Afternoon tea is quite possibly one of my favorite things in the world. Just the thought of colorful pots of tea, dainty cups and saucers, and sweet conversation over cream-covered scones makes me feel relaxed and wonderfully girly (which makes up for all my non-girly times when I’m scorching things in the kitchen and running around the house in sweatpants). A couple weeks ago I was delighted to have the opportunity to photograph the beautiful Alice In Wonderland-themed tea party Joanna Chong of Joanna Events organized for her mother’s birthday. She is just getting into the wedding and event planning industry and wanted some shots of the table settings and guests. I was giddy at the very idea of a tea party, but was SO unprepared for the incredible camera-candy she ended up putting together!

Joanna was still setting up when I arrived and I got to witness all the beautiful items being brought one by one to the table. As each vase of flowers, each platter of pastries, each little teacup was hurried over, my eyes grew bigger and bigger, my squeals of delight louder, and my camera clicks more flurried. I couldn’t believe the colors, the concepts, the creativity!! From the paper lanterns to the tea-party music wafting through the iPod, there was not a single detail overlooked. After witnessing firsthand her event-planning prowess, I can only imagine the amazing work she would do as a wedding coordinator!

The floral arrangements were simply stunning! Sue Cook of SooziCook Events (soozcook@gmail.com) put together each unique collection of bright blooms – they really set the mood for the entire tea party!

There were endless platters of the most delectable treats – mini tea sandwiches, scones, delicate cakes. No one would be leaving this tea party hungry!

I instantly fell in love with these hand-crafted blossoms, lovingly planted around the table :)

The guests all wore the most awesome oversized hats…

And a quick photo of Joanna and her mother, the guest of honor!

I am a firm believer in dreams. I believe that if you can imagine something in your mind, you can make it come to fruition. That if you want something with every ounce of your being, you can dream it into a reality. This was the mantra I repeated to myself when I began purusing wedding photography. I repeated it religiously as I picked up my first camera and clumsily fumbled through the controls and cursed my less-than-perfect photos. I reiterated it when I emailed photographers to second-shoot and received a less-than-ideal response. As I excitedly set up my business email only to log in to a less-than-full inbox – for the first few months, I wanted to shake my first at the sky and whine at the world, but I kept the encouraging words in the back of my mind. If you can dream it, you can make it so.

I love meeting people who are following their own dreams, so when Tammy contacted me with her story I was so excited to work with her! She wanted to move from her self-proclaimed “normal desk job” into a career in sports broadcasting and needed some headshots for the occasion. We fittingly did the session at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (what better location than a hall named after such a famous dreamer?), and as we shot I asked her about her goals and aspirations. Her passion shone through as she talked about her love for sports and her highest hopes for the future. Tammy – thank you for sharing a piece of your story with me and best of luck in pursuing your dreams! :)

The metallic walls of the concert hall are stunning, but I was so enamored by the garden! The lush greenery (complete with the most unique colorful flowers) was such a nice contrast to the mod silver walls!

It started with a make-believe proposal. The high school where Andrea teaches was putting on an improvisational comedy event and Andrea was participating as a representative from the English dept. Taro, in true good boyfriend form, was at the event, looking forward to a fun night of laughs as an innocent observer. Yet somehow, in the midst of the improv, the question of “when is Andrea going to get married?” was raised on stage. And somehow, the innocent observer that was Taro, was pulled up as a performer to provide the answer to the question. Put totally and completely on the spot, a nervous Taro sang a song of proposal. A break of silence was followed by an equally nervous “Yes?” from Andrea, and the crowd of students, teachers, and friends broke out into cheers.

Just a few months down the line, Taro decided to propose for real. They had just bought a house, a beautiful dream home nestled in a tree-lined street. Having put much of his savings towards the house Taro bought Andrea a beautifully simple ring with the hopes to replace it with a more “proper” ring down the line.

The night before their engagement session Taro emails me letting me know he has a surprise for Andrea. He had finally bought her the ring he had hoped to get initially and wanted to present it to her at the end of the session! I was so excited upon reading his email – and if he was at all nervous during the session, that definitely made two of us! Be sure to scroll down to see the results of the surprise and Andrea’s heartfelt reaction :)

Taro and Andrea – we cannot wait for your beautiful Balboa Park wedding this September! We had such an amazing time with you at the session – thank you for the sunny brunch and the Trader Joe’s cookbook (so exciting to find another couple who has just as much of an obsession with the place as we do!)

After shooting in Chinatown, we headed to Mission St. in Pasadena where they spend many of their weekend mornings. We started off at Buster’s:

We then stopped by a little nursery tucked away right by the train station. (I totally had the urge to pick up some succulents but then I remembered how I had somehow managed to kill the last two we bought. Come on, they’re SUCCULENTS! They live in EXTREME conditions in the DESERT!!)

As the end of the session drew near, Taro suggested we do a pseudo-proposal scene. (Pretty slick, eh?) He asked for Andrea’s ring so he could place it back on her finger, but instead pulled the old switcheroo! Loved it!! Her reaction almost had me tearing up on the other side of the camera…

—

Also wanted to share a couple quick pics of their invitation. I loved it the moment I saw it – the newspaper idea is so genius and all of the little sections were so well thought-out! I get so excited when I see things that are wayyy more clever than I could ever come up with!