Let it be known: Armenians know how to throw a good party. I mean, wedding. ;) What an experience! It was an honor to second shoot this fabulous Armenian wedding for the talented Jason Chan. I was fascinated by every cultural tradition that came into play – the crowning of the bride and groom, the AMAZING one-man band, the baba ganoush! But in the end what truly blew me away was the dancing. Everybody joined in, young and old. Enjoy: 
I love the details that set every wedding apart. Marissa’s beautiful dress was unlike any I had ever encountered before. 
We had a quick moment to take some first look photos by the Berkeley Marina before heading off to the church. 
I could not get over how cute he was!!! Future heartbreaker.
The ceremony took place at the St. Vartan Armenian Church in Oakland. 
Here’s something you don’t see at every wedding – the entire wedding party consisted of already married couples! Each bridesmaid/groomsman pairing was a husband and wife team. 
It was windy that day!
Favorite shot.
Arman and his mother, center stage!
Father of the groom. :)
Venues: Berkeley Marina Double Tree by Hilton, St. Vartan Armenian Church, HS Lordships
Makeup: Rhonda Cordova
Hair: Changes Salon
Flowers: Frank’s Florals
Cake: Julie Durkee at Torino Bakery
Love how the scenery mimics the colors they’re wearing (Jonny’s blue shirt and Kay’s red hair).
Did you know that there’s a winery inside the park? :) 
Super cute.
Next time you’re at the park, look out for the larger-than-life garden hose tucked away in 
Kay and Jonny will be tying the knot in May so you’ll be seeing more of them later this year!
This incredible woman believed in my success before I even knew what success was. A former pageant queen herself, Bev continued to volunteer her time and energy by training pageant contestants for their time in the spotlight. Enter… me. A very self-conscious high school senior, curious to know what the pageant world was like. I get the type of stage fright where I have to stand backstage wiping the palms of my hands on my clothes because they’re sweaty. Why in the world did I sign up??! (In retrospect, it was probably the allure of those sparkly tiaras. I adore sparkly things.)
Bev is currently the President and CEO of 
I was thrilled when Bev contacted me to update her professional headshots. (Sidenote to other entrepreneurs out there: don’t underestimate the importance of putting your face on your website! It’s a lot easier to connect to a business with a face.) We had a great time chatting and driving around South San Francisco to take these shots. The sun was shining but it was chilly that day, so Bev ended up wearing my jacket. :)
We took these shots inside Ozone Thai Restaurant in San Francisco. I love the soft window light paired with her romantic curls.
Bev changed into this STUNNING sequin dress that I am going to borrow someday.
I was so tempted to buy the fancy sprinkles at Michael’s but it was $7 for a tiny bottle! Now I know what will be on my future Christmas wishlist. Haha. 
So pretty, all in a row!
Guess whose bite marks those are. Haha. Best part of photographing food – I get to eat them! :P We used two flavors of cake mixes: red velvet and devil’s food cake (pictured above).
To store and display cake pops upright, make sure to have a few blocks of styrofoam handy! Another option is to display them face down, with the lollipop sticks pointing upward. Both ways look nice but drying them upright preserves their perfectly round shape.
I am very sorry to report that I failed to document the steps from beginning to end. In the beginning I was too excited to take photos… and by the time we were dipping and decorating, the sun had gone down and lighting was less than ideal. Next time, I promise! These cake balls are rolled by hand and made of crumbled cake mixed with frosting. They are not actually baked into balls, so the consistency is more dense and fudge-like than normal cake. For detailed instructions, check out