I met Shannon + Jerome when I shot Shannon’s sister’s wedding. This family comes from a long list of writers and these two are no different, so I asked them to write a little bit about their wedding – who knew that through a wedding planning process, people realize their newlyfound-selves? Here is what Shannon wrote:
Here’s the thing about Jerome and I: We are not handy. Nor are we super crafty. I don’t even own a glue gun. My sister? She owns two. So when it came to our wedding venue, my beloved and I knew we should not be given a blank canvas. As my now-husband said, “We don’t have the ability to make something look good. We only have the ability to point at something and say we like it.”
And so we pointed to the SmogShoppe. It wasn’t long after we first set foot in the smog check station turned eco event venue that Jerome and I looked at each other and said, “Yup. This is the place.” It comes pre-cool. Vintage lounge furniture? Yes, please. Groovy wall of succulents? Absolutely. Cool bookshelf filled with antique tchotchkes and oversized letters? But, of course. In other words, it was the turnkey wedding venue and therefore, it was perfect.
However, somewhere along the planning route we forgot we weren’t DIY-ers and before we knew it we were making favor tags (with the assistance of some crafty friends), creating a photo booth and editing together old black and white movie clips. Basically, we were acting like people who owned multiple glue guns.
Lucky for us, it worked.
As you can see they are very humble :) Interestingly, as I expected long stories about them in their wedding website I found this instead, under “The Happy Couple” section:
Shannon.
Part Japanese. All Woman.
Jerome.
Loves tofu. Not Turkey.
Together.
They will attempt to climb a few mountains.
Short and sweet. I love it that they are so different, Shannon being the more expressive of the two and Jerome being the cool one. They are so good together, like the Yin and the Yang that keep the balance of things. And their party? It was awesome. Set at the SmogShoppe, which is a location that I have been yearning to shoot in for the longest time, and she introduced items such as recycled plates, mobile taco stand, pie as their wedding cake that got me really intrigued. I mean a taco stand at a wedding?? That’s super dope.
Special thanks for Dexter Lo for second shooting for me.
THE DETAILS:
Getting Ready: The Culver Hotel
Ceremony / Reception Venue: SmogShoppe
Caterer: Jalisco’s Movile Taco Grill
Cake & Bakery: Simplethings Sandwich & Pie Shop
Bouquets, Boutonnieres, Corsages: Playa del Rey Florist
Centerpieces: Altman Plants
Jerome’s mom’s reaction as she saw Shannon in her wedding dress for the first time
First look
An emotional rollercoaster ceremony, from cries of happiness to laughter. Here Shannon holding back tears as her mom is overcame by her emotions
Jerome feeling his new ring as his brother signs the marriage license
The giant screen has the Ashes and Snow movie playing. This is such a beautifully moving imagery and experience.
Love this little kid’s expression as she’s waiting for her turn for some good tacos
A Japanese tradition, Banzai Toast by Shannon’s grandfather that couldn’t make it to the wedding
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