Southern California Wedding Photographer - John Riedy

Catalina Country Club
February 23, 2008

Editing Randy and Adriene’s wedding from this Saturday was almost as fun as shooting it. It was my first wedding on Catalina Island and I can’t tell you how much fun I had. Although I met the couple for the first time on Friday night at the rehearsal, by the end of Saturday night (after several attempts by the groom to get me to engage in some post-reception Karaoke at El Galeon) I felt like I’d known them both for years. Clearly, priority number one at this wedding was to have fun. And not even 30 seconds of rain after the ceremony could dampen the party mood. The whole weekend flowed smoothly and effortlessly thanks to the impeccable planning skills of Cathy Machado of An Event Two Be. I hope you like the photos…

If you’re still hungry for more…

Some of you may know that I only accept 30 wedding/event commissions per year. I do this to ensure that my clients receive the best possible service that I can give. Photographic quality and personal attention are the cornerstones of my business. So until cloning technology catches up, there’s only one of me to serve you and only 30 lucky wedding and event clients per year. Twenty contracts have been signed, just 10 are left.  So if you’re even THINKING about booking me as your photographer I would encourage you to do so soon. I anticipate hitting the 30 mark sometime before this summer. Don’t be left out!

Helen Raymond who you see in the photos below is a very special person to me. I’ve known her for about 16 years and not only is she one of my very best friends, but for years she was my ball-busting producer. Okay, she wasn’t REALLY that tough (a total sweetie, actually), but there was this one time… If you ever meet Helen you can ask her about that “one time”. We worked together for many years on commercials where she was the producer and I was anything from a production assistant, to a camera assistant, to a Steadicam operator, to a second unit DP. I owe a LOT of my career to her. Several years ago Helen met her soul mate in her now husband, Rick Raymond. Being a close friend, I was very protective of Helen, but I could not be happier for her to have found Rick. And even though Rick stole her away to live in Ohio, he’s a great guy and very good to Helen. It seems now he may be even better in his role as dad to their new little boy, Kyle. Years ago I had the honor of photographing Helen and Rick’s wedding and a few weeks ago, while shooting the wedding below in Cleveland, I was able to stay over for a day with Helen, Rick and Kyle and do a couple of quick, informal portraits of the family. I hope you like them…

Elizabeth and Ryan
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel
January 26, 2008

I’m literally running out the door (okay, I’m literally typing, but I’m running out the door very soon) to go skiing in Park City. I just couldn’t wait, however, to post just a few photos from my wedding last weekend in FRIGID Cleveland (global warming my butt!). Elizabeth, my bride, was radiant. More to come when I return…

I’m BAAAACK!!! I’m a bit sore, but no worse for wear after four AMAZING days of skiing in Park City and Deer Valley. More on that trip to come soon. Meanwhile, I’ve finally worked through all the images from Lizabeth and Ryan’s very elegant and intimate wedding in Cleveland. A bit of background on our happy couple. Ryan (as you can see) is a Navy man who is currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan as a weather forecaster. He was allowed to come back to the states briefly to marry his sweetheart, Elizabeth, but has to return overseas to finish out his deployment. Ryan grew up in Cleveland, hence the location of THIS wedding. I say THIS wedding, because their plan is, when Ryan gets out of the Navy, for Elizabeth and Ryan to have another ceremony here in San Diego. If this party was any indication, that will NOT be a wedding you will want to miss. One last thing I’ll say… I see a LOT of couples, luckily MOST seem completely in love with each other. However, I’d be hard pressed to think of another wedding I’ve shot where the two people seemed MORE in love and more perfectly suited to each other than Ryan and Lizabeth. Okay, one LAST, LAST thing… I just want to thank Ryan for his service to our country. Regardless of your politics, I think we can all agree that our country owes a huge debt of gratitude to all our men and women in uniform. Thanks, Ryan.

I hope you enjoy all of the images…