It's such a pleasure to be blogging Chong and Eric's wedding. Chong is a good friend of mine from work. She's an incredible person who has worked so hard to get where she is today. She recently graduated with her PhD, which is incredible! Chong and I have always had wonderful conversations about life, family, and love. I still remember when she first started telling me about Eric, and when I got to meet him. He is so clearly a great guy who deeply loves and cares for Chong (a sense I get from him by talking to him, but something I also know from the months and years of hearing about him from Chong). I still remember us talking about marriage, and if she thought Eric might propose, what their lives together might be like.. and thinking "ahh, I just KNOW these two need to hurry up and get hitched!!". Well, the day came that Eric did propose, and I was SO excited for them both. Similar excitement ensued when they asked me to be their wedding photographer! I knew it would be a special day, and I felt honored and lucky to be there documenting it.
The day came, and I drove down to Simsbury, CT for a 9am start! Chong is Korean and Eric is Chinese, so they incorporated some of that into their wedding. Aren't Chong's Korean shoes beautiful?
Chong and Eric's first look was beautiful to watch. I could tell they felt so good once they had seen each other, so reassured and filled with joy by each others presence. I love how they can go from sharing a really quiet, touching moment to sharing a laugh and joking around in a matter of seconds :) Seriously though, these two have such a special bond.
Chong's family is so important to her, as I learned long ago through our many conversations. They are all wonderful people. I love the relationship she has with them. I got to meet Eric's family as well, of course! It's no wonder these two are such great people--both sets of parents were clearly great examples for them. Here was a quick photo of Chong and her dad before the more formal family photos began.
Chong and Eric's wedding ceremony was so special and will always stick with me. Chong's boss, Bob, who she is very close with, was ordained in order to marry them. He did an incredible job. His words were so perfect and left a lasting impression on me. I wish I could better share that part of the ceremony with you, but photos will have to do. I loved hearing Chong and Eric's vows to one another. One of my favorite parts was when Eric, who had recently started learning Korean, vowed that he would continue to learn. I know this meant so much to Chong and her family.
Just a few photos from the reception! Chong and Eric's first dance started out traditional and then turned into them doing a bunch of funny dances together. I loved it! The father daughter dance went in a similar fashion ;) Look out, they may just be the next YouTube sensation ;)
The next set of photos came from what may have been my favorite part of the day. The reception ended around 4:30, but we wanted to meet back closer to sunset for bride and groom portraits, so we took a 2 hour break. I got some pizza for dinner at Little City Pizza after doing a quick search on Yelp and seeing a lot of rave reviews. And let me tell you guys, it was SO GOOD! Seriously, I come from NJ near NYC and I'm kind of a pizza snob, but this pizza was some of the best I've ever had. I've already spent too many hours trying to think of excuses to go back to Simsbury so I can eat there again, haha!
Anyway, after my delicious dinner, we met back up a little further up the street from the Riverview to take the bride and groom portraits on this beautiful flower bridge. I've never seen anything like it before!
My goal with wedding photos is to make sure that at some point during the day, the couple and I have some time alone to take bride and groom photos. I ask them to talk about things that are meaningful to them-- the things they love and admire most about each other, the struggles they've helped each other through, their favorite parts of their wedding day so far, how far they've come in their relationship, and imagining what the future holds for them. While they talk, I quietly document them together to capture these moments. Posed photos are great, and I love doing them! But 20 years from now, when the couple looks at a posed photo, they'll just remember "this is when our photographer told us to stand this way and kiss". I want to make sure the couple I'm photographing has photos that, when they look at them, remind them of all those things they were talking about... like "this is when I started laughing when you were recounting that ridiculous story from a couple years ago", or "this is when I started to cry as we talked about how far we've come and everything we've been through", or "this was the look on our faces as we talked about our future". During these bride and groom photos, this is what I tried to do for Chong and Eric.
Congratulations Chong and Eric!! I am so, so happy for both of you, and I am so honored that you chose me to photograph your day.
-Em