Small, Intimate Wedding at Russian Gulch State Park in Northern California

JEFF + RAEQUEL

I actually shot this wedding back in 2017 but I still love it so much so I wanted to blog it! This was such a unique wedding and I would absolutely love to do more like this one! Jeff and Raequel make every day the best day ever and are still one of the coolest couples I've met and you'll see why!

When they told me they were planning on getting married at Russian Gulch State Park up in Mendocino County in California, I was sooo excited! I had been once when I did a mini road trip up to Fort Bragg and then down the coast - Russian Gulch State Park was one of the many stops I made on the way down and it was absolutely beautiful!

We started the day at the cutest little hotel in Mendocino where I took Raequel's getting ready photos. Then we went out behind the hotel for their first look with the ocean in the background behind them - it was the perfect spot and the perfect start to the day. We then drove down to the Mendocino Headlands to get some gorgeous photos of the two of them. It was pretty windy but it was all blue skies and an absolutely beautiful day for a wedding!

After their portraits, we went down the road to Russian Gulch State Park for some family photos before the ceremony. Literally every spot we went to was so beautiful but the ceremony location was especially beautiful - it was underneath the Russian Gulch bridge on the beach and it was so perfect.

Aside from the day being all around stunning, this was one of my favorite weddings because of how unique the entire day was. They went from their beach ceremony into the rec center building for the reception. It had a "log cabin"-y vibe and it was so cute! They had decorated the room with flowers and photos of everyone that was special to them. They had an amazing buffet of food and then not one...or two...or even three... they had NINE weddings cakes! All of the cakes were homemade by Raequel and her grandma and they were all amazing!

So it was basically the best day ever and I would die to shoot more weddings like this! Then Jeff and Raequel ended the day with beers in hand riding their one wheels. Like I said, coolest couple ever, huh?