When Kim and Minh first met in the dorms at UCLA, they had no idea that they were destined to be each other’s soul mates.  After seeing them together, it’s so obvious how perfect they are together.  We did their engagement session at UCLA, and to keep with the UCLA theme, their wedding colors were blue and yellow too.  Their wedding was filled with so many personalized details that truly reflect their personalities.  All I heard around the room was how much fun their wedding was and how it was so them… just how a wedding should be!

We started the day in Long Beach at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden.  I love it when couples see each other before hand to do portraits.  It was early, but worth it.  Check out that sky!

This cute ring bearer cried the whole way down the aisle!

For favors, they made each guest a mix CD.  And my favorite were the little buttons they made for everyone.  Better Together, like bacon & eggs, pie & ice cream, milk & cookies, burger & fries, and two aces.  Adorable, isn’t it???  I collected each unique button!    I like flair.

Their escort cards were also raffle tickets!  Guest had the opportunity to win a Canon digital camera, an iPod touch, and a $100 gift card to Target

They also made custom labels for the Jones soda.  Each label had a random fun fact about the couple.

And we even got to run around Chinatown a bit for some portraits before the sun set.

Thank you Kim & Minh for letting us share in your incredibly fun wedding day!  I loved how much you two personalized everything and your wedding really reflected you two perfectly!

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I invite you to share in Jennifer & Matthew’s beautiful wedding at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden.  It was full of culture, beauty, and tons of DIY!

Her beautiful dress above is a traditional Korean dress called a hanbok, but with a modern twist.  It was designed by the talented Kim Mehee, who designed Sandra Oh’s dress for the SAG awards.  The colors just make me smile!

So crazy part… Jennifer DIY’ed all her flowers!  Check out these cute boutonnieres she made with peacock feathers.

AND she made her own bouquet!!  amazing, isn’t it??  Want to know a secret?  They are fake flowers.  O_O  Can you tell?  I saw them in person and couldn’t even tell!  They were even real to the touch!

I love it when couples give lots of time beforehand for portraits.  I know the garden is beautiful, but check out this gorgeous field I found!  I’m a sucker for open fields!

And then some portraits in the beautiful garden.  I just love her bouquet and his boutonniere.

Isn’t the garden just so dreamy?  I LOVE it!

She decorated with lots of cultural touches – her guestbook was a scroll, programs in a chest, and the Japanese garden lent itself to the Asian theme well.  And then the ceremony began!

Her beautiful cake was by Rossmoor.   Look at the detail on the cherry blossoms!  I love her cherry blossom cake!

Congrats you two on the perfect wedding for the perfect marriage!

Other people who made this day possible:

Dress: Custom made from Kim Mehee Korean Dress Boutique
Cake: Rossmoore Pastries
MC/DJ: Event Plus (James Baek)
Videographer: Alumiq (the talented Anthony Vu and Josh Tran)
Makeup & Hair: Jessica from Hairday

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The Wayfarers Chapel is such a gorgeous backdrop.  You can’t beat a glass chapel on a cliff that overlooks the ocean.

This is one of my favorite portraits of the day.

I also love these portraits we got outside of the chapel.  Such gorgeous trees!

Then we headed to The Reef in Long Beach where they had a beautiful reception.  Escort cards were hung on a tree.  Marbleized swirls on their cake with cute bows.  And more calla lilies!

There was a great view of downtown Long Beach from the patio.  Nelson and Jamia framed one of the photos from our engagement session and had guest sign around the mat.

You know how DJ/MCs commonly have guest pass a dollar around the table to see who will win the centerpiece?  Well, it was hilarious when the DJ had the winner of the dollar bring the dollar up and give it to Jamia.  I love this photo Jonathan caught of Jamia with her dollar bills!

I love the drapings from the chandelier.  It made a great first dance photo!

Love their little cake topper!

And a bouquet toss with all the single ladies…

Nelson and Jamia, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your beautiful wedding day!  You both have such loving and wonderful family and friends.  Enjoy marriage life and I look forward to seeing many more milestones!  xoxo

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We started the session in Roan’s bedroom, which had such wonderful light!

And I especially love all the colors in his room.  Such great combination of color!

When I first arrived, I saw Diana knitting Roan a little sock.  As an avid knitter myself, I immediately was drawn to her stash of yarn… and one thing lead to another and we put Roan in the basket of yarn.  Roan, thank you for not peeing on your mommy’s nice yarn stash!

I just love this next photo.  I like the softness of the photo and the way he’s looking up at his mom.

And I absolutely love his expression in this next photo!

And I always love watching a father’s interaction with his child.

Here’s another 2 funny expressions, and a great smiley photo.  Diana totally knows how to make him laugh.  She was singing him the oompa-lumpa song in the far right photo below.  He goes nuts for it!

And I just love this next portrait because it’s such a natural interaction between their family unit.

And this was just a fun last shot before calling it a day.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your family!

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This is what I mean by comfort in each other’s presence.

And I love love love how he makes her toes curl!

I love this sunset picture with the silhouette of them and the ships!

They are so truly lucky to have found each other.  The love between them just radiates.

And I love the following set of parts.  You can get such a better understanding of the full picture by looking at just the parts.

Because really, what is the whole without the parts?

And what are the parts without the whole?

And this is what I mean by how they gaze at each other.  I gave them some quiet time alone and caught this cute interaction between them.

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