Burbank Calamigos Equestian Center is a beautiful place to get married ! Last week Natalie Williams invited me to shoot a wedding there with her.

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

They met in Santa Monica, back in high school.  It wasn’t about a while ago that they reconnected with each other.  And I’m glad they did!

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

A couple of weeks ago, Natalie Williams Asked me to photograph an Orange County wedding with it’s ceremony at St. Columban Catholic Church and reception at Anaheim. Natalie is a really good friend of mine, and it’s always fun working with her.

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

Prior to their Los Angeles Griffith Park  engagement session, Nicole told me she’ll be bringing a few props to the engagement session, to make the engagement photo session their own. I was thrilled !

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

A couple of weeks ago, Natalie Williams Asked me to photograph an Orange County wedding with it’s ceremony at UCI University Club and reception at Anaheim Double Tree Hotel with her. Natalie is a really good friend of mine, and I couldn’t wait to work with her.

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

Chris and Pam were my portrait clients last year, at the time they planned on getting married out on the East coast.

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

Henry Wang and Doug McNamee joined forces and hosted another Tilt-n-Shift Bridal Shoot.

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 !

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of  joining Jeff from Jeff Neal Photography to shoot a wedding at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf club

Andrew and Megan’s wedding day schedule was super relaxed, and they allocated a lot of down time so they can relax and enjoy their day.

Megan’s bridesmaid’s took the time to steam iron her dress, making sure it’s perfect for Megan.

The rustic theme in the getting ready room adds something extra in photos. I love the texture !

When I was walking around the reception room, I saw this picture frame with a quote: ” Once in a while…. right in the middle of an ordinary life… love comes along and brings you a fairytale”

As some of you might know, I started my photography business with the business name Fairytale Dreamer Photography because on my wedding day, I want to be the princess and my husband to be the prince in a fairytale…. Even if it’s just for a couple of hours, that’s all I’m asking for.

So when I saw that quote, I smiled. The quote totally gets me, and my view of love and weddings.

Besides the awesome wedding cake, each table has a real cake as the center piece, and there are four different flavors. They are all decorated beautifully with variety of flowers. If you want to taste the different flavors of cake, you can walk to another table, and exchange a piece.  What a great idea ! It gets wedding guests to socialize while having delicious dessert !

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

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

Jessica Claire has always been a photographer role model of mine.  Her relaxed yet glamourous photos always intrigues me.

When I saw that Jessica Claire is going to have her first workshop, I was so excited ! I couldn’t wait to meet her and see her work! Unfortunately I was in a meeting when Jessica’s workshop registration opened. By the time my meeting was over, her workshop had already been filled….

Lucky me, a couple of weeks later, Jessica announced a 2nd workshop, just a day later than the first one ! I was thrilled ! This time, I made sure that I was free when registration opened, and was able to secure a spot in the worshop.

We started the day with lecture, business sides of wedding photography.  Jessica emphasize on individuality and understand ourselves; so we can show our personality through photography.

Jessica went above and beyond for the workshop attendees, she decided to have a mock wedding and reception setup so the workshop attendees can experience first hand what she does during a wedding. What an awesome idea !

Our models Gena and Jeff didn’t hire a wedding photographer on their wedding day four years ago. I’m so glad that they were able to get gorgeous wedding photos from Jessica and a bunch of other wedding photographers four years later !

We started with getting ready part of the day. Gena, our beautiful model, looks so graceful!

Gena even brought cute shoes  that totally fits the vintage theme !

As a wedding photographer, we often sees the stress that the couple experience prior to the wedding. So it’s a really good idea to do a first look of your future spouse prior to the ceremony. This ease that tension, and gives the couple much more time for wedding portraits, and time to talk to family and friends during cocktail hour.

I adore the chandelier above the ceremony location. So pretty !

Jessica also invited Michael Norwood and his family to be apart of the wedding party, including their little girl as the flower girl.

First dance !  I love the way Gena looks Jeff when he spins her !

Enjoy,

Jenny Liu

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

Edgar and Anne met while dancing their night away , the 80’s night! It wasn’t long before Edgar charmed Anne away and the two started dating. Click read more for the rest of their Los Angeles union Station Wedding Story.

Seven years later,  Anne contacted me and told me they are getting married at the Los Angeles Union Station !  When I heard how long they have been together, I was so touched!  These two love birds are ready, no, more than ready, to start their lives together as Mr. and Mrs.

Also shooting with me that day was Jen from Jen Berry Photography . Thank you Jen for assisting me !

Edgar and Anne got ready before their wedding at the O hotel at downtown Los Angeles. The O stands for Orchid, which is the flower Anne chose for the wedding. How appropriate !

Anne wore a pretty Nicole Miller Wedding Dress

I love the tie Edgar picked.

Edgar and Anne opted for first look prior to the wedding ceremony, and also to take all the wedding portraits prior to the wedding ceremony. They want to be able to enjoy the cocktail hour between the wedding ceremony and wedding reception with their friends and family. It’s such a good idea to opt for first look. Less stress and easier wedding day schedule. We didn’t have to worry about rushing through photos to get back in time for the grand entrance.  Got all the photos prior to the wedding ceremony so Edgar and Anne didn’t have to step out for wedding photos. Best of all, Edgar was the first one to see Anne in her wedding dress before all the guests!

Anne is so gorgeous !

Edgar took a deep breath when he saw Anne walking down the isle.

Married !

Since their wedding theme is green, each guest gets to take a plant home, and one lucky wedding guest from each table gets to take  the centerpiece home.

The wedding was coordinated by Kelly from Demaray Events

The orchid bouquet is gorgeous!

I keep coming back to this image,  Anne, with her eyes closed, has a smile on her face and her shoulder slight forward towards Edgar, and Edgar’s face lean again Anne.  I can feel so much love during their first dance, and the two of them are totally enjoying the moment.

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

At a mutual friend’s party, that’s where they met. briefly. Dorothy and Kyle left the party without each other’s contact information…. Then sometime later, Kyle was chatting with his friend, and asked his friend to say hi to Dorothy for him, you know, the cute girl at the party. Instead of doing that, the friend said, ” why don’t you do that yourself.” 

The day at Long Beach was spent full of laughter and joy, Dorothy and Kyle are so fun to be around! I’m so stoked to be shooting their wedding next year, and I know it’ll be a fabulous wedding !

Kyle whispered something to Dorothy, I didn’t hear it… BUT… I saw her reaction.

while we were chatting, Dorothy told me that they play thumb wars a lot, so I asked them to show me

Dorothy, you’re amazing !

To see more of Dorothy and Kyle’s Long Beach 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

The morning of July 31, I woke up to my e-mail alert sound. Turned over with only one of my eyes open, to see who emailed me. To my surprise, it was Mike Colon’s newsletter telling me to join him in sunny Newport Coast for  his brand new 1-Day Wedding Photography Workshop! There are only 7 seats and I belong in one of them!

I was still half asleep at the time, put my phone down,  turned back and closed my eyes. Then it  hit me, Mike Colon, a well known Orange County Wedding Photographer, is having a one day wedding photography workshop here in Newport Beach with only 7 seats !  I jumped up, sat on the edge of my bed, and used my iphone to click on the wedding photography workshop link. Why didn’t I just turned on my computer and register there? I’m not sure, I must be still half asleep.

When I clicked on the wedding photography workshop page, only one seat was left. Luckily, during the time that I was filling out my wedding photography workshop registration, no one was registering at the same time and I got the last seat !

On the day of the wedding photography workshop, I was nervous, I was excited, mixed emotions are running through my veins.  I checked my equipment twice, printed out the direction, and off I go… to a halting stop on the interstate 405… with 30 miles to Newport Beach!  The entire southbound of the 405 freeway was stopped…. besides the cars driving on the shoulder trying to get to surface streets.  My eyes are wide open, cannot believe what I’m seeing. Not now! I’m thinking to myself, Not today !  I checked the traffic sites and there wasn’t any accidents on this stretch, I have no clue what’s going on…. 15 minutes later, we’re moving again, and it was apparent why we all had to wait… Various sized rocks fell from a large truck, and any one of those rocks can put a hole through a car’s windshield. They stopped traffic to clean it up for the morning commuters.  I’m not sure when the rocks fell, but I’m so glad they came out and cleaned up the freeway. I much rather wait 15 minutes and not get a cracked windshield driving to the wedding photography workshop !

Mike started out the wedding photography workshop with a lecture. He explained things in great detail and made it was very easy to understand and remember.

After the temperature cooled a little bit, Mike took the wedding photography workshop attendees outside for a sunset photoshoot. He  encouraged us to try different things,  experiment with ideas and technical settings that we wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to try.

Hair stylist: Ashlee Zannitto

Makeup artist: Ashely Birkeland from Beautiful You

I love the light on Katie’s skin, it’s so soft and creamy!

I really like the mood in this shot, captured as Katie and Sarah cross paths on the grass field.

Sarah’s blond hair and tan skin really pops against the dry grass field.  Love it !

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Brian and Erica met each other 8 years ago through their mutual friend, Jill. When Jill told Erica that someone named Brian is interested in meeting her, Erica was hesitant. She’s not ready to meet any boy right now, what if this boy breaks her heart? Erica pondered. She turned around and told Jill,  “I’ll go if you go, he’s your friend, I don’t want to make it hard on you.” And then, they met.  Jill didn’t have to stay for the whole evening as Brian and Erica were laughing and making small talks by the end of the night.

Brian, a San Diego/Los Angeles Wedding Photographer , is a dear friend of mine whom would do anything in his power to help his friends and family. He’s always full of life and laughter. When you put Brian and Erica together, Erica is Brian’s world, his focus. He’s attentive to her every need, and listens to what she says. He looks at her as she talks, and smiles, it wasn’t what she said that made him smile, but her, just her.

Erica was surrounded by her 11 beautiful bridesmaids, laughing and giggling.  This was the day of her wedding, but she was not nervous, she was having a good time.

Erica’s beautiful wedding gown

Brian had one of his groomsmen dropped off a surprise present for Erica.  As she opened the present, I heard ” my Brian knows me !”   , he gave her jewelry from her favorite store.

This is the Erica I know, she’s always smiling, and glowing.

I lover her train and her long veil

They got married at the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic church

621 w. Adams Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90007

It’s hard to catch Brian and Erica without their smiles. Perhaps when they see each other down the aisle…

The Reception was held at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport

Hilton Los Angeles Airport

5711 West Century Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90045

The Hilton Los Angeles Airport wedding reception dance floor is personalized with their first name initials

Brian and Erica partying it up !

The first dance…

Brian and Erica’s reaction during the maids of honor’s speech…

Erica surprised Brian with a Hula dance in her mother’s wedding dress…

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

They met at a New York work conference. Out of hundreds of people, Eric saw Diane. Not knowing where she’s from or if he’ll ever see her again, he contemplated on approaching her.

Eric finally decided to ask Diane where she’s from, and when Diane said Los Angeles, Eric is delighted. They had a great conversation and exchanged number for future “business” talk. Their relationship developed after both of them came back to Los Angeles. The rest as they say, is history.

When I arrived at the Solarium where Diane is getting ready, I saw Diane, and she’s glowing with happiness!

Diane’s beautiful princess style wedding dress is by Alfred Angelo

The ceremony took place at Long Beach First Congregational Church

Long Beach First Congregational Church

241 Cedar Ave
Long Beach, CA 90802-3099

Right before Diane’s grand entrance, the church door was closed, and guarded by two groomsmen.

Diane was smiling from the get go, her happiness shows through the veil.

Mr. and Mrs. !

The reception took place at Long Beach Renaissance Hotel

Long Beach Renaissance Hotel

111 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802

I love the train on Diane’s dress

They went for a different kind of first dance, something that fits their personalities.

Eric’s so proud of himself, got the garter hands-free!

Eric definitely knows how to make Diane laugh, even at cake cutting.

Jasmine Star, a Orange County Wedding Photographer, has been a great inspiration for my wedding photography for a long time.

Early this year, she did an photo session for Joe and I : Anytime Session with Jasmine Star , and I loved the way she interacts with her clients, and her upbeat energy makes the session very easy yet relaxed. So when I heard that she started doing wedding photography workshops, I was thrilled. I wanted to attend, but so are many of her photography blog readers.

Six months has passed since Jasmine Star’s first Orange County Wedding Photographer workshop, one morning, I woke up to an email, that says Jasmine’s workshop is open for registration, I wasn’t going to let this one pass… And I am so glad that I didn’t. I walked away with tremendous amount of information.

Wedding Photography workshops are continuing education for wedding photographers . Since wedding photography is a very trendy business, we as wedding photographers need to be up to date with the current photography trend and what couple’s are looking for these days. Jasmine’s workshop touched on topics in all aspects of wedding photography, from natural light to branding, there were a lot of good information given at the wedding photography workshop.

The morning of the workshop,  I woke up long before the alarm went off.  One of my dogs, Moochi, who likes to sleep on my pillow, lifted up his head and opened one of his eyes to see why I was tossing and turning and woke him up from his beauty sleep.  But I couldn’t help it.  Mix emotions of excitement and nervousness makes it hard to go back to bed. Soon after, I got up, got a cup of  hazelnut coffee and got on my way.

Everyone at the workshop received a hand written note from Jasmine, also included are a notepad and a pen.

The whole morning were lectures in all aspects of wedding photography, emphasize on working smarter, more efficient and client relations, categorized by what Jasmine called eight components of branding.  What really stuck with me was the idea that a wedding photographer can take the best photo when the photographer and the clients are completely comfortable with each other.

Shortly after lunch, we walk around for an outdoor photo session with the fabulous duo, Vern and Melinda.

Make up and hair are by Vivian Tran from All Made Up Team

By this time, it felt like 100 degrees outside.  It was HOT! Vivian Tran from the All made up team was there to touch up Vern and Melinda’s faces, and our couple are great sports, didn’t compliant at all, and kept going until the end.

Jasmine made sure all of our questions are answered and wrapped up the day with awesome photoshop post processing techniques and explained her work flow.  I walked away with wealth of information that will probably take me three weeks to digest and process. It was an awesome experience !

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