Posts tagged candid wedding photography
MANHATTAN BEACH WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION, VERANDAS BEACH HOUSE - JACKIE + EAMON

Jackie is super chill and funny (at least to me because she makes me laugh!) She and I have something in common; she is a journalist! I seriously give lots of credits who are working in the journalism field - which I left a long time ago. It’s a super fun job - especially in the 20s, but things are a lot different now with the internet and social media, etc. (I sound pretty old. Ugh.) Eamon is more of a reserved guy who is a lawyer.

The couple met in college at UT Austin while they both lived in the same dorm building. Friends first, then things evolve from there - my favorite kind!

When I asked Jackie what she loves the most about Eamon, she said “He says he’s 5’11 but he’s actually 5’10.5.”

Her grandmother who is 98 years old was the star of her family, and she was able to stay until late night which was very impressive. Jackie and Eamon’s wedding was held at Verandas Beach House in Manhattan Beach.

VALENTINE DTLA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY - LA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER EXPERIENCE - KELLY + STUART
 

This was our last wedding before everything got shut down in 2020. The first weekend of March, when we were still cautious yet did not know how serious this COVID-19 virus was. Kelly, Stuart and all of us are very happy that it happened before things turned upside down.

In fact, they were already married. They didn’t want anything fancy and their wedding ceremony happened somewhat spontaneously at LAX courthouse and got some awesome Vietnamese food to celebrate afterwards, they said. Then Stuart contacted me and said, “we're not huge wedding photo fans, most of them just are too self-serious or cheesy of the couple and the photographer fails to capture beautiful, well-shot images of the friends, family, guests attending the celebration - the 'reception' is often an afterthought, with all the candids being of peoples backs, blurred dancing shots, etc - we're very aware that the 'reception' is basically our whole party!”

I was so happy that we were on the same page about capturing moments in life and that’s actually what matters the most! Woohoo! #jackpot

Since we didn’t have any ceremony, we thought, WHY NOT having some portraits of Kelly and Stuart - who are the kindest, nicest, smartest people I’ve ever met - on the streets of downtown Los Angeles before the “reception” at Valentine DTLA?

YESSSS!

 
 
 
The York Manor in Highland Park Wedding - Ashley and Matt

Happy belated anniversary, Ashley and Matt! <3

Honestly though, I don’t want to write anything for their wedding - ONLY because their photos came out as raw as a wedding day could get, representing exactly who they are and how many awesome people they’re surrounded by. Ashley and Matt met in 2011 while working at Apple store of Galleria, and the way Matt proposed to Ashley is beyond amazing. I literally screamed! They dance (or used to?) with a wild group of go-go dancers, called Random Acts of Irreverent Dance (aka RAID) and basically at midnight of Sept. 24, 2016, he threw a mashup show surprise proposal to Ashley in front of friends and many many screaming fans. I hope they don’t mind sharing the clip here.

Matt is super talented working in film industry (also as an actor) and is only child while Ashley is the laidback yet more organized brain (than Matt, I think?) working as an account manager and has an emotional relationship with her mom. Her man of honor was also Matt (this gotta be her favorite name!), and it was my first time witnessing the man of honor helping the bride with her wedding dress. They had a Kogi taco truck for dinner then ice cream sandwich for dessert; it was so fun! We walked around the block and inside of the venue at The York Manor in Highland Park to make a few portraits with my amazing help Brett. Their day I remembered and witnessed was complete with so many moments of euphoria and celebration of their amazing love.