Casa Florida Wedding, Miami, Florida - Caitlin + Mike
 

It’s amazing how I get to photograph former client’s family and friends. They’re seriously the best. Actually, it’s the best feeling, knowing that they already know how I photograph and that we’re on the same page about our values in photography. It’s a cliche to say this, but I feel super blessed, really.

Demi, one of Caitlin’s best friends and the officiant for her wedding told me, “When Caitlin was planning her wedding, she kept saying, ‘I want someone like Annie Bang for my wedding. Where can I find someone (a wedding photographer) like Annie Bang?’ Soooo… I was like… ‘how about…. you just hire her for your wedding…and the problem is solved!?!?’”

Brett and I photographed the groom Michael’s brother (Eric)’s wedding in Santa Barbara years ago, and now here we are in 2024, flying out to Florida for Mike and Caitlin.

Caitlin and Mike met summer of 2014 through an adult kickball league (aka "drunk kickball"). Their league met on Friday nights in Coconut Grove - their fav neighborhood in Miami- and it's basically one big rowdy party. They were on different teams. Mike came up to Caitlin & asked if she wanted “a Solo cup of boozy punch & voila, 8.5 years later, here we are.”

As a couple, “we're playful & affectionate, & we laugh together a lot. Humor is a coping mechanism for us. We can usually see the bright side, the big picture, the silver lining...in other words, if it rains on our wedding day, we're still gonna party with a smile on our faces.”

It didn’t rain (only cloudy here and there) on their wedding day; but it poured down the next day - hence, Brett and I were trapped at the airport for hourssss to come back home. haha.

The wedding was at Casa Florida, a super cute, historic & funky motel with tropical Florida Keys vibes, in Miami, Florida, and we really LOVED partying with everyone.

 
Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona Wedding - Emma & Farley
 

On their wedding day, October 14, 2023, there was an annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America. It was visible in parts of the United States, Mexico, and many countries in South and Central America, and we couldn’t help but photographed the beauty which will be back 70 years later in Tucson.

Emma works in climate change at a science museum in San Francisco, and Farley is a musician and music historian. They love to listen to college radio, go to shows, and are starting to play music together as well.
Emma was born and raised in Tucson, where her mom still lives and where she has a lot of community; hence, the wedding ceremony was be at a site out in the desert in Tucson Mountain Park, and the reception at the Tucson Museum of Art in historic downtown Tucson. Her best friend bought an old adobe near the museum downtown which was where she got ready.
Emma and Farley have both moved around a lot. After college, she moved around doing climate organizing work, settling for a while in North Carolina where she worked on a campaign to shut down a coal plant. Farley moved to Oakland and then Montreal, studying experimental electronic music performance and musicology. They actually went to the same college for undergrad and knew 'of' each other but weren't well acquainted. Farley was busy playing in bands and she was busy with activism and taking too many Econ classes. There is one photo of them at the same party- 4th of July 2009 at the Grant St. House. There was a super soaker fight that Farley couldn't join because he had to be at his radio station job right after. They then reconnected in Berkeley when they’d both moved to the Bay to be closer to family and were feeling a little aimless. Before marriage, they lived together with our cat Lollie and Farley's older brother, in the old house his brother was born in that is now held together by magic and duct tape.

Brett and I traveled to Tucson the day before the wedding, photographed their wedding with our hearts out. And here is some words we received from them;

“The photos are absolutely gorgeous, you and Brett were amazing We could not have asked for more incredible photographers or sweeter people to capture the day!! Our guests totally loved meeting and partying with you- I’m wishing you were front of the camera!! You guys captured everything so beautifully. We just can’t thank you enough (okay now I’m crying a little).  Please also if you’re ever up in the Bay we’d love to take you guys out for a drink/dinner (for real though.) We love you!! Thank you so much”

 
InterContinental San Diego Wedding, St. Therese of Carmel Catholic Church Wedding - Melissa + Chris

A teaser of wedding film (Melissa & Chris) - “Whisper”

 

Melissa and Chris’s wedding was extra special to me. Not only had I known Melissa from years ago when her best friend Eunice got married in San Francisco (which I haven’t blogged about - shame on me; it’ll eventually happen, though!), but I was also able to work with my lovely team with Brett and our filmmaker Ailin for their candid wedding photography.

A Beautiful San Diego Wedding & Ceremony!

Melissa and Chris - two very shy and smart people who live in NYC, got ready and partied at InterContinental San Diego wedding reception venue, and their ceremony was at St. Therese of Carmel Catholic Church.

Their ceremony and wedding reception in San Diego was filmed and is featured on my website homepage here; please scroll down the page - it’s a 10-minute-long. :-)

One of the things that surprised me was that Melissa was emotional (cried) on her wedding day, as I had been told that she was pretty even-keeled and didn’t show much emotion. And I’m so glad our filmmaker Ailin was able to capture that special moment while Chris was “whispering” to her.

Melissa and Chris met in San Francisco in the summer of 2019. They spent the first few months of their relationship in SF before she moved down to LA during the pandemic. Chris planned to spend 3 months in LA, but ended up spending 9 months in LA as the pandemic went on. He then spent time with his parents in Boston for 3 months before moving back to San Francisco, anticipating return-to-office. Melissa was supposed to follow him back to SF, but because her job had kept postponing returning to (the SF) office, she decided to move to NYC. Now they’re both happily in NYC!

“Christopher is the most patient man I know! The last few years have been anything but predictable, and I'm so lucky he's been by my side during all the unexpected moves,” Melissa said.

Interested in candid photography for your next big event in California? Check out my family collections and wedding collections to learn more!