Amy and Michael wanted to have an informal, unpretentious celebration with their family and friends and treasured having their loved ones involved with their wedding. Michael's sister was the officiant, their reception was held at Cigar Bar & Grill, owned by a friend of the couple, and a friend, who owns Sixth Course, made their dessert bar. The whole day was a product of things near and dear to them. One of the coolest aspects of their wedding was that the ceremony was held in Gold Street alley way, a long beautifully textured brick corridor where the couple has walked by countless times. We also got to snap pictures from their apartment rooftop and Cigar Bar's rooftop, getting cool shots of the San Francisco skyline, the city that they called their home. It was especially special to us that they got ready together in their own apartment. We absolutely love when couples get ready in their home because we get to see their element, document their favorite nicknacks and everyone is comfortable and at ease.

Svenja, from Chestnut and Vine, helped Amy and Michael conceptualize the design for their event. They established an urban fiesta theme filled with fun, colorful and festive floral decor. The theme was tied in with tapas based off the menu of Cigar Bar. It was incredibly lovely to work with such warm, inspired, and kind people! Enjoy!

Photography by Jerry, Ingrid and Austin.

Some more lovely details from their colorful festive wedding!

venue: Gold Street Alley Way & Cigar Bar and Grill // wedding dress: Judd Waddell // shoes: Jimmy Choo // hair & makeup: Katie Nash Beauty // flowers: Chestnut & Vine // cake: Sixth Course // dj: Love in the Mix // catering: Cigar Bar and Grill

Colin and Yuki got married at Foreign Cinema, and if you follow our blog, you'll know that it's one of our favorite places to shoot. Ambrose and Katharine were able to get some very cool creative shots there, even though we've shot there many times before. Foreign Cinema was the perfect place for Colin and Yuki because they wanted a wedding that would be easy to plan since Colin lived 6,000 miles away from the venue! The folks over at Foreign Cinema took care of a lot of the nitty gritty planning as well as had an awesome menu that the couple was already familiar with. (Get the fried chicken!)

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATHARINE AND AMBROSE

Some thoughts from Colin and Yuki:

"The overriding feeling from the day is of time flying by, despite people telling us this in advance it was still difficult to be in the moment and enjoy the day. Having said that, a couple of things which stick out were: the excellent speeches by our friends and family; just about managing the first dance without laughing too much or falling over each other; the awesomeness of the food; receiving the longest receipt we've ever had from the venue at the end of the night and still being under the minimum!

We met almost exactly 3 years before we got married at the wedding of one of Yuki's high school friends to one of Colin's university friends in Los Angeles. The groom told Colin in advance of the wedding that he would have no chance with Yuki as she was too much of a 'high flyer'. This led to Colin carrying Yuki's suitcase for her when he first met her, engaging her in witty repartee at the rehearsal dinner, and working his general English charm at the wedding itself, which resulted in us sitting up talking until dawn the day after the wedding. As Colin was living in the UK at the time, he had to fly home the day after the wedding, but we kept in touch and met again in Yuki's home of San Francisco around a month later. We continued to email twice daily, text each other a lot, speak through video calls once a week and meet up on roughly a monthly basis throughout the next 3 years, usually alternating who had to travel.

We went to Paris between Christmas and new year last year, where Colin proposed in a typically ill thought through manner, which resulted in Yuki initially questioning whether he was serious, before fortunately saying yes."

Details from their day:

venue: Foreign Cinema, San Francisco, CA // wedding dress: custom made // groom suit: Selix // hair pieces: handmade by friend // hair & makeup: Pretty Parlor SF // bridesmaid dresses: Alfred Angelo // dj: Trevor- Santa Cruz DJs // invitations + paper goods: Paperless Post // catering: Foreign Cinema // cake: Foreign Cinema // flowers and decorations: Katharina Stuart Floral Art and Design

Gold Street Alley | Cigar Bar & Restaurant | San Francisco | Wedding | Amy + Michael

Foreign Cinema | San Francisco | Wedding | Yuki + Colin