stop reading this blog, I probably don’t want to be friends with you.

Emily was a bridesmaid. So was Kara, one of the other lovely ladies who flew down for Emily’s wedding. It was pretty sweet to be at a wedding with so many familiar faces. We felt like part of the gang.

Why heellllooooo, sexy ladies!

I am pretty obsessed with this next photo. Not sure why, the symmetry, the expressions, the grandparents, I don’t know, but something does it for me.

Love. This. Shot.

Cake cutting always brings out the funniest expressions in people!

For Bride And Groom Getting Down Like Never Before, please see, Exhibit A:

Aaaand, we are trying out something new here. Sydney and Brian, you’re the guinea pigs! We made a slideshow with even more photos. You can watch it here. For those of you who are interested, it’s a ton more of what you already see. I try to keep the blog posts short enough that they’re not overwhelming, but I know that sometimes leaves the bride and groom wanting more. Giving them a longer preview in slideshow form seems to be a win/win for everybody. Sydney and Brian get more pictures, and everybody else doesn’t have to watch if they don’t want to. Check it out. You can even leave Facebook comments!