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Wedding: Tracy + Tim @ San Diego

Last Saturday I woke up at 6am and started driving down to San Diego with Henry early in the morning.  Last time I had Henry assist me on a wedding it was somehow another job in San Diego too and I’m very thankful he’s there to help me with the drive, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have enough stamina to last until almost midnight!  I was a little bit under the weather, actually I still am, and I haven’t even met Tracy and Tim prior to that day and I didn’t know very well what to expect.  My impression of Tracy from our phone conversations is that she’s a very sweet and caring person, and I think it really shows even in the pictures.

Tracy and Tim had a traditional Vietnamese wedding where Tim arrive with his wedding party and family in the morning with trays of gifts wrapped in red paper .  They were greeted by the bride’s family and Tim asked for permission to marry her bride.  Tracy put on a gorgeous Ao Dai (áo dài) and was accompanied by her father were then introduced to the crowd.  They then performed a traditional candle and tea ceremony while blessings were exchanged.  It’s definitely an honor to be a part of such colorful and beautiful cultural ceremony like this.

I love capturing these emotions during tea ceremony. Being brought up in an Asian family I understand very well the significance of these moments especially for the parents when they finally feel like their children are all grown up and starting their own family. Even simple hand gestures like these often show the deep emotional ties within their families and can tell a lot how much they care about the newlyweds.   Often times the elderlies would give the newlyweds words of advice and blessings to their marriage and I simply love these moments. Tim and Tracy then drove off to the home of his parents, and he arrived with a corner of his Ao Dai stuck between the door…  I don’t think he knew why everyone was laughing until someone told him after he opened the door for his bride. =) We took a moment to and took some portraits and it was a treat to shoot with Tracy and her beautiful bridesmaids who had no trouble coming up with these cute poses! Fast forward to later in the evening after a lunch break, we saw countless bottles of Heineken being served to all the guests as they walk into the reception!  I know all the guests had their eyes on the very cute dessert / candie buffet and I’m glad I took the pictures before they’re raided in no time! This is one of my favorite shots of the day.  Tracy and Tim always seem to know where the camera is but I think I managed to capture their genuine happiness in this shot of their first dance. Then of course the traditional table toast but this time around they had to go around 50 tables of 500 total guests! and an awesome performance by Danielle singing Aliyah’s “Let me Know”and even a freestyle dance performance by little brother and his group!

and one last shot of the very awesome couple and this fun wedding party all hitting the dance floor!
Credits:
Julie Tran – thank you so much for coordinating and fetching me a drink!  That was a life saver!
Evening makeup by Katie Bee: http://www.foreverkatieb.com/
Morning makeup by Monica: http://www.makeupbymonica.com
Jasmine Seafood Restaurant: http://www.jasmineseafood.com/
COMMENTS

Looks like you’ve got a new follower too! These are awesome. :D

Herman, what a wondeful job you’ve with this wedding! So many great photos but if I was forced to pick one it would be the B/W one with the spot light on the couple. It reminded me of a classic 1920s movie.

Beautiful Images! I loved so many! The rings in her hands shot looks like it could be used as an advertisement! LOVE it!

Wow, what gorgeous coverage of a truly spectacular wedding! Everything is just beautiful! Wonderful job, Herman. I’ll be adding you to my bookmarks. :)

The first shot is so very emotional, perfect. What a gorgeous couple!

Wow! What great coverage. Everything looks amazing! I love the tea ceremony shots.

These are really quite awesome! I really, really love the black and white one of them in their reception.

I love, love, love the photos!!! You actually captured emotions from them that I recognize. :) I agree with Seth on the b/w photo, that too is my favorite!

You are doing fantastic work. Consistently impressed. Great framing and lighting in these. Awesome ring shot too!

Gorgeous couple and it looks like a really fun day.

LOVE that ring shot. And especially LOVE the images of that gorgeous bride getting ready. Brilliant!

Simply beautiful images!! The ring shot is stunning !!

I love how light and airy your photos are… just beautiful! What a gorgeous wedding!!

These were all beautiful and I la la loveeee all the colors they chose. =)

Oh, she looks so gorgeous. Well done!

Your use of light and detail in your shots is excellent. Very creative work!

This bride’s Vietnamese traditional dress (ao dai) is gorgeous. Would you be able to tell me where she got her dress from? I am getting married soon. Thanks

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