How many brides have been serenaded by the groom on the wedding day?  Now, how many brides have a song or music written in your honor all dedicated to you?  The prelude from slide show below was composed by the groom, Eric, and it is called, “Fur Adina”.   What a romantic gesture!

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.

Paul and Katy, a couple overcoming tragedies, celebrates life and gives the ultimate gift of a traditional Chinese wedding to their family.  Paul and Katy’s wedding becomes more than just the union of two people in love.

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.

For family photographer
in New York, NY

August 8^th, 2009 was a day of many firsts for me.

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.

Is it possible to plan a wedding in four months? Sure, why not? Listen to the story of Brooke and Michael and you’ll agree that anything is possible when there’s love and faith. Four months after their engagement they were happily married at The Castle at Skylands Manor.

Music playing in the slide show is by cellist, Chun-Hsin Chang, a former Willi Wong bride.

The Skylands Manor
90 Route 46 East
Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046
973.256.9380

After the recording of Elena & Chris’s Wedding Story, I wanted to make sure I was present for the next one. Willi forgot to press the record button. He may know all the buttons on his cameras, but with everything else it may be a different story.

We’ve recently updated our website to include the Story of Amanda & Jordan. We named Amanda & Jordan’s Story, “Since Date One”. There’s a very special reason to why we chose the title. I don’t want to ruin their story by introducing it any further. You will not be disappointed, because their story is like a Russian matryoshka/Babushka doll; a story within a story.

Once again we want to thank Amanda & Jordan for coming into our studio to share their story with us even though 6 months have passed since their wedding. Thank you for your time and effort and we really enjoyed talking to you, Jordan while waiting for Amanda.

Amanda & Jordan’s wedding was held at The Heldrich in New Brunswick, New Jersey

Many of us go through life making mistakes without a second chance to make it right. Chris and Elena first dated for 3½ years and took a 2 year break before a meeting by chance brought them back together. They seized upon this once in a lifetime opportunity to treasure one another and fall in love all over again and in their own words, “It’s much better the second time around”.

It must be fate, but without the appreciation of what life offers us we can not profit from the opportunity. One can see that Chris and Elena genuinely appreciate this gift that brought them back together and they are profiting from this reunion and turning their life into one of love, caring and appreciation. I can truly sense these energies in the presence of Chris and Elena.

Check out my conversation with them at the end of their wedding images.

This is my first audio interview with a couple and I look forward to more exciting and insightful conversations with brides and grooms who have given me the opportunity to be their storyteller.

Elena & Chris’s Prom and Wedding were held at  Glen Island Harbor Club New Rochelle, New York