Valerie & Adam's Wedding, St. Patrick's Church & The Grand Hyatt , San Francisco, CA

Val & Adam sought me out almost a full year before their wedding and I'm so happy they did, as I had three inquiries on their date just following their booking! That said, I couldn't have ended up with a sweeter couple. Val was vigilant about following my suggestions, right down to the thank you props they held in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. St. Patrick's was a gorgeous choice of venue for their wedding; the high vaulted ceilings and low glowing light made for a magical atmosphere. The unique mix of the new and old architecture downtown lead to a wide variety of aesthetic style which was super cool. After photos around The Palace of Fine Arts and Fort Point, it was back downtown for the reception at the Grand Hyatt. The purple glowing room dripped with crystals and yummy textiles, but for me, the sweets table, totally stole the show! Val and Adam, your attention to detail did not go unnoticed by me, this wedding was a roller coaster of fun, and so beautiful. I'm happy I got to be a part of it!

Dionne & Justice, Admiral Kidd Naval Base, San Diego, CA

When Dionne & Justice approached me about shooting their wedding, I was so happy to hear that two of my friends had gotten engaged! Alas, I was also remiss that I had already booked the date in New York with Gino & Tony. But after a quick introduction to my fabulous associate, Scott MacDonald, Dee & Justice were determined to stick with the Sonia Savio Photography team. After seven years of shooting wedding photography, I have learned the importance of creating relationships with great shooters. Scott is a great shooter, an amazing friend, and I am so proud to have him as part of my team. So while I jetted to New York, Scott flew to San Diego. Dee & Justice wanted to have their guests breathe in the beauty of San Diego so they chose a special spot with one of the most remarkable views of San Diego I've ever seen. Dee was a total knock-out in red lipstick and fun sliver shoes, and I loved the vintage ship that so serendipitously passed by the Naval Base during the ceremony. And, even though I wasn't there, Scott's remarkable capability to capture photojournalistically certainly made me feel like I was the one clicking away. Scott, as always, you never cease to amaze, Dee, you glowed, and Justice, I loved the bow tie ;)

Gino & Tony's Honeymoon, New York City, NY

When my darling couple Gino and Tony told me that they'd decided to elope for their wedding, they happily invited me to join them in New York for a honeymoon photo session. I was tickled pink for the opportunity to shoot them again and ecstatic that it would be in "the big apple." So, one plane ride later, the epic adventure began! New York is a city full of color and life and I wanted to embrace that for the shoot. We stared off at the Waldorf Estoria Hotel and chased down a cab, to make our way to Central Park. I've always loved Central Park; how it merges nature and architecture in such a harmonious way, and Gino and Tony fell right into the romance of the park. We decided to take a carriage ride, which was wonderfully cinematic; and I got to check off an item from my bucket list! We concluded the day with a vista of the city from Brooklyn Bridge Park. As dusk floated down in a gorgeous violet light and the summer's day heat ebbed into a cooling night, I felt overwhelmed by gratitude for what I do and the couples I get to meet. Thank you Gino and Tony. I'll never forget your kindness, your love for one another, and my incredible happiness to be there with you both.

Ricki & Hann's Wedding, The de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

Ricki & Hann found me on the de Young's preferred vendor list (see some of my featured pics now on Style Me Pretty!) and at the time of our meeting it was pretty clear that they wanted to prioritize the photography of their wedding day, so of course, this was music to my ears. It was a dreamy San Francisco day, and I was floating on cloud nine after each capture of my camera. We had a good deal of time to shoot, which worked wonders for my imagination, so we got a lot of creative poses and angles. We started at the gorgeous Sir Francis Drake hotel, followed by the first encounter at the Palace of Fine Arts (also a great wedding venue), and then met up with the bridal party at Fort Point. Fort Point is always an adventure, but the crew was up for the task! The architecture there is stunning, and I'm glad we got to take advantage of it. It was so cute having the beautiful bridesmaids on one level, while the boys were on the other. The groomsmen were cracking jokes and goofing around all day, making for some amazingly unique pics. The de Young museum was our final destination, where both the ceremony and reception took place. I've said this to clients in the past, but if I was to get married in SF, it would be there. On it's own, the de Young is a flawless venue, with art at every corner, but with amazing wedding details, coordination, and design, Hannah Tiblier-Weiss and Shannon Murphy were able to take my breath away. Start to finish, this was an amazing wedding. Thanks Ricki & Hann, I will love and cherish the memories of this day :)