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Yesterday, I posted the first half of Paul and Lorena’s wedding at the historic Mission in San Diego.  After their ceremony and formal portraits with family and their bridal party, Paul and Lorena’s guests were welcomed to the reception at Candelas Restaurant on Coronado Island.  During cocktail hour a full mariachi band played for guests on the outside deck.  The mariachi then lead Paul and Lorena into the restaurant for their first dance.  I love to see the emotional moments of the day for newly wed couples, and for Lorena, it was when she entered the restaurant to the sounds of the mariachi with all her guests cheering and applauding.  After toasts and dinner, another emotional dance with her father followed and finally, dancing dancing dancing!!!  The restaurant was barely large enough for all of Paul and lorena’s guests, but tables were pushed out of the way, and everyone crammed the dance floor.  It was by all accounts a fantastic, emotional and fun night!

Click on the large image above, or any of the thumbnails below to view the images from Lorena and Paul’s reception, and to see the first half of the day, click here to jump to yesterday’s post!

Family and friends click here to view all the images from their wedding day.

I met up with Lorena and her girls at the beautiful Porto Vista Hotel in the Little Italy area of San Diego where they were getting ready.  Two floors up and on the opposite side of the hotel, Paul and his guys were finishing up their preparations for the day.  Lorena grew up in San Diego, but now lives in San Jose, so when Paul and Lorena were planning their wedding, they did most of their planning by surfing the internet.  They found my photographs of Jennifer and Doug’s wedding which was actually the first wedding the Porto Vista Hotel ever hosted.  After that we spoke on the phone, and then I flew to San Francisco to photograph their engagement photos at the incredible Palace of Fine Arts on what simply had to be the windiest day of the year! It was a great opportunity to meet them though and get to know them a bit in person before their wedding.  When I arrived and started to photograph Lorena and her girls getting ready, one of the things I always do is look for details.  Details at a wedding are so important because so much time and thought goes into the feel of the day, and what impression the couple wants their guests to have … whether elegant,sophisticated, rustic, or any other feel, the details are what sets the tone for the day, so when I saw Lorena’s beautiful flowers, Blue Manolo Blahnik shoes, and Vera Wang gown, I knew this was going to be a beautiful and elegant affair.

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While I was busy photographing Lorena and her girls preparations for the day, my good friend and fellow photographer Kevin was upstairs with Paul and his guys as they finished getting ready, and shot a few portraits around the hotel before heading out to the Mission.  After the girls were ready, and in the limo, Kristy and I headed out to the Mission to meet up with Kevin, and Paul.  As the guests arrived, we planned our strategy for photographing their ceremony.  With only one main aisle and limited access to the altar having three of us at the ceremony was almost critical.  Kristy took the snipers nest … umm … I mean the choir loft, while Kevin took the side of the altar and I roamed as much as I could around the rest of the Mission during the ceremony.  After their vows, we took some time with their bridal party around the grounds of the Mission, and then spent some time alone with just Paul and Lorena before heading to Coronado for their reception.   The first half of their day was amazing, and was just the prelude to the fun we had at their reception.  Tune in tomorrow for lots of dancing and emotion on the blog when I post part 2 of Lorena and Paul’s wedding!

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Click on any of the images above to view a handful of images from Lorena and Paul’s getting ready at the Porto Vista Hotel, and ceremony at the historic San Diego Mission.

Family and friends and visit Pictage to see all the images from their wedding by clicking here. 

Vendors:

Hotel: Porto Vista Hotel

Ceremony: The historic Mission in San Diego

Reception: Candelas Restaurant on Coronado Island

Flowers: Flora Glamor