An Unforgettable First Look with a Fantastic San Francisco View

I’m so in love with this “first look” that I just had to make a separate blog post!  Our story begins with a unique engagement while on vacation in New Zealand.  The soon to be bride’s heart was racing so fast in relief that there were no spiders in the hot pink bird’s nest (randomly sitting in the middle of a hiking trail), she almost had a heart attack when she saw what was actually inside it- A beautiful emerald and diamond ring that belonged to the groom’s grandmother.  Still recovering from the shock,  Lily took in Mike’s proposal which she later said was made up of the most amazing and touching words anyone has ever said to her.

After this unique beginning, the hot San Francisco couple found a way to create a destination wedding in their own back yard.  Bride Lily Rich and groom Mehran Mirshahzadeh chose the perfect venue to represent their love of animals and adventure- San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences 

The Bride  wore a rose covered wedding gown from  Priscilla of Boston.  Wedding Jewelry was generously borrowed from Appleblom Jewelry Company.  Makeup by Sharona did an awesome job on her makeup which coordinated perfectly with the jewelry and fall colors.  I have more vendors to mention in the next post, but the one person who deserves to be named twice is Lily’s mother,  Andrea Rich.  She hand made a ton of the details, starting with this awesome wood-cut invitation with two octupus.

As the couple wanted to take pictures together before the ceremony, we decided to do the “first look” on the roof top of their home facing the beautiful Marina.  As you can see, the lighting was perfect and I have so many amazing shots of the bride before we brought the groom to her!  So I posted several:)

To Be Continued!