Ro and Adriana are incredible people and if possible, we recommend getting to know them. We’d met the couple several years prior at another wedding we were photographing and had spoken to them on the phone several times but never really “met” them yet. We fixed that when the two invited us to meet them in San Francisco just a few weeks before the wedding; simply to get together, have a few drinks and enjoy a delicious meal together (in no particular order). We hadn’t even been seated yet and were already enjoying our evening with them, piecing together the details and anecdotes that, as a collection comprise their story. We weren’t clock watching, but our conversations went on long enough for us to have dinner, drinks, and yes…a second dinner (although it was more of a late-night snack). A truly great evening and we couldn’t wait to see them again in Gualala. Under veiled afternoon sunlight, Adriana – in her father’s arms – walked down the aisle where she met Ro out on the bluff – a precarious finger of land jutting out into the Pacific – serving as the back yard to Ro’s family property (it’s the building in the far right of the first photo – below). The venue was beyond breathtaking and will surely leave an indelible image in the minds of all who were there that day. Gualala itself, was as significant to the weekends’ festivities as the family and friends in attendance. Straddling the Mendocino/Sonoma county line, Gualala’s proximity to San Francisco makes it the perfect spot for a weekend getaway and for reconnecting with nature. A mile and a half down the road from the ceremony site and set back in a beautiful grove of Coast Redwoods, the reception was held at the Gualala Arts Center wedding venue which is also where the rehearsal dinner had been held the previous night. A storm arrived overnight and the following morning we awoke to heavy, gray skies and delicate droplets dancing on the windows; what a peaceful and romantic way to begin this new chapter in your lives. Congratulations Ady and Ro!
A Gualala Art Center Wedding // Adriana and Ro
It would’ve been around the time that Ro – reciting his vows on the bluff overlooking Gualala – professed to Adrianna “There is no I without you” that my vision got blurry. I’m quite used to looking over and seeing Jaime all red-faced and damp cheeked during these emotional parts of the day, but me? No way, I’m far too composed for that! Turns out that I was mistaken, and the beautiful simplicity of their honest words to each other and their incessant kissing yanked me from my place of objectivity and, well… it took a few good, deep breaths to regroup.