Say you walked into an event and were told that there were going to be Mongolian contortionists, fortune tellers, and go-go dancers. Would you believe it? That’s kind of the way I felt Saturday night when I arrived at San Francisco’s famed Ferry Building and went over the shot list with the event coordinator, Maxine. This was in addition to the virtual golf station and candy bar. I must say I was a little incredulous. I was half-expecting a TV camera to come out and see how long I’d let the list continue.
But no. It was all very real and breathtaking.
The event was a celebration of the marriage of Joanna and John, which had occurred a few days prior in a personal ceremony that included their four children. This was the grand reception for friends and family. In their words, those with them were the people who were not only important in the past, but people with whom they wanted to spend the rest of their lives.
Let me tell you, Maxine Andrew, the creative goddess behind Instead of You!, knows how to throw a party. The night was so well choreographed and so stunning that words can’t even describe it. Eye candy in every direction from the never-ending rows of white Phalaenopsis orchids on the dinner tables to the string sextet to the signature cocktails to the trumpeter announcing the beginning of the four course meal to the dainty stems of speckled yellow orchids everywhere else. She created a masterpiece.
In an effort to be more concise (this is a photographer’s blog after all!), I’ll leave you to look over some of the images from the night…
I wasn’t exaggerating, was I?
Joanna and John, thank you for a beautiful evening. I hope the rest of your lives are filled with just as much magic.
“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” -Judy Garland
