Life is funny in it’s unfolding of our destiny.

A and D, two people destined to be together grew up in New York’s old Chinatown, but didn’t meet until recent years. They probably have walked past each other many times on Mott street, or Pell street, or any of the old streets in this historical neighborhood, orbiting each other day in and day out. Their lives were connected before they even met.

Here’s A’s account of their story: “We should have met many years ago, but because timing was probably not right then, we finally met in spring of 2006. We quickly learned that we have a lot of mutual friends – and that we grew up in the same neighborhood with practically the same groups of friends. Our shared interest of playing Tetris and snowboarding have bound us. But the true test of our love for each other came when life throws its wrenches into our relationship and nearly broke us. In the darkest moment of our relationship, there was uncertainty, there was doubt, and there were rivers of tears, but love does conquer all. After a year of “figuring stuff out”, we decided to give our love another try, only this time with a bigger challenge ahead — “long-distance”.   D was in Alabama for a year and a half, while I stayed put in NYC.”

D was training as a helicopter pilot in the Army.  And on May 5th, 2011, D kept his promise and proposed to A, on the day he received his wings for the completion of his pilot training.

This is truly “an officer and a gentleman” story with a Chinese-American touch. A and D not only love each other, but they love their families, their Chinese culture and this country. And the story comes full circle with the couple celebrating their wedding in where else, but Chinatown!

To top it off, we celebrated our daughter’s first birthday by connecting with friends and family in D.C.  She had so much fun and learned so much from this trip and she’s now walking with confidence too!

Here are some images from the wedding followed by a slide show, hope you enjoy it!

Ceremony and Reception:  Halcyon House
Day of Planner:  Monique Marwani
Makeup: Monique Marwani
Hair:  Ofeer Marwani
Florist:  Philippa Tarrant
Caterer:  Ridgewells Caterers
Ceremony music:  Celebrated String Quartet
Reception music:  Kristen & the Noise
Rabbi:  Jessica Olean, Temple Sinai
Decor:  Julie Shanklin, Syzygy Event Productions
Lighting:  John Farr Lighting Design
Invitations:  SIMPLESONG Design
Candelabra Chandeliers:  Beehive Events

Can this be possibly answered in a blog post? Depending on who you are or what your mood is; you may say it’s impossible or simply smile and point at a flower.

Mikaela and Brian are one of those flowers that I believe can shed some lights on what is a wedding.

They took the time out of their busy schedules as ER doctors and in the mist of relocating to Atlanta to come to my studio to share their story.

I have broken up the interview to different parts so you can come back and listen to them at different times or if you have lots of time on hand and are procrastinating at work, feel free to listen to all of them in one sitting, but don’t blame me if you are caught at work listening to these wonderful wedding stories from Mikaela and Brian.

Mikaela and Brian’s Story

Buying the Engagement Ring in India

The Road Less Traveled to the Proposal

The Dirty Secret of the First Dance

Moments from the Wedding – Please click on the PLAY button to start the slide-show

Why we chose Willi, you should really listen to Brian on this one, and Mikaela too!

Click HERE to view Mikaela & Brian’s sunrise engagement photo session at Brooklyn Bridge and Dumbo

Mikaela and Brian celebrated their wedding nuptials at the Lighthouse located in the heart of Chelsea Piers, New York City’s premier sports and entertainment complex.

I thought I was going to get a more private viewing of the church on the wedding day, but unfortunately I was unable to assist Willi that day. Sure glad that there are always the photographs for me to fall back on. No need for me to fight the tourist! Hope you’ll enjoy this slide-show as much as I do.

Did you know that there are two Boathouses in New York City?   Last year we photographed a wedding at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Audubon Center at the Boathouse. This year it is a wedding at Manhattan’s Central Park Boathouse.

Snow Doesn’t Stop A Wedding!

As theAssistant for Willi, theStoryteller, I have to arrange for most if not all of Willi’s transportation. On the day before and on the day of Adina and Eric’s wedding, there was a big snow storm. The driver that we have arranged to take Willi to the East Meadow Jewish Center in Long Island for the wedding called early in the morning on the day of the wedding to let us know that his car was buried in snow and that the streets in his neighbor was not yet plowed.

The East Meadow Jewish Center is about 30 miles from our studio in Manhattan and on a normal day with no traffic it shouldn’t take more than 40 minutes to get there. We figured that it’ll take us over 2 hours to get there on a bad weather day. We weren’t even sure if all the roads and highways were plowed, but our first concern was getting hold of a car. In our neighborhood there are a handful of car services. One after another we were told that they have no available drivers. Thank goodness to friends and referrals that we finally found a ride to Long Island.

We didn’t even bother calling the groom to confirm if the wedding was still going on despite the inclement weather conditions. Weather has never stopped Willi from photographing a wedding; therefore he didn’t think a bride and groom would call off their special day because of a little snow on the ground. The snow on the ground only made it look more like a winter wonderland.

Adina and Eric’s beautiful ketubah was custom made by Adina’s mom, Janice Cepler of Yaffa Studios. You can see more of Janice’s magnificent work of art and creativity on her website: http://sites.google.com/site/yaffastudiosjc/Home

Good Omens for a Happy Winter Wonderland Wedding Day:

Snow falling on the wedding day is a prophecy of great happiness.

Snow on the wedding day brings money.

When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.

Snow on your wedding day is a sign of fertility and prosperity.

If it snows on your wedding day, you will get a dollar for every flake that falls on you.

If snow falls on their wedding day, it means happiness for the bride and groom.

Their love for one another is very apparent; from the way they hold hands to the way they feed each other food. I can’t believe my eyes that in this day and age of fast food, fast paced and fast everything that I can still witness such an old fashion gesture of TLC between a young couple. These two will grow old together and have many children and grandchildren along the way. I can feel in my heart that this is what Paul and Katy want.

We created a wedding guest sign in book from their engagement session in Central Park and from it you can see the love between Katy and Paul for yourself.

Katy and Paul had wanted a more westernized wedding and reception, since they are both ABC (American Born Chinese), but they conceded to their parents wishes and went with a traditional Chinese style wedding. Which means they will have to perform the traditional rituals of picking up the bride, paying respect to the ancestors and gods by offering incense and burning paper money, and paying respects to their parents and elders through a *tea ceremony.

A traditional Chinese wedding maybe a challenge to a photographer.  With most traditional Chinese style weddings, all the rituals are performed at home and most first generation Chinese immigrant homes are not clutter free (my parents are no exception, they give a new meaning to pack rat).   As a photographer my goal is to make my clients look terrific by capturing the emotional moment in the most natural and beautiful way.

My motto to myself is to always have an open mind in all situations, don’t judge and let the beauty of the moment reveal itself to me. When we judge with our own tinted vision, we can not see what’s naturally beautiful. As a storyteller, I am hired to not only document the day in the life of a couple, but also to make beautiful images to cherish for generations.

On Katy and Paul’s wedding day we were given rain, wind, and snow. When it was time for us to shoot some outdoor photographs, the rain and wind got together to test our ability to adapt. We had to change our plan because of the limitation of time and the inclement weather. Instead of going to Dumbo to shoot against the beautiful New York City skyline; we ended up at Brooklyn’s Eighth Avenue subway station. The Eighth Avenue station is a symbolic place for Katy and Paul. It’s where waves of Chinese American and other immigrants pass through daily. It’s also where Paul grew up and near where he and Katy celebrated their wedding that evening at the Pacificana Restaurant.

Once again we’ve found beauty in a less than expected beautiful setting; we embraced what was beautiful within all of us at that moment.

Katy and Paul’s unselfish and filial gift not only brought closure to the past, but brings with it hope for a beautiful and fruitful life ahead. With love, all is possible. Katy and Paul, I look forward to photographing your children and seeing the smiles on you and your family’s faces.

The fabulous Monika Broz, one of the most unbelievable and energetic photographer I have the pleasure of knowing, second shot with me that day.

Katy’s wedding day hair and make up  by Jina and Carol of JAC Beauty.

*Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony
In Chinese culture, the younger generation always shows its respect to the older generation by offering a cup of tea. The tea ceremony is considered a significant event in a Chinese wedding. The groom and bride are formally introduced and welcomed into each other’s family through the tea ceremony. After the drinking of the tea, gifts are presented to the bride and groom. Gifts are usually in forms of “lucky” red envelopes that contain money or jewelry.

It was the first time I:

* was at The Prospect Park Audubon Center at the Boathouse (for a wedding or personal leisure)
* was at The River Café
* saw a handmade silk bouquet by Twigs & Honey
* met stylist Sissi Chan
* assisted on two weddings in one day (yes, TWO (2) weddings!)
* was in Dumbo for a wedding day photography session
* assisted Willi and associate photographer, Ben
* brought a mp3 player with a recorder with me to a wedding
* tasted a Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory ice cream
* ate black cod with miso
* and so much more that I’m not going to bore you with

When I first walked into Prospect Park; it seemed like dejavu. I couldn’t pinpoint it until I’ve reached the Boathouse. I felt as if I was on the movie set of  Somewhere in Time; when I saw Cynthia and Matt in their wedding attire. The Boathouse is such a romantic setting for a wedding.

I did not plan on using my mp3 recorder, but when I heard the harpist playing Pachelbel’s Canon I couldn’t resist pressing the record button. A few days after the wedding when I listened to the recording; I was surprised by the content. Unknowingly, I had left the recorder on for the entire wedding ceremony. It recorded Cynthia and Matt’s wedding vows.

Now, I understand why talkies were such a phenomenon in the 1920s. Adding sound and especially dialog to photographs enhances the emotional content.  With Willi’s photo storytelling skills and my mp3 recorder we may have just added a new a la carte service.  Do let us know what you think.

By the way pescetarians I highly recommend The River Café’s black cod with miso!

The River Café
1 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 522-5200

Prospect Park Audubon Center at the Boathouse
95 Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, NY? 11215
(718) 287-3400?

Cynthia & Matt’s slideshow was first published on September 27, 2009.

Dumbo, Brooklyn  is a very beautiful setting for not just wedding photography sessions, but also engagement photo sessions.

Willi, theStoryteller, a Modern Lifestyle photographer, is still in the mist of post production and album making. Looks like he won’t be able to come up for air until the end of February; but in the mean time we would like to share an intimate wedding of a lovely, beautiful & fun couple from London, England.

Helen contacted us to photograph her intimate get away New York City destination wedding a month before their City Hall civil wedding ceremony. No contract was drawn; we promised to meet each other at 8 a.m. at the Hudson Hotel on one of the coldest day in December 2009.

They had a total party of three people: Helen, John, and Helen’s sister, Heather. Here are the challenges in a nut shell: Willi had to create a story of three people who comes to New York City’s City Clerk’s Office Marriage Bureau for a less than twenty second civil wedding ceremony to be pronounced husband and wife in 10°F (it sure did felt like it) weather and make it fill with fun, emotion, warmth, and NYC chicness, because that’s what the bride and groom came all the way to New York City from London to do. Thank goodness that the love was already there, because luckily for us Helen and John are so much in love that it shows.

We started the wedding photo shoot at the elegant Hudson Hotel Penthouse then we headed out to City Hall, Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Station. Due to the inclement weather; we tried, but were not able to utilize the terrace with panoramic New York City views. I was surprised that we were able to shoot in bathroom, but then it was chic and luxuriously stylish.

Well, here are the results from the challenges given! Be sure to view the slideshow too!

Please click on the play button to see more of Helen & John’s gorgeous wedding pictures taken in the penthouse of the Hudson Hotel, New York City Hall, Brooklyn Brooklyn and Grand Central Station.

Hudson Hotel
356 West 58th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 554-6000

On Melissa and Joe’s wedding day the entire bridal party cheered and chanted my name as I walked through the door of the bridal suite; because I was available to phatograph Melissa and Joe’s wedding. I was elated, surprised and humbled by the ovation; it showed me how important my photography services are to a bride, her friends and her family.

Bungalow Hotel
50 Laird Street
Long Branch, NJ 07740
phone: 732.229.3700
email: info@bungalowhotel.net

Avenue Restaurant
Le Club Beach Club
23 Ocean Avenue
Long Branch, NJ 07740
phone: 732.759.2900
email: info@leclubavenue.com

Don’t worry mommy is waiting at the end of the aisle with the arms open and candy in her hands.