We thought it would be fun to start a little series highlighting some special groups of clients. Our first group would be the mini-families within the Allegro family. These are the couples and families who enjoyed our work enough to share it with their friends and families. And their friends and families choose us to photograph their celebrations or portraits. And perhaps continued the chain. In our household, we refer to these as generations.

To kick it off, I wanted to start with the family we’ve known the longest- that of Karen and Willy.

Karen and Willy, our first generation, got married in the Spring of 2005 at the Berkeley Faculty Club. They had their Chinese Banquet at The Legendary Palace in Oakland. A couple of years ago Karen and Willy moved back to Boston MA, where Karen grew up and her family remains. Now that we are back in the Boston area as well, we feel so fortunate that we get to see Karen and Willy more often.

Karen was frequently on The Knot and shared our name with lots of other knotties (thank you, Karen). And she also shared our name and work with her good friend, Gillian (second generation), whom she and Willy met through Volleyball. Karen and Gillian have even more in common than volleyball. They also both loved their wedding planning and both have continued to help other brides with their weddings.

Having seen us in action at Karen’s wedding and then seeing the images, Gillian chose us as well. Gillian and Wes were married in the summer of 2006 at the Maison du Lac in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. Because Gillian is an alum, we took some of their portraits at Stanford University.

It has been great keeping in touch with Gillian and Wes. They are such an amazing couple. And we owe them so much thanks for their suggestions of a fabulous BnB to stay at while visiting Australia a couple of years ago.

Gillian then brought her album to work. And we are so glad she did. Because Emily had a chance to see the pix from Gillian and Wes’s wedding. She was planning her July 2007 wedding in Sonoma. When we met them, we hit it off immediately. Dave loved talking science with Mark; and when we delivered their album, we got to see their beautiful aquariums. Dave was thrilled!

Emily and Mark are the third generation. They were married at the Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma and celebrated at The Lodge at Sonoma.

Emily and her sister Allie then recommended us to Allie’s friend Cara (fourth generation) who married Nate at the Sonoma Mission Inn and the Sonoma Golf Club this fall. We were worried about rain, but the day turned out absolutely perfectly. This wedding was extra fun because Allie was a bridesmaid and Emily and her parents also attended the wedding.

Check out more from Cara and Nates wedding: Engagement Session, Sneak Peak, The Scoop, and Slideshow.

Emily and Mark also shared our info with Mark’s sister Lauren (fourth generation). We met Lauren at their wedding and really enjoy her warmth and smiles. We can’t wait to photographer her wedding to Steve at an estate in Carmel Valley next summer. A few years ago, we photographed Sarah and Brett‘s wedding at the Bernardus Lodge and fell in love with the area. Plus, we are really looking forward to seeing the whole White family again!

We have had such a blast with this crew and we can’t wait to see how it grows. Thank you so much to Karen & Willy for kicking it off, and to Gillian & Wes, Emily & Mark (and Allie), Cara & Nate, and Lauren & Steve for keeping this mini-family going thus far!