Jacob Cabral Photography

Leanne and Joe finally did it! After 12 years of dating, they decided that it was time to tie the knot. The ceremony was held at the National Shrine of St. Francis de Assisi in San Francisco and the reception at Mill Valley Community Center. Here is the blog of their beautiful day!

Joe and I go way back…all the way back to middle school! Since then he was always been known to be chill and artsy. Joe and I would always be writing graffiti in our black books, I was really inspired by his art and the type of person he was! Unfortunately, Joe and I would attend different high schools, but we kept in touch over the years. However, on his journey through high school is when he met the love of his life, Leanne. This was back in 2008! The first time I met Leanne was during our consultation, a few months before their wedding. During our meeting, I learned why she and Joe were so perfect together. Their vibe together was so ‘laxed and soulful. By soulful, I mean that it felt comfortable just sitting down with them. It was clear why they were together for so long!

The day of the wedding was nothing but perfect. At first, it was predicted to have heavy city traffic due to Chinese New Year parades and some rain. Fortunately, this was not the case! Commuting in downtown San Francisco was a breeze and the weather turned out to be sunny throughout the whole day. When my team arrived at the hotel, everything went smooth. Leanne was in her chair finishing up and Joe and the groomsmen were ready to go. Before taking the bridesmaids pictures, I was able to get some nice detail shots of Leanne’s dress by using the spiral staircase the in the lobby! Spirals are a good way to direct focus on an object. After the getting ready photos, we moved to Fort Point for first look pictures.

Leanne and Joe decided to do a first look before the ceremony rather than at the ceremony. Being that this was my first time doing something like this, I was very excited! No other place to do it than Fort Point, a historic fort right underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. The brick architecture, courtyard, and amazing view of the Bridge was a very good location for bridal party pictures! With its unique architecture, I was able to use my wide-angle lens to make the building look even bigger. While doing the first look, it was a magical moment. Every tourist visiting the site was filming the moment Leanne tapped Joe on his shoulder to turn around. When they finally looked at each other, everyone clapped and cheered. It was a movie-like moment.

The ceremony was held at the National Shrine of St. Francis de Assisi in San Francisco. With its white columns and Gothic-like style, the church had a very Italian feel to it. Additionally, it had a choir’s balcony!

When taking Joe and Leanne’s pictures at the vista point in Marin, the wind and sunlight was perfect. The wind was blowing with enough pull to Leanne beautiful, long veil while the sun was low enough to not overpower the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. During their shoot, a lot of visitors and tourist were amazed at how Joe and Leanne looked. A lot of them were even taking pictures!

At the Mills Community Center, the stylist and wedding planner’s set up was done very well. It had a very deco-art style. During the reception, I had an off-camera-flash to one side of the dance floor. This made the room look even bigger and had a dramatic setup to this art-deco like room.

Towards the end of the night after the dancing, Joe and Leanne decided to do a “sparkler send-off” to top it off! Though everyone was excited and tipsy, it was fun setting everything up with all the energy. As the couple went running down the tunnel of candles, I was thinking to myself how happy I was to see an old friend of mine meet the love of his life. I was happy that Joe and Leanne have found each other. I was happy to see that this type of love is possible. I was happy to be there.

I wish that I can wish you the best, but I don’t have to because I, like everyone of your friends and family, know believe in you two. Congratulations on tying the knot after 12 years!