As wedding photographer’s we have the pleasure of constantly being in the presence of people very much in love. While we know it when we see it its so hard to say what makes two people perfect for one another? While there are many answers to this and no answer is better than the next, I have to mention Danielle & Stephen’s answer to this question because it resonated with us so much. When asked about their love story, one line read: “We can’t remember a time when there was one of us without the other.”

And after this past weekend these two will never have to. Danielle & Stephen were joined by their friends and family to celebrate their marriage at Forever & Always Farm in Murrieta, CA. The day was perfect, fall is just beginning to breathe down our backs and it made for beautiful weather.

Danielle & her bridesmaids spent the morning in the bridal suite getting dolled up by makeup artist Natalie Payne and hair designer Ashley Gutierez. We loved how whimsical and laid back her half up-do was, long curls cascading a beautiful hair clip made by the bride’s aunt. The groomsmen ended up joining the bridesmaids for some fun candid photographs before the ceremony and they all had us cracking up.

After everyone finished getting ready it was time for Danielle to get into her wedding dress. Her mother helped zipped her up before her first look with her father. We have said it before and we will say it again we are super big fans of the first look with dad. It makes for such a special moment with just you and your father on the wedding day. Without the first look with your father the only other moment you really will have is the first dance, as storytellers we say fill your day with as many opportunities to create those beautiful moments as you can.

Stephen & Danielle were definitely chasing after a feeling for their wedding day. They described their vision as comfortable and personal. They nailed both. There were so many personal touches for their wedding day that truly made it all their own. Instead of copying a Pinterest wedding we are confident in saying this wedding is going to be one of the pinned weddings.

When the couple first moved in together they were joking one night about not having anything up on their walls, they felt there were lacking in the wall art and décor departments. So naturally, they drew a bunch of stick figure portraits to adorn their walls and jazz up their place. Stephen had an actual artist (no offense Stephen & Danielle =)) create pieces inspired by the couples stick art depicting all of the couples “firsts” together. The paintings lined the walkway to the ceremony on easels for all of their guests to enjoy. We love little touches like this that clue your guests in to you two as a couple. Because let’s face it most of them know only one of you well and haven’t had the pleasure of being around you and your soon to be husband or wife as a couple. It is a day about celebrating you two and your unique love so let everyone know what that love is all about, what makes it special and unique and people will be left buzzing about how fun it was to see you two in that light.

These two bond over hockey and actually met at a recruiting event at CSULB for club sports. So why not bring your passions and shared hobbies into your wedding day, Danielle & Stephen had their sweet heart table decked out with all things hockey. Goalie gear and their favorite teams jersey’s made the sweetheart table unconventional and fun. It was a great nod to the couple’s personalities.

The guest’s tables had gorgeous white flowers created by Soiree adding to that comfortable feeling the couple was aiming for. We are suckers for black-eyed anemones and loved seeing them in the floral arrangements. The bridesmaids wore a beautiful mint green that perfectly accented the grounds at Forever & Always Farm. The color scheme was white, navy and mint, which was refreshing to see the couple opt for a non-traditional fall color palette.

After the ceremony we whisked Danielle & Stephen away for some photos around the venue and we even got some with the ever-famous Forever and Always Farm wedding Alpaca’s. Whenever we get a chance to capture a few photograph’s with the wedding alpaca’s we get a little giddy, because name something cuter than a fluffy animal in a flower crown.

The couple joined their guests for the reception. This was actually our second wedding in a row where the couple opted out of the traditional wedding cake and instead had a dessert or donut bar. Which may be slightly genius because most people like sweets but cake isn’t for everyone. The donut bar created by Go Nutz definitely catered to a variety of sweet tooth’s with a variety of flavored donuts. The couple danced into the night with guests under country stars. Sending all of the love and happiness to the newlyweds!