Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer

Missing Attachment

Deja Vu

Today’s wedding reminded me of the wedding photography gig I did last August.  The wedding ceremony was at De La Salle Catholic Church in Granada Hills.  After the ceremony, we went to Brand Park at San Fernando Mission for formal wedding photography session.  I went through the exact same schedule last August.  The only difference was the location for reception.

Hot, Hot, Hot! (in San Fernando Valley)

It was a full Summer weather in San Fernando Valley.  I grew up in San Fernando Valley, so I came prepared with a bottle of Sun-Block lotion I bought last year.  I put on a coat of Sun block lotion at the parking lot of De La Sale Catholic Church.  Hot temperature was a big news on TV today.  Sierra Madre got caught on fire today (as I was out taking wedding pictures).  Look at the picture below - 101 degrees at 3:37pm.  

101 Degrees

After Catholic wedding ceremony, we went to Brand Park at San Fernando Mission.  Just like last year, Brand Park was busy with hundreds of people from several different weddings.  There were groups of wedding parties leaving and more wedding parties arriving.  Some were celebrating Quinceanera but they were mostly there for weddings.  There were about 5 wedding photography sessions going on at any given moment.

You see, San Fernando Valley doesn’t have enough locations to take outdoor wedding photographs.  And there are a lot of people living down here (compared to Ventura county, where we have beach and more open spaces… golf clubs with mountains in the background).  So public parks tend to get busy with weddings during the weekends.

I got very lucky today with photography spot.  The other group under the (only) large tree just finished with their formal photography session.  Pictures came out super-satisfactory under the tree, in the shade.  Actually, there is more story to this “Tree” episode.  I had to run across the park up and down.  And I had to shout at my customers “Please go to that big tree! That’s the spot, please, go go~!” .  Without that tree, we would have taken all our formal wedding photos under the piercing San Fernando Valley Sunlight. 

We took care of all needed formal wedding photographs.  We had some extra time in our schedule, so I encouraged everyone to stick around and get their single, couple, & family pictures done

I felt good about the pictures I took.  I even took one “Wave” shot (above).  I tell people to wave at me only when I get a positive vibe from the wedding party.  This wedding party was very positive and fun.

We packed up and headed up to Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills.

Odyssey Restaurant - Reception

I mentioned earlier that there are a lot of people living in San Fernando Valley and not much locations for wedding photography.  I think that applies with wedding reception venues as well.  Odyssey Restaurant is located on the hill-top of Granada Hills.  It’s one of the fanciest wedding reception locations in San Fernando Valley.   At Odyssey Restaurant, I saw least 4-6 receptions going on at the same time.  There is no recession in wedding business I guess.

Reception went on without any incident.  It was a good wedding.  People had a lot of fun. 

Today’s Wedding Location & Vendors

DJ Thrive
San Fernando Wedding DJ / all occasions
818-962-3569
www.DJThrive.com

De La Salle Catholic Church
10738 Hayvenhurst Ave. Granada Hills, California 91344

Brand park (across from the San Fernando Mission)
15174 San Fernando Mission Rd. Mission Hills, CA 91345

The Odyssey Restaurant
15600 Odyssey Dr Granada Hills, CA 91344
(818) 366-5817

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The bride and groom purchased a full wedding package including engagement photography & signing board.  I have done their engagement photography a month earlier.  Erik Griffin was the videographer.  Erik and I have done about 4-5 wedding gigs together.  I am currently working on Photo/Video packages with Erik.

Padre Serra Parish is an exclusive Catholic wedding venue in Camarillo.  I have done 2-3 weddings at Padre Serra Parish in the past.  Catholic couples cannot resist its high class construction and decorations.  They have somewhat strict guideline on using this holy Parish.  The church is exclusive and high class sitting high on the Mission Oaks hill of Camarillo.

I believe this was the first time they allowed outdoor reception at Padre Serra Parish

The groom is a studio musician.  He plays a bass guitar in a Funk/Jazz band.  He also sings.  So, naturally, most of his friends and family were hip musicians.  Their music style was somewhat similar to Tonight Show band (Kevin Eubanks) with more funk to it. 

Power outage:
The reception started and everyone was having good time.  The DJ was playing music, some of the friends and family members took turn playing live music.  When they started the Dollar dance the DJ lost electricity.  They were having a tough time getting the power back.  They were keep blowing one fuse after another.

That’s when the “Magic Moment” happened.

A gentleman walked up to the band stand and started to play drums (slowly).  Then another gentleman came up and started to play acoustic guitar.   He started to sing Eagles medley.  His wife (I assumed) came and sang harmony with him.  To me, that was the highlight of the reception.  It was unforgettable.

Finally the juice was back on.  And the band proceeded to funk.  My favorite song was their funky version of Mustang Sally.

Groom on the bass while sax was on solo

Padre Serra Parish - Camarillo
www.padreserra.org
5205 Upland Rd
Camarillo, CA 93012
(805) 482-6417