Gina and Joe

Last weekend I headed out to Lodi for Gina and Joe's wedding. You might recall all the fun we had together a few months ago when I headed up to Sacramento for their engagement session. This trip was just as fun!
I went up Friday to visit my grandparents in Murphy's, it was really nice to see them. We had a great dinner in the very cute downtown area and then spent time visiting and relaxing. The next day I drove back down the hill to Lodi to Micke Grove park where the wedding was held at the Japanese Gardens. I was unfortunate enough to be stuck behind a motorcycle rally going 35 mph about 1/2 of the way there...it was great :) There must have been at least a couple of hundred motorcycles!
I finally made it down to Lodi, had lunch, and headed over to where Gina was getting ready. Gina is such an awesome and fun person to be around! She has such a great attitude about everything and has the most infectious laugh you have ever heard! I shot her getting ready then drove over with her to get her makeup done at Perfect Balance Day Spa. Gina's nerves were starting to get the best of her so I drove her sweet Volkswagen Touareg back to Micke Grove, it was such a nice ride!
I was lucky enough to have both Chris Stewart and Manus Chau to help me shoot which was great because it was a large wedding. I normally only work with one assistant but with at a large wedding I like to have three as it is so hard to cover everything that is going on with just two of us. Besides, it gives each of us a chance to take a breather every four hours or so as shooting for ten hours solid is exhausting! After the ceremony we took some pictures in the gardens then headed over to the reception hall.
Gina and Joe had their own signature mixed drink...I don't know exactly what was in it but I know that it was high octane! We all had an very fun time in the reception dancing celebrating a great couple's new life together.
Keep an eye on my website as I plan on featuring this beautiful wedding in the next couple of weeks.