Karen L. Barnes Photography

I’ve been wanting to post this for a few weeks now, but nothing I can say will do this wedding justice. Here goes.

Sarah and Steven held their wedding at Union Station, which is my all-time favorite place to shoot. They had a small, intimate wedding, and made it deeply meaningful to everyone in attendance.

The bridal party was allowed to get ready in the bar, which had this amazing light.

Look at her. Seriously.

I am a huge fan of simple, beautiful bouquets. Sarah’s flowers were arranged by My Secret Garden of Hollywood.

Sarah’s sister was her Maid of Honor, which was appropriate since Sarah and Steven met through their siblings.

The wedding itself was held at Traxx, which is a great restaurant inside Union Station.

Okay. I go to a lot of weddings. I love what I do, and I love being able to share such an emotional day with people who I have come to know throughout our work together. But I don’t generally cry at weddings. I cried just TALKING to people about this wedding.

This is one the sweetest wedding moments I have ever seen. Sarah and Steven took the time to thank their parents for setting examples which gave them the ability to create such a loving relationship.

That moment was topped only by the vows Sarah and Steven wrote for each other. I lost it at Steven’s beginning line, which was something along the lines of, “Look, You’re my best friend.”

Married!

I love this shot. I think it’s my favorite of the day.

After the ceremony, we wandered around the station to get some photos Sarah and Steven together.

Sarah and Steven are both professional musicians and described their marriage as a “duet for life”. I like how this photo shows evidence of Steven’s role as a guitarist.

Then we returned to the reception for food and lots of wine.

The guys found a good smoking spot.

The girls let me steal them away from the party for some photos.

No, that isn’t Steven. Steven’s best man was his identical twin brother.

Cheers to you both, and I so appreciate the opportunity to share this day with you and your friends and family. Truly.

Kayniee and Kevin’s wedding ceremony was held at Wayfarer’s Chapel in Palos Verdes. There had been reports of expected rain, but it turned out to be a great spring day, with a clear view of the coast from the chapel .

Wayfarer’s was designed by Lloyd Wright, and is designed to create a feeling of being outside in a “tree chapel”. The chapel itself has a glass ceiling and walls, and is nestled amongst redwoods. It’s definitely worth a visit, if you haven’t seen it.

Kevin and Kayniee had their reception at the Renaissance in Long Beach. Their cocktail hour was held in a room that had a whole wall of windows facing the sunset, which makes for the perfect indoor photography lighting. I get a little too happy about these sorts of things.

The hotel also has these cool, colorful rugs that were great for some overhead shots of Kayniee and Kevin.

I love when couples have a cocktail hour. It gives your guests something to do while we get shots of the two of you together, and it also loosens everybody up for the reception, which means people will be ready to get up and dance, be willing to give speeches, and be generally ready to have a good time.

Kayniee and Kevin had booked this great salsa band, and had salsa instructors on hand to give the guests lessons. It was such a cool idea, and their guests loved it.

And, of course, there was DJ dancing also.

Congratulations to Kevin and Kayniee! And thanks for letting me be part of such a great evening.

Special thanks to Jeanette Sanchez, for second shooting. You were awesome, as always.