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August 25, 2011 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Ashley & Joseph’s Carmel wedding

At the end of Ashley & Joseph’s Carmel wedding at La Playa Hotel, we went to Carmel Beach for photos. It was a beautiful day and the beach was packed. Thousands of tourists had filled the few parking stalls and most of the available sand on the beach. After we took photos and were walking back to the newlyweds’ car, Joseph’s joy and pride couldn’t be contained — he was telling everyone we passed: “This is my new wife, I just got married!” or “Hey, this is my new wife, isn’t she awesome?!?”
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August 21, 2011 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Christine & Chris’ San Juan Bautista wedding

There was a moment near the end of Christine & Chris’ San Juan Bautista wedding reception (you can see it at the top of this blog post, actually) when the newlyweds were lost in a loving embrace in the middle of a dance floor full of guests getting down, seemingly detached from their immediate surroundings, off in their own world of bliss. It was a beautiful little moment, and evidence to me of how much fun the couple had on their big day.

And a big day it was. We started with photos at San Juan Oaks Golf Club (the reception site) in San Juan Bautista, went to Morgan Hill for the ceremony at St. Catherine’s Parish, took family photos after the ceremony, and went back to San Juan Bautista for the reception, stopping along the way for some photos by a beautiful oak tree.
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July 29, 2011 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Leslie & Ryan’s Big Sur engagement photos

Moments before we left to shoot Leslie and Ryan’s Big Sur engagement photos, I sent them some instructions via text message: “Bring some extra socks and a towel that you don’t mind getting dirty.”

They probably wondered what they were getting themselves into. The foreshadowing led into a marathon engagement session, which included standing in a river, lying in a bed of clover and synchronized jumping on a beach to produce a stop-motion video.
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July 11, 2011 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Camille & Doug’s Monterey wedding reception

On my way to Camille & Doug’s Monterey wedding reception, I encountered the worst traffic on Highway 101 that I’ve ever seen in my nine years of living in California.

The one-hour trip from my house in San Jose to Monterey took two and a half hours, including an ill-advised detour off of the highway and directly into a farmers market.

I was worried my late arrival would get things off to a bad start, but instead, I found a smiling Camille, surrounded by family, getting her hair done, telling me that it’s no problem.

The relaxed and happy mood I found with Camille and her family on the sunny deck of their Monterey hotel continued throughout the entire event. This day was a celebration of family — Camile & Doug had already gotten married in New York state and even had a second reception there. The Monterey wedding reception I was covering was the third stop on their cross-country wedding tour.
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July 10, 2011 by scottmacdonaldweddings

Annie & Mike engagement

When deciding on a location for an engagement session, the first thing I do is ask the couple where they like to go: What are they into, what kind of places reflect who they are?

For Annie and Mike I didn’t have to ask: We’re old friends, and I knew that they’re true locals of Oldtown Salinas.

Mike and I have worked together at newspapers since my very first professional job as a reporter in 1996. We’ve got great old stories of the days when we were both learning the craft, sitting side by side in the small, stuffy newsroom of a daily paper in a tiny old Florida town. We’ve both gone many other places in our careers, but we ended up in Salinas, me running the photo department and Mike running the entire newsroom.
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