On the day of our trip, New York was right in the middle of a big snow storm. Luckily we were able to land in JFK, the flights after us weren’t so lucky, they were all diverted to other airports.  Since we were the only flight in JFK, all cabs went to the other airport, where business is. And all public transit are limited, buses are on snow chains, moving at turtle speed. We were stuck at JFK for a good hour before we were able to find a ride.

Lucky for me, the snow transformed central park, making it a visitor’s paradise: winter wonderland ! we don’t get snow like this in California !

I saw this little house in the middle of central park, I didn’t have the guts to walk all the way there in the knee high snow to find out what it is. So… I took a picture of it

I gotta say, snow looks better in picture, rather than out there in the cold !

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

I thought Shin Sen Gumi was as good as it gets, since it’s a chain store from Japan. And my friends that had it from the store in Japan said it tastes just the same. So when a friend of mind told me that Shin Sen Gumi isn’t as good as Ippudo in New York, I got real curious. Curious to see how good this Ippudo really is.

We got there around 6:30pm on a Saturday, and Ippudo was already jam packed. As I was taking this photo, there were people still walking in, and the entire waiting area was shoulder to shoulder. I had to literally squeeze through just to get to the receptionist.  Ippudo is definitely popular!

Though the waiting area was crowded, inside the eating area is a totally different scenery.  Roomy, full of laughter,  and smell of good food.

Prior to us going to Ippudo, I yelped Ippudo and found that ramen and their appetizer pork bun are the two must have items on the menu. They were right, it’s definitely tasty!   If you plan on visiting Ippudo in New York, I recommend that you go at odd times, to avoid the crowd !

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Before I met my husband, I asked people that are married, how do you know that you have found the one?  And they would tell me, ” when you meet him, you would know.”  That didn’t make any sense to me at the time, but their words came to mind when I finally met the right guy, Joe.  Jennifer and Jasen lives really close to each other, however, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that God introduced them to each other through their siblings.  Seeing Jennifer and Jasen together reminded me of that story.

One of my favorite shots of Jennifer !

I love sunlight and trees ! Makes the perfect backdrop!

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

this time I was asked by Henry Chen to help second shoot this Manhattan Beach wedding at the Verandas. Thus allow me to show you the wedding from the groom’s perspective.

Jeremy’s dad is always by his side

Jeremy’s sister and mother, watching Jeremy putting on the finish touch.

There are some things that doesn’t need to be verbally expressed…..

Jeremy taking a moment for himself before heading out to the ceremony

The Ayres hotel in Manhattan Beach has some killer locations for portraits!

A little father and son time

Couple of minutes before the wedding starts

Rebekah and Jeremy opted to not see each other before the wedding, and this was the first time Jeremy sees Rebekah in her gorgeous gown.

Husband and wife !

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

In order for me to grow as a photographer, I want to experiment different things. When I told Natalie my ideas, she said, “I’ll be your model!”

Off we go to Manhattan Beach for some portraits!

There is something about these two portraits that I adore!

Natalie, you’re gorgeous!

The air vent on the ground was blowing up Natalie’s dress; don’t kill me for posting these two photos Natalie! They are too cute !!

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

When I heard that, my eyes widened. Most couples that I know grew apart in college, but not Matt and Chi-Shan. They grew together, laugh together and are each other’s best friend.

Throughout Matt’s Masters and Doctoral education in Los Angeles, Chi-Shan and Matt are half a world apart, and yet the distance did not deter them,  Chi-Shan comes to Los Angeles to visit and to be a part of Matt’s world in the states.

This is the Mat and Chi-Shan I know, playful and fun !

Right outside Matt’s place

Chi-Shan will be returning to Taiwan shortly, and they don’t have balloons this big, so we decided to take some photos of big balloons!

Balloon close up !

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

What better place to get married than the little white house at Calamigo Equestian Center in Burbank !

The boutonniere they picked are so wonderful !

The bride’s bouquet and the groom’s boutonniere has the same color, and the bridal party’s bouquet and boutonniere has another. How awesome is that!

It’s moments like this that makes me smile and reminds me of why I love wedding photography

I heart sweets, my jaw dropped when I saw that they have a wedding cake, cupcakes AND chocolate dipped strawberries !!

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Craig and Maki opted for first look, so there will be enough time for portraits prior to sunset.

Maki’s red hair is gorgeous ! Love it !

Casa Del Mar is a wonderful place to get married, it’s so beautiful !  Maki and her father used to talk walks on the beach just outside Casa Del mar, so when they saw Casa Del mar, they knew this is the one !

Casa Del Mar

1910 Ocean Way
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 581-5533

Married  !

Maki made every one of their guests including myself and Amanda Rae a snowflake ornament with our names on it ! How thoughtful of her 

Every child attending the wedding got a bag of goodies for them to draw on during the reception.

Beautiful ring !

The kids are so cute ! Craig and Maki was giving their thank you speech at the end, and the kids decided to lay on the floor and watch them speak.

To see more of their wedding, click on the link for their wedding slideshow

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Sometime in the spring of next year, they will be embarking a new journey to Japan. To help them remember Los Angeles, we went on a photo session out and about a beautiful park.

Pretty Kristy !

William doesn’t look bad himself.

Winnie the Pooh has been Kristy’s favorite since childhood, so I asked her to bring him along to the shoot.

Winnie the pooh brought his friend Pluto along to the photo shoot, all decked out in Christmas outfit

have a great time in Japan William and Kristy. Don’t forget to come visit us in Los Angeles when you can!

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

John picked out the boutonniere himself, I like what the florist did, it looks really nice.

Amy’s bouquet is full of fall inspirations, so pretty !

I think it’s ultra fab to wear gorgeous shoes to your own wedding.

please visit Natalie’s blog for more photos.

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Nicole and Michael are both really artistic, in fact, Michael is fashion, art and commercial photographer, and Nicole owns her own clothing brand, Coley Clothing . Nicole is into vintage accessories, I was gasping over the dress she wore and changed into, so adorable and cute ! And the hats she brought to the session are so cool !

I love this shot. I love how feminine she is, and how masculine he is

Nicole has a really pretty antique ring, Michael did really well ! Makes me want to smile every time  I look at it.

they also brought some vintage suitcases to the engagement session, what a great idea !

Love this hair piece !

Photo on the left is their interpretation of ” tying the knot”, I love that Nicole added her personal style in it to make it their own.

To see more of Nicole and Michael’s griffith park engagement session, click on the link to see their slideshow

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Click here to see more of their Griffith park vintage engagement photos

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

The funny thing is, I actually met Mimi and David at one the weddings I photographed earlier this year, and they recognized me!  My couple from earlier this year were also at the wedding, what a coincidence !

Mimi and David opted for first look, taking time to see each other before the wedding eases the build up stress  and allows more time for photography.

During the ceremony…

The ring bearer held on to the ring pillow so tight, he’s got a big responsibility today !

Mr. and Mrs !

We then went around the UCI campus for some more portraits. I’m so glad they allocated time for wedding portrait before and after the wedding !

Mimi is a stunning bride !

I love the couture and the texture of her dress

Their reception took place at the gorgeous Doubletree Hotel in Annaheim

Natalie also provided a photobooth for them as well, please visit her blog for more photos.

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Click here to see more of Jessica Claire’s vintage wedding workshop

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

I was sad that I wasn’t going to be able to be their wedding photographer since they were so nice, easy going and fun to be with ! Half a year had gone by, then early this year, I got an email from Pam, telling me that they decided to have their wedding here in Los Angeles ! I was thrilled !  I couldn’t wait for their wedding to be here.

Pam and Chris got ready at the four seasons hotel in Los Angeles

I love Pam’s hair that day and the hairpiece , so pretty ! Her hair and makeup is by Susie Chhuor

Guess who they saw outside….

Terrance Howard ! Seriously, Terrance was dressed for the occasion ! I mean who walks around in a suit, then bump into a newly wed? I secretly think he knows Pam and Chris is getting marrried, and gave them a surprise.

Their wedding ceremony and reception was at Il Cielo. The wedding ceremony remind me so much of a fairy tale story

I was emotional during their ceremony, but had to held back and finish shooting. It was so romantic and perfect, the lighting, the speech, the dress, the hair, everything !

Right after the ceremony, Pam changed into a more comfortable dress for the reception, great dress choices !

Pam’s little sister did the table decorations, I think she did a wonderful job !

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Read all about the details on Style Collective !

Sacre Coeur – build as an act of penitence for the sins committed during the civil war, as well as for the Franco-Prussian war which followed. Prominent businessmen put up the money and architects worked together to build the Sacre Coeur. They don’t allow camera inside the church, probably the only place in Paris that don’t allow camera inside. You’ll get yelled at if you try to take a picture.

Sacre Coeur is next to Moutmartre, the art district of paris.  You don’t see any painting or art of any sort because the artists are all very aware of cameras and don’t allow any photos towards their direction.

Nothing like a little french sidewalk cafe !  Pink chairs, I like.

Alright, this is completely random, but I’ve never seen this Fedex Urban cab in the states…. I think it’s a bicycle with an actual chair?

Paris river bank scenary

The back of Notre dame near sunset.  I like the couple on the bottom right hand side hugging

The gargoyles of Notre Dame. Gargoyles are said to ward off evil spirits from the church. Everyone wants to see the Gargoyles, the line to get up to the top of Notre Dame was super long.

Riverbank view of the Louvre

Random Paris river bank sunset views

I don’t know why the eiffel tower is white and red right now, but it looks really good at night !

To see more of my Paris travel, visit Paris Vacation Day 1 – The Louvre Museum and Paris Vacation Day 2 – Versailles Palace

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

On our way transitioning from the metro to the train is my favorite croissant store Bonne Journee , totally made my morning ! We bought extra croissants and coffee and off we go to Versailles Palace !

I saw the king’s initials (right) everywhere in the palace, and when I went to Marie Antoinette’s place, i saw her initial (left) everywhere as well. It was very obvious whose property it was. LOL

I was also fascinated by all the old locks I saw in the palace, they are all very well decorated.

Even the fabric on the chairs are all very precisely placed with a pattern in the middle.  The baby blue chair on the right is one of the chair from Marie Antoinette’s room. I really like it.

Every single room in the palace has it’s own baroque pattern, the king’s bedroom has the fanciest one, with yellow, red and blue.

Versaille Palace is definitely huge, the garden itself is only a portion of what it was before, and yet it takes 45 minutes to walk from the palace to the one end of the garden.

View of the Versailles palace from the garden

View of the Latone Ornamental Lake, on my way to Marie Antoinette’s estate !

Marie Antoinette’s estate really is something else. The view there is spectacular !

back in 1783m Marie Antoonette ordered to build her hamlet so she can get away from the court of Versailles – the queen’s Hamlet. It became a veritable farm, directed by a farmer, whose produces supplied the kitchens of the palace. It seriously looks like a wonderland, a self-sustained wonderland.

Introducing the Hamlet Houses

The Malborough Tower – the upper portion was used to communicate with the palace of Versaille via signals

The Mill – it was used to grind grains

The Queen’s House – the most important building of the Hamlet, decorated with white and blue earthenware flowerpots with Marie Antoinette’s monogram. From the top, one could oversee the work being done in the fields.

The Boudoir – The queen’s small house, has a living room and a wardrobe. Seriously? a house just for her clothes?  Awesome !

The farm – Marie Antoinette had animals brought from Switzerland and raised them on the farm: cows, bull, calves, goats, sheeps etc.

The Dovecote – not sure what this building is for….

So there you have it, Marie Antoinette’s Estate – the Queen Hamlet. I love the rustic houses, the lake , the tower and the view ! Stay tuned for Paris trip Day 3-5 ! More to come !

To see more of my Paris travel, visit Paris Vacation Day 1 – The Louvre Museum and Paris Vacation Day 3 – All Around Paris

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

Both of us have never been to Europe, so it was pretty exciting for the two of us. Our flight out of Los Angeles was delayed due to incoming flight delay, so that made us missed our connecting flight to Paris.  There were about 8 of us that missed the connecting flight to paris. At 11pm in Torronto airport, the airline personal was working hard to find all of us a flight to Paris.  We took a long detour to Germany first and finally ended up safely in Paris, 5 hours later than planned arrival.

It feels like autum in Paris, whenever the wind blows, leaves would fall and flow with the wind. So pretty !

Paris and it’s Metro system rocks ! It was so easy to go everywhere, all we needed to know was the end stations at each line, which determines the direction of travel.

There are 5 metro lines that stops at the Louvre Museum, so doesn’t matter where you’re staying, you can get to the Louvre museum easily.

The Louvre Museum

Rue de Rivoli
75001   Paris
Tél.:  01 4 020 53 17

Métro, buses
Métro: lines 1, 7, 8, 12, and 14

The Louvre and it’s garden.

Instead of showing you the exhibit of the Louvre, I’ll be showing you different architecture elements that intrigues me while I was there. The Louvre was build in part successively since the 12th century. The Louvre museum is designed by I.M. Pei, in 1983, commissioned by the French government without competition. He didn’t take on the project right away, instead, he asked for a 4 month research period before making his decision.

The problem was to make the Louvre a modern museum, there are a lot of exhibit space, but lack of infrastructure. Pei decided on a glass pyramid, it assumes the function of a symbolic entry to a huge complex of interconnected buildings which had no center. It also is a symbol that defines the entry to the Lourve Museum. The glass pyramid was very controversial in the beginning and I.M.Pei had to convince a lot of people before the start of the project.

But why a glass pyramid?  “formally, it is the most compatible with the architecture of the louvre… it is also one of the most structurally stable of forms, which assures its transparency… as it is constructed of glass and steel, it signifies a break with the architectural traditions of the past.
it is a work of our time.”  (quotations from the book ‘conversations with i.m. pei ‘)

The pole in the middle of the winding stair case is actually an elevator for the disabled.

This is on the feet of one of the statues in the museum. The heart caught my eye…

Take a look at the intricacies of this statue, it’s amazingly precise and lifelike.

If you ever visit the Louvre, make sure to walk a little future to see the upside down pyramid, the top of the upside down pyramid is  in the middle of the street circle in front of the Louvre Museum.

The Eiffel tower was lit that night, and was visible from the Louvre ! we haven’t visited the Eiffel tower yet, but it sure is pretty from a distance!

To see more of my Paris travel, visit Paris Vacation Day 2 – Versailles Palace and Paris Vacation Day 3 – All Around Paris

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Portfolio | Jenny Liu Wedding Photography Blog | email: jenny@jennyliuphoto.com | phone: 310-614-1014

We started at Henry’s portrait studio, Lucy’s Bridal in Temple city. Henry graciously let us use his studio, as well as providing couture gown and his awesome in-house hair and makeup person for our bridal shoot.  Lucy’s Bridal has been in the business for a long time, they not only do wedding portraits, but individual portraits as well;  in fact, I was a portrait customer back in college. While I was still in college in San Francisco, my friends and I drove down to Los Angeles for a week of vacation, and a couple of us girls took individual portraits at Lucy’s Bridal. So it was definitely interesting to know Henry and tell him that I was a past customer. Big shout out to Henry and Doug, both of them shared a lot during the bridal shoot, and made the bridal session a lot of fun !