Mendocino Wedding

I couldn’t think of a dreamier friend or client than Courtney and Kellen . There’s so much talk in this industry about “ideal clients”. What makes Courtney and Kellen “ideal” is their heart, their love and, their kindness to everyone around them including me; greeting me with hugs and openness made me feel as if we were longtime friends. Their love and tenderness towards each other and their absolutely unique style and personality made them a dream to document and be around.

Courtney and Kellen had their wedding this week at a beautiful Historic Weller House in Fort Bragg, California. Courtney and Kellen have been together for 10 years and they always knew that they were destined to be together, they met while working at the hair salon together. Last year Courtney had a spinal cord injury but on her elopement day she danced and hiked and popped champagne; throughout the wedding day she didn’t complain once. Not during the crazy wind storm, not when she had pain, not when we had to change plans because the original location was busy.

  Their beautiful ceremony was held in the backyard garden of the historical Airbnb in Fort Bragg and was witnessed by her closest family and friends. The Airbnb was gorgeous, with its 7 bedrooms 7 bathrooms, and 900-foot ballroom where they had their first dance to the song from “Beauty and the Beast” a family member officiated their ceremony, and, after their first dance, we adventured along the coast of Mendocino.

There’s a certain point with photography where you know when not to direct your client, Courtney and Kellen needed no direction and, I mean almost zero, this was the most hands-off wedding I’ve ever shot. Being with your partner for 10 years is no small feat and Courtney and Kellen have been dealt a harder hand than most of us, but their love was strong, and true and memorable and I hope my work can convey a minuscule amount of the depth of their love.

Congratulations!