A few years ago we photographed a wedding in Daniela's family. When Daniela and Freddy started planning theirs, her cousin gave them our name.
That is how we ended up loading the car and driving south. We shoot most of our weddings and quinces around Sacramento, but we do not turn down a call from a family we already know.
Daniela and Freddy were married at Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church on Senter Road in San Jose. Walking in and recognizing faces in the pews is a good way to start a day.
What we shot, and what we did not
We did not cover getting ready that morning, and we did not pull them away after the mass for a portrait session.
That was on purpose. They told us what mattered to them: the ceremony, the families and the party after. So that is where both cameras were.
Freddy came in first, walking with his aunt. Then Daniela came down the red carpet.
The padrinos looped the lazo over the two of them, a pearl rosary with a silver crucifix. They lit the candle together. The altar was orange cempasúchil and white lilies. After the kiss at the altar, Freddy stopped her again halfway down the aisle and did it one more time in front of everybody.
The family photos are the ones that hold up
Right after a wedding, everyone goes straight to the pictures of the bride and groom. A few years later they go looking for the abuelo in the pew, the tía who flew in, the cousins standing together in a way they will not stand together again for a long time.
That is why we ask before the day who cannot be missed. For Daniela and Freddy that list was long.
Then everybody drove to Hollister
The reception was on a private ranch about an hour south. Open steel roof, concrete slab, burlap hung across the back wall, white sheets tied to the posts to cut the sun. Dry gold hills behind it and one big oak leaning in over the corner.
A mariachi band met them in the dirt lot and played them in. Later a norteño group set up a full stage with lights and a screen.
The food kept coming all afternoon. Birria and carnitas. A fruit table with piña, sandía and pepino, and a bottle of chamoy. Two guys from Robles Churros pulling churros out of the cazo in rings the size of a steering wheel.
The favor bags said "la resaca dura 1 día, los recuerdos son para siempre." Somebody in that family has a sense of humor.
