We had an amazing day photographing the nuptials of Rachel and Rob at the Jefferson Street Mansion in Benicia. The weather was gorgeous and the setting incredible. Rachel and Rob wanted to take a lot of their photos before the wedding so we staged a "first look" inside the mansion. Finishing much of the wedding photography before their ceremony can help free up some of the time after. Not all couples want there wedding photographer to do that, but in this case it worked quite well. To pull off the first look we positioned Rachel behind the large and beautiful draperies and then she revealed herself to the groom by peaking through. It was a unique first look and it photographed quite well. With this out of the way, we took the bride and groom around the building both inside and out to create some wonderful images for them throughout the Jefferson Street Mansion. We had also photographed the both the guys (groomsmen) and the brides attendants before. One of the things we love about shooting weddings at the Mansion is that there are great wedding photography locations both inside and outside. Doing the first look using the beautiful draperies was actually suggested by coordinator at the Mansion. We have found the people who work to be very helpful to us as wedding photographers. They provided us with ideas and suggestions on how to best work at the mansion. It is rare to work with a wedding venue that really works with the vendors to make the wedding the best it can be.
With the First look Bride and groom photos completed, we headed to a nearby church in Benicia to cover the ceremony. Once the ceremony was complete we took the entire wedding party to the Benicia shoreline close to the Marina. As luck would have it, sunset was upon us! We quickly took advantage and we were able to get some nice sunset shots of the bride and groom. After some fun shots of the wedding party, we returned back to the Jefferson Street Mansion for their reception celebration. They do a very nice job here with party aspect of any wedding. They make it fun and work closely with the couple to make their special day memorable.