Santa Cruz Mountain Wedding | Mandy & Peter

Mandy & Peter reached out to me to photograph their wedding back in 2020, and as soon as Mandy mentioned she liked the show Friends, we instantly connected.

They got married in August of 2021 at the gorgeous Sydalyn Hill, nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains. In the first picture you can see the view from the guesthouse that you can rent out for the day of the wedding! This is where the bride and her bridesmaids were getting ready on the wedding day.

It was an overcast day, so the lighting was perfectly soft and diffused. We captured all of the getting ready portraits, and then moved on to the ceremony that took place in the open field area overlooking the cascading mountains. After the ceremony, the bride and groom held a tea ceremony, where each family member greeted them for tea and gave them their gifts. It was such a sweet moment to capture.

We captured some of the bride & groom portraits on the day of, but since the couple wanted to do a tea ceremony during the cocktail hour, we actually photographed most of the bride and groom portraits the morning after at the same location. This was my first time doing this setup, and I must say, the bride and groom (and myself) were much more relaxed, and we were able to capture everything they wanted to capture without any pressure. So for anyone considering doing this, I highly recommend! I will make a separate blog post with the photos from that session as well.

The reception took place just a few feet away from the ceremony site. The wedding had a rustic aesthetic, and the colors contrasted beautifully against the green backdrop. The reception was so much fun and so energetic, that I almost didn’t even want to leave because it felt like I was attending a wedding for my friends.

Cheers again to Mandy & Peter!