It’s absolutely gorgeous here. Tankah is just about perfect for a destination wedding! We had a great portrait shoot with Rimma and Mark today: we found some interesting ruins as well as a cenote (underground cave with water) as settings for the shots. The plan was to just drive around and take photos at all the interesting spots we come across.

The wedding will take place on Saturday, but for now, here’s a sneak preview to their super stylish San Francisco civil ceremony which took place on Monday of this week:

Natasha

We took photos of Lana and Igal’s wedding a couple of weeks ago at the gorgeous Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. I just looove shooting there as it offers endless opportunities for fun and creative pictures. We spent some time in the grand lobby, then moved on to the narrow halls and dark staircases, and finished upstairs in the room. I feel like we could spend a few more hours or maybe even days taking pictures there :)

I just fell in love with this ceremony room! A beautiful white chuppah was standing surrounded by light from almost every site and felt so tranquil and airy!

I don’t think anybody was expecting this to happen! Igal just grabbed his wife and ran away with her :) It was the most creative recessional ever!

Breathtaking views from the 24th floor reception room!

What an adorable bunny! :)

Congratulations to Lana and Igal! Thank you for asking us to capture your beautiful day.

Natasha

I guess the Russian calendar is a bit behind on the majority of religious Christian holidays because today we celebrate Russian Orthodox Easter! The holiday starts with a forty-day super strict Great Lent (which the majority of people tend to skip nowadays) and then a beautiful midnight mass at the church.

One of the main traditional foods during Easter is colored eggs. It was a very fun activity to paint them during my childhood and it’s still a lot of fun!

Happy Russian Easter Everybody!

Natasha

I know for sure that at this point some of our friends and clients are actually betting on what’s going on with us and what are the huge news we’re going to share :) Well … all bets are off now and I’m about to say it - WE ARE ENGAGED!!! Sorry for all the people who thought something different and probably lost some money :)

I really thought that being surrounded by brides, wedding vendors, locations, flowers, bridal parties and all the wedding talk all the time I’d be much better prepared to become engaged. Also, with Mike being honest and not sneaky at all I always thought that I would know exactly when he’d start planning the proposal. Well, I was wrong! Mike took me completely by surprise and till today I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night just to find the ring on my finger and realize one more time that this is not a dream.

Love my new ring:

So here’s how it happened:

As some of you might know my parents are here visiting us for a month from Russia and living with us for the past three weeks. Mike and I are really used to the serene silence of our apartment while we sit behind the computers whole day long, so it’s been kinda crazy having two more people around. Anyway, March 31st was going to be our 4th anniversary with Mike, but between the preparations for his big birthday this year and my parents’ visit, I didn’t think of it much and was going to celebrate it by having some tea and cake at home. I know it’s kinda lame and not at all romantic, but I was tired!

So on Tuesday the 31st my parents and I decided to go shopping in San Francisco. Right before we left Mike told me that he’s going to pick us up from the city to go to our favorite restaurant by the park - Park Chow - to celebrate the occasion. I got very excited as we both looove this restaurant; but I still couldn’t even guess what was coming!

Mike picked us up after long day of shopping around Market and Union Square; we were hungry, exhausted, and could barely walk. In the restaurant, between me being very tired and us having to translate the whole menu to my parents I didn’t notice how super nervous Mike was; he wasn’t himself at all, was talking non-stop and didn’t even touch any of the delicious appetizers we ordered! Then, right after we finally got our orders and lifted our forks, Mike started saying a toast at the end of which he asked my parents for their permission to marry me! Our jaws just dropped to the floor! Mike did a beautiful job saying the whole nerve-wreaking toast in Russian so my parents would understand him! Then my dad looked at my mom and in complete shock said: “What’s the proper answer in this situation?” I have to admit that during the whole time while Mike was talking to my parents I felt a bit left out and was thinking “what about me? so my opinion doesn’t matter?” :)

Then out came a beautiful red box and in the next second Mike was on his knee in front of me, asking me to marry me! It all was so much like a dream, I was crying and couldn’t even see what he put on my finger! I guess with my dad sitting there in shock and my mom and I crying it was an interesting scene, so the waitress came to ask if everything was OK! I guess she might have thought that we really didn’t like the food that she just brought us! :)

The rest of the dinner went with me staring at my beautiful new ring in complete disbelieve, my mom tearing up non-stop and my dad nervously finishing up his dinner portion and then my mom’s :) The only person who could finally relax was Mike who was able to finally eat without the pressure of the huge secret on his shoulders and the weight of the ring in his pocket!

It’s been two weeks. Most of our friends already know as it slowly becomes a reality. I feel so lucky and blessed to have Mike in my live, to share everything we have and to work together! I’m still shocked that he knows me so well; I would not be able to plan a more perfect proposal for myself, everything from the ring he gave me to the place he picked for it was just perfect! And it meant so much to me that my parents, who are usually so far away, got to share that moment with us!

Mishka, I love you so much and just cannot wait to become your wife!

We’re going to start planning the wedding now. Any advice would be appreciated as I don’t even know where to start :) To publicly answer the two questions we get asked all the time now: no, we still have no idea when and where the wedding will be and no, we don’t know yet who’ll be shooting it (although I have a couple of uber-talented photographers on my mind :)

Natasha