Posts tagged wedding photography
Elopement Wedding at a Riverside Courthouse - Sarah and Bobby
 

Here is a little glimpse (behind the scenes) of how I'd photograph an elopement of a couple at a courthouse. We spent 1 hour together. And my partner Brett filmed and edited this video.

Sarah started talking about how her mom Monica had to endure the toughest time of her life - when her mother died and then, Sarah "died 4 times" and didn't know she would be able to walk again.

Sarah and Bobby eloped with Sarah’s mom, aunt and granpa, and got married at a Riverside Courthouse, vowing to be with each other forever and ever. I was so fortunate to witness their love.

Some love stories are straight out of a fairytale - others are written with grit, strength, and a radiant smile that defies all odds. Sarah has been battling a rare disease which doctors are still trying to understand, and yet, she radiates more joy than most will in a lifetime.

With the biggest smile and the purest heart, Sarah and Bobby reminded me that love isn't just about finding the right person - it's also about embracing every single moment, no matter how unpredictable the journey.

 


VALENTINE DTLA WEDDING PHOTOS - AKIKO + SEBASTIAN - LOS ANGELES DOWNTOWN WEDDING

“I knew to expect something special when we hired two former news photographers for ur day - but I’m seriously blown away by their work! Thank you Annie and Brett for documenting this day as only you two can.” - Akiko

Akiko and Sebastian’s wedding at Valentine DTLA was filled with love and celebrations with people who hadn’t been able to see one another since the pandemic started.

Akiko is a TV journalist - sounds familiar? yes, I was a journalist too! hehe, and Sebastian is a DP (director of photography). They met online back in 2015, when they were both living in LA. Akiko didn't have a profile photo set up - so Sebastian took a leap of faith in reaching out. They met up for lunch in downtown first and spent the first 6 months of our relationship in LA. Then, Akiko decided to take a job in Singapore, and they began a near 4 year long, long-distance journey. Sebastian works freelance as a DP, he was able to fly in for several weeks to a month at a time. He also took up some jobs in Southeast Asia so they could be in the same city for longer. After 2.5 years in Singapore, Akiko decided to move to Hong Kong with the same company (the opportunity was just too good to pass up!). So they spent another year of long distance, this time between Hong Kong and LA. The plan was to eventually move back to LA (where Sebastian is based), but when another job opportunity popped up in New York in 2019, he encouraged her to take it. For the last 2+ years, he has been splitting time between LA and New York, where Akiko is currently based.

“Put simply, our relationship has been all about managing different cities and travel, and finding a way to stay in the same city.”

VALENTINE DTLA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY - LA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER EXPERIENCE - KELLY + STUART
 

This was our last wedding before everything got shut down in 2020. The first weekend of March, when we were still cautious yet did not know how serious this COVID-19 virus was. Kelly, Stuart and all of us are very happy that it happened before things turned upside down.

In fact, they were already married. They didn’t want anything fancy and their wedding ceremony happened somewhat spontaneously at LAX courthouse and got some awesome Vietnamese food to celebrate afterwards, they said. Then Stuart contacted me and said, “we're not huge wedding photo fans, most of them just are too self-serious or cheesy of the couple and the photographer fails to capture beautiful, well-shot images of the friends, family, guests attending the celebration - the 'reception' is often an afterthought, with all the candids being of peoples backs, blurred dancing shots, etc - we're very aware that the 'reception' is basically our whole party!”

I was so happy that we were on the same page about capturing moments in life and that’s actually what matters the most! Woohoo! #jackpot

Since we didn’t have any ceremony, we thought, WHY NOT having some portraits of Kelly and Stuart - who are the kindest, nicest, smartest people I’ve ever met - on the streets of downtown Los Angeles before the “reception” at Valentine DTLA?

YESSSS!