Alan & Nikki's Wedding at Ten22.

Saturday was a long day for me! In the morning I spent some time in the morning at the Central Valley Cosplay Gathering (if you want to see what happened there, go to the next post!) then rushed off to cover Alan and Nikki's wedding. I started off at the Hyatt Regency to get some pictures of Nikki getting ready.

It's always a hectic time before the wedding... there is just so much to do! For the bride, hair and make-up have to be absolutely perfect. She's the center of attention, and all eyes will be on her that day. Nikki had some great help as she got ready, everyone was doing their best to prepare her for the walk down the aisle.

Even though it's a frantic part of the day, there was a lot of joy in the air as the preparations went on. To take this shot, I used my new super-wide angle Tamron lens. It can get as wide as 15mm, and is my widest lens to date. It actually turned out to be a fantastic piece of kit for me throughout the day.

Photographing the dress and shoes is an important part of wedding shoot. Getting good images of these important items is critical. I always enjoy the challenge of finding good ways to pose them given the environment that I am in. I have found that using my Sony mirrorless cameras with the talk screen on the back has been the best way to get good angles of these items. The DSLRs just can't reach the places the mirrorless can!

Nikki definitely thought ahead as she had two pairs of shoes for her wedding day. This comfortable yet stylish pair of Toms were to be her walk-around shoes after the ceremony finished. They aren't as fancy as heels, but they were appropriately blinged out enough for this day.

As Nikki got ready at the Hyatt, the wedding guests began arriving at Ten22 in Old Sacramento. Ten22 is a beautiful restaurant to host a wedding and/or reception in. The back patio is especially nice. Guests were treated to delicious appetizers and drinks while they awaited the ceremony.

The groom, Alan, was of course at Ten22 along with the guests waiting for his bride-to-be to arrive. Alan is a bit older than Nikki, but he is definitely young at heart and a really fun person to be around. He's charming and light-hearted and just a good overall guy!

Before we knew it the ceremony began and Nikki was walking down the aisle with her parents. She looked gorgeous and radiant.

Notice anything different with this picture? If you said that the men and women were in reverse, you are correct! This was something that Alan and Nikki did on purpose.

The ceremony was actually extremely short... about 15 minutes. But everything that was needed in a ceremony was there including this special combining of different sands moment. 

And here's the first kiss! A sweet moment for all married couples. You don't see it here, but Alan gives his son a high-five right afterwards. That moment can be seen in my video of this shoot down below, so make sure to give that a look!

Right after the ceremony the entire bridal party rushed out for photos. We were in the middle of Old Sacramento on a Saturday so we got a lot of looks from the people out there that day. It was all good though, so many people were congratulatory and happy to witness the new couple out and about.

We took photos as a little park area just outside of Ten22. The old buildings made a very unique backdrop for these bridal party photos. As you know from my previous shoots, I love taking photos in Old Sacramento. There are so many different backdrops available... I highly recommend it as a shoot location for photographers.

Here's a shot of Alan I wanted to include as the group shots were being taken. This shows the youthful spirit I mentioned earlier. Just an FYI, this is only one of many photos where I captured Alan being Alan!

When group photos finished up I got to spend a short time with the newlyweds capturing a few couple shots. My favorite shooting times is always when I am with just one or two people. Though we didn't have a whole lot of time, I felt we got some very memorable photos.

Food was waiting back at Ten22. There were more appetizers and then a dinner buffet. I was impressed by Ten22's selection of items at the buffet. Guests had the option of many different items including chicken, beef, and fish. There was plenty of food to go around and seconds and thirds for those who wanted it!

The ceremony continued on with speeches by the best man and maid of honor as well as Nikki's parents. Though I don't know the bride and groom as well as they do, I was able to get a very good sense of the closeness this family shares.

Alan and Nikki had a smaller cutting cake for their wedding and a buffet of different desserts as the evening wound down. Staying true to their playfulness as a couple, you can see Nikki flinging some of the cake at Alan in the image above. These guys never stop having fun!

As with many weddings, the night ended with partying and dancing. It was a great day for everyone who was at the wedding. A huge thanks goes out to Alan and Nikki for hiring me as their wedding photographer! It was a huge pleasure.

I wish them both all the happiness in the world as they begin their life with each other.

Here's my video of some of the other photos I took at the wedding. It also shows some of the gear I used as well. Please subscribe, comment, and like! Thanks!