This day was filled with an overwhelming amount of love.

My guess is that as you go through these images, you might not be able to tell who is whose father, mother, grandmother – because the connection between these two families is so beautiful and strong. As much as this wedding was about Rachel & Chris coming together, you could really see both families embracing the other as their own, celebrating wholeheartedly together. It was an amazing thing to witness.

Rachel is currently getting her PhD in East Asian studies, and she incorporated a lovely subtle Asian theme into the day. The girls of Fleuretica did a wonderful job as usual creating lush florals to match this vision – I literally could have shot Rachel’s bouquet all day! To add to the fantastic team of vendors, one of my favorite DJs/MCs, Jason of 11H Entertainment was on hand to keep the fantastic party going!

Thank you to Ayumi Pantell for shooting with me that day!

Thank you to Style Me Pretty for featuring this wedding yesterday! Check out the full lovely feature here! :)

I think I first met Amanda when I was only a few months into wedding photography. She was perhaps one of the very first wedding planners I ever met, and despite me having only a teensy weensy bit of experience, she gave me the opportunity to photograph this amazing event, and passed my name along to one of her super sweet couples. It’s hard to express how much something like that can mean to you when you’re just starting out… that someone can grant you this unassuming trust, when you don’t have much to show or offer at all other than an incredible desire to meet people and make photos. It meant the world to me.

And now, some three years later, to be asked to photograph her own special day? It’s an unspeakable honor. I’m sure as a coordinator Amanda got asked tons of questions from family & friends during her planning process – what flowers? what colors? what details? After coordinating & designing so many weddings, I’m sure she realized how completely endless the possibilities are. And although the details were amazing, and the flowers spectacular, the dress breathtaking, the venue gorgeous – it really warmed my heart to see that Amanda & Kelly really embraced on what they learned most from planning other people’s weddings… that the day is about you & your love, that it is a reflection of your personalities, that in that moment, you let go and you laugh and love and enjoy the day completely.

Since this was the wedding of an amazing coordinator, the day of course unfolded flawlessly {it helped that Shirley from Amanda’s team was on hand to coordinate, she’s phenomenal!} Special thanks to William Kim for shooting with me, and to the all-star team of vendors – I had worked with them on so many different weddings with Amanda/Fresh Events & it was so fun to have everyone together for Amanda & Kelly’s big day! :)

Event Design & Planning: Fresh Events Company
Floral Design: Le Petit Gardenia
Venue: Westin Pasadena
Wedding Cinematography: Walter Pawluk Videography
DJ: Jason of 11H Entertainment
Hair/Make-up: Make-up: Kelly Zhang
Invitations: I Do Concepts
Dessert: Popcakes / Dots Cupcakes

A little bit of rain was no match for this amazing day! As it always seems to do, the sky cleared up just long enough for us to shoot some portraits in the lovely courtyard outside. And when the rain did come down, we found we were presented with the entire stunning interior of the Langham as our backup backdrop. The real point of this all though {as you can see below} is that Joann & Donald’s smiles could light up even the darkest stormiest of days :) I feel so blessed to have gotten to know such a sweet and fun-loving couple, who truly glow in each other’s presence.

The wedding was coordinated by Ada and her amazing team at Fresh Events – these girls seriously always ensure a beautiful affair and a perfect flow to the day. Also loved working again with Jason of 11H Entertainment, he creates quite the awesome party!

Love this shot of the guys captured by Mary!