A Fairytale Wedding in San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano Wedding Photographer | Casa Romantica Wedding
What more could a bride to be ask for? Three perfect beginnings to her wedding day. A Monique Lhuillier wedding dress, Badgley Michka heels and a wedding ceremony at one of California’s most beautiful Mission churches: at the Mission Basilica, in San Juan Capistrano.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You can spend all the money in the world on a wedding. Pick the prefect dress, the prefect rings, the prefect tux, the perfect venue and the dream team to design it for you. You can even have perfect weather. I’ve seen it done a number of times where the wedding is in excess of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars but it ain’t got no soul.
Natalie & Fabio’s Fabulous San Juan Capistrano Wedding and Casa Romantica Wedding Reception
Then there are weddings that you attend and leave feeling like a changed person. Like something magical happened that evening. You are witness to special bonds and meaningful relationships that family and friends share openly. Natalie and Fabio’s San Juan Capistrano wedding and Casa Romantica wedding reception was one such day. A special time, full of riotous laughter, soft kisses, familial closeness and tears of joy, heartfelt meaningful words and laughter. Lots of laughter and song. These are the things that money can not buy. You’ll see it in the wedding photographs. It’s the capturing of emotion and natural beauty that you’ll see here. It’s stuff you just can’t fake.
.Two of my favorite images of the day. Fabio is a total crack up. He is the Joker. Natalie is wearing a beautiful Monique Lhuillier wedding dress and Badgley Mischka heels.
I’ve visited quite a few Missions across California. I think the Mission San Juan Capistrano is the Jewel.
Fabio and his groomsmen share a close bond. His best man is whispering something in his ear. And I love the expression on Fabio’s face the first time he sees Natalie that morning, walking down the isle.
Thank you for not being serious: Natalie and Fabio smiling at their family and friends. By the way, it seems that the Mission has undergone a kinder, gentler approach. I noticed a new Father delivering the service and a new church lady who’s disposition was sunny rather than stormy. The Father was smiling just as big as Fabio. You would have thought it was he who was being wed.
The cutest little ring bearer and flower girl.
I’ve got to hand it to Natalie and Fabio, they timed their day perfectly and left plenty of time for their family portraits, their bridal portraits and at least thirty minutes for the Bride & Groom Day of Session. 
Her Grandfather to the left….maybe praying that her marriage lasts as long as his 60 plus years. Fabio’s mom to the right. She gave birth to 9 children and is still as skinny as ever. Love her purple outfit and her slam’n matching heels. And oh yeah, her beautiful red hair.
The Importance of Family Portraits on Your Wedding Day
Fabio confided in me that his dad has been wearing the same suite for 30 years. I still think it is stylish. Don’t know if I could pull it off, but he sure does. And it matches perfectly with his mom’s uhhh conservative outfit. I’m showing the same family image twice for a reason. Too many wedding photographers IMO, I feel, don’t do justice to family portraits. They are often rush through them and too often, no thought is given to how to make each person look their best, and how to make the family grouping look its best. Family portraits don’t need to be stiff like deer in the headlights either. Its no accident that everyone always looks great in my family portraits. I talk and joke with them as I’m photographing, making sure that they are comfortable and at ease. I take the time to position family members so that they not only look good but also feel comfortable. I want them to look at their portrait after the wedding and think: “These are the best portraits I’ve ever had made of me.”
On their daughter and son’s wedding day, Mom, Dad and the family takes the time to look their best. As their wedding photographer I make sure that I take my time to make the best portrait of them that they’ve ever had. Family wedding portraits are important, they are a time capsule of how the family looked, and what emotions they were feeling on one of the most important days of their lives and have significant value today but will mean even more in the future than they do on the day their portraits were created. 
There was no shortage of gorgeous ladies in the bridal party and no shortage of laughter and horseplay from the groomsman.
Another one of my favorite images is their kiss with the repeating arches taken on the inside courtyard of the Mission San Juan Capistrano.
I love the flower and sliver beading details and the way the silk gathers at her waist on Natalie’s Monique Lhuillier gown. 
Fabio, enjoying a quick bite. 
Sporting some stylish Badgley Mischka’s, a perfect match to her wedding gown. 
Casa Romantica | Sweeping Vistas of the Pacific Ocean
This year I was fortunate to photograph twice at the Casa Romantica. The Casa has already won a place in my heart as a darling of a venue in San Celemente. Sweeping views of the Pacific and stunning old world Spanish architecture makes Casa Romantica a timeless and intimate wedding retreat.
