Leading into the weekend of Valerie & Jimmy’s Palm Event Center wedding, rain threatened. But when we spoke before the wedding their spirits were high and approached everything with a “come as it may” attitude. I know that inclement weather can sometimes dampen the mood so it was refreshing to know that they were determined to have a great time regardless of what happened. As fate would have it we did have moments of reprieve from the rain allowing some dramatic skies for portraits and nice, soft lighting. Overall though, I don’t think the weather would have made much of an impact on their enjoyment of the festivities. You can tell from the start that Valerie and Jimmy were ready to embrace the day and relish the company of family and friends.

The couple started out at the Courtyard Livermore before heading to the Palm Event Center in the Vineyard. The guys were pretty much ready to go so they were able to enjoy a couple drinks before the first look. Valerie and the ladies got mostly ready but the bride decided she’d get in the dress at the venue to make transitioning a little easier.

Once Valerie was dressed and ready to go, we set up for the first look just outside the main doors. Fortunately the rain had let up a little bit so we were able to do this outside and follow up with the group photos of wedding party and immediate family.
And with some time to spare, we also were able to do a few bride and groom portraits before guests arrived.
So, it’s been a couple years since I’d shot a Palm Event Center wedding, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a new lounge area set up where it used to be more storage/back of house. We utilized this space to do a stylish group shot of the wedding party while guests were arriving and filling into the welcome area.
The original plan was to hold the ceremony outdoors but due to the rain it was moved to the Estate Room.
After the ceremony, we dipped outside for some more alone time for the bride and groom and checked off some signature shots at the venue, including the arbor where the ceremony was initially intended to be held.
The reception kicked off with toasts and dancing, and eventually lead to some donut flambéd donuts (super exciting for this donut lover). And then of course, after all the scheduled reception events concluded, the dance floor was open the rest of the night.