Dreamy Intimate Backyard Wedding // Sausalito, CA

One of my best friends sent me a text about six months before this wedding saying, “Hey, you know Emma + James are getting married next spring? I think they already have a photographer, but I’ll recommend you incase!” or something along those lines. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it was somewhere floating around the back of my mind. I was living in CA at the time with my fiance, and Emma + James were the owners of the training and boarding kennel we had been taking our 2 year old Golden/Husky, Mabel, to for the entirety of her life. I knew little about them, but had always admired how sweet they were and loved watching their little girl, Lital, grow up in quick snippets from afar.

Fast forward five and a half months, and my fiance and I are living in Northern Colorado, getting ready to host my parents at our apartment a few weeks later for the first time. My phone rings, “Hey Phoebe, It’s Karen, from It’s A Dog’s Life.” James’ mom was calling to see, that if by some miracle, I may be able to fly out to photograph their wedding, as their wedding had been majorly downsized due to COVID, and their original photographer was unable to come. I called my mom, as they were getting married in California the same day my parents were flying in to visit us in Colorado. After some conversation with my parents about logistics, I called Karen back. “I would love to be there! I am going to fly in the day before to make sure I don’t miss anything, I will get a contract over to you tonight and we will go from there.”

After a crazy airport rendezvous – involving hugging my parents for all of a minute at the curb prior to getting in their car they had driven to SFO, and driving back to my childhood home, while they flew to CO to meet my fiance and pickup my car from the parking garage at DEN – I made it into California without a hitch, 21 hours before Emma + James said “I do.”

I arrived at their hotel room to find everyone beautifully dressed, incredibly calm, and excited. I didn’t even reach Em in her bridal chair, before I felt a tug on my pant leg. I looked down to her two year old daughter at my feet with her arms stretched out wide. Without hesitation I pick her up, and she gives me a huge kiss on the cheek and goes “Hi, we’re getting married today! Everybody is getting married!” Heart melted. Side note: Lital is now my favorite kid I’m not related to, and getting ice cream at Lala’s is her favorite thing, which I will be taking her to do far too often starting next month when we move home again. I go to see Emma, and I was holding back tears seeing her with her hair and makeup done! Another side bar: I will absolutely cry at your wedding.

We move from the hotel room to her Grandmother’s Sausalito home to find the most beautiful flower garden separating their yard from the dock onto the marina. Emma + James have the most stunningly beautiful first look, and I hold back tears for the second of who knows how many times that day. Their ceremony is short + sweet, followed by a first dance in the middle of her Grandparent’s living room. I look around and notice how everyone in the room is doing their best not to cry, and have the most beautifully gigantic smiles plastered on their faces. This is the kind of wedding day I live for, love in every detail, every corner, and every exchange.

I would have flown to capture their wedding day a million times over. Luckily for me, since this day, Emma has become one of my most cherished friends, and I get to spend forever celebrating Emma and James’ love story as I watch them remodel their home, raise Lital, plan for their future business endeavors, and devote their free time to each-other and those they love.

I could not be more blessed to have been part of this day. The love E + J share is undeniably pure and beautiful. Knowing Emma and James, and getting to do life by their side is truly an honor.