Ann and Clinton are two of my absolute best friends in the world.

Guess who has always wanted to get married in the Azores.

Ann called me about four weeks before take off to tell me that it wasn’t a dream anymore……. “We leave in 4 weeks, you in?”      Twenty minutes after I get off the phone I’m at the post office with my passport application.  To be able to share an adventure like this with four friends was the chance of a lifetime. We had our very good friend Erin, who was going to be giving the ceremony. Then we had another, and equally awesome, Ann L., who would be doing some video.  The rest was to be determined. No plan. No worries. We’ll figure it out when we get there.

Well, she did. Ann is a rock star. By the end of day two, she had a cake being made, 4 potential wedding sites, dinner reservations for a reception, flowers being made, and any other potential detail you could think of was already covered….. oh, and did I mention she managed to meet the president of Faial somewhere in their as well….. seriously. Everyone was down for whatever, whenever.

So here I find myself on a beautiful island in the middle of the Atlantic, with a bunch of my very best friends, a volcano and my camera……..

This post is of and for Ann & Clinton. I am honored to have been able to spend this week with you.  Thank You.

This is Manuel Brum’s garden. He was an amazing and hospitable host and was gracious enough to do a lot for us. He has a sick garden.

Who let Clinton drive?

fashion shoot

not one of his better ideas

I think it was pretty much a given that Caldeira was where the ceremony had to be.  To walk up to the edge of such a majestic thing is absolutely breathtaking.  It is impossible not to be affected by it.  We were all like little kids, running to and fro, in total disbelief of where we were. I was absolutely awe inspired.

“Just take one big step back”

I spent half the trip hanging out the window by the waist.

Ann wanted to find where her father had grown up on the island. On the way down from the mountain we saw an older couple walking. Ann stopped and asked them if they might have known her father. Well, they did. They hopped in the van and brought us to the house. It ended up being the house who’s driveway we had just turned around in.. There were a lot of really awesome coincidences on this trip.

The Big Day.

I never get to do getting readies with the girls.

Gorgeous.

He cleans up pretty nice.

what handle?

We couldn’t not go back to Manuel’s garden in the wedding dress.

badass.

The other beautiful Ann on the trip.

Erin and Ann. We did not stop laughing til we had to get on the plane home….. then we began to cry.

Really?! Thank you guys for trusting me, being down for whatever and caring as much about getting the shot as I did.

Horta didn’t know what hit them.

The aisle shot.

When we got to the rim of the volcano the temperature dropped to about 40 and the wind started blowing hard. Ann elected for a short and sweet ceremony and a quick retreat, but determined none the less to have it on the volcano.

The wedding party.

The wedding photographer.

We had a delicious and relaxing meal at an amazing restaurant followed by cake and champagne.

They did their first dance in the abandoned stone house next to where we were staying.

I spent a few days in San Francisco earlier in the year. I fell in love. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. If I could have, I would have called home, had a few boxes sent my way and hunkered down as a proper west coaster….. Art everywhere, on walls, in shops, on the ground, on people. Unique, hip, nice, open people everywhere. Great food, easy transportation, and close proximity to some of the most beautiful natural landscapes I have ever seen.

The only down side, is there isn’t one. Everything is uphill. Doesn’t matter which way you are heading or if you are going back to where you just came from, it will in fact be uphill both ways. A land our grandparents have told us about as children and we all thought was an exaggeration.  A place where  school was uphill both ways, often barefoot and in the snow. A place we all thought was a scary story old people told to make us appreciate the bus, or to make us go out and shovel on snow days.  Nope, they just all grew up in SF.

I’ve been pretty uninspired to post photos because every time I do,  I look at the post and think to myself,  I liked it better before I had to size it down to a postage stamp. Those days are over my friends. They may say bigger isn’t better but I don’t think they were  talking about blogs. This is still a work in progress so you will see some changes as we go, but for now……….

big up Frisco!

this dog was awesome.

self portrait

rockin out against prop h8te

no Officer,  I didn’t realize how far out the window I was hanging, I promise I’ll go slower next time.

it’s sunny right behind me, seriously

my partner in crime

Napa

still foggy

I love Pitcher Plants, they eat things alive

an amazing trip.