Ellen & Aaron // Married // Buffalo, New York

My wonderful friends Ellen & Aaron celebrated their wedding at Kloc's Grove in Buffalo, NY - which meant that dozens of our Los Angeles family flew out to the east coast and had an adventure together! It was so fun getting on a plane (albeit a redeye) with several of my good friends and exploring a new city as a group. We had an early morning breakfast, tried a brewery in Buffalo, and certainly took advantage of Applebee's late-night hours. Mike and I even had a chance to drive up to Canada! We picked up our BFFs Jess and Steve who arrived a few days earlier, and the four of us visited Niagara Falls on a perfect summer day. It was such a great weekend!

Ellen and Aaron (who you might remember from their epic engagement session) had incredible weather on their day. It rained all morning, stopped in time for their first look, turned into perfect light during family portraits, poured during their ceremony, and then cleared up again briefly for more photos outside before raining the rest of the night while we partied inside. What?! These two are such kind, kindred spirits, and there isn't anymore more deserving of a beautiful wedding day and a lifetime of joy. They're both writers who share a love for traveling, new recipes, theme parties, their cat, Costello, and sci-fi. They both come from incredibly sweet families, and I love how they included several of their loved ones in their wedding. It was truly an honor photographing their day - and now for an abundance of photos!

www-marycostaphotography-com-buffalo-ny-wedding-001 Aaron designed Ellen's engagement ring himself! It's inspired by Napoleon's diamond and sapphire engagement ring, and I just love how unique and delicate it is. Aaron's dad, a dentist-by-day and jeweler-by-hobby, created it. Stunning!! www-marycostaphotography-com-buffalo-ny-wedding-002 The aforementioned Jessica Kucinskas designed Ellen & Aaron's invitations! www-marycostaphotography-com-buffalo-ny-wedding-003

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Dine LA Restaurant Week

The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board approached me with an incredible project for Dine LA's Restaurant Week, which took place at the end of July. The pitch - photograph at ten restaurants around the city for Dine LA's Instagram account. They gave me full creative freedom and let me choose my destinations from their huge list of participants. Thus, I ran around for two weeks straight and ate my way through some of LA's very best restaurants. This was SO FUN, and such an awesome way to experience the city. A special shout out to my dear friends Christen Tulp and Jen Wiley for joining me on some of these eating adventures!

First up we have one of my absolute favorites - Fishing With Dynamite in Manhattan Beach. Chef David LeFevre is the coolest, and he insisted on making Christen and I a giant chocolate bread pudding after we were done shooting because we "obviously didn't have enough food." www.marycostaphotography.com | Dine LA Restaurant Week | 001 www.marycostaphotography.com | Dine LA Restaurant Week | 002 Chef Brad Mathews gave a helping hand: www.marycostaphotography.com | Dine LA Restaurant Week | 003

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Married // Alyssa & Nate // Maravilla Gardens

Alyssa and Nate's wedding was pure magic. They traveled from their home in Texas to get married at Maravilla Gardens in Camarillo (truly one of my favorite venues), and their day couldn't have been more perfect. I was totally blown away by their love for each other. Here are some favorites from their gorgeous day - this is a rather large entry, because these two don't take a bad photo!www.marycostaphotography.com | Maravilla Gardens Wedding | 001 www.marycostaphotography.com | Maravilla Gardens Wedding | 002 www.marycostaphotography.com | Maravilla Gardens Wedding | 003

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