We had the pleasure of photographing this gorgeous (x100) couple at the Merchants Exchange Building and Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. Jenny and Jamien are the most kind and ebullient couple we've met- they were surrounded by friends and family who clearly loved them to pieces.
It's always fun to hear more about the wedding from the bride and groom's perspective, so here is their story:
"Since neither of us are from the Bay Area we decided that rather than pick one of each other's hometowns, we would have our wedding in the place that has become our home: downtown San Francisco. We loved the venue for the architect's historic ties to SF, and the iconic interior felt like the perfect combination of classic grandeur and contemporary style in which to celebrate our day.
Since the elaborate interior is a beautiful backdrop in itself, our goal was to keep the décor and color scheme neutral, elegant and timeless. The bridesmaids picked out their own champagne shaded dresses, and J had the groomsmen forego boutonnieres for their black tuxes, in exchange for white pocket squares he gifted them, monogrammed with their initials.
Natasha Lisitsa of Waterlily Pond designed the dramatic, tall, tree branch centerpieces, illuminated with hanging votive, LED candles to bring in natural elements of the outdoors into the urban chic space.
Our first dance as husband and wife was to Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" to get the party started. The dance floor was packed even before dinner (catered by celebrated SF restaurant Presidio Social Club) was served, and pretty much stayed that way 'til the end of the night. We couldn't have asked for better people, a better party, or a better place to celebrate the start of our lives together."
Photographs by Ingrid and Jerry.
Jamien used to play wide receiver for Standford University, and had a lot of football buddies in his wedding party. We convinced them to show off some of their skills against the bridesmaids.
More about Jenny and Jamien:
How we met:
Both friends of the bride at an East Coast wedding two years ago, we first met getting bussed to the wedding ceremony. Though I knew the bride, I actually didn't really know anyone else at the wedding. As the guests were headed to the ceremony, I kept hearing people calling out to their friend "Jamo." This felt disorienting to me as, growing up, the nickname my twin brother always had for me was also "Jamo". I didn't see how anyone could possibly know how to call me that since I literally knew none of the other guests. I turned to see who they were talking to, and it was the man who would become my husband. Turns out, his nickname from playing football at Stanford was also "Jamo." We started chatting about our shared moniker, and it was obvious we had way more in common besides the name.
How he proposed:
Jamien and I began dating long distance with me living in New York and he being based in the Bay Area. After half a year of Skype dates and different time zones, I moved to San Francisco. Six months later, Jamien woke me up on the morning of the one year anniversary of our first date, just before sunrise. He got up, went into the kitchen, and rushed back into our bedroom a few minutes later revealing that the skylights in our apt had flooded. I got out of bed and, sure enough, there was water all over our kitchen counter. Handing me some towels, he asked me to mop up the water and to meet him on the roof of our apt building (where he would presumably inspect the skylight for more water damage). Not really connecting the dot that there had been zero rainfall for months, I cleaned up the "flood" and met him on the roof. As the sun was coming up over the city, there was Jamien on one knee at the ready with two glasses, a bottle of champagne, and a single question to which I answered, "Yes".