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.

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. =)

and here’s another one of the very happy bridal party

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!

• Angelina Tam and her team who have done an awesome job on the hair and makeup
• Scott Norris from Coastline Music
• Dior Chase, Events Coordinator.
• Phoenix Bakery:  http://www.phoenixbakeryinc.com/

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