Through all walks of life there is always that one go to girl that has been by your side since the beginning of time. She knows your darkest secrets, knows both of your Starbucks orders (for hot and cold days), proudly announces she’s your lesbian lover around creepers, and never skips a beat to stick up for you. This girl is always your biggest fan with nothing but nice things to say about you and doesn’t dare to tell a soul when you have mean things to say either! She’s usually a sister, cousin, or best friend and if you’re lucky she happens to be more than one! If one girl comes to mind you should consider yourself pretty lucky, if more than one comes to mind consider yourself blessed.

I had the privilege of meeting Lauren on the couch intensely watching a Sharks game at my brother’s apartment. At the time she was just a good friend of my brother’s buddies, but something inside knew this girl would be sticking around. It wasn’t long until my brother introduced her to our family donut lady as his girlfriend to make things official.

Since then we have celebrated holidays, birthdays, and lots of adventures together. I was with her the night her cousin Haley (and basically favorite person in the world) announced she was engaged. Lauren’s phone was dead and I gladly handed mine over so she could hysterically cry and jump around as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. She was so excited that my brother was actually concerned and thought someone died or something tragic like that happened. Nope. This was Lauren. She could literally feel her heart pound out of her chest with excitement and all I could do was smile and feel relieved I had my phone on airplane mode in the mountains so she had juice left to talk to Haley and her mom all about the great news! Lauren mentioned to her cousin that I was a photographer and by the end of that following week I met with Haley and her sister at Starbucks to sign some papers, go over wedding details, and take care of the deposit. Done deal right there and then.

As the wedding quickly approached Lauren invited me to the bridal shower and of course I made it possible to attend. So much love and detail went into her shower I was beyond impressed! It meant so much to me that Lauren not only included me, but humored all of my Pinterest ideas and input for the big day. With tons of decorative corks, flowers, wine pairing, fun (not annoying games) and sweet plates that hold your wine glasses I can honestly say Haley’s shower was a HUGE success!

I am incredibly honored that Haley selected me out of so many fantastic photographers in the Bay Area. On December 21st Lauren will be standing close to Haley’s side as she says “I Do” and I couldn’t be more excited to capture the beginning of their love story. Hopefully you have a Lauren in your life, maybe even more than one. Haley is one lucky girl to have her and I’m even more excited that Lauren is dating my brother! Cheers to a fun and beautiful wedding ahead and I look forward to assisting the mastermind behind the party in the future!

Guests were asked to bring their favorite bottle of booze to help stock Haley & Daniel’s bar. Cute name tags were provided with creative ideas. “Drink this when…” “Crack this open…” “You’re going to need a shot of this when…” Such an awesome idea!

 They Make Such a Pair!Lauren selected three different wines and paired them with delicious cheeses and snacks to bring out the different flavors.

Yes! There was even a Date Jar!

Overall everyone had a lovely time. If you don’t have a Lauren in your life… maybe you should start by trying to be one first. Love you, LaLa!

With Love, Quianna Marie