Ali & Mojgan relaxing by stairway

Mojgan and Ali were a joy to work with regarding their official wedding ceremony at San Francisco City Hall. Although they will be having a more formal Persian wedding later this month, they wanted to have their official wedding done at the beautiful San Francisco City Hall. There was rain just a few days before hand, but they were fortunate that the day was fantastic, and gave them blue skies and sun. Here are few photographs from that day. Congratulations again Mojgan and Ali, and I am looking forward to your next big celebration later this month!

Ali & Mojgan by daylight

Ali & Mojgan enjoying a stroll

Ali & Mojgan

Mojgan & Ali with a kiss

Ali & Mojgan enjoying the sun

Ali & Mojgan with San Francisco City Hall

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.

Image #2 | Bridesmaid dresses

Image #3 | Bridemaids Soogi & Susan

Image #4 | The guys hanging at the Top of the Mark

Image #5 | Ben having a laugh

Image #6 | Serene's wedding dress

Image #7 | Serene getting ready

Image #8 | First meeting

Image #9 | Enjoying the moment

Image #10 | Bridal party on the trolley

Image #11 | Annie, Christine, Serene, Soogi, Michelle, and Susan

Image #12 | Serene & Ben with the Bridal Party

Image #13 | Hanging at Bar Americano

Image #14 | Enjoying a couple of drinks

Image #15 | Amazing floral arrangements by Nancy Liu Chin

Image #16 | Serene being walked down the aisle by her mom

Image #17 | Serene entering the Trinity Episcopal Church

Image #18 | Serene & Ben at ceremony

Image #19 | Serene & Ben in front of church red doors

Image #20 | Ben serenading Serene at the Merchants Exchange

Image #21 | Inside the Merchants Exchange Building

Image #22 | Flowers and interior lighting

Image #23 | Wedding cake

Image #24 | Introduction as Mr. & Mrs.

Image #25 | Greetings from the Bridal Party

Image #26 | First Dance

Image #27 | First Dance #2

Image #28 | First Dance #3

Image #29 | Enjoying the party

Image #30 | Serene & Ben - Congratulations!

Hye Jin and Ashish met through some friends through their work. To be honest, more people were worried that Hye Jin (a former UW Cheerleader – yes, she’s very cute and super spunky) would break Ashish’s (this guy has the most cheerful smile) heart, but thankfully, they simply fell in love. They’re made for each other and it’s obvious to anyone who has seen them together. The way that they look at each other, and the fact that they simply “get each other” is clear. This was going to be an incredible wedding celebration. It all started with a rehearsal dinner on Thursday, July 31, followed by an culturally Indian wedding celebration on the 1st, and a Christian wedding on the 2nd.

One thing I noticed was that this was a great group of people to work with. All of the bridal party (you can see individual post of them on the link listed above) were excited to see this day of celebration. They all wore culturally authentic clothes and participated in the morning’s traditional pre-wedding blessings. I knew this was going to be a blast to shoot. Even though the previous night brought some rain (my first experience with rain in Seattle) the next day proved to be a bit windy, but still beautiful. I found some great locations nearby, and we didn’t need to drive very far for our session. The bridal party was also game for a short walk, so it was fairly easy to find a few nice locations for our photographs. On Friday, the Indian wedding day, one of Dawn Shield’s assistants (Becky) worked along side me. She was great as a second shooter and got some great images as well. Although Dawn was out shooting an assignment in Missouri that day, she was a traveling champion and made it back the next day to Seattle for the Christian wedding day.

The Christian wedding day was almost like shooting a whole different group of people. They were either in suits or nice cocktail style dresses, and they all looked great. This was going to be another fun day of shooting. Dawn and I were excited since we actually knew the areas that Hye Jin and Ashish were using for their wedding reception which is where we used for their photographs, so it all came pretty naturally. On top of it all, the two of them were just as excited on day three as ever.

Their wedding day on Saturday was amazing. The venue was the EMP in Seattle, and it was like attending a very exclusive party (which is was.) The interior was gorgeous and lit with gorgeous colored downlamps (photographers love this!) and I was psyched to be able to be there to share in this huge day with them. The stage area had a gigantic led covered screen that was constantly changing depending upon the mood or in sync with the music that was being played. During dinner it was subdued, but when the band was playing, it was like being at a live rock concert. So slick!

The photos you see here are simply some that I liked, but there were so many great images of them, I had a hard time whittling it down to these few. I hope that you all enjoy them. Congratulations again to Hye Jin and Ashish! Best wishes to you.

Image #1 | Hye Jin & Ashish at Pike Place Public Market

Image #2 | Hye Jin with Indian Cultural Sari

Image #3 | Hye Jin and Ashish

Image #4 | Hye Jin & Ashish in Hall

Image #5 | Look at my Henna!

Image #6 | Do I Look Silly?

Image #7 | Beauty in Black and White

Image #8 | How can she not love Ashish? Look at that smile!

Image #9 | Waiting for the bride...

Image #10 | Together at last

Image #11 | As high as the Space Needle

Image #12 | Kissing in Black & White

Image #13 | Hye Jin with Lori, Felicia, Su Jin, Kelli, Sarah, and Julie

Image #14 | Ashish with Janos, John, Jeet, Robert, Sachin, and James - and then getting pummeled

Image #15 | Living like ROCKSTARS

Image #16 | Hye Jin & Ashish - Congratulations!