Leah and Hakan had a very intimate Long Beach Wedding this past Friday; and it was my pleasure to be their wedding photographer.  They had requested for me to photography their couple’s session in Long Beach the day after their actual wedding ceremony.  We started off at Hotel Maya (formerly known as The Coast Hotel).  I remember photographing a wedding there in July of 2007 when it was still The Coast Hotel!!  Hotel Maya, Long Beach is completely different from what it use to look like before.  It is now beautifully decorated and there are lots of photo opps all around!!

The weather forecast predicted that it was gonna rain that day and all through the weekend; making Leah and Hakan a bit nervous, but what do you know… beautiful blue skies and sunshine when we did their wedding photography session in Long Beach!

Hotel Maya everyone… in case I didn’t mention it already!  =)  I’m just kidding… there’s something about this picture that I really like so I figure I’d add it to my blog!

Shoes, dress and rings!  What’s a Judy Tran Blog with these items??  If you know me.. all my blog entries will have pictures of these three things (especially the rings)!  =D

I shot this picture using a fish-eye 15mm lens.  I love the symmetry and reflection in this picture!!

I love shooting into the sun!!  I love the “glow”…

Yup… beautiful So-Cal weather!!  I’m beginning to doubt weather forecasts now…

I like how the pink window pane created the cool pink colors on them!

Leah, you probably get this a lot but… did anyone ever tell you that you kinda look like Jessica Simpson???  Especially with your sunglasses on!!

One of my favorite pictures from the day!!  So hot and so intimate!!  Can you tell which one is real and which one is the reflection???

From the Maya Hotel we headed over for some quick pictures at Shoreline Village, Long Beach!

Shoreline Village in Long Beach is known of the Light House…

Leah and Hakan… thank you for the opportunity to hang out with you both!  It was a pleasure being your wedding photographer!  Congratulations on your marriage and your new house!!  Have fun and good luck with all your future plans!!

Gavin and I had an Traditional Vietnamese Wedding  in Vietnam this past December.  Many people have asked us why we decided to have a wedding in Vietnam… and the answer is because I want my Grandma and the rest of my Dad’s side of the family to attend.  Although I left Vietnam when I was little, I still have a very close relationship with everyone there.  It’s probably because I go back to visit them every 2 to 3 years.  I feel very blessed to have such an understanding fiance who was more than happy to travel over to Vietnam for me and my family!  I’m also very thankful that my Mom’s side of the family (who lives in the states) all flew there to attend.  There were 30 of us on that ridiculously looooong flight to Vietnam.  It took 13 hours to fly from Los Angeles to Narata , Japan.  From there, we had to switch planes and flew another 7 hours from Japan to Saigon, Vietnam.  Aside from the flight, everything else was a blast!!  Check back soon for pictures from the trip!

For the wedding day, my parents hired a traditional Vietnamese photographer and videographer.  Knowing that this wedding was mainly for my family, Gavin and I pretty much let my parents took over with the wedding planning.  However, Gavin and I still wanted artistic wedding pictures so we found another photographer (Aidan Dockery), to do the day-after session.  Aidan is an English photographer who shares our passion for photography and has a similar style to ours.  He has lived and worked in Vietnam for about 6 years.  We were so lucky to have him agree to photograph our session.  Thank you so much Aidan for the beautiful photos!  It was truly a pleasure meeting and working with you!

You can see more of his work here:

http://www.abdphoto.net/weddings.html

http://blog.abdphoto.net/2010/01/binh-duong-wedding.html

Here are some of our favorites from the day!  Enjoy…

On our way to Dai Nam Park, we saw this beautiful rubber tree orchard!  As wedding photographers, we can’t let the photo opp slip by…

With 3 professional wedding photographers, this was a piece of cake!  LOL…  The only downside was… it was blistering HOT and there were humongous red ants crawling everywhere!  They were at our feet and were not very happy that Gavin and I stepped on their homes and killed family members… so they decided to take revenge!  Not fun… but I thought it was so worth it for the pictures!  =D

I especially love the following two pictures!  It looks so dreamy!

We finally made our way into Dai Nam Park.  It’s a huge theme park that was build a few years ago.  The park has a zoo, a water park, a Buddhist temple, a movie theater, coaster rides, etc…

Love the reflection off the floor!

Gavin has a blue belt in Brazilian Ju-Jit-Su… so every now and then he has the itch to put me in a choke-hold!

We ended our shoot with a beautiful sunset!

One wedding down… one more to go!  I can’t wait to start planning for our American Wedding this coming December!  It’s actually the same date (Dec. 26) as our Vietnamese wedding, just exactly one year apart!!

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!!! =)

I had a blast hanging out and photographing Bernadette and Payon’s wedding at Yamashiro in Hollywood!  It was a beautiful wedding filled with lots of love from friends and family!  Bernadette and Payon (along with their group of friends — bridal party) are so much fun to be around.  Everyone was so down to earth and my gosh… they can drink!!!  One thing I really admire about this group is their friendship and love for each other!

Bee and the girls got ready at the Magic Castle (in Hollywood) located just seconds away from Yamashiro.

As usual… my ring shots!

Bee and her girls had a few shots during their preparation to loosen things up a bit!  I don’t know… but for some reason I think I’m gonna card the little girl in the red-plaided shirt! =)  I think she’s under age… and she’s drinking coke… and rum!!!  Just kidding…

I don’t know why or how this happened but the under-aged junior bride’s maid ended up holding the Ketal One Vodka bottle walking around the garage and then into Yamashiro.  Look at the size of the Vodka bottle compared to her face! LOL…

Their ceremony took place in Yamashiro’s beautiful Japanese garden.

In Payon’s culture (Thai culture), the sponsors ties the couple’s hands together to symbolize their union and that the couple will be “tied” together for eternity.

As for entertainment…  a couple of Bee and Payon’s friend who are professional swing dancers put on an awesome show!!!

I started to tear up a bit seeing Bee cry during this slow dance.  I love this moment between the two of them as Payon wiped her tears away.

What was more emotional was when all their friends came up and joined them in a big group hug/dance!!  It was GREAT!!!   Bee and Payon was crying AND laughing from the love all around!

After their wedding, we went around Yamashiro for some couple pictures.  It was pretty dark out and Hollywood was glowing in the background!  I LOVE it!!!  Check out the moon!

Yamashiro… if you like sushi… gotta try it out!  It’s located on top of a hill overseeing the city of Hollywood!  Beautiful restaurant inside and a great lounging area outside (next to a pool with fire pits).

After their wedding Bee and Payon invited Gavin and I to come to their after-party at their hotel suite (at the Magic Castle).  I had a great time hanging out with and taking a few shots with Bee and her girls!  By the end of the night… Bee was done!

Thank you so much Bee and Payon for having us be a part of your day!  Can’t wait to hang out with you guys again…