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After a short break from the tea ceremony, Alfred and I headed off to the South San Francisco Convention Center where Thomas and Winnie were having their ceremony and reception. With a little time before the ceremony, we went into the ballroom where the reception was held. The lighting and the tables were beautiful. The seat covers were gorgeous and the tall floral centerpieces fit in so elegantly with all of the other decorations. As I was finishing up some pictures, the cupcakes started to come in from Baked Vanilla! All different types of cupcakes were getting setup on the multiple tiers which was really cute.

The ceremony was down the hallway in a simple but pretty room with a lot of natural light. Thomas was waiting as patiently as he could be for Winnie and soon enough the ceremony started. One of the cutest moments was when the ring bearer and the two flower girls were walking down the aisle. Their mom’s tried to coax them down the aisle and Thomas was even helping out as much as he could from the stage. Then the doors opened up and in came Winnie with her mom and brother down the aisle. You could tell by Thomas that he was so happy that this day had come. You could tell that both Thomas and Winnie were nervous but the humor that they both had helped get them through it. There were a lot of tears in the audience when they exchanged vows but there were a lot more smiles and some laughter. Really great and touching ceremony.

With the ceremony down, it was time to party! Alfred was taking pictures of everyone enjoying themselves out in the reception area. Apparently there was a wedding crasher but the SFPD made quick work of that! Once the doors to the ballroom opened up, people started to migrate to their seats. Then the DJ made the announcement that the bridal party was coming in and a lot of clapping and cheers came up from the crowd. One of the cutest moments was when Thomas and Winnie started their first dance and after a few seconds, the song cut out and a gift came up to Winnie. New comfortable shoes! Everyone loved it. They slow danced and then finished it off with some more “contemporary” dance moves. Winnie changed into her red cheongsam and her and Thomas went around to the guests for toasts. Between eating the great meal, there were some hilarious speeches by the Thomas’s brother and also by two of Winnie’s childhood friends. They sure didn’t hold much back on the jokes. Keeping up on the entertainment, there was a frenzied scavenger hunt/musical chairs game where people were flying around the room and over chairs.

As the reception continued, Thomas and Winnie went to the cupcakes and did a little cup “cake” cutting with a little champagne. Winnie decided that Thomas looked better with a little frosting but Thomas had some restraint and just gave Winnie a little dot of frosting on her nose. The kids were lining up to get their choice of cupcakes afterward. The slideshow started up which showed how a little get together over coffee led to this beautiful night for Thomas and Winnie getting married. There were a few technical difficulties during the presentation but the most touching part was the actual video of Thomas proposing to Winnie at their home. That drew a lot of “aww’s” from the crowd. Then there was a clip of Winnie and her girls doing a choreographed routine of Korean pop group Wonder Girls. I’m not familiar with them but Thomas and his guys were getting a kick out of it. Winnie then followed up the slideshow with her bouquet toss and Thomas did the same with the garter toss. The DJ then announced that it was open dance floor time and half the room jumped in! What a great way to end such a beautiful night. Congrats again!

Venue: South San Francisco Conference Center

Videography: Sheffield Multimedia

Chair Covers: Especially Yours Chair Covers

Bakery: Baked Vanilla

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of shooting the engagement session for both Thomas and Winnie. I remember the fun and excitement that they both had together and also with us. Needless to say, I knew that their wedding day was going to be exciting! The day started early with the preparation for Winnie and her bridesmaids at their house. Everyone was chatting and making sure that everything was prepped. While Winnie was getting her hair and makeup done, I went to the backyard and took some photos of her dress. Although it was simple in design, it was truly elegant and beautiful.

Shortly after, Thomas and the groomsmen made it up to the house to start the door games. I saw that my second photographer Alfred was with them. He was hanging out with Thomas and his groomsmen for most of the morning. The bridesmaids had a series of questions for Thomas to answer and unfortunately he answered all of them wrong which meant a lot of wasabi and fruit for them! One of the most hilarious parts was when the guys were led to the back and had to perform a choreographed dance routine for the girls. I don’t know what the guys were doing before they got to the house but their coordination was off! The girls too pity on them and soon Winnie came outside which caught Thomas by surprise since he hadn’t seen her all morning. They looked so happy and the entourage let them have a quiet moment together before coming inside for the tea ceremony. Thomas and Winnie performed the tea ceremony great with Winnie’s mom and brother. Then we all got into the limo and headed off to Stanford.

Even though it was gloomy in Millbrae, the sun was out in Stanford! There were lots of tourists milling about but we were able to get some great photographs of the whole bridal party as well as just Thomas and Winnie. The girls were having a great time with me getting some shots in and enjoying the sun. Alfred took the guys off to the side and did some great pictures with them too. I really loved the architecture of Stanford’s halls with the beautiful arches and stone. They made a great decision to head over there for the pre-ceremony pictures.

Stay tuned for part II…….

With the reception winding down at St. Ignatius Church, both Angeli and Matt with the rest of the entourage headed down to Alamo Square for a few photos before partying up at the Julia Morgan Ballroom.  Veronica and I headed down there and we got there before everyone which was really cool since there were the two big limos pulling up and all of the tourists turning around to see what was going on.  When I was able to have everyone setup the way that I wanted, more tourists started coming over and taking pictures!  It started to get really windy so after we got some more shots of everyone, we headed back downtown for some partying.

Julia Morgan Ballroom is widely known as one of the most elegant and beautiful places in San Francisco to have a wedding reception.  Once I walked into the dining room, I was struck by the beauty of Angeli and Matt’s beautiful reception hall.  The crowd that was waiting in the foyer were sipping in drinks and boba and occasionally taking peaks inside.  Once I saw Angeli and Matt again, they were really enthusiastic about having some party time.  There was definitely nowedding jitters left there!

Both the maid of honor and the best man made some unique speeches.  I think this is the first time that I’ve ever seen a lottery ticket at a wedding and hope it was a winner!  After the speeches were done, people started to have some more drinks and start eating the great food.  One of the things that I saw later on was a caricature artist doing caricatures in the foyer.  It seemed to have both kids and adults eager to get their faces drawn.

On a bright sunny morning, I arrived at the Omni hotel in San Francisco to see Angeli and her bridesmaids getting ready for her big day. Everyone was hustling around getting their final preparation done before leaving for St. Ignatius. Angeli was finishing up with her hair and makeup and she was just beaming with excitement about her big day. Her dress was just gorgeous. The beading and cut were beautiful. Once she put it on, all of her bridesmaids and the makeup artists ran over and were snapping away on their cameras.

St. Ignatius church is pretty familiar for me since I was there a few weeks before shooting with Veronica Suh who happened to shoot again with me for Angeli and Matt’s wedding. We all met up at St. Ignatius and took some beautiful photos in the waiting area with the large floor to ceiling mirrors. Angeli looked so elegant with her train stretched out in front of those mirrors. Then in a flash we were all set for the actual ceremony.