Aileen & Ben’s Wedding at La Venta Inn and a reunion with an old friend!

I walked into the home where the bride would be getting ready and moments later I heard, “Heather! I know you!” I looked up to see a familiar face — though especially glamorous this day, she looked the very same she did when I last saw her in London 3 years ago. June and I studied together in London, and by a purely random coincidence, she was the bride’s sister at the wedding I shot with Kim this weekend! Both from colleges in So. Cal., we ended up living in the same building in Kensington and we had a blast touring the city together. Not only is June one of the sweetest girls I have ever met, but I was able to rely on her during moments of severe homesickness, as she did with me. I remember one particular conversation we had early on in our stay there… though we loved the city, we missed our boyfriends, friends and family- and just the simple familiarity of home.

I had Kim take a photo of June and I during the reception, but until I can get that from her to post, here’s a flashback photo of June and I by the River Thames the first weekend we were in London. I believe this was right after she and some of the other girls got me to eat squid, which I could have sworn was octopus!

I’m still proud of this moment. 😛

Since being home from London, I realized that going there for a semester abroad was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Not only did I learn so much about the UK, Europe and the world, I learned invaluable lessons about myself, my values and what I want from life. I was lucky enough to share the whole experience with one of my best friends, Tracy. Though we don’t get a chance to hang out as much these days, that trip together bonded us for life… mostly due to the fact that we shared a room that was barely 5 feet by 10 feet! Ugh, I don’t know how we did that!

So, needless to say, shooting Aileen and Ben’s wedding was especially fun because I was able to reminisce with June about our great time in London. Oh, and by the way, Aileen and Ben are the sweetest couple ever! One of the people June missed most during our stay in London was her sister, and now that I’ve met her I can totally understand why. She’s so sweet and so much fun. The wedding was in gorgeous Palos Verdes at La Venta Inn, a great venue that overlooks the ocean and city at the same time.

I have so many favorites from this wedding and it was difficult to sort through them. Here are those that made the blog cut! 🙂

The rings:

I love this shot of the happy couple.

Aileen is absolutely gorgeous, and when she and Ben look at each other her face just lights up!

A fun shot. Ben looks so happy.

I’m pretty sure this is my absolute favorite shot of the whole day.

A great moment of Aileen and her father walking down the aisle.

 

 

A simply happy moment during the ceremony.

The cake.

The first dance.

The lovely June and her fiance. They’re getting married next summer! Congratulations! They may even go to Europe for their honeymoon!

I just could not resist the view of this sunset.

Congratulations Aileen and Ben! — and it was so good to see you, June!