A multi-cultural wedding in the woods | Katie + Gautam

I'll admit it...this wedding has an especially fond place in my heart. It could have been the perfectly sunny day, the genuine happiness of Katie and Gautam, the infusion of Indian traditions, the overabundance of heartfelt emotion from Katie's father, or maybe even the first dance being one of my all-time favorite songs from The National.  All of those things made this wedding special, but the main reason my heart does cartwheels for this wedding is because it was at Pine Rose Cabins in Lake Arrowhead, which also happens to be the same wedding venue where Will and I got married in 2010. When Katie and "G" told me they were having their wedding there, I almost DIED of excitement. I couldn't wait to be on the other side of the lens photographing the same joy I felt the last time I was there. :) Speaking of joy, Katie and "G" were two of the sweetest people I have ever had the joy of photographing. Obviously, I am not the only person who feels this way about them. This fact was made abundantly clear when I found out that out of the 150 plus people who attended their wedding, ALL of them were from out of town. I'm talking East Coast other side of the country out of town. In fact Katie and "G" live in Washington DC themselves, and their wedding day was the first time they visited their venue. Lucky for them they had me to validate it's awesomeness. ;)

Instead of a bouquet, Katie had a wreath of fresh flowers that she wore on her head. It was a perfect accent to her handmade wedding dress made on Etsy.

One of the Indian traditions they included was the baraat. It's a large procession with dancing and music (and sometimes horses and/or elephants) where the groom's family travels to the wedding venue to meet the bride's family. It's such a fun and exciting tradition to participate in.

It was so cool to see the alter covered in greenery. Since our wedding was in October, it was totally bare which gave it a completely different look then what you see below.

As you can see, the father daughter dance had EVERYONE in tears. Including me.

Congrats again Katie and "G"! Your wedding was INSANELY awesome! And I'm not just saying that because I'm bias. ;) Have an amazing honeymoon in Africa!