Los Angeles, CA Wedding of Gerardo + Elizabeth // The 1909 in Topanga Canyon

They knew of each other while attending Venice High School in California but it wasn’t until both ended up going to the same college afterwards that the relationship started to grow. At first they were just friends for a while, joking around in one of their classes after he finally introduced himself to her. Then they started to hang out outside of school until they naturally fell into a relationship that has lasted well over 10 years. Friends always wondered when they were finally going to get married and talked about the crazy affair it would be (he IS the label manager for a metal record label, Nuclear Blast, out of LA) but what they really wanted was far from that; and thankfully they went with their gut and snuck away to a quiet location up in the hills of Topanga Canyon, just outside of Malibu, and were married in front of just their immediate families.

But don’t get into your mind that this was a simple, plain wedding. In fact it was anything but that.

From the location of The 1909 which has grounds featuring lush trees, views of the hillside, perfectly bright green manicured lawns, a creek and an outdoor deck perfect for a wedding all the way to the details Elizabeth and Gerardo worked hard to make perfect (decadent flower arrangements, a five course Mediterranean meal, a Spanish serenade to the couple from one of the most beautiful singers I’ve heard at a wedding and a sparkling pair of Jimmy Choos on the bride’s feet) – this wedding was anything but simple. It was beautiful and so fine tuned to who they are. Gerardo changed into some t-shirts from some of his all time favorite metal bands for some of the photos and Elizabeth’s love of wine was shown in the favors to guests of specialty bottles of wine with custom labels marking their date on them along with a lovebird bottle stopper.

Oscar and I were so lucky to be a small part of this day alongside their insanely gorgeous families (Elizabeth and her sisters could easily be mistaken for models and are as down to earth as they come) and when we returned home we found that we had the most photos we have ever taken at a wedding to go through. And the light on this day?? AMAZING! California sun really does have that something special!

Congratualtions, Elizabeth + Gerardo! Your wedding was perfectly you!