On February 21 I had the privilege of being hired to photograph Jeff and Frank’s 20th wedding anniversary party at the beautiful Hotel Solamar in the San Diego Gaslamp. I started the night by meeting Jeff and Frank in the hotel  lobby to create some formal portraits before we headed up to the pool deck.

After we were done with the portrait session, we all went up stairs to the 4th floor pool deck to find that the hotel had done a fantastic job decorating and lighting the party setting. Even though it was a bit overcast that night, I found everything to be quite cozy with an outside fireplace with comfy cushions, a full bar, a covered eating area with decorative lights.

I found the setting/decor at the Solarmar pool deck to be quite classy and cozy. Outside fire pits with comfortable seating, covered seating area with decorative lights, fully stocked walk-up bar, clean bathrooms, mood lighting, outside heaters, a covered cabana with a fireplace and of course amazing views of downtown San Diego.

As people started arriving it was my pleasure to witness and capture through photographs, all the love the party guests had for this couple and one another. It didn’t matter who you were, if you were a friend of Jeff and Frank’s, you were a friend of theirs.

Throughout the night I was pleased to see that their wasn’t a shortage of smiling faces to photograph.

I was pleased to see guests of all ages at the party, from Jeff and Frank’s two grandchildren to some of their older friends pictured above.

Party guests enjoying the outside fire pits.

A rooftop view looking down on the 4th floor pool deck at the Solamar Hotel. A gobo, which was positioned on the roof projected a graphic that read “J & F Celebrating 20 Years Together”

Once everyone had something to eat and drink, the 6′ 1″ Babette Schwartz arrived to make introductions and get the party going!

What’s a party without cake? And not just cake but great tasting & decorated cupcakes from Babycakes. And if you didn’t want to eat your cupcake that night, you could box yours up and take home for a treat later on.

uh-oh

I thought the music that night was perfect and DJ Aaron from Music as you Like it Productions did a great job setting the mood and getting everyone moving when the time was right.

I was happy to see so many people getting off their seats and enjoying themselves on the dance floor.

I always enjoy seeing couples dance together like this couple here.

This party guest was kind enough to pose for me to make this portrait with shimering bokeh lights of the San Diego Gaslamp in the background.

The parents of Jeff and Frank alerted me of this precious moment… their sleeping children and grandchildren.  I was nervous that my flash would awaken them and then I’d be in serious trouble. But then again I have skills in putting children to sleep, so I wasn’t that worried.

At the end of night any left over uneaten cupcakes (which weren’t many) were boxed up and taken home as a party treat.

It had rained quite a bit the previous weekend in San Diego, but as you can see from the photo above, it was a beautiful evening. I remember going home that night and thinking how nice it was to be able to part of this evening and to have been able to create so many wonderful images as a reminder of the evening and the love people have for one another.

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