Old Time San Francisco – A Wedding with Style » Michael Muramoto Photography

Image #1 | Serene & Ben at Bar Americano

This past holiday weekend, two good friends celebrated their wedding day in San Francisco at the Trinity Episcopal Church (with the famous red doors) and the reception at the Merchants Exchange building on California Street. I am amazed at the classic, yet modern style of their day. Serene and Ben put an enormous amount of effort and planning into their wedding celebration and only relied on a few close friends to assist them. It was my pleasure to be their wedding day photographer.

Serene stayed at the Omni Hotel (in the Presidential Suite no less!) and started her day early – around 7AM – meanwhile, the guys got up later and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at around 9:30AM. Serene was relaxed and happy-go-lucky during the morning; however, as soon as she got into her bridal gown, she was all smiles and stayed that way all day. As soon as she and her bridesmaids were ready to go, we headed out the door to get on one of the trolleys and made our way to the same place where they got engaged last year – The Palace of Fine Arts. The gents made their way there with a few cabs. The PFA is where they got engaged to each other last year, and they decided it would be where they would have their “first meeting” on their wedding day. Unfortunately, the PFA is undergoing some repair, as it was under scaffolding and such. Luckily, the area is filled with areas that we were able to use instead.

After making a few other short stops, we headed to Hotel Vitale to have a few drinks with some of their close friends. After Serene and Ben enjoyed a martini and heard a few toasts, we had a few moments for some other portraits. Soon enough we found that it was time to head back to the church for their wedding celebration.

The church was packed with over 350 guests, and it looked amazing. Serene and her bridesmaids were eagerly waiting for the ceremony to start. Serene’s mom proudly walked Serene down the aisle. Serene was still smiling with her big grin and you could easily tell that she was excited for her wedding day to become official. The ceremony went without a hitch, and Serene and Ben headed down to the Merchants Exchange building for cocktail hour.

At the reception area, Ben’s mom is also a performer and was singing with her band. Ben then surprised Serene by singing her a song, and she was so enamored by that thoughtfulness. She headed onto the small stage and enjoyed the moment.

The reception area was beautifully detailed by Serene and Ben. The colors were pink, white, and black, and the area was lit with down-lights and up-lamps by Enhanced Lighting & Sound to give the area an ambiance and mood that suited their wedding day. The beautiful floral arrangements and bouquets were done by the amazing San Francisco florist, Nancy Liu Chin. The whole room looked incredible.

The rest of the night was filled with many highlights and you can see some of them in the following photographs. All in all, it was a wonderful celebration and I hope that Serene and Ben enjoy their new life together. Best wishes, and congratulations again.