Westin St. Francis Wedding: Aaron & Chris

“I just got hit again, the guy ran into me at the intersection . . . third time already, but no scratches . . . that car is a tank!” Chris stated as she sat down at the table during our first meeting. Aaron laughed and confirmed all the past incidents when someone ran into his fiance. I listened as they shared their story, talked about all the details needed to be done before the wedding, the florist that charged them a fortune for flowers, the hotel lobbies of Westin St. Francis. I loved watching Chris’ expression as she flipped through the photos, remarked on how cute the flower girl’s dress was in one of the photos, and warned me that both of them are not good at this whole picture taking thing.

I drove home ecstatic to have met them and in less than a month was already driving to the city for their big day. The Westin lobby was crowded with guests waiting around with their large luggages, and the walls echoed from the sound of high heels stepping on the glossy hotel floor. Walking through the maze of people Aleksey and I reached the tower elevators, which were to take us to the 31st floor where Chris was getting ready. Later on during the day I stood there again with Chris and Aaron this time. Aaron decided to guess which elevator would come first, and his choice won, it was his wedding day after all I told him. Up we went watching the beautiful cityscape unfold before us, and get larger and larger as we reached the highest floor. Surrounded by the same cityscape seen through large windows of the room, Chris and her friends and family were busy getting the bride ready for the day. I could not get over the view of the city and did all the detail shots next to the windows, while Aleksey and the guys were daringly strolling the Powell Street below.

The next few hours were tied around the elevators, going up and down for all the designated photo spots, first with Chris, then with Aaron, and then with both of them together, once they were officially married. They smiled and happily walked hand in hand as we reached the elevator for the last time. They were both radiant as they joined their guests up at the reception area, which had a stunning view of San Francisco cityscape against the backdrop of the setting sun. The city drowned in the warm colors of the sky and then lit up as with Christmas lights, growing darker and lovelier with every speech and dance at the wedding. “All we need is a lit up Eiffel Tower,” Aleksey exclaimed admiring the view during the dinner.

Aaron and Chris, thank you so much for including me as part of your wedding, for letting me watch everything up close through my camera. I am excited to see what the future holds for both of you, now together. I hope you will see many more cityscapes as you share your lives together.

To see more photos from the wedding click HERE for a slideshow. I also blogged a few photos previously here.

The day is on to a good start with a Pronovias wedding dress . . . I just love it.





All the groomsmen shots were done by Aleksey.










It was freezing outside, and on top of that windy, but Aaron and Chris agreed to stay just a few minutes longer to get these shots of them. A big thank you to both of you for enduring the cold and the people traffic all around you ;).



I absolutely loved the reception hall.




Captured by Aleksey

This is an example of why I love working with a second shooter at the wedding. The left image is Aleksey’s, the one on the right mine.

At first I couldn’t figure out where Aleksey took these, but then walking around cocktail reception area I found these huge canvases decorating the walls . . . classic, thanks Aleksey.


Most of these are Aleksey’s. While I was doing family portraits, Aleksey was on the 32nd floor shooting all the details.




The reception hall was on the 32nd floor overlooking San Francisco in all its loveliness at night. Captured by Aleksey.

A big thank you to Aleksey for second shooting this wedding with me, you made the whole day a breeze, and your detail shots are just how I like them ;).