Spanish Hills

Kristen & Trenner were married last month at the beautiful Spanish Hills Country Club in Southern California. I love this venue because it's perched on top of this beautiful hill and always has the most spectacular light.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day:


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Their Team:
Sweet Tooth : Skiff Cakes
Doll Me Up : Tara Fontana, Fairytale Hair and Makeup
Petal Diva :  Allison Friedman, These Buds a Blooming
Sounds Good : Bruce Barrios Brandell Productions
Bridesmaids Dresses : Seamstress, Mrs. Hokkyo,
San Ramon, CA  (415)-833-8473
Invites : Akemi Designs




Our New Studio!!

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Now Booking Santa Barbara Mini Photo Session

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Featured on the Knot!

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I'm so excited to hear that Karen & Joey's wedding from last year will be featured on The Knot Real Weddings!  I'll be sure to post a copy of the layout as soon as it is published.

But since I couldn't wait to share the news, I've attached a few of my favorite images from the day.

Karen & Joey got married at the coolest venue, this 100 year old rustic farmhouse in the back country hills of Santa Barbara.  It was quite the trek to get there, over 45 minutes from the closest town, but so worth the drive.

The other neat part about the venue was that Karen & Joey rented to whole house (with hot tub included!) for the whole weekend. Allowing a bunch of their friends to spend the weekend at the farmhouse with them.

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The Details:
Location: Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse
Florist: Kaleidoscope Flowers
Caterer: Creative Services Catering
Venue can host up to 200 guests, with 7 beds available.

We've Been Certified By Here Comes The Guide!

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This year, Dia Rao Photography was certified by Here Comes The Guide!   
You can view all of the wonderful comments our previous clients and other wedding event professionals shared with them in confidence, by clicking on the previous link.

If you don't know of it already, it is a fabulous website and magazine publication and wonderful resource for those planning a wedding.  They specialize in wedding site and locations, but they also review and do extensive background and reference checks on each vendor listed on their site.  They personally call and e-mail over 25 event professionals, as well as previous clients that you have worked with to collect feedback on each vendor they list.

We are also excited to announce that we've been featured in last months blog as new vendors to the Bay Area!

Thank you to everyone for all of your nice comments and kind words!

Happy Holidays,
Dia



HCTG

Sayulita, Mexico

We're back from Sayulita, Mexico. Patrick and I had an amazing time photographing Julie & Andrew's wedding, and spending the rest of the week exploring this little town.  It was a great trip, and thank you to everyone that we met a long the way.

Believe it or not, Patrick went to school with one of the groomsmen and we didn't even know he was going to be there. It just reminds you what a small world we live in!

We didn't have phone, tv, or internet for a whole week!  It was great to disconnect from the world for a week, and remember what it was like pre-cellphone and internet!

Here are a few of my personal favorites from the trip. We ended up renting a jeep the last day to explore San Francisco, the little town north of Sayulita, and also we drove down to Punta Mita and had dinner at the Four Seasons. Talk about luxury, the beach at the Four Seasons was so incrdibly manicured, I think they must have combed it everyday! You can see they have the most beautiful infinity pool. Us copy


Also, I thought I'd share a sneak peak of some of the wedding photos. The ceremony was at Don Pedro's Wedding Palapa up on the hill just past our hotel, the Villa Amor, overlooking the town. It had the most beautiful 180 degree views of the ocean and hills. 

They even offer yoga up at the wedding palapa, and I was totally stoked to do my first outdoor yoga with such a great view.

Our first night there, we had dinner at Don Pedro's on the beach, and were suprised to see our waiter, Ruben and the rest of the waiters working as the catering staff at the wedding the next night!

I also want to thank Andria and her assistant of Sayulita Dream Weddings for all of their help the day of. There's a small photo of Andria and her assistant in the collage below.

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I'll be sure to post some more when the wedding collection is complete.

Gracias!!

Dia


Mexico!

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That's right, Patrick and I are headed to Sayulita, Mexico for Julie & Andrew's Destination Wedding!
We're so excited to be able to photograph such a fun event in such a beautiful place.  We'll also be soaking up some of that Mexican sun, surf, and sand. Believe it or not, it will be my first real vacation in 2 years!!  We're staying at Villa Amor.  Check it out.

We'll be sure to keep everyone updated on our trip and maybe a few sneak peeks while we're away.
But in the meantime, thanks for the patience while we shut off the cell phones, shut down the office and re-group that creative energy.

Gracias!



San Ysidro Ranch

Here is one of my favorite weddings from my hometown, Santa Barbara.

Rebecca and Matthew chose a destination wedding at the beautiful San Ysidro Ranch.  The San Ysidro is part of the Rosewood Hotels Luxury 5 star hotels, and is nestled in a beautiful private spot in the foothills of Montecito. 

The couple chose to have their wedding on a Sunday afternoon, amongst only their closest family and friends; approximately 40 guests or less. With the ceremony on the lawn and the reception dinner in the Coleman Cottage.

I personally love photographing these intimate weddings. The couples have more time to spend with their guests, the speeches are intimate and real, and the day is just more relaxed for all. 

Here are a few of my favorites from the day...

 

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Vendors:
Florist:  SR Hogue & Co Florist - 525 San Ysidro Road, Montecito, Ca - 805-969-1343
Location & Catering: San Ysidro Ranch - Willow Fish
Dress: Carolina Herrera



Legion of Honor Wedding

Ok!! I apologize for being a delinquent blogger these past 4 months!! I t has been an extremely busy season, but I know that's not an excuse for leaving everyone hanging.

The good news is that I have so many wonderful weddings to blog about in the next months that we'll be sure to have lots of fun new stuff every Friday for the next couple of months!  So please check back or join the mailing list to get updated on new posts.

A lot has happened since June, and I'm so excited to share all of the news, including photographing phenomenal weddings across California as well as being published!!  So, I'll be sure to share the news in the next couple of months.

To start, I would like to share with you some amazing photos from Angie + Craig's wedding at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco's Lincoln Park. This site is absolutely stunning, and really feels like you're at a wonderful Paris museum (D'Orsay or Louvre)....

So, here are a few of my favorites from the day!

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Angie put together a fabulous group of vendors for the day:

Kristin Lauria & Marie Cooper of Boutique Events

McCall Catering

Flowers Claire Marie

Brian of Associated Entertainment

Thomas Hughes Video

Inspiria Productions

Paso Country

Christi and Rich tied the knot last month at the beautiful Villa Toscana in the heart of Paso Robles Wine Country. The girls spent the night before and the getting ready at the beautiful Winemakers Residence at Villa Toscana. While the reception took place in the ballroom of the historic Paso Robles Inn. Here are a few of my favorites from the day!

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With the help of Christi's vendors the day went off without a hitch.

Coordinator: Mary Allegretta - Villa Toscana & Martin Weyrich Tasting Room
www.myvillatoscana.com/

Florist: Julia's Flowers and Gifts - 835 12th St,  Paso Robles, CA 9344
Phone:  (805) 238-2522

Hair & Makeup:
Pure Elements Salon - Jessica
Phone:  (805) 238-1115

DJ: 
Phase 1 Moble DJ -  DJ Bob
http://www.p1dj.com/