The more that I am into the height of the wedding season, the more I find keeping up with the blog challenging. I have plenty to say but, oy!, there are so many photos and choosing just the right shots for the blog from an bounty and beautiful shots is so tough! Everyone say, “Oh, poor Josef! I am wildly lucky, though, because the weddings I cover are beautiful. There is always fresh inspiration from the great and gorgeous couples, and the beautiful venues and decorating.

Next week it will be six months since I launched my blog and I just discovered we have over 300 RSS subscribers. Wow! I wonder who are all of you people?! Please leave a comment—they’re most welcome!

I photographed Caroline and Gregg’s wedding in end of June; a couple with such a positive vibe, it was hard not to be excited being around them. They also hired my brother, Alex of IQ Videography, as their videographer, so the entire IQ team was there.
The wedding took place at Hans Fahden Vineyards in Calistoga, California. It takes some imagination to realize it’s actually a vineyard because there’s so much lush greenery, hills, and a beautiful pond brimming with lily pads cattails, and koi, that it’s hard to see the vineyards. It is, however, cradled between cabernet vineyards and mountainous ridges soaring 1,000 feet above the Napa Valley. Paths meander through patches of roses and sunflowers. I’ll have to visit it again to find out where they hide the actual grapevines.

The venue was beautiful but also challenging to me to get around. The ceremony was set around the pond from one side, and the hills on another, leaving not so much space for my brother and I to move around. The unique reception area—an actual cave—the only venue I know that offers a cave as a reception area—was a little on the narrow side and a bit tricky to maneuver for shots, but well worth it because it was a stunning space. As far as I could tell, the guests were blown away when the door to the cave was opened for the first time, revealing the beautifully decorated reception. I clearly heard a loud, “WOW!” from the guests.

Guys, thank you for having our team! It was great witnessing your celebration. Enjoy the preview!

cave - hans fahden winery

cave - hans fahden winery 2