Claudio and Kristina’s Wedding at the Skirball Cultural Center
I have been SO excited to blog about Kristina and Claudio’s wedding, because not only was it gorgeous, but I got to work with two of my favorite ladies, the fabulous Susan Tosounian of Especially for You Events and my photo sidekick, Maya Myers!! Working with people you love makes everything so fun, and of course having a live band playing salsa music doesn’t hurt either!!:)
Claudio and Kristina have known each other from high school and are the most adorable couple. Both of them have such dedicated, loving families, and I witnessed this first hand when Kristina’s siblings were her personal stylists for their engagement shoot. I remembered thinking, “There is NO way my sisters would do this for me!!” LOL. We had a blast then and I knew that the wedding was going to be a ridiculous party full of love and fun!
Kristina’s brother, Poch, pretty much helped design her wedding. When you take one step into his gorgeous, downtown penthouse condo, you will understand WHY. It was a dream to photograph in there, with streaming natural light, white draped walls and eclectic, modern furniture. After starting there, we went to their ceremony at the First Congregational Church in downtown LA. This church was like a fairytale with purple lighting and the most ethereal choir I have ever heard. They were practicing while I was in there shooting details of the church and it was angelic. I am not even kidding. They had an orchestra play and singers and it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have seen in a church.
After the butterfly release send off…:), we all took off to start the REAL party at the Skirball Cultural Center. The reception looked like an extension of Poch’s condo with the BEST florals, dessert room (I say room, because it was such a huge spread), and live band that got the party started. Kristina did a wardrobe change into a slinky “dancing with the stars-esque” gown so she could show off her choreographed dance skills with Claudio and her brother, and then the craziness began and NEVER stopped on the dance floor!! At one point I was salsa dancing on stage with Claudio and I think that about sums it up:) I went straight from their party to go shoot for a week in Costa Rica and now I am blogging about this wedding from the South of France, so I feel like the party actually NEVER stopped for me! It was amazing and I love you both!
Here is to your future together, to us DEFINITELY going out dancing again when I return from my travels! I love you guys!!
