Los Angeles Professional Photographer
Being Professional Photographers in the Los Angeles area, we truly adore the couples we meet, whether it’s to photograph their engagement session, their wedding, various stages of their family life, or any combination of those, each one of them has been awesome to work with. We also love working with so many amazing wedding venues, engagement locations, and all the other vendors in the wedding industry. Since we enjoy this so much, do we really have jobs? But perhaps our favorite part is hearing all of their stories. The journey of how they met, fell in love, the proposal, and of course, the wedding day itself. This is especially true for Dawn and Zach. A truly wonderful couple that we had the pleasure of photographing their wedding at the Inn of the Seventh Ray wedding venue here in Los Angeles County.
Located in Topanga, the Inn of the Seventh Ray has been voted as the most romantic restaurant in Los Angeles for the past 20 years! It has this amazing running creek along with waterfalls and plenty of trees, all while set back into the canyon. They have multiple areas to consider for your wedding and reception. When it comes to the cuisine, they only allow for their own in-house catering. That said, you are still in for a treat as they serve award-winning California cuisine that is market fresh from local organic places,as well as raised natural ingredients. The Inn of the Seventh Ray is truly a unique location.
With her hair and makeup on point, Dawn entered the ceremony wearing a beautiful Narissa Wedding Dress by Sottero & Midgley from Pebbles Bridal, while her groom-to-be wore a gray Allure Men suit from Friar’s Tux. The groomsmen were also decked out in the same attire as the Zach, sans the jacket. They all wore lavender-colored bowties to match the maid of honors dress, while the rest of the bridesmaids wore a deeper shade of purple. The scenery for the ceremony was perfectly decorated by the venue’s coordinator Holly Orr, along with the floral arraignments by Flowers by Alicia.
The party continued afterward with an awesome array of music by DJ Bouquet Sounds, along with some of the best food ever prepared for a wedding reception by the kitchen staff at the Inn of the Seventh Ray. This was truly an amazing wedding celebration and it was all captured on video by DH Media Productions and photographed by the team at Three16 Photography.
We would really like to thank Dawn and Zach for allowing Three16 Photography to be part of your special day. We wish you many years of love and happiness.
Check out their love story. We hope you enjoy it, and their photos, as much as we do.
Dawn and Zach’s Love Story
How did you both meet and who liked who first?
We were friends of friends through most of high school but not particularly close until Zach’s senior year. I had theater class with Zach’s brother, Alex. After Zach’s cross-country practice, he would sit and wait for theater class to let out so that he could take Alex home. While sitting and waiting we would talk since I would be finished for the day and was waiting for rehearsals to end. We had fun talking to each other and later at the Winter Formal Dance we started dancing and Zach asked me to go out with him. I definitely think that Zach realized his feelings before I did.
Tell us about your first date. Who was more nervous and what did you guys do?
Our first date was a fun-filled sushi date. This was my first ever date; I was very nervous. Zach picked me up at Target where I was shopping with my mom and we went out to sushi. I was very impressed with Zach since he had never had sushi before and actually really liked it! We’ve had many sushi dates since then.
What’s the proposal story? Give us all the details! Who cried first?
We had been dating for nine years by the time Zach proposed. So, I took it upon myself to send Zach some engagement rings that I liked. Zach went the very next day to Trumpet & Horn to buy the ring. He kept it a secret, only telling his brother, for a few months until our European vacation in September of 2017. On our second day of the trip in Iceland, after an adventurous morning of glacier hiking, Zach took me to Skógafoss waterfall where he proposed in front of the picturesque backdrop. There were no tears, just absolute happiness.
As you approach the wedding day, what have you both enjoyed most about the wedding planning process?
Planning a wedding can be challenging at times, but it’s very rewarding when you’ve both been able to come to a decision that makes you both happy. Those moments for us have been the most enjoyable so far. Also, the food tasting, because who doesn’t love getting to try all sorts of delicious food!
What has been the hardest part about planning your wedding?
It was very hard to stick to the budget. Things add up quickly! But it was a good opportunity to get creative to achieve our vision.
Why did you choose your particular wedding and reception venue?
My mom actually had been to a wedding at Inn of the Seventh Ray a long time ago, and she said that it was the best food she’d ever had at a wedding. So, we went there one night just for dinner and absolutely fell in love with it! The food was amazing and just the ambiance of the venue was just so peaceful and beautiful. It’s shaded by trees and has a creek running through it, so it’s very picturesque. It was only the second venue that we checked out, but we knew on the spot that it was where we were meant to get married.
Where did you draw some of your inspiration from for your wedding day?
My favorite color is purple (when Zach asked me out I had purple streaks in my hair!), so we knew that it had to be one of our main colors. And because the venue is outdoors and so beautiful, we took a lot of inspiration from that. All of the rest of the inspiration such as flowers and decorations actually came from our beautiful wedding invitations from VO Handmade. I found beautiful purple invitations that were printed with lavender sprigs, so a lot of the decorations include lavender too.
Where are you going for the honeymoon and why did you choose that destination?
We are going on a cruise around the Mediterranean! We are beyond excited! Zach is part Italian and has never been to Italy and I have always wanted to see Greece. We chose a cruise because it’s just so easy to get around and you get to see a bunch of different cities in a shorter amount of time.
Vendors used for Dawn and Zachary’s gorgeous Inn of the Seventh Ray Wedding:
Location Information
Ceremony, Reception & Caterer: Inn of the Seventh Ray
Address: 128 Old Topanga Canyon Rd., Topanga, CA 90290
Name of Site Coordinator: Holly Orr
Website: www.innoftheseventhray.com
Instagram: @innoftheseventhray
Vendor Information
PHOTOGRAPHY
Company: Three16 Photography
Website: www.three16photography.com
Instagram: @three16photography
VIDEOGRAPHY
Company: DH Media Productions, LLC
Website: www.dhmediavideo.com
FLORIST
Company: Flowers by Alicia
Website: www.flowersbyalicia.com
Instagram: Flowersbyalicia
DJ
Company: Bouquet Sound
Website: www.bouquetsound.com
Instagram: @bouquetsound
HAIR & MAKEUP
Company: Ceiba Beauty
Website: www.ceibabeauty.com
Instagram: ceibabeauty
DRESS
Company: Pebbles Bridal
Brand / Designer: Sottero & Midgley – The Narissa Wedding Dress
Website: www.pebblesbridal.com
Instagram: @pebblesbridal
GROOM’S SUIT
Company: Friar Tux
Brand / Designer: Allure Men
Website: www.friartux.com
Instagram: @friartux
WEDDING INVITATION
Company: VO Handmade
Website: www.vohandmade.com
