Talk about it being a small world. We first met Kelsey Schmidt when she was a bridesmaid in Yesenia & Duane Miller’s Wedding In October, 2009. Yesenia is Myra Harbour from Celebrate’s daughter. Kelsey’s mom Cindy Schmidt was also our granddaughter Lilly’s kindergarten teacher at Old Orchard at the time. Cindy told me at Yesenia & Duane’s wedding that she thought a proposal was on the horizon and that we would be talking soon- because she knew only three things about Kelsey’s wedding for sure…1- that it would be to Christopher Yonan, 2-that we would be the photographers, and 3- that Myra from Celebrate would be doing the invitations and flowers. The where and when were unknown at this point. The proposal came soon thereafter and we had the pleasure of planning together for the next year.

We were thrilled when they selected Ponte Vineyards in Temecula as the venue for this destination wedding. We headed to Temecula on Friday to scout the location and get ready for the big day. It was everything you could possibly imagine; almost like a dream come true. From the beautiful suite of rooms at the South Coast Winery Resort next door to Ponte, to the details (check out the Mrs. Yonan custom hanger and the Mr. & Mrs. signs on the back of their chairs), to the spectacular flowers from Celebrate, along with two of the most appreciative, delighted families and one of the most outgoing, fun loving bridal parties we have seen; it was an amazing weekend. We ran into couples whose weddings we are doing in the upcoming year, lots of old friends and clients who we didn’t even realize knew Kelsey & Chris, and met lots of new friends. We hated to go home when it was over and look forward to sharing the memories with this wonderful group. The comments on the first Facebook image post we did were very touching to us. After thirty years of wedding photography we are thrilled to be so excited about what we do and have our client’s share their delight with us. Thank you all from all of us at R & R Creative Photography!

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