Wedding Photographer Barcelona, Costa Brava and Ibiza

Barcelona Wedding Photographer | Mona & Adrien

April 24, 2014 by Gabby · Leave a Comment

Mona has contacted me over a year ago, dreaming about marrying the love of her life Adrien in her favorite city, Barcelona. As always, the day came so much quicker than expected and I was excitedly on my way to shoot my first wedding of the year in the Gran Hotel La Florida for these two lovebirds. It was not the most spectacular day…. it was raining…. a LOT, the city was covered in thick fog (something I’ve never seen in Barcelona before), so much so that when we opened the windows of their beautiful suite the clouds were actually flowing in! Not many people can say that they got married in the clouds though, can they?

Mona, Adrien and their 30 guests didn’t care much… it was all about love and family, tears were flowing, dance floors were shattered and the whole wedding party made a week long fiesta out of the big day! This was my first Persian wedding ceremony and I was utterly amazed by the beautiful traditions, decorations and meaningful trinkets they flew all the way from California to include in the ceremony.

Mona, Adrien, you are one of the kindest, most thoughtful (and organized!!! :)) couples I’ve met and I’ve so happy that I was involved not only in your wedding day, but also in your rehearsals and some of your after wedding programs! I sincerely hope our paths will cross again, but until then… I’m wishing you a lifetime of happiness together. xx

Location: Gran Hotel La Florida , Barcelona

Flowers: Flowers by Bornay

Videographers: Basilico Studio

barcelona wedding photographer

Filed Under: Weddings · Tagged With: Barcelona, Gran Hotel La Florida, Weddings

Costa Brava Adventures

April 14, 2014 by Gabby · 1 Comment

As most travel junkies, I often long to discover far away places, plan tropical vacations and exotic getaways and it’s very easy to forget that where I live is actually I place that many people dream to discover, just like I want to discover Asia or South America. I’ve been living in Barcelona for almost two and a half years now and I hardly got to know my immediate surroundings, the beauty of Catalonia and the Costa Brava. It is one of my personal goals for this year to not only discover far away places but also get to know my “backyard” a lot better. This weekend the Mr. & I escaped for a mini vacation to Aiguablava. It’s mind boggling how two days can feel like a vacation and it was a truly relaxing, beautiful weekend full of “I-can’t-believe-I-live-an-hour-from-this” moments. We discovered the pretty little town of Begur and Tamariu, we lounged by the pool and got the first sunburn of the year, had an amazing dinner in the Aiguaclara hotel and hiked through pine tree forests and beautiful beaches to discover hidden little bays that we could have all for ourselves (I guess that only happens in April though! :).

I feel lucky…

p.s: photos via my Instagram account

Filed Under: Personal, Travel · Tagged With: Costa Brava, Personal, Travel

Cinque Terre Wedding Photography| Alex & Sarah

April 11, 2014 by Gabby · Leave a Comment

Some of my favorite weddings are small destination weddings with international couples and Sarah & Alex’s intimate Cinque Terre elopement was just that!!! I have the upmost pleasure of letting Sarah, my beautiful bride herself telling you about their big day today:

My husband Alex and I were married in June of 2013 in the most romantic setting–the Cinque Terre off the northwestern coast of Italy in the region of Liguria. We both have a passion for traveling and always new we would want an intimate destination wedding in an authentic location. During an internet search of Italian wedding destinations, I came across this beautiful and fairy tale-like place that I knew would be perfect for our big day. The Cinque Terre is composed of five villages dotted with pastel colored homes nestled among terrace-vineyard hills looking down over the emerald waters of the Mediterranean. The villages are cut off to cars and are connected only by trails, trains, and boats. The pristine, almost surreal, beauty of the area is best observed from the hiking trails along the coast that connect all five villages. These views will assure you that it rightfully earned a listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

We made the picturesque seaside town of Monterosso the home base for ourselves and our party of 15 guests. We stayed at Il Giardino Incantato Bed and Breakfast where inn keepers Fausto and Mariapia displayed the most gracious hospitality we have ever encountered in all of our travels. The beautiful enchanted garden cared for by Mariapia was the perfect setting for our garden party before the wedding. My husband and I traveled by boat to Vernazza with our amazing photographer Gabby and got lots of great shots to show off the romantic and unique Italian qualities of the region. We held our ceremony and reception at The Belforte Restaurant in Vernazza on the private seaside terrace which perched over the emerald waters of the Mediterranean. Alessandro, the head chef/owner, prepared a magnificent Ligurian style seven course meal with the freshest seafood we’ve ever tasted. Each course was paired perfectly with local wine. After sunset, we released Thai paper lanterns into the sky for good luck with an audience of the town’s children looking on in awe of the sight. We departed by train back to our bed and breakfast with pure happiness in our hearts and memories to last an entire lifetime. It was the perfect day.

Sarah & Alex, thank you so much for taking me to Italy with you, inviting me to taste some delicious wines with you and letting me capture your could-not-have-been-more perfect day! Looking through your images again fills my heart with sunshine and laughter!

Filed Under: Weddings · Tagged With: Cinque Terre, Destination Wedding, Wedding

Blogging & Me

April 10, 2014 by Gabby · 2 Comments

Photo by Anna Wu

The last few months have been some of the busiest, craziest, happiest and most nerve wrecking months of my life. We’ve moved into a beautiful apartment which still needs so much work, we extended the family with Marley and I’ve been non stop working as well. I shot my first wedding of the year last week, photographed a few beautiful engagements and also got to shoot a cover for a soon to launch new lifestyle magazine. This all wrapped into one meant that I had no time whatsoever to enjoy the blogosphere let alone participate in it. Some of you who follow me from the very early days know that I was first a blogger and then a photographer and although I needed a little hiatus from the internet world, lately I’ve been longing to get back in it. I miss documenting my life online and sharing some of my joys and travels, I miss reading my favorite blogs in bed with my morning coffee and I miss all of you cyber friends!!! I’m not making any promises I won’t be able to keep on how often I’ll blog, but I can’t wait to share all those beautiful weddings and engagements that I’ve yet to share, to chat with you about photography & weddings and to show you bits and pieces of my life, my loves, my apartment and my beautiful Barcelona…. although I’ve never really left, I’m happy to say that I’M coming BACK!

Filed Under: Personal · Tagged With: Blogging, Personal

Art for Art with Anna Wu

March 28, 2014 by Gabby · Leave a Comment

When a few weeks ago Anna contacted me about being part of her Art for Art project, I was frankly honored, excited and terrified all at once. It’s been a while since I was IN FRONT of the camera, but thought that it would be a professionally and personally fulfilling experience so I didn’t hesitate for a second to say YES! In Anna’s words the project is:

“Once a month, I find a fellow photographer whose work I admire, and I photograph them; they photograph me. We’ll get to see each other work; we’ll explore how different or similar our styles might be; and we can challenge ourselves to step in front of the lens rather than staying comfortably hidden. Best of all, we’ll get to walk away newly inspired by a fellow artist.”

It was all that and more… it’s scary and exciting to photograph and be photographed by another photographer and I have a new found appreciation for all you amazing clients of mine! I always knew that it’s hard to be on your side but it’s good to remind myself every once in a while!!! YOU ROCK! Please check out Anna’s photos of me at her blog along with both of our comments on the shoot itself. (sneak peeks of my new flat and of course Marley are included! ;))

Thank you Anna for choosing me to work with and for being such an inspiration! It was such a pleasure to frolick around Barcelona with you! Here are just a few of my favorites…