Drew Roy & Renee’s Wedding at Higuera Ranch

I’m delighted to share the lovely wedding of American actor Drew Roy and his partner Renee who got married at Higuera Ranch. Their special day was captured by Wedding Photographer Sarah Kathleen. Drew Roy is an American actor and known recently for his part in the TV series Falling Skies where he plays Hal Mason as well as Jesse off Hannah Montana.

A little something from the couple:

“Our inspiration for the day was to keep it down to our roots; country/rustic but yet simple and elegant. We also wanted to keep it very personal and intimate inviting only 30 guests. Because everyone was traveling from all four corners of the country, we wanted to make it a nice little vacation for them as well which led us to the perfect place; Higuera Ranch. My favorite moment was our first look. Seeing Drew for the first time that day and him seeing me was a feeling I’ll never forget. Drew’s favorite moment was right before the sparkler send off when we were alone in the barn taking each other in for the first time as husband and wife. My advice: wedding planning can be very very stressful, especially in the short 3 months we had to plan it in. It’s so important to not lose sight of what the day is actually about. It’s not about the dress or the cake. It’s about marrying your best friend and the man of your dreams! Those minor wedding planning details do not even matter in the grand scheme of things.”

About the day:

Drew and Renee’s wedding was my last wedding of 2015, and I couldn’t have dreamed a better way to end a wedding season. The weather was PERFECT (and with planning a wedding in December, it’s really a gamble), the people were GORGEOUS, and the party was OFF THE HOOK. I loved that Drew & Renee kept their guest list minimal, making for a very intimate celebration of their love with only the nearest and dearest to their hearts. I am so honored to have met this darling couple (who might just be the most photogenic couple I’ve ever encountered) and to have documented this epic part of their love story.

A bit about me and how I got started:

I was fas­ci­nated by peo­ple and the magic of doc­u­ment­ing life from a very young age. My par­ents got me a 35mm film cam­era for my 8th birth­day, with which I filled count­less shoe­boxes and photo albums of my quirky way of see­ing the world. By age 16, I had saved all my cof­fee house tips and birth­day money to pur­chase my first dig­i­tal SLR cam­era — the very first dig­i­tal Canon Rebel (ohhhh yeah). Being quite the intro­vert, I found solace behind the lens — a place where I could observe & doc­u­ment from a dis­tance. I hadn’t really con­sid­ered wed­ding pho­tog­ra­phy as a career choice until I got mar­ried at age 19, and my wed­ding pho­tog­ra­pher had taken a look at my work and said “Sarah — you have to do this. I don’t care how or where or what you pho­to­graph, but you HAVE to do this.” And so I did. As my child­hood friends got mar­ried, they asked me to take their wed­ding pho­tos, and I just DID. Back when I was hold­ing that film cam­era in my 8 year old hands, I could never have imag­ined a life like this. I couldn’t have dreamed that a cam­era would take me all over the coun­try, all over the WORLD, doc­u­ment­ing the hap­pi­est day of people’s lives. It just goes to show that life sel­dom goes “accord­ing to plan,” but it’s really not so bad.

I am obsessed with sto­ries — life sto­ries, love sto­ries, and sto­ries that may only exist in my own imag­i­na­tion. Peo­ple fas­ci­nate me: who they are, what they’re bat­tling, what they’re think­ing, where they’re going, what their dreams are. I am obsessed with the fleet­ing moments, the stolen glances, the in between moments that you may not even be pay­ing atten­tion to. I LIVE FOR THEM. I’m inspired by both move­ment & still­ness, both light & shadow, both pretty things &their dark underbelly.

A bit about my style and what sets me apart:

I think being an intro­vert in an extro­verted indus­try sets me apart. Instead of being up in people’s busi­ness, I pre­fer to stand back and doc­u­ment what­ever unfolds before me. There is some­thing mag­i­cal that hap­pens when peo­ple are given the space to just BE. And I don’t want to get in the way of that. I am a sto­ry­teller first, and a wedding pho­tog­ra­pher sec­ond. I want a per­fect stranger to look at my work and FEEL the subject’s story. To get those shots, one must have two things: patience and the trust of the human on the other side of that lens. Though I may be a busi­ness owner, there is noth­ing business-like about me. I am who I am, and you can take her or leave her. The way I see it is this: if I can cre­ate a space where I am free to be myself around them, they can feel just as free to be them­selves around me. My ulti­mate goal is to feel more like a friend pho­tograph­ing them, some­one they would have invited to their wed­ding anyways.

What I love about a wedding day:

SO MANY THINGS. But one of my absolute favorite moments is when the couple has just been announced Mister and Missus, and they walk back down the aisle of their loved ones cheering for them. There is NOTHING like that joy. Nothing.

My advice for couples?

Be true to yourselves. Don’t do anything just because “that’s the way weddings are” or “that’s what Pinterest tells you to do.” The most important part of your wedding day is that you are going to be married at the end of it. So make sure your day is what YOU want, celebrating with the people who YOU love.

Vendors:

Venue: Higuera Ranch
Flowers: Festive Designs
Catering: Phil’s Catering
Wedding Coordinator: Eventful Wedding Planning
Cupcakes: Just Baked SLO
Hair & Makeup: Rhonda Johnson
Photographer: Sarah Kathleen
DJ: Kramer Events