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Wedding: Kate & Gene @ The Athenaeum, Pasadena

Last year I shot an engagement session in Caltech when Ling and Heunjin showed me around.  I’ve been in love with the setting and all the beautiful architecture ever since.  Then when I met up with Kate and her mother Dale on campus, I got to say this has been one of the most anticipated weddings this year on my list because of how beautiful Caltech and the Athenaeum is.  Little did I know how fortunate I was going to be working with such an beautiful loving couple and an awesome wedding party that day.

The day began with the coverage of Kate and her bridesmaids getting ready.  I was told about the beautiful Carrie bridal gown by Maggie Sottero prior to the wedding, and I had an idea what it would look like, but Kate wowed everybody once she put it on… I’m sure you’ll agree she looked absolutely gorgeous in it.

bridal shoes hanging off the windowPutting on the bridal gown in the mirror's reflection

This is one of my favorite shots when Dale and the girls were busy helping Kate with the gown.

Moments later after Kate was done with her gown, Dale asked for help to straighten up her corsage.  Knowing Dale’s tendency to be pin point accurate about everything, she eventually ended up taking off the jacket and doing it on her own while everybody was laughing about it.  Kate on the other hand, started dancing on her own in the back.

Here’s one of their portraits, and they had to make Gene take a shot with the bouquet. =)

They had quite a long list of portraits to do and so we found a great spot for that, and I just had to sneak in some silly shots in between. =)
happy bridal portraitvery happy wedding party portrait

and here’s another one of the very happy bridal partyThe wedding reception area at the Athenaeumplace cards with shallow depth of fieldwedding cake and table decorationwedding bands and engagement ring in back and white

I looked around for inspiration for the ring shot and ended up seeing these empty glasses at the bar sparkling in the light. =)

The very clueless-looking amazingly cute ring bearer

I usually don’t like to get too close to the bride and groom during the ceremony, but I was able to get behind Gene as he watched Kate and her father walk down the aisle.

and her priceless, genuine, beautiful smile

I knew we’re on a pretty tight schedule, but I managed to get a chance to ask the couple to do a few quick shots and this is what we got.  =)

This is when Kate’s little brother cracked everyone up with his awesome toasts.

The sun was quickly setting at this point, and I had to quickly adjust to adapt.  But I think it worked well on the father daughter dance

Gene holding his mother in the very touching mother-son dance

So it was another awesome day where I was again reminded of how much I love my job, and how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to capture these joyous moments in people’s lives.  Congratulations again, Kate and Gene!!!

Huge thanks to the following vendors who helped make the wedding a huge success!

Venue:  The Athenaeum (Caltech) | 551 South Hill Avenue, Pasadena, CA | (626) 395-8200
COMMENTS

I’d say you nailed this wedding. Love the simplicity in everything.

Beautifully shot…..love the way you use that wide angle for all the right shot.

What a beautiful bride! and a beautiful venue too! I likey!

These are absolutely stunning, the details you captured are amazing!!

The details are so lovely. Great, clean shooting!

I love your detail shots!! Great job all-round, beautiful post.

It’s hard not to love your job when you have the opportunity to document such a wonderful wedding:). Great work capturing all the details, emotions and beauty of the location.

What a stunning place, I can see why you love it. They are all gorgeous but I really love all your black and whites, they’re timeless and beautiful, paticularly those dance ones.

Lovely wedding. Your photos are so beautiful and crisp. Definitely love the ring shot. Great lighting there!

So many pretty photos. Love the shot of her walking down the isle. The bride looks so happy.

Superb work. beautiful light, beautiful location. you killed it

Groom holding the flowers eh! Hadn’t done that one yet – lookin’ good!

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