Veronica is an old friend and former housemate of mine, and a former coworker too. She’s kind, generous, easygoing, and very resourceful. Once, when my sister was looking for a cat to adopt, Veronica conveniently found a cat who had just had kittens (in a tree, as it happens), and thus the cat need was fulfilled by a candidate with a real sense of adventure.

She (Veronica, not the cat) is a person I’ve always held in the highest regard, so I was very pleased when she reported that she’d met her true love, and would I like to be their wedding photographer? Of course I would! They’re married now, and you will find out about that later, but first things first: the engagement session.

At the Emeryville IKEA, the Red Bats ate Swedish meatballs and stared at shoppers like we were on safari. Maybe we need to get out of town more often? Then it was down to the parking garage to meet Veronica and Omar, and off to the harbor. The sun was setting, making a painterly backdrop for our shoot, and Veronica and Omar were looking quite spiffy. I’d had way too much coffee, and I was excited by seeing my friend happy with a sweet and funny guy, so I’m afraid I babbled like a fool. Nobody seemed to mind.

I really love the last photo in this post, by Patrick. It looks like it belongs on a motivational calendar, and I mean that in the best possible way. Anybody want to come up with a self-helpy caption for it?

This post is Part 1 of a 2-part series. Read Part 1 – Read Part 2

Okay, sure, miracle is too strong a word for what happened that day. Nevertheless, I was impressed.

When Amber and Sam planned their June wedding, they weren’t anticipating rain. Rain is usually reserved for months like January, February, and March. April, yes. May, maybe. But rain in June? Here, in Santa Cruz? Highly unlikely. So it was with confidence in the prospect of lovely weather that they arranged to get married on Natural Bridges beach.

A few days before their wedding, I mentioned some weather forecasts that hinted at the possibility of precipitation on their special day. That was when Amber and Sam told us that they were getting married on that beach no matter what. They had no backup plan for the ceremony. If it rained, they would get married in the rain, under umbrellas. Could we manage that, photography-wise? Sure! we said. We’ve taken pictures at rainy weddings before.

But we don’t think it’s going to rain on us, said Amber and Sam.

I’m sure you can see where this is going. Yes, it rained that day. Not just a sprinkle, either. It poured. The sky was dark and threatening, and the whole world felt cold and wet.

Then, an hour before the ceremony was to start, the rain stopped. The clouds ceased dumping water and arranged themselves to provide a pleasingly dramatic backdrop for the vows. I breathed a giant sigh of relief because even though I CAN take photographs in the rain, I mostly prefer not to.

In addition to the weather excitement, this ceremony involved lots of things I like. Natural Bridges is my favorite beach in Santa Cruz, and I am always happy to find myself there. I loved the bridal procession that began in the parking lot near the butterfly grove and went down the road to the beach. It was led by the bride’s best friend, who played his guitar and led the bridal party in song as they marched down the hill, across the sand, and up to the altar by the lifeguard stand.

Vows, rings, and kisses were exchanged, a broom was jumped, tears were cried and then it was over. We all got into our cars to go to the (indoor) reception site, and as soon as we were in transit, the sky opened up and the rain poured down harder than ever.

But not a drop of rain fell on Amber and Sam during their ceremony. I couldn’t believe their luck.