Kelley & Edmund love the movie Up, and wanted to incorporate tons of balloons into their session as a tribute to the film. Armed with a helium tank, a spool of ribbon, and scissors, we pushed through finger cramps and blew up & tied about 40 colorful balloons in the parking lot for the shoot. I adore Up as well {even though I always end up bawling literally 10 minutes into it, how does that happen, THE MOVIE JUST STARTED} and am so glad we could incorporate a bit of its inspiration into their session!

Can’t wait for their wedding at the Smog Shoppe this fall!

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

The first of many film adventures I’ve been going on recently! Shooting personal work always provides great new inspiration, & shooting film just makes my heart happy. It feels calm, deliberate, thoughtful – such a refreshing perspective for a trigger-happy photographer like me.

{ all shot with a Canon EOS 3 and a haphazard mix of Fuji 400H & Kodak 400 film }