Yuki lives in Japan and met Justin while he was traveling there.  The chemistry was instant, though Justin had to come back to LA.  I’ve always admired couples who could make a long distance relationship work.  I think it takes two very independent people, who are at the same time strongly connected to each other.  Yuki planned their whole wedding from Japan!  They had a beautiful wedding day at the Trump National Golf Club, with help from her fab coordinator at Tolain Studio.

I saw this book in her hotel room and thought it was very appropriate for her destination wedding here:

Yuki’s sister SEWED all of the bridesmaid dresses & her own dress!  Aren’t they adorable???  I LOVE that bow on her back!  The entire wedding party & family flew in from Japan for this special occasion.

Yuki wanted *no one* to see her in her wedding dress before the ceremony, besides her immediate family.  Not even her maid of honor saw her until she walked down the aisle!  We hid her in the limo until it was her turn to walk!

I just adore her wedding party!  They’re all so cute!  Looks like they just walked out of a Japanese fashion magazine.

Since they didn’t do a first look, Yuki planned almost a 3 hour gap in between for photos.  I recommend considering a large gap if you plan to skip the first look!  We were able to get photos at their church, at the lighthouse, and then at their reception venue.

Guests were greeted into the reception with customized fortune cookies:

In house bakery did an amazing job with the wedding cake and macaroons!

yum…

Trump’s ballroom is so gorgeous.  So ornate – I wouldn’t expect anything less from Trump!

My first time seeing half a duck served at a wedding!

Congrats to the two love birds on such a heartfelt day.  Everything was so beautiful, just like their relationship.  I wish them all the best on their new adventure together in Japan!!

This was just featured on one of my favorite wedding blogs, Green Wedding Shoes!  I got an email a few months back from a very enthusiastic couple.  Their emails to me seemed like they were singing!  I could tell immediately how cute they are – I mean, how could they not be cute with the names hart & plum, right?  Hart travels worldwide for his job a lot, so we never met until the day of the shoot.  However, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of planning involved!  Plum and I had exchanged emails back and forth with all sorts of idea.  A few ideas down the line, she threw out the idea of a pillow fight, with feathers flying all over.  I started to envision a pillow fight and immediately saw a wrought iron bed in the middle of a flowery field.  Luckily, we’re right in the middle of wild flower season, so they’re everywhere!  The bed in the middle of the field is just so romantic & peaceful to me.

I love how the red in their outfits pop with the yellow.  And I love the all white bed in the yellow field.  The colors could not have worked out any more perfect!

This was an especially inspiring shoot for me because not only was there an amazing concept, great light, and cute couple, but I also changed up my gear to push myself.  Most of you know that I LOVE my 85L and shoot with it 90% of the time.  Well, for this shoot, I didn’t use it at all.  I used my 135L instead, just to change it up.  I also shot part of this session in film.  Can you tell which is film and which is digital?  It’s all mixed in here.

Note, that kissing photo above is the only kissing shot from the entire shoot.  Plum told me that they’re not a kissy couple and didn’t want kissing photos.  I had to beg for that above image.  lol.

Doesn’t laying in this bed just look so heavenly??   And I love that photo of their feet intertwined…

I gave my friend, Dorothy, a sneak peak of this session and was telling her what an amazing experience this was for myself, and she said something that I had totally overlooked.  She said, “Well, it must have been an amazing experience for them too.  It must have felt so nice to lay in the bed, out in the open flower field, and listening to the sound of the ocean.”   When they first jumped in the bed, I did give them some time alone to enjoy it.  I ran off into the distance and took some photos of them enjoying the moment.

I wish it looked like this all year round, but I guess we wouldn’t appreciate it as much, huh?  Scarcity is a powerful thing.

The sun did make a guest appearance at the end of our shoot, which gave us some nice variety.

Can you tell they are a very playful couple?

Pillow fight!!!

I loved that the sun came out for a bit.  I LOVE the next image on the right of Plum:

Us trying to pick up all the feathers after:

Looking at these photos of them pillow fighting in the field, by the ocean, makes me feel like I’m in a dream… or on vacation, at least!

Them sharing the feathers with me:  hehe.

And I love this last image of the single feather on her nose:

Shooting film makes for SUCH an easier work flow!  All the film stuff here is how I got them from Richard Photo Lab.  I did the best I could to match my digital to the film, but it’s A LOT of work to do so!

This post is long overdue!  You may remember Angela & Kim from their Santa Monica engagement session.  This adorable couple tied the knot!  This was my first time witnessing a Cambodian ceremony.  The attire is so beautiful and the ceremony is so heart felt.  The outfits are so intricate that they hired an expert to come.  They brought all the clothes and jewelry and helped the wedding party get dressed.

The girls got ready in a separate room.  The getting ready is one of my favorite parts of the day.  So much excitement & anxiety.

Meanwhile, the elders were preparing these rice shaped seeds (?).  The stalks look like wheat and you throw them at the bride & groom at the end of the ceremony.

To kick off the ceremony, guests passed a candle all around the room.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is to call upon their ancestors for their blessing.  Family bond is a big thing in their culture and their ancestors are called upon to share in this day and offer their blessing.

Monks perform a prayer.

The ceremony wasn’t all serious the whole time though.  Check out this next reaction…

The next part was a knot tying ceremony – though it’s not the bride & groom who ties the knot.  Family individually comes up and ties red string around the couple’s wrist to offer their blessing.

After giving their blessing/tying their wrist, elders say a few words.   I didn’t need to understand her grandma to feel how touching her words were.  Any advice/thoughts from my grandma would probably make me cry too.

And at the end, the guests shower them with the seeds.  It was a tight space and densely packed with people, so you can imagine how dense the seed shower was!

Traditionally, you keep the strings on.

Kim’s parents had an amazing (and huge) home in Palos Verdes.  Yes, that’s the ocean in the background and that patch of grass just before the ocean is Trump National golf course.  What a view!

I love Angela’s Badgley Mischka shoes.

And I LOVE love love her little wedding “logo”.  It was drawn by her talented sister!  Isn’t it so darling?!

I love their little tea pot!  Tea is served to the elders as a sign of respect.

We then went literally across the street to Trump’s to take some photos.

And the bridesmaids picking up the groom cracks me up:

Their favors had tea bags and a little jar of honey in it.  So sweet!  And again, I just love their wedding “logo”.

They had cute little love birds on the top of their cake:

Congrats you two on a fun and beautiful wedding!!!  Can’t wait to see you through your next journey together!

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

I’ll start with part 1 of Nelson & Jamia’s beautiful wedding at Wayfarer Chapel in Palos Verdes.  We started at their apartment where Jamia’s bridesmaids helped her get ready.

I love their red couch!

We then did their first look at Wayfarer Chapel.  I love how Nelson beamed when he saw Jamia!

I love it when couples do a first look because we get lots of time for portraits.  It’s also a great way to share an intimate moment together alone and really soak up that first look.

I really love seeing them together.  They find comfort in each other – a good place to be.

Then it was time to line up for the ceremony!  Cute little flower girl was curious and anxious for the ceremony to begin.

And I’ll leave you with Jamia and her father about to enter…

Stay tuned for the ceremony & reception!!  And I have some personal photos to blog about too.    Fun times!