Erin + Harry were rockstars. They made shooting with a bad cold bearable. Driving around in LA, Harry’s hood, was a breeze and we covered lots of cool places in such a short amount of time.

It was a perfect day by the shore for Rachel + Dan to get married. Rachel, a former Miss Chinese International who represented Malaysia in 2003, met Dan in Hong Kong on a church gathering trip and romance sparked. Dan, who worked for WB, proposed 7 months into the relationship and they were set to have two weddings. One in LA where they both live and another in Malaysia where Rachel is from. With both Rachel + Dan being devout Christian, they started the ceremony with worship and it was incredibly emotional. Rachel and the girls also had been practicing a group dance performance to surprise the guests during the reception. The energy on the dance floor was phenomenal and it was really a perfect day for a wedding. :)

Thanks to my friend Brandon Wong to help me second shoot this wedding.

Venue: Bel Air Bay Club
Coordinator: Fresh Events Company
Florist: Ixora Florist
Bakery: Magnolia Bakery
Dress: Jeff Mui
MUA: Deric Lim
Hair: Summer Star

Group prayer for the boys

Dan’s mom reaction is so cute!

First look!

Gorgeous, thoughtful details with romantic movie theme. Love the projection of “Roman Holiday” in the courtyard!

Rachel + Dan did a dance-off break in the middle of their first dance

And the rousing performance

A few months back, I got an email inquiry to shoot a wedding in Jakarta, Indonesia.

From the moment I Skyped with Idya + Theddy, I felt at ease and we connected right away. We chatted for about an hour about the possibilities of shooting their 1500-guest reception and I couldn’t help but being very intrigued about what to expect.

Now that I’ve experienced it, I can’t wait to share the photographs and stories about some of the Chinese-Indonesian traditions I witnessed.

Idya + Theddy got ready at the venue, Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, which is one of the oldest 5-star hotel in Indonesia. The morning started off normally. Breakfast, shower, make up and hair. You know, the usual. Then, as part of the Chinese customs, Idya’s Mom and Dad helped putting on the jewelry and the gloves. I guess the gloves were necessary because the bride and groom would later on shake hands with ALL the guests who were gracious enough to attend the reception.

Meanwhile, Theddy and his groomsmen had to pick up the bride in her room but the bridesmaids weren’t going to make it easy for the guys. They had to go through a series of stunts and some intense negotiations to prove that the groom was worthy of the bride. Hilarity ensued. :)

From there, they had to go to the lobby together and left the hotel in the limo to symbolize that they were leaving the bride’s home to go visit the groom’s parents to do the tea ceremony.

Later in the evening, the reception started. Outside the venue lobby there were lots and lots of boards made out of flowers congratulating the happy couple, another Indonesian tradition. Then guests started coming through security and metal detectors. Lots of food, lots of guests. I guess when you have 1000-plus guests, the venue has to be bigger than a football field. I also saw the biggest wedding cake I’ve ever seen. So big, in fact, that Idya and Theddy had to cut it with a knife on a long pole.

At this point, I had been shooting for about 11 hours and the next few events started to blur into one another. I knew that the guests were enjoying all kinds of gourmet foods and desserts while the band was playing some music in the background. Then there was a dance performance while a giant camera on a crane covered the entire event live and broadcasted it on two very large LCD screens so all the guests could see. Lastly, the couple threw the bouquet together and anyone could participate in catching it. Not only the single ladies.

All in all, I’m glad I did it. It certainly was very different from what I normally shoot here in the US. And I got the chance to work alongside my talented friends Edward Suhadi and Erwin Wijanto, who shoot this type of weddings week in and week out. I certainly learned a lot from them.

And lastly, I’d like to express my gratitude to Idya + Theddy who had flown me a few thousand miles, trusted me and believed in my vision in unfamiliar territory. I want to try to do this once a year. Any more takers? :)


Venue: Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, Jakarta, Indonesia
Planner/Organizer: Party Purrfect

I’m so late at blogging these but it doesn’t make them less significant. :-)
I’m really humbled to have placed in the Spring & Summer 2011 ISPWP contests among thousands of entries from all around the world. Thanks to all my clients who trusted me to do what I do!


From Patty + Steve’s wedding at the St. Regis, San Francisco, CA

From Samar + Ali’s wedding in Villa Vistarenni, Tuscany, Italy

From Cynthia + Jon’s wedding at the Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA

From Jackie + Anthony’s engagement in Central Park, New York, NY

From Samar + Ali’s wedding in Tuscany, Italy

From Cynthia + Jon’s wedding at the Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA

From Angela + Joe’s wedding at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

From Julie + Bert’s wedding at the Carneros Inn, Napa, CA

From Julie + Bert’s wedding at the Carneros Inn, Napa, CA

From Pani + Ronnie’s engagement in New York, NY

From Pani + Ronnie’s engagement in New York, NY

Carol + Tom got married at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay amongst a small group of friends and family and I’m honored to have captured their story. Thanks to Maurice for helping me second shoot the wedding.

Venue: Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, CA
Florist: Floral Design Studio
Makeup/Hair: Armando Sarabia
Cake: Elegant Cheesecakes
Dress/Shoes: Monique Lhuillier/Chanel