Caitlin and Sudheer had so much fun at their first wedding (at Los Verdes Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes);  they decided to do it AGAIN… “Indian Style” this time! With great pleasure, Gavin and I traveled to the Marriott in San Ramon (in Northern California) to capture their big day.

Let’s take a sneak peak in Caitlin’s room and see what’s she’s doing.

And here she is again… getting ready for her man. I love photographing Indian weddings. It’s always filled with beautiful vibrant colors, ornate jewelery… and delicious food! Yup… can’t forget the food!

Here are some of my favorites during Cait’s prep.

Before we see more of Cait, let’s peak in Sud’s room and see what he’s up to. Of course… what else could he be doing?  …Chillin with a beer in his hand! The groom always has it so easy… just slip on the clothes and they’re ready to go! I’m so jealous.

Meanwhile… the bride has to put on make-up, get her hair done……….and in Caitlin’s case, struggle to put on jewelery. This is not posed… she is seriously making faces while putting the bracelets on. Silly Caity!

I’ve always found it amazing how a Sari is worn.  It’s a 9 yard long piece of elaborate cloth that is wrapped around a female. I got to see for the first time how it was done and I thought: “Wow…” Lots of folding, tucking, and pinning!

Not only is Cait a lovely Western bride, but she also makes a stunning traditional Indian bride.  By the way, I LOVE the Henna tattoos. For those who are interested: Mehendi is a small tropical shrub, whose leaves when dried and ground into a paste, give out a rusty-red pigment. This is suitable for making intricate designs on the palms and feet.

Lastly, Cait puts on her Bindi and she is ready to go!

The traditional ceremony lasted about 1 hour.  I thought it was very interesting ceremony. There were lots of chanting and rituals involved.

There is a curtain that blocks the groom from seeing his bride as she walks down the aisle and approaches him. Once she is on “stage” the curtain is lowered and they meet for the first time during the day.

Great Ceremony… I was intrigued with everything!

The Reception was filled great toasted.  Sudheer’s sister’s toast was so touching it made him cry while others brought back memories that got him constantly laughing.  During the toasts, Sudheer’s mom also found out things that mothers were suppose to never know!

And here is their first dance.

Ok… let’s get the party started:

Thank you Caitlin and Sudheer for a wonderful experience! Congratulations and may your future together be filled with lots of love, warmth and happiness!!!

Sudheer and Gavin (my Fiance) are Brazilian Ju-Jit-Su (a form of martial arts) buddies at UCLA.  Sudheer got his Ph.D at UCLA and is now a mad Geneticist.  Caitlin also went to UCLA and is now a wonderful teacher.

I had such a great time photographying their wedding on July 4th at Los Verdes Golf Course in the beautiful city of Rancho Palos Verdes.  It was such a lovely day for a wedding.

And as usual, here is my ring picture.  I love Caitlin’s ring…

Caitlin decided to go with a creamy ivory color dress and shoes instead of the traditional white.

Here are some pictures of Cait getting ready for her man… She’s gorgeous!!!

She’s so silly… everytime someone would compliment her on how beautiful she looks, Caitlin starts crying!

Cait and Sud are so funny. It was hilarious during their exchange of vows. Sudheer was concentrating on being serious… and the more serious he looked the more it cracked Caitlin up. She finally couldn’t hold it and burst into laughter.

What a beautiful couple….

Here are some quick pictures of the newlyweds right after the ceremony.

The cake cutting was the best part during the reception. Sudheer was sooooo mean.  He got her right in the eye! Poor Caitlin… she was saying “ouch!!! I can’t see… I can’t see” the entire walk to the bathroom.  I am so sure Sud is gonna pay for it later.

As Caitlin was cleaning off the massive amount of cake on her face, Sud stuck his head in the women’s room and yelled out “I’m sorry babe… I love you…” Caitlin chased him out of the room and into the men’s room where she gave him a piece of her mind about caking the bride in the face! I followed her in too (FYI – there were other guys doing their busy in the men’s room while Cait went in there!) but then decided it was best to stand at the door to take pictures.

And here she is… our beautiful bride coming out of the MEN’S room!

Caitlin eventually got Sud back right in the face as he was giving a speech about how wonderful his wife is!  It was awful……ly great!!! LOL

And here they are… Caitlin and Sudheer ! They are totally made for each other!

They will be having another wedding (an Indian wedding) in Northern California.  Gavin and I will be photographying that one as well. I can’t wait to see how beautiful this couple will look in their Indian Sari.  I’m excited…yay!!!

There will be more to come… check back soon for more of Caitlin and Sudheer in action!

I had the pleasure of photographing Huong and Doug’s wedding at La Palapa Delmar (or Del-mar) in Long Beach.  Huong and Doug met and feel in love while they were serving in the Peace Corp in South America.  Huong is totally a city girl who enjoys shopping and Doug is an outdoor/nature person who loves hiking. Hm… what can these two have in common right?  Well… it’s their pure and kind hearts that attracted them to one another.

Here is our beautiful laid-back bride Huong getting ready for her big day. It’s funny how Huong and I share so many similarities.  While she was getting ready, we joked about how unfair it is being the oldest female sibbling in a Vietnamese (Asian) family. We both love our little brothers to death, but agreed that they are brats.  After sharing many funny stories about our moms; we realized that we can and SHOULD publish a book titled “Our Vietnamese Mothers”. =)

And of course, for those who know me… I am a sucker for rings! So… here it is:

Huong requested to have pictures of both their rings on an apple because she loooooves apples! “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Ironically, Doug is a Doctor!

Huong and Doug decided to have their first meeting prior to the ceremony. Great planning because we had lots of time for photos.

Their beautiful beach wedding ceremony was held on the beach right outside of La Palapa Delmar. I was told that La Palapa Del-mar is one of the two beaches in Long Beach that have permits to conduct a ceremony on the beach. Great choice of location guys!

Huong and Doug wrote and read their own vows.  You may be wondering why Huong is laughing so hard right? The back story is… when Doug read his vows, he was suppose to say, ” I am here by choice, not by chance.” But instead he accidentally said “I am here not by choice…” then paused and realized oops that didn’t come out right! Take two was a lot better. =)

Their reception at La Palapa Del-mar Banquet Hall was an evening filled with entertainment.  It started with the Bridal Party’s spectacular grand entrance to Huy’s (Huong’s little brother) awesome speech to Doug trying to speak in Vietnamese and then serenading to his gorgeous bride. And of course… LOTS of dancing!

Thank you Huong and Doug for such a wonderful day. I look forward to having you two attend my wedding with Gavin in Vietnam this coming December!

Gavin will be shooting Dez and Mario’s wedding on September 26 of this year.  They originally planned on having their wedding at a winery out in Temecula. Unfortunately, distance and traveling will be an issue for their families, so they decided to have it at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach instead.  For their engagement photography session, I tagged along  and it turned out to be a wonderful double date!  To be honest, Dez and Mario are more like friends now than “clients”.

These two are so silly. They were a little shy at first… so guess what we did? Of course… nothing better than alcohol to loosen them up! We did some wine tasting at Churon Winery.  At Inn at Churon Winery is where I found my LOVE — “Gold Nector”.  Gold Nector is the perfect blend of Chardonnay and Muscat.  Desiree and I had to buy some bottles to take back home with us after trying it.

After a few drinks, they were ready to go.  Here are some pics that I took for fun as a second photographer.

While driving to another vineyard, I spotted a nursery filled with gorgeous baby palms. Dez and Mario laid out the blanket and enjoyed the sun as they sipped their delicious Gold Nector under the beautiful palm canopy. =)  They are so cute together… totally made for each other.

After wine tasting, we ended our double date with dinning at Lucille’s BBQ where we enjoyed delicious ribs while watching the Laker game.  Thank you Desiree and Mario for such a wonderful experience with wine tasting.  Gavin and I had so much fun hanging out with you two!

Stephanie and Nathan got hitched at the beautiful Rancho Capistrano out in San Juan Capistrano. I came along as a second photographer for Gavin.

I love Stephanie’s ring and dress.  It’s simple… yet so elegrant and classy.  Look at how the diamond sparkles!

Here is my favorite picture from the preparation.

Here comes our beautiful bride.  Stephanie has an amazing smile… but what’s even better is the smile on Nate’s face when he saw his bride for the first time during the day.

It had rained the night before so the clouds have passed and left a clear blue sky with gently breezes. WOW!!!  Beautiful day… lovely couple… astounding wedding… what more can we ask for?

And here it is… their really looooonnnng  first kiss!  =)  What can you say – when two people are in love… they are not afraid to show the world!

Stephanie and Nate really are a beautiful couple!  I can’t stop saying “beautiful” because really… everything about their wedding was beautiful!  Pictures were really important to Stephanie and so she allotted plenty of time for us to take pictures of them around the venue. You can see more of their couple pictures here.

Stephanie and I call this the “broccoli” tree.  It looks like a giant broccoli. Great for photos.

I thought it was really cool that they had a grand exit and send off.  Throwing of flower petals followed by driving off in a classic Rolls Royce is a perfect way to end the night.

These are my two favorite pictures from the night.  I love how it has the old classic look.

Congrats Stephanie and Nathan!!! Thank you for planning the perfect wedding! It was such a pleasure to work with you both.  Have fun in Hawaii…