Ryan and Celia's December 29th wedding was, in typical Southern California form, drenched in beautiful sunlight and warm weather. This beautiful Malibu West Beach Club wedding was complete with scarlet bridesmaid dresses and roses, fresh white tuxedo jackets on the groom and his gents, and (my favorite detail) the bride wore her mother-in-law to be's wedding gown, featuring a miles-long train that was just perfect for stunning sunset portraits. What a joyful celebration of a truly incredible couple!

Food/Catering: Kaycie Fellows - Critics Choice - events@criticschoicecatering.com
DJ/Music: Vox (Will provide name of DJ)
Flowers: Karen Sartori - ksartori@cox.net
Cake: Torrence Bakery (through Critics Choice)

Christmas time is usually the time of year when family portraits consist of magical frost-covered everything, cozy parkas and fur-lined boots. But in Malibu? We go to the beach and get our bare feet in the Pacific 365 days a year. Check out this sweet family of four on their Christmas vacation to Malibu, CA. (PS daddy-o is my brother Peter!) 

With its acres of gardens, outbuildings, and prime beachfront setting, the Adamson House is the perfect setting for snapping a set of timeless portraits. Summer (with Mama and doggo in tow!) and I explored every nook and cranny of old Malibu estate and came out the other side with these gems. 

Disclaimer: Summer snapped these during her freshman year of college, buuuuuut I'm still counting them in the senior portraits category. 

Spend ten minutes with this couple and you'll hear about all the wild adventures they go on. Line dancing. Hiking all over these hills. Ever heard of Hash House Harriers? Yeah, I hadn't either until I heard about it from Hilary and Tim. These two are totally made for each other, totally in love, and totally getting married in a few months. 

Hilary and Tim (who she affectionately refers to as "Cowboy")  wanted an outdoor setting where their boots and Cowboy's hat would fit right in. Wildwood Regional Park, with its miles of rolling hills studded with patches of cacti gets the A-Okay from these two pardners. 

Location: Wildwood Regional Park, in Thousand Oaks, CA, in the morning

A sunrise, a Saturday morning, and this knockout senior in high school. Don't ever tell me you can't work it in knee-high boots on a hiking trail. Because Grace showed us all that it's possible. 

​Location: Wildwood Regional Park, Thousand Oaks, CA

Natalie Backman is one part gumby, one part philosopher, and all dynamo yoga teacher, based in sunny southern California. She's one of my favorite people to shoot because she's like the Audrey Hepburn of yoga—exquisitely beautiful and photogenic and spunky but also soulful and authentic and down to earth. 

You may recognize Natalie from her wine country wedding to the dreamy Ivo >>

When a boy from the mountains of Colorado marries a girl from Southern California farm country, they throw a pretty awesome party in a lemon orchard. I've known Shelby and Teller for years, first through Pepperdine, then through our church. It was so much fun to celebrate their amazing relationship (and out of this world families) together with our church community. 

Limoneira Ranch was a home run for a location, because of the endless acres of orange and lemon groves. And when it's not wedding season, it's a full-fledged citrus grower. This location was a perfect representation of these two homegrown hearts of gold. 

Venue: Limoneira Ranch, Santa Paula, California
Photography: Cecily Breeding (that’s me!)
DJ/Music: JMYO Entertainment
Flowers: Claire Reynolds
Cake: Bread Basket Cake Company and Krispy Kreme
Dress: Kay’s Bridal 
Videographer: Grant Dillion 

I love shooting weddings that are a perfect representation of the couple getting married. If Jackie and Nate were an event, they would be this one: outdoorsy, surfer-friendly, cabins, hours of barefoot dancing, majoring on the majors, minoring on the minors.

The venue, El Capitan Canyon in Santa Barbara, made this event the truly beautiful event that it was. Rustic cabins dotted around the property, trails and footbridges winding over streams and under oaks, next to rolling hills coated in soft grass, all framing a magnificent Pacific Ocean view. The outdoor ceremony ended just in time for a 3-minute December sprinkle, giving way to a sunny rainbow in the distance. After a portrait hour with family and wedding party (and a few extra minutes with the newlywed couple), the party moved down the hill to the reception area: complete with fire pits for lounging, red wine for sipping, and a live duo of banjo, guitar, harmonica, and bongo-playing brothers to crank out foot stomping tunes long into the night. Most of the guests spent the night on site in cabins. What a brilliant idea!

Venue: El Capitan Canyon in Santa Barbara, California