Thanks to Sarah Dawson for helping me shoot this wedding and getting this great shot of Alex dashing off to say I Do!

The indoor banquet room of the Monte Verde Inn Wedding venue looks just as amazing as an empty room… Alex owns this window!

Ryan’s mom hand-folded the paper cranes and created this display to honor Ryan’s part Japanese heritage…wonderful work mom!

And I can never blog a Monte Verde Inn Wedding without showing owner Kelly Dalisa‘s awesome cake-making skills! I mean…seariously? Those are edible flowers? You rock Kelly!










Joe Kalamaras of SJ Disc Jockey helped keep the party going and kept the guest entertained with this photo booth until they shut the place down!

Thank you for inviting me to the biggest and most important party in your lives!

Much <3,

Dave

Jeff and Rachel  are super fun, and totally in love, and couldn’t wait until next year to get married… so they held a small, private ceremony in Folsom, CA to make it official.  I was honored to be part of this family-only event, and the we got some great Folsom Wedding photos! This was a ceremony only, and a big reception will be held next year to celebrate the marriage of Jeff and Rachel…

thats love right there

Thank you guys for letting me be part of your wedding day, and I’m looking forward to the big celebration next year!!

Much

Dave

more one the way!

Much <3,

Dave

It has been a little while since I’ve photographed a sacramento Chinese wedding, but it is always nice to see everyone! The community is intertwined and most of my brides/grooms are connected in some way, which makes it so much fun to see them again at the reception! Mi and Wa had a great day with family all around, lots of laughter, hugs, and dancing into the evening at Happy Garden Restaurant. Here are some of my favorites from the day..(there’s going to be more than usual since it was a 16 hour wedding):

Mi started the day in a traditional Chinese dress.. the detail was beautiful!!

The guys have to accept challenges to get into the door of the Bride’s parents home. The guys got tired of waiting… Wa wanted his woman!!

One more challenge to go… sing your bride a song!! Since Wa doesnt sing or play guitar, this was pretty much hilarious.

During the Tea Ceremony, the bride and groom receive jewelry and gifts from the elders in their family. Kinda makes me wish I had a Tea ceremony at my wedding!




The men and women played games during the day, some for fun, some for cold, hard cashola.


13 smiles.





The reception was held at Happy Garden in South Sacramento. Happy Garden Wedding photos look even better now that they have remodeled. I love this picture of them being introduced!


Kiss? REJECTED!

Thanks for inviting me to be a part of your wedding day! You know I just did it for the food (= Seriously though, you guys are wonderful, and I look forward to seeing you at the next Sacramento Chinese Wedding as Mr. and Mrs Ngu!

Much <3,

Dave

Every time I go to Tahoe, there is usually one thing in mind: Snowboarding.  Freshies.  Shredding the gnar pow-pow, if you will.  This time I had a whole new mission… complete the coldest wedding I’ver ever done!  Sam and Jason are two lovebirds who were attracted to Lake Tahoe’s winter beauty… what they didnt expect was the coldest week that the Northern California region had experienced in YEARS.  Records were being set daily… It was snowing below 1000 feet, and temperatures in Lake Tahoe were in single digits.  Knowing I faced  the possibility of missing the entire wedding over the weather, I left the night before and braved 6 hours of traffic to arrive in Incline Village.  Even though the snow cleared and the next morning was nothing but sunshine, I was glad Jessica and I left the night before to guarantee that I wouldn’t be late.  This was actually the first time I had stood in single-digit weather, and I think my breath was freezing. It was craaaazy cold!   Fast forward to the next morning, and it was sunny, but still below 20 degrees… poor Sam had to stand out in that weather in a strapless wedding dress for photos… I had to stop taking pictures when her arms began to turn purple.   Forget getting the dress dirty… Sam is the new queen of I’ll-do-anything-for-my-photos.   Enough of my blabbing, here are some of my favorites from the day:

We started the day getting ready at a house they rented across from the Chateau at Incline Village.  This definitely made things easy!  Window light poured in from one side of the room, and we used every last dropfor Sam and Jasons wedding photos!

*Jasons awesome shaving photo by Jessica Moores. Thanks for your help Jess, you rocked it out!

This is Sams smile. The real deal.  Her and I had an agreement… I would stand and wait for the real smile as long as necessary.  She never kept me waiting long (=

She is happy in this picture for 2 reasons: 1. she is marrying Jason today at the Chateau at Incline Village and will have an awesome wedding and rad wedding photos… and 2.  Jason is keeping her warm while its 17 degrees outside. Good work Jay!

Jason broke many hearts that evening.. these guys were taking it a bit rough that Jay was no longer a member of the Wolf Pack!

I literally had one of these boots stolen off of a foot for this  photo.. Jay, now you know why you were walking with that limp for 5 minutes (=

shhh… dont tell anyone that we were standing in the  parking lot of the Chateau at Incline Village for this awesome wedding photo, ok?  pinky swear!

Thank you for inviting me to the coolest wedding ever! (literally)  I had a great time, and I remember thinking how much fun it would have been to be a guest… which is probably why I spent the last 1o minutes dancing (=

Much <3,

Dave

There are many reused parts that make up my booth. I needed the entire fair to cost me less than $300.00, so reusing and repurposing items was not only responsible, but cost effective as well!

Items reused/recycled  to make this section:

• baseboards
• construction adhesive
• latex paint

Items reused to make this section ( the upper wall)

• leftover Gray primer
• Old picture frames from Goodwill

I bought some spray primer and spraypaint and made all of the frames a nice crisp white color… shabby to chic in 20 minutes!

The best deal of all… my laminate flooring!  This was removed from a home and destined for the trash. I rescued it very inexpensively, and had more than enough for my showroom floor!

The tables were the only completely new items… except for the paint I covered them with. The tables were made from table rounds at Home Depot, fence posts, and wooden legs.

I had fun building my DIY wedding fair booth, and I can use this setup for quite a few bridal fair’s to come ( reusing is the whole idea!). Next time you are faced with a big project, search craigslist, check out an anthropologie store and see how they use “junk” and make it look fantastic, and break out the toolbox!

Much <3,

Dave

My Booth:

So I decided that my first booth needed some pizzaz. I planned out a elaborately simple booth that included laying a laminate floor, building and paneling two 8 foot freestanding walls,  and arranging about 20 picture frames on these walls of various sizes.  This was quite the monumentous task.  In order to make it harder on myself, I gave myself a $300 budget for my booth, including printed material, printed photos, lunch, gas, etc.   In order to acheive this I took the following steps:

1. I bought frames from goodwill and after priming them, painted them semi-gloss white.
2. I  searched for and found the snap-flooring for $25 on Craigslist from a man who had removed it from a bedroom.
3. I used some extra wood leftover from an old project to help construct the frames for the walls.
4. I saved some baseboards from the garbage and used them to create a paneled look for the bottom of the walls.
5. I used some old primer to paint the walls gray, and I used old white paint to paint the paneling and tables I built.

The finished result (courtesy of Jessica Moores):

Me installing the floor (courtesy of Jessica Moores):

My lovely plant I borrowed from Exotic Plants, a cool vendor who can hook up some seriously awesome and unique plants for a wedding. I was stoked on this little beauty, straight down to the matching planter! yes!!!

Thanks also to Marnie at The Old Sugar Mill for the 10×10 slice of heaven, and for putting up with me installing my own floor!

stay tuned for some behind the scenes photos on the blog!

Much <3,

Dave

Baker beach engagement photos are a must in SF, and I had to stand waaaay far back to get the bridge on the photo.  I couldn’t even shout to them!  I was rocking my $25.00 Goodwill lens for this one.  Hooray for bargain shopping!

Not too long after this photo was taken, a photographer for the SF Chronicle photographed them standing there… she thought they were just spontaneously kissing..lol.  I bursted her bubble soon after (=

This baker beach engagement photo was done with a wireless flash so I could show the location and the couple in a dramatic way after the sun headed south… Baker beach is an awesome place for engagement photos!

Updated caption for this photo: GIANTS WIN!!! GIANTS WIN!!!!

Team Keller, I really enjoyed spending the day with you and becoming, to some degree, a Giants Fan.  Soon I will be shooting your wedding at the Old Sugar Mill and posting some Old Sugar Mill Wedding Photos! w00t!

FEAR THE BEARD!!!!

Dave

There are wine barrels everywhere at the Old Sugar Mill wedding venue,  and they made a nice accent for this dress photo

The shoe shot….my way.  Old Sugar Mill Wedding photos must have bricks in there somewhere!  Thanks for your help Courtney! <3<3

Courtney and Owen were married in the Barrel Room… a nice, dramatic spot for  ceremony at The Old Sugar Mill wedding venue.

Thank You for inviting me to photograph your wedding, I really enjoyed being there for your day!

Much <3,

Dave

Krystle and Ian are just plain adorable.  They are that couple that you can be around for 5 minutes and just feel how strong their love is. They came all the way from New York  to get married at the Oak Farm Vineyards in Lodi, CA. and the ceremony was gorgeous. I had the opportunity to work with another photographer who is family friend of Ians named Andrea of Your Every Color Photography Oak Farm Vineyards weddings take place under a huge, majestic oak tree,  and Krystle and Ian added a chandelier to personalize the space and add extra charm. Their wedding was personal and charming,  and the ceremony was hearfelt… Ian waited for her anxiously at the end of the aisle,  and on a cool summer evening he married his beautiful bride under that big oak tree.

Venue: Oak Farm Vineyards,  Lodi, CA

Photography: Dave Shilling and Laura of YourEveryColor

Videography: ipomoea films

Flowers:  Made with love by family

DJ: DJ 5on5

Krystle and Ian also had video done by Man Yip Li of ipomoea films... check out their wedding video teaser here!

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day, I had a wonderful time!