We had a great time photographing the intimate wedding of Everett and Allyn on the rooftop of the Shade Hotel in downtown Manhattan Beach.
The venue provided a great location to soak in the perfect weather with blue skies and a view of the ocean.
The small wedding with only close friends and family went well with the cozy rooftop location and the large, family-style table for the reception was a hit. Congrats guys!
We recently photographed what was probably one of our favorite and most visual weddings ever.
The day started when Eamon and Emily got married in a beautiful outdoor setting at The 1909 in Topanga Canyon and only got better as they held their reception at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel.
From the many rides on the carousel to the gypsy jazz band, we had a blast shooting their wedding. The pictures should speak for themselves when it comes to showing how great the wedding turned out. Thanks Eamon and Emily for being such a fun couple!
At night the stars in Big Sur overwhelmed the sky and took my breath away. Definitely not something we ever see in Los Angeles. Photos by John Schreiber
John and I spent our engagement anniversary up in Big Sur- what I believe to be the most beautiful part of California- for the second year in a row. Last year he told me we were going camping, proposed to me (and after listening to the Cardinals win on the radio) swept me off to what I thought was a campsite, but turned out to be a beautiful cabin in the woods. Somehow this year he topped that. I didn’t know that it would have been possible to top such an amazing weekend- but with the help of some humming birds, a bathtub and a good food, he did.
This year he got creative and rented a secluded trailer in the woods that overlooked both the dark jungle-like Big Sur woods and the calm blue Pacific Ocean. I can’t even begin to explain how tranquil it was to be in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone coverage, no TV or Internet and just a couple bottles of wine and pure, wonderful silence. We’re used to the hustle-and-bustle of L.A. and the craziness of our jobs as journalists- so turning off our cell phones was just want we needed.
For some reason the ocean in Big Sur has an extreme calming effect on me. I ended the weekend in a weird state of euphoria. I loved it.
The accommodation was a mile-long walk from where we parked the car. The owner, Richard from Big Sur Vintage Trailers, met us at the starting line the first night and drove all our belongings to the site on a tiny old school Suzuki SUV. Flowers that Richard had planted surrounded the trailer and the entrance just screamed rustic ‘Secret Garden’. Many of the plants strategically attracted humming birds and in the mornings we woke up to the fast pattering of little hummingbird wings. I was amazed to find out that Richard fixed up the trailer himself also did all the hard labor of clearing the trees and leveling the ground where we were staying.
This may be the real reason for my catatonic relaxation. Photo by Chelsea Sektnan
One of the best parts of the retreat was a separate bathroom with a large turquoise tub that opened up to the empty green woods and the crazy calming blue waters. One night there was even a small earthquake and we saw the bathtub water ripple from the quiet shaking. (Richard assured us that we were totally safe)
We even spent an evening hiking to the basin of the mountain and shot our own ‘Save the Date’ photos.
Because the trailer was located a mile from our car it was easy to resist the temptation to do activities outside of the immediate area. Instead we read our books, watched the water and spent the weekend chilling out. My heart rate- that is usually above normal- finally slowed down to a normal pace, and I was finally able to finish a Joyce Carol Oates book that I was struggling with (but loved in the end!). One of the evenings we got really adventurous and braved the trail to the car to get dinner 10 miles away at Nepenthe Restaurant. I’m always amazed at the views in Big Sur- but Nepenthe takes the prize for one of the most amazing sunsets!
By the time our weekend was up I was so relaxed that my heart rate was probably below normal and I knew that we would definitely be coming back next year. (For our honeymoon!)
Thank you Richard!
We had a great time photographing what was one of the smaller weddings we have photographed, but also one of the most intimate and heartfelt. Ed and Alecia did a truly DIY wedding, holding a ceremony on Hermosa Beach complete with a handmade dress by Alecia and a large bouquet of flowers also arranged by Alecia.
The wedding reception was held at their home with close friends on a beautiful warm winter day in Hermosa Beach. Thanks for letting us be a part of the big day Ed and Alecia!
We are so excited to announce that we are finally going to start to accept bookings in Southern California for undercover engagement sessions– something we’re calling “The ? Session.” We’ll work with the proposer to make sure the big moment is caught on camera and can be remembered for years to come.
We’re extremely excited to officially branch out this way and add another way to remember such an exciting moment. It’s a lot of fun for us to be involved in helping plot and planning proposals- we hope it’s as much fun for the couple!
Send us an email or give us a call and we can start helping you prepare for your surprising, exciting, & lifechanging plans!
Surprise engagement portrait pricing varies and depends on time & travel. We’re happy to chat about ideas and help you figure out the logistics of the moment.
I had the opportunity to quickly photograph a few engagement photo’s of Andrew and Meagan while on vacation in Door County, Wisconsin. Andrew is actually my brother and Meagan my soon-to-be sister-in-law. We had fun during our 15 or 20 minute quick photo shoot and Whitefish Bay in Door County was a great backdrop for engagement photos! Congrats guys!
We had a great time photographing Lindsey and Cody’s engagement photos last Sunday at El Porto in Manhattan Beach. They were a very fun couple to work with and there were lots of good photo opportunities at the beach– from the iconic lifeguard stands to a very cool green and yellow-painted garage next to the strand.
This engagement session was also unique because we were photographing it during a solar eclipse. It definitely made for some interesting light and some added entertainment as we tried to view the (almost full) eclipse. Just as rain is good luck on your wedding day, we would say a solar eclipse is good luck during your engagement photo shoot!
Now, we look forward to shooting their wedding this fall!
While searching for venues for our own wedding, we have fallen in love with wine country in Santa Barbara. Only 2 1/2 hours north of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara County has quickly become one of our favorite weekend destinations with its world-class wineries, beautiful scenery, and all around quietness. It is a sharp contrast to sitting in traffic on the 405 every morning.
We recently spent a weekend up there and put the big cameras down in exchange for our iPhones and the Instagram app. Here are a few that we captured along the way with our phones:
Recently, we have both been running separate wedding photography businesses under our own names but now that we are engaged ourselves, we have combined both of our freelance businesses into one — John + Chelsea Photography.
Please excuse our mess as we work to build our combined website. Most of the site is now functional (including our photo galleries) but we are still tweaking things here and there. Look for the complete finished product at the beginning of May 2012 (just in time for wedding season!).
In the meantime, here are a few photos from our own engagement last October in Big Sur, California. If only we could spend every day up there…
