Above: engagement photos from Christina Richards.

So.

As I was saying, we got some wedding stuff done while we were in the Bay Area last weekend. More specifically, we hired our photographer.

Like my coworker said: “You went all the way to the Bay to hire a photographer?”

Yes, because she’s awesome. And sometimes awesomeness doesn’t just come to you. Sometimes, you have to go seek awesomeness out.

I found Christina Richards via a post on A Practical Wedding.* Usually I skim those sponsor posts fairly quickly, but something about Christina’s introduction made me sit up a little bit and take notice. I sat up even more when I looked at her website.**

I emailed Christina and asked if she was willing to travel.*** She wrote me back, like, right away. We emailed back and forth. We drove up to meet her last weekend over coffee.**** We hit it off pretty well. She’s sweet and relaxed and down-to-earth. She made my heart flutter a little bit when she asked if we’d be down with some black-and-white shots with her Holga.***** She totally got my random Kids in the Hall reference. I practically threw my checkbook at her to secure the date.

In short: she takes amazing photos and she’s affordable.

Her work feels studied, deliberate, yet ethereal. She has a knack for composition and balance. She’s got an eye for details that tell a story. And — well, I’ll just let you see for yourself:

NEXT UP: Surprise development, a.k.a. Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun.

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* I am going to have to email Meg and tell her that she totally ended up being the match-making fairy for our wedding photography elf.

** Though Meg had linked to Christina’s wedding website, through some kind of weird internet fluke I ended up on Christina’s main website. I finally figured out she had a wedding portfolio like, two weeks after I initially emailed her. I was simply that excited about her regular photos.

*** Her eagerness to travel was actually stated rather clearly on her wedding website, but again, I hadn’t even seen that. She must have thought I was nuts. “Dude, do you read?”

**** It was supposed to be wine, but the wine bar ruined that plan by closing, unannounced, for a private party. Jerks.

***** Uh yeah.