The first thing I always notices is that smile you see on Jessica’s face in pretty much every moment of the video. The excitement, love, and energy in her smile makes it one of the most contagious I’ve seen. The way she looks into Joe’s eyes tells you why they’re such an amazing couple. That’s love. And immense pride.

Also, if you missed it the first time through, I’d say you should re-watch this video and look at the colors! Their wedding ceremony was just packed with color! Blue sky, green grass, golds and pinks and reds. What a magical place. You’ll also notice some vintage camerawork in the video, which I added to create the feel of a classic, small town wedding. I felt like it was a beautiful addition to the fresh air of their wedding, and of course, or signature style.

A major shout out to One Love Photography for being amazing to work with (as always) and for Solage in Calistoga for being such a wonderful venue to work with! Jessica and Joe, keep those smiles goin’

Aside from being two of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet; they also have great taste in pretty much everything. The colors, setting, and little details all came together to create a wedding full of cinematic eye candy. Their wedding was held at the Brazilian Room in the Berkeley Hills, which was located a short walk from the Tilden Botanic Gardens. I have to say, those gardens were one of the most beautiful places we’ve shot in. Everywhere we looked, there was beauty.

We had the pleasure of filming alongside our fav photographer, Ashley Maxwell. As always, she rocked it! Also, we had a wonderful time working with Melissa from A Touch of Grace. Vitalie, Ted and I really appreciated everybody’s hard work in making Gabbie and Shay’s wedding the perfect day. And it was just that.

Gabbie and Shay, we’re SO happy for you guys. Congratulations on a beautiful wedding and such a strong connection with each other. Can’t wait to hear how your lives progress

We’ve done a few SF weddings, and they’re always magical.  This time, Vitalie, RJ and I got to film right on the embarcadero and in the Ferry Building (I have been wanting to shoot there for ages).  After their first look, we skipped across the water to Treasure Island where they had their ceremony and reception.  I have to say, my new favorite reception venue in the bay area is the Winery SF.  The look fit so well with the warm tones that Sandbox Love is known for, and the textures of the wooden barrels had that slightly rugged, vintage feel.

The end of our film is one of the coolest party sections we’ve ever done: slow motion, fire, and borderline crowd surfing.  When I met with Kirsten and Jon a few days before their wedding, I asked them, “On a scale of 1-10, how raging is the reception party going to be?”  They responded with a modest 7.  Ya right, this reception was one of the most high energy, rocking parties I’ve seen at a wedding.  I loved at the end, their AMAZING photographer Siang from Lightphoria, shot this amazing photo.  I’m personally in love with sparkler footage, even when it’s crazy dark out.  So cinematic.  Also, major props to their DJ Norris Lee for spinning an awesome party.

Kirsten and Jon, congrats on such a wonderful wedding and in taking the next step together.  We loved hanging out with you and learning about the story of your relationship.  Maybe it’s time I picked up guitar

Aside from being an adorable couple, they’re both super friendly. Like, really really friendly people. I think this film totally lets you see that. They’re smiling all the time and you can’t help but feel their joy when hanging out with them.

Their wedding was up at The Carneros Inn and what a cool place it is. They have these cute little industrial designed cottages that have perfectly manicured lawns, flowers, and cute little fruit trees everywhere. The weather, as you can see, was perfection. It just felt like everything was lining up perfectly for their wedding. One of the best parts of their day was their ceremony. Loved seeing all the sunshades shining as a contrast to all of the green surrounding them. That, with the pinkish colored bridesmaid dresses, made up a very cheerful color scheme. AND, their vows are way cute, especially how Betsy ends hers. Adorable.

You may be thinking, “wait, this guys looks familiar.” Well it’s probably because you’ve seen his twin brother’s wedding on the Sandbox Love Blog as well. This was the first time we’ve shown up to a wedding and been familiar with many of the guests. It was a wonderful feeling to be a trusted part of the Lee family’s wedding experience. We wish there were more twins!

A huge congratulations to Ben and Betsy. We think you guys are wonderful and we’re extremely honored that you chose us to make this film. Best wishes always!

UPDATE: Here are their wedding photos from One Love Photography on Style Me Pretty!

Suzy and Reza are the kind of people you wanna kick it with on a chill day in the park. They both have such wonderfully positive attitudes about everything. One thing I loved about their wedding was Suzy’s sense of style. First, what a gorgeous dress, eh? I love the design of it, and the way it kind of criss crosses up on her torso. Beautifulness. Oh and did you see all of those twine balls hanging on the ceiling? Suzy and Reza made each one of those by hand. They put SO much work into this wedding, and it really came out well.

You’ll also notice there is some extra footage that’s not from the wedding day. That’s from a photo/video shoot that we did with them a few weeks before the wedding. It was kind of like an engagement session, and we did it to get some sweet photos to display at their wedding, as well as to get cute bonus footage. I love the Mr. and Mrs. Tavana Converse All Stars. So stylin’.

We’ve really got to know Suzy and Reza after meeting with them a bunch, doing some shoots, and being there on the most important day of their lives. We’re soooo happy for you guys! It’s been such a pleasure getting to know you and spending all this time with you.

When I think about our experience with Amber and Jeronimo, I’m reminded of exactly how I wanted to make films with Sandbox Love. We got to hang out with Amber and Jero for the whole week before their wedding. We must have driven between Playa Del Carmen and Cancun a bajillion times, but it was all totally worth it. We got to go swimming with them, hang out on the beach, drink some cerveza’s, and really enjoy each other’s company. By the time their wedding day arrived, we were more than just a vendor at their wedding. We were pals

Major props to Vitalie and Shaun for coming down to Mexico with me. The weddings took place at a few different resorts in the Playa Del Carmen area; the El Dorado being the main one. I have so much more to say about this amazing trip, but I’m going to save it for the post of Amber and Jero’s next film which is their Signature Film. It’s astonishing.

There is one part in this film that affects me every time.  It’s the shot through the doorway of Danielle’s father taking photos of his family.  Something about seeing the whole family there, helping Danielle get her dress on, from the point of view of someone looking around a corner, really hits me.  It’s such a genuine moment where we are literally looking in on a family celebrating.

The ceremony was at the Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco; and let me tell you… walking in there was like walking into an explosion of cinematic-ness.  I mean, I was a billion percent blown away by the craftsmanship that went into designing and building that church.  We spent a good amount of time collecting footage of the location itself, because we really just HAD to.

Danielle and Dan’s reception was at the prestigious Olympic Club and was divided up into two main rooms.  The dance room was beautiful, with gorgeous skylights and a live band that rocked the house.  The dining room was lit mainly by candlelight, and all of the flickering looks pretty spectacular on video.

We also had the opportunity of shooting with the fabulous Ashley Maxwell whose passion for creating beautiful images is always inspiring.  We can’t wait to put together Dan and Danielle’s wedding featurette.  Cheers!

Allison is one of the most chill brides I have ever met.  At one point, there was a bit of tar that got on her gorgeous wedding dress.  When she was told, she shrugged and said, “Whatever, I just want to have fun today.”  Wow.  Respect.  Her relaxed attitude totally set the vibe for a wedding packed with good times.  It was very cool to see how well the two families mixed.  It wasn’t like there were two families at all.  It was more like one huge family, all there to celebrate Allison and Craig’s beautiful wedding.

The team was Nick, Rob and Me and the film was masterfully edited by Nick.  We had the fortune of shooting again with Ashley Maxwell who created some beautiful photos for Allison and Craig.  We also got to hang out with Cassie and Dan from the Los Gatos DJ Company who played one of the songs in the film.  I was taking a break, chewing on some ice (it was a hot day), and the song came on.  I started nodding my head to the beat, wondering if there was anything else that could make this wedding better.  Then the distant lights of the city started to shine, and I knew we were going to give Allison and Craig an amazing wedding film.

-Jesse

You read that right folks. My team and I have been following a week-long wedding event for Neda Rahimian and Sati Hillyer. My, what a week it has been. Take a look, I don’t think this could be more epic…

I shot this with Rob Bagot and Nick Markham. The week began with a Persian Wedding, thrown by the bride’s family in Beverly Hills. We had a great time filming with the family and I was very impressed by the beauty of the Persian ceremony. Up there we got a chance to meet Augie Chang, who absolutely rocked a photo shoot on Rodeo Drive. That night we got to experience the meeting of different cultures. The reception had many elements of a traditional western ceremony, but with the energy and enthusiasm of the Persian and Indian families.

We then headed down to San Diego where it was the Groom’s turn to host an event. Most of the guests were booked at the Westin in downtown San Diego, where my team also had the pleasure of staying. Because everybody was staying in the same hotel, both families had a chance to hang out all the time and really open up to each other. I felt like I was the luckiest wedding filmmaker in the world… seeing this occur over the week. What a story to tell!

On the day of the elephant parade, we pretty much choreographed exactly where our cameras would be and when we would reposition. I happened to be grabbing a shot while hoisting my monopod to Sati’s level when a photographer snapped this picture of me. It just so happened that the picture made it onto the front page of the San Diego Tribune.

I chose the song because it had a very energized, but also sentimental, mood to it. I felt like, at the end of this week long experience for these families, something of a bittersweet mood would be appropriate.

There is so much to tell you guys about this wedding. I’m stoked to be a part of it. Major props to Jason Dean, the event planner, who really took care of us film guys and made sure we were able to get our shots. Here is an awesome article about the wedding.