Yes… he’s carrying a huge roasted pig!!!  =)

Jan and Kim had a hybrid wedding:  a traditional Vietnamese and a Western-style wedding.  Their day started early with a Traditional Vietnamese Ceremony.  In a traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony or a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, the groom’s family would come over (to the bride’s family) and receive her.   They would line up in a specific order with the first person being a representative from the groom’s family, followed by the parents of the groom, the groom himself and then his friends and family.  The groomsmen would carry different trays of gifts representing the wealth that the groom’s family will bring to the brides family.  There are about 6 to 8 different trays filled with goods (i.e. fruits, cakes, wine/tea, fabrics,  an abundance of jewelery for the bride… and of course a ROASTED PIG!! ).  Can’t forget the pig!  Gavin (my fiance) would always jokingly tease me by saying… ” All I need is a pig for your hand in marriage?!?!  You realize your parents are switching you for a pig!!!”  Silly Gavin…

Upon arriving at Jan’s house, the groomsmen would then hand over the trays to the bridesmaid.

The bridesmaids would then carry the trays in and place them on Jan’s ancestor’s altar.

The ceremony begins with the Jan and Kim lighting incense sticks and asking for a blessing from the ancestors.

Following the prayers, Kim and his mom gave Jan the jeweleries that were brought over.

A formal tea ceremony is a must in a Vietnamese wedding ceremony.  Jan and Kim served both sets of parents tea.   However, in a Chinese wedding ceremony, the bride and groom would have to serve tea to both sets of parents, grandparents, as well as aunts and uncles.

After the Vietnamese wedding ceremony was over, Jan and Kim changed out of their Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) and got into their American wedding attire.

Love the dress!!!  Simple…. yet so elegant!

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What’s a blog entry without my famous ring shots!?!?  =)

Before their church ceremony, I did a quick session with the bride and groom and their bridal party.  I love the contrast in the two colors that Jan had selected for her girls… red and black!!  It is definitely one of my options for our wedding.

It was raining on Jan and Kim’s big day, but these two love birds did not let the rain bring them down one bit!  Jan and Kim are awesome!! I really adore their friendliness and down-to-earth attitude.

Kim’s uncle was their officiant and he did an awesome job.

Here are a few detail shots at the reception hall

Jan and Kim had an awesome… I mean…. AWESOME grand entrance!!!

It’s so sweet how the entire bridal party joined hands, embracing Jan and Kim with lots of love!!  Great group of friends!!

You can tell how much a man really loves you from the way he looks at you.  And from this… I can feel the love that Kim has for Jan!  You both are an amazing couple.  I wish you nothing but the best for the rest of your lives.

Oh yeah… and the tiger too!! Khoa is Kim’s brother and his tiger costume was a total HIT at the reception !!

Grrrrr… show ‘em what you got Khoa!!!  LOL…

Of course… I HAD to pull his tail!!!  Thanks Doug (of furious photographers) for the picture!!  Hahaha…

Jan ended the night wearing a lovely evening gown and dancing to “Lady in Red”…

Congratulations Jan and Kim!!!  Thank you for having me and Doug be a part of your special day!!

Click here to see their engagement session at the Mondrian and the Standard Hotel in Hollywood.

Jan and Kim’s wedding was a great way to end year 2009!!  I am super excited to step into 2010 with many more exciting wedding stories!!!

Cheers everyone!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!  May the New Year bring you lots of love, warmth and happiness!!!  I hope you all had wonderful start into 2010!!

Gavin and I celebrated Christmas (12/25/2009), our wedding (12/26/2009), Gavin’s Birthday (12/27/2009) and New Year in Binh Duong, Vietnam.  With 3 consecutive days of celebration and festivities with family, we couldn’t ask for more!!!  I keep joking with Gavin that he’s only gonna get one present for all three occasions.  Does that sound fair?!?!  =)  Vietnam is a BEAUTIFUL country… and I’m not saying that because it’s my motherland, but because there were soooooo many beautiful photo opportunities! We had a great time and our wedding was AWESOME!  I can’t wait to share all the pictures we that took in Vietnam!  Check back soon for those and more…

Jenn and Sang got married on Nov. 27, 2009 (Thanksgiving weekend) at the beautiful Rancho Los Lomas in Silverado Canyon.  As you may recall from their engagement session, these two have been together for 14 years!!  WOW… it’s about time guys!!!

Here are a couple of wedding details:

I meet Sang for the first time while working on the 7th floor (Rehab) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills!  He came across as a little shy (to me) but he’s a great and caring Pharmacist!  It was always very nice to work with him at the hospital.

And here he is getting ready for the big day!

Emily (the little flower girl) is just too too cute!!!  She’s is always in automatic mode.  For some reason, she would always seem to know when the camera is pointing at her!!! I can be far away and yet she can sense the lens of the camera! LOL…  Her dad (the best man) believes that she got that trait from him!!  hehehe… And I believe it because he’s always ready for the camera too!!!  LOL

Cute huh??

Here is Jenn, ready to head out from the Ayres Hotel & Spa to Rancho Los Lomas.  I love her sweater… “Soon To Be Mrs. Chau”

Ceremony site was beautifully decorated

From start to end, the ceremony was super heartwarming!  Tears of joy and cheerful laughter flooded the room as Jenn and Sang exchange their vows.

And here she is again… our lovely flower girl Emily… posing for the camera!

After the ceremony was such a special moment for the two families!  Sang’s mom couldn’t stop crying as she welcomed Jenn into their family!  I got a bit emotional and teared up myself seeing her hug Jenn so tightly while crying her joyful tears.

Emily and the Ring Bearer!  Isn’t this just soooooo adorable!!!

Got GAP socks?!?!  LOL… love it!!!

Rancho Los Lomas is an awesome location with so many photo opps!  There was a red phone booth and I couldn’t resist putting Jenn and Sang in there for photos!

So silly….

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture!!  Love the look on Sang’s face!  That’s right Sang… Jenn will now pull you in any direction she wants to!! LOL… Literally!!!

Check out the texture on the wooden wall! I love background that have texture!  It adds so much to the picture.

I wanted to have a picture where it looks like Sang was hanging from the wall!  Wouldn’t you say that it’s quite believable?!?!?

As it got darker, Gavin busted out some remote lighting and was able to get this awesome image!!

The ceremony site was quickly changed into a reception hall as soon as the wedding ceremony was over.  Beautiful transformation huh?  I really like Jenn and Sang’s choice of center piece… Manzanita trees make great center pieces.

Their cake was different from all other cakes I’ve seen.  There were four different individual cakes placed on different levels of a huge Manzanita tree!

As soon as the outdoor reception dinner was done and the wedding party and guests started moving into the lounging/dancing area.  Not long after, it started to rain outside!  Perfect timing!!!

Sang is always so quiet and professional at work… but on his wedding day I saw a whole different Sang!!!  The saying is so true…. “it’s always the quiet ones”

Congratulations Jenn and Sang!! I’m so happy for the both of you!  It was such a pleasure working with you both and being a part of your big day!  Warm wishes and much love to you both!!!  We’ll definitely have to get The Boiling Crab soon!!!  My mouth waters just thinking about it!!! =)