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Halloween is one of those holidays that kind of takes over your life when your a parent. Lauren had no less than 8 activities last week in which she had to be dressed up and where she consumed more sugar than she had pretty much the whole rest of the year. I made a really conscious choice to be a good Halloween mom this year… something I haven’t really ever been. I made cookies, muffins, bought good candy, made soup for dinner last night so when everyone came home from trick or treating there was a warm dinner waiting for them. I felt accomplished dang it! We also went out to the pumpkin patch last week. Lauren had a great time running around, going on hay rides, feeding goats, running through the corn maze, the haunted barn and the slides. Of course we also picked out a pumpkin for carving and putting on our porch. While she did all this I hung out with sleeping Ben… the cutest sleeping baby ever.

See… CUTEST. SLEEPING. BABY. EVER!! There was lots of wacky stuff around the pumpkin patch and some REALLY beautiful sunflowers too. I loved it.

All in all, a great time was had by all! And last night was pretty great too. Lauren dressed up as Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” because she has a deep and never-ending love of all things princess. Benny dressed up as a puppy, and according to his daddy he slept for 80% of the trick-or-treating adventure around our neighborhood.

This is Lauren’s “SPOOOOOOKY” face…

This is Lauren with her “best friends” from next door. Apparently, I am hilarious to the preschool set.

And finally, here are LJ and Benny all dressed up together. Can I tell you that this picture brought back semi-tramatizing memories of when I worked in the Kiddie Kandids in Orem, Utah for three years of my college career. For three Halloweens I took pictures of toddlers holding infants dressed up in costumes that made it nearly impossible for a toddler to hold an infant. Any I made MY OWN CHILDREN do the SAME THING on my front porch! So, to all the mothers I rolled my eyes at when I was 20 I give you my deepest, most heart felt apologies… I get it now.

We hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween!

Tags: California, Roseville, Sarah Maren Photographers, Sarah Maren Photography

Oh Sara and Dustin… you are amazing and I adore you and your wedding was the BEE’S KNEES! Sara and Dustin not only have totally awesome names, but they are totally awesome people. They made loads of time for their pictures, had cool places chosen for their first look and for their bridal party pictures and basically made my job incredibly enjoyable. I LOVED this wedding! And I really, really love Sara and Dustin. I started out with the ladies at Sara and Dustin’s home.
And Dustin headed over to a hotel to capture the fellas… oh and they made a little stop at BevMo too… lucky!

Then it was first look time. Sara and Dustin chose a really lovely spot under a fabulous oak tree to see each other for the first time. It was just beautiful! I loved it.

They also exchanged gifts to with each other in front of their bridal party – Dustin gave Sara a beautiful emerald ring and Sara gave Dustin an album of images from her Closed Door Boudoir Session. Yeah… Dustin liked that a lot.

Then it was off to Sogno Winery in Shingle Springs, California to get some more pictures and oh yeah, to get these two married! Hooray!

Sara and Dustin chose to put together a box with a bottle of Sogno wine and letters that they had written to each other about why they loved each other and why they were marrying each other. The box is to be opened if they should have a hard time or on their 5th anniversary. I think it will make it to the 5th anniversary for sure.

Sara and Dustin had a super personal ceremony that was absolutely amazing to witness. They said their own vows – Dustin’s included the promise that turned into a surprise honeymoon to Peru! They also read “Oh The Places You’ll Go” so yeah… this ceremony was FULL of win! But wait! The cherry on top… after the kiss the WHOLE WEDDING PARTY (including parents!) DANCED up the aisle. It was awesome!

Then we rocked out some portraits of our happy couple in some YUMMY light before heading into their wonderful celebration.

Thank you most wonderful Sara and Dustin for being so darn delightful!! We just adore you, and feel so blessed to have been a part of your wedding. Check out their SLIDESHOW HERE or below for more pictures of their perfectly awesome day!

Wedding ceremony and reception venue: Sogno Winery
Florist: Natural Flair
Caterer – Hannibals Catering
Officiant – RoxAnn Conley of Marriage Minister
DJ - AllStar DJ
Hair & Make-up – Nicole Lara of Elite Beauty Concepts

Tags: California, Sacramento, Sacramento California, sacramento wedding photographer, sacramento wedding photography, Sara and Dustin, Sarah Maren Photography, Shingle Springs Wedding Photography, slideshow, Sogno Winery, Sogno Winery Wedding Pictures, wedding, Wedding Photography

Karen and Eric are delightful… like the kind of people you could spend hours laughing with over dinner. The kind of people you just like hanging out with. Dustin and I had a great time hanging out with them last week in San Francisco. Eric is a native San Franciscan, and it was lovely having him navigate our way through the city. We started out in Golden Gate park at the DeYoung Museum because let’s be honest, I just love that place.

Karen has the best laugh! Seriously, one of those contagious laughs that make you feel awesome, and like EVERYTHING is funny. She is like this ball of sunshine, and even though it was freezing a gray she brightened up the shoot with all that laughter. I can’t wait to see her as a bride… it’s going to be a very happy day indeed!

One of my favorite things about Golden Gate Park is how there is this wilderness just right in the middle of this city. All of this green, beautifulness. I love it.

Karen and Eric thank you so much for a delightful afternoon! You two are fantastic and we can’t wait for your wedding in just a few short weeks! Hooray! Check out their the SLIDESHOW HERE or below.

Tags: California, engagement session, Engagements, esession, sacramento wedding photographer, sacramento wedding photography, San Francisco, San Francisco Engagement Session, San Francisco Wedding Photographer, San Francisco Wedding Photography, Sarah Maren Photography

Donna and Kevin are the first of my 2011 couples to get their engagement session, and oh my gosh did they kick things off with a bang! I am so excited to be a part of their wedding next year. Donna is as avid a wedding blog reader as I am, although she’s planning her wedding, so really, she has more of a reason to stalk blogs than I do, but still I LOVE being able to say, “Did you see this post on Style Me Pretty?” or talk about all the trends that are going on in weddings. Plus, she’s a total hottie! Which is awesome since I’m her photographer and all. Plus, she is marrying Kevin or “The Man with THE COOLEST EYES I HAVE EVER SEEN!” (That is how I refer to him around the office in case you were wondering.) Plus, Kevin gets bonus cool points for popping the question to Donna in ITALY! So, Dustin and I were very excited to have an evening with these two. We started in their neighborhood in East Sac so we could include their delighful puppies. It was lots of fun!

Donna brought along this chalkboard she made so they could use the images on the Save-the-Date cards. I love how these turned out. Bringing props is one of my favorite things a couple can do on an engagement session.

After a quick change of clothes we headed over to Old Sac for a few more pictures. When we went it was apparently Gold Rush Days, and the streets of town were shut down and covered with dirt. I have NEVER been to Old Sac and had it been so empty! There were maybe a dozen people in all of Old Sac ON A FRIDAY NIGHT! It was awesome and weird all at the same time. We were chasing the last little bit of sunlight because my light clock was a little off. I didn’t shoot much this summer with the baby having I did and all, and man! I totally forgot how fast fall light goes! But Donna and Kevin were troopers and raced around to get their images. It makes me very happy that we have lots of fast lenses and camera bodies with high ISO capabilities… because even though it was getting really dark we were still able to make the pretty.

See what I’m saying about Kevin’s eyes! And then Donna has these crazy pretty green eyes… so much pretty all over the place! I love it!

Donna and Kevin thank you so much for rocking out this session! We are so excited for your big day next year! Enjoy more pictures from their engagement session in their SLIDESHOW HERE or below.

Tags: California, Donna and Kevin, engagement session, Engagements, esession, Sacramento, Sacramento California, Sacramento Photographer, sacramento wedding photographer, sacramento wedding photography, Sarah Maren Photography