Jon Claxton | Photography

Mellisa and Anthony come from two really close families.  And when I say, really close families….I’m not kidding.  Both of their grandparents ended up growing up together on the same block, in the same town.  On top of that, now both of their families live directly adjacent to each other on two really beautiful parcels in Nipomo, California.  To make things even closer, Anthony and Melissa now live on one of those parcels within a second residence.  Well, during their wedding ceremony, the deacon pointed out one fabulous advantage of this scenario:  on-site babysitting.  And let me tell you, both of these families are expecting some children from this couple!   Anyway, Katie DiSimone (www.katiedisimone.com) and I traveled the countryside with them, as they prepared for the wedding in Nipomo, got married in Arroyo Grande, and had a huge celebration at the Spanish Oak Ranch (www.spanishoaksranch.net)  in Santa Margarita.  The entire event was a really impressive display of family values and good old country love.  In retrospect (while I pour through some of the photos), I get a sense that there was probably an old classic movie or novel made about a love like this….