When I took my first steps into wedding photography, I had some goals in mind. They were basic, fluffy, whimsical goals – little dreams I dared not shape too concretely in fear that I might never attain them. I wanted to meet fabulous, warm, so-in-love people. I wanted to help create tangible memories of their most important days. I wanted to make friends out of the people who inspired me, the photographers I admired. And above all, I wanted to give back. Because at the start, I was barely more than a walking ball of questions. I felt like a silly empty glass that a million kind people were filling with knowledge and support and opportunity and all I could give in return were my insignificant but abundant “thank you”s.

And although my cup of knowledge is still far from being runneth over, I am finally at a place where I feel I can give and not just take. The opportunities to share my experiences are suddenly popping up left and right, and although I have so much more to learn myself, I am beyond thrilled to share whatever bits of information and experience I can.

One such opportunity has come from The Wedding Clique, a resourceful website created to help brides and grooms in planning their day. I am so honored to be included in such an amazing group of vendors, and to be able to contribute towards a couple’s wedding planning process – a process that for many is at once exciting, overwhelming, intimidating, and wonderful!

A couple weekends ago The Wedding Clique put on it’s first Mock Wedding Workshop at The Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Long Beach. It was created as an opportunity for couples to experience a “pretend wedding” in preparation for their actual day. The workshop progressed similarly to how many wedding days do – from getting ready, to the ceremony, to the reception – and was filled with beautiful details and wonderful input from the participating vendors. My deepest thanks to my friend Henry Chen for inviting me to be a part of such an amazing event and project!

Meet the team – the boys: Andrew of Iobon Cinema, Henry Chen, Raul of R&R Entertainment; the girls: Solana of Beauty by Solana, Trini of Nozza Studio, Sarah Yates, Deanne of Bella Fiore

Henry and Trini start off the day with a warm welcome:

Solana put on an awesome make-up trial run, with lots of tips for brides:

Deanne explains when and where you can expect to get your flowers on the day of (I know I’d be SO excited the first time I got to hold my bouquet!):

We then headed upstairs for a mock first look – love these expressions!

The ceremony site:

Gorgeous floral details:

And onto the mock ceremony!

Henry was a great impromptu officiant:

Sarah in action:

There is nothing pretend about this kiss! (I’ve never seen such an excited officiant either ;)

Then it was back inside for the reception! The dinner tables were adorned with such rich and beautiful details:

Raul gives the lowdown on choosing and working with a DJ:

And of course.. the cake!

Be sure to stay tuned on The Wedding Clique website for the next workshop, and for regular updates geared towards helping plan your wedding day!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ve probably figured out that Scott is quite an integral part of this photography business. Aside from being the most awesome second photographer a girl could ask for, he also serves as head Stress-Relief Supervisor, Battery-Charging Technician, Camera-Bag-Packing Guru, Human Sounding Board, and seemingly tireless Personal Cheerleader. To be honest, this business would be nothing without Scott’s calm and unwavering support amidst the sea of shooting, editing, and emailing craziness that often fills my day to day life.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, he manages to maintain his own thriving business and a handful of hobbies. One of which is his band, Potential Difference, which practices every week in our loft. It’s great because they plug their electronic instruments into a system and play on headphones, as to not cause a mob of angry neighbors to congregate at our front door. As I’m sitting downstairs most likely in an editing fervor, I pretty much can only hear the sound of singing voices, so it’s always a treat when they have a show and I get to hear what the songs are REALLY supposed to sound like!

One such show was this past weekend at Joe’s Joint in West LA. I had my camera with me after capturing an awesome event earlier that day (more on that soon!) so I was able to grab a few shots during the show between my intense hollers and applause. Because although I am far from being a Band-Equipment-Packing Guru, I can definitely do some Personal Cheerleading of my own :)

Before the show, we went upstairs to a cool little green room (red room?) the venue had and took a few frames:

And onto the show!

You can keep up with the band on their MySpace as well as their newly founded Twitter. (My personal fave on the former is “Fader”, which was recorded in their dorm room back in college a few years ago. Talk about high-end studio.)

A bride walking down the aisle is a beautiful thing. As the doors to the church swing open and the light fills up the hall, it’s as if everyone’s breath stops, and the only thing in the room is the beaming, glowing bride. But, in that same moment, it’s wise to take a look at the groom. Because the joy reflected back in a groom’s face is another level of captivating. To see the expression in his eyes, to watch the story of their relationship flash across his face, to see the usually silly, strong, manly men we all know in a state of absolute adoration – to me that look embodies so much of the very reason for the day.

These are the moments that filled up Sojin and Larry’s wedding. I had just met Sojin and Larry that day, but Sojin’s smile as she walked down the aisle and Larry’s face when he first caught sight of her immediately indicated to me what their love was like – deep, palpable, and made to last. They are both so sweet, warm, and real, and it was an honor to accompany Serena Grace in documenting their wedding day!

After the ceremony, we visited a nearby park for some additional portraits…

Then on to the reception. Loved their choreographed first dance!

This was quite possibly the most adorable baby I have ever seen. Look at those cheeks!

I’ll finish with a quick shot of Serena and I at the end of the night. I absolutely love shooting with her!