Judith & Tuan are close friends with my cousin Robert, and they approached me last year when I had just started out doing Wedding Photography. They were engaged (obviously lol) and saw some shots I took at my cousins Wedding. These shots were done relatively casually as I was actually just a guest, but it was enough for Judith & Tuan to at least enquire with me.
We met up for dinner and to discuss their Wedding Day, but not only their Wedding Day, but to hear funny stories about my cousin and his Usher Days lol… I found this immensely hilarious as my nickname amongst some of my friends was also “Usher”. Yes, even I went through the phase in my life where I constantly listened to Usher and tried to pull out his moves in the clubs… So Robert, you’re not alone!
The gist of the conversation that I got from Judith & Tuan, was that the most important thing they wanted was natural photos. Nothing too staged, and they just wanted to feel comfortable with whoever they were going to have document their Wedding.
They mentioned that their ceremony was going to be across 2 days. They were to have a Tea Ceremony on the 20th July, and then their main Wedding & Reception on the 21st July. Not only did they want their Wedding Photographed, they wanted some engagement photos.
We completed their Engagement Photos earlier this year and I could tell Tuan & Judith were happy with these shots as not only did they tell me direct, I saw the photos I took for them very much a part of their Wedding!
The Tea Ceremony was unfamiliar territory for me, seeing as I had never shot one before, and although I was briefed by both Tuan & Judith on what to expect, you never really know until you have been through one yourself.
Upon my arrival, I was greeted by Judith’s family with a Chinese Li Xi, I think it’s called that lol, but basically, it was the red envelope they give as a gesture which contains money and represents good luck and fortune. That’s how I understand it at least lol… But I was genuinely touched by this gesture, and although the gesture may have seen small to Judith and her family, it meant a lot to me that they thought of me for this…
The shoot began with a very familiar Bride Preparation, which then moved onto some games for the Groom. These games were to test his worthiness! Lol… It was actually quite funny to see Tuan walk into his own place and pretend he had never seen it before…
The Bridesmaids had some embarrassing games in-store for the Groom. One of which entailed a very difficult Yoga Move, which Tuan Pulled off magnificently and had perfect form! :S lol
The move actually was assisted quite largely by a little stool, and then Photoshopped out by a photo re-toucher I met in Thailand, Samina Hossain.
The past couple of weeks have been immense with editing, shooting, and work, so much so that I just didn’t have the time to do this photo myself. It is quite a difficult task for me to remove the stool on Photoshop, so I hired Samina who managed to remove the stool perfectly.
The shoot for the Tea Ceremony was very relaxed as nothing was too formal. The challenge on this shoot that I came across was the very restricted space. The Tea Ceremony was held at Tuan’s Parents place in Peterborough, and their house is not small, but when you take into account the number of guests, it was extremely hard manoeuvring around whilst trying to remain like a Ninja. I failed at that miserably as throughout my manoeuvrings, my lens poked Tuan’s back :S
Judith was wearing a tradition red Oriental Dress, and I did want to do a shot that was a bit cliché, and I did unfortunately nudge Judith into doing a shot which she wasn’t comfortable doing as it was very posy. It’s not usually something I like doing myself, but I just saw Judith in her Red Dress, and holding the Red Umbrella, I did pre-envision a very old classic looking photo. By the end of that photo, I think it was safe to say Judith wanted to burn the Umbrella lol… But we did go back to the usual clowning around photos to really bring out their true personalities… ;)
Tuan’s Parents whipped out the old photo album and reminisced a bit, and came across a photo of Tuan’s Great-Grandad who had a striking resemblance too………. Myself lol… It became the joke for the day, that it was somewhat ‘meant to be’ that I am there documenting their day as I looked like one of their family members lol…
On their actual Wedding Day (21st July), I felt more at home with what I was doing. I had shot full-day Weddings before so I really had a much better pre-vision to what would be happening.
I left my house 1hr earlier than I planned to leave, as this was roughly when the Olympics was starting, and there were scares of traffic. All that ended up happening was that I was 1hr earlier than expected!
I was scheduled to start shooting Tuan’s Preparations at 9:30am, however as I arrived at 8:30am and we had finished his Preparations shots before I officially started, we went for a walk around Tower Bridge for some Portraits of him and his brother, the Best Man. It was quite unexpected, and we had no props to play with, not even the Red Umbrella that Judith loved so much :S lol… But we managed to knock out some ‘normal’ Portraits lol… (Sorta lol)
I then had to go to meet Judith for her preparation shots. During the preparation shots, Judith had quite a few of her guests arrive there for a Wedding Day lunch. It was very sweet of her to include me in on this as I wasn’t expecting this at all. It was scheduled that they would have a lunch, but I didn’t realise I would be a part of it too!
I made my way down to the Ceremony Venue, and earlier in the year when I met up with Tuan & Judith for their Venue Visit, I was praying for good weather as the staircase on this Venue is amazing. It made for a lovely Group Shot.
When I walked into the Ceremony room, I found out that their Registrar was the same Registrar from a previous Wedding I had shot last year. I found that his style for performing the Ceremony last year was great! He is friendly, funny, and does not steal the lime light away from the couple, but performs the ceremony in such a way where he does make the guests smile with his subtle jokes. When I saw that he was performing the Ceremony for Judith & Tuan, I knew they were in good hands. I also like the fact that he allows me freedom to walk wherever I wish, and does not restrict me in anyway.
After the Ceremony, Judith & Tuan were lucky to have 2 Confetti sessions lol… They had one just as they exited the Ceremony Room, and then another walking down the stairs outside the Venue. I personally love the Confetti shots as it always seems to bring out the best smiles for the couples. My jokes are unfortunately not good enough to bring out a smile as genuine as Confetti does lol…
Prior to the Wedding, the Group shot list was extremely intimidating. It was a large list, and I feared I would not be able to complete the entire list. The list was large to the point that on the Groom’s side, there were 17 separate groups listed. I’m used to doing Group Shots for the Wedding which totals to around 15ish total for both Bride & Groom, however with the help of Bridesmaids, Maid of Honour, Bestman and Grooms Cousin, we managed to rustle up everyone with ease. It was incredibly efficient… When I was done with one Group, the next was ready for the shot and just stepped in. It was amazingly efficient… I actually couldn’t believe it when I checked the time and we were on schedule.
During the meal they had a few speeches, and during the Speeches, it’s quite difficult to shoot as you cannot take pictures of the words that were said. So the best I can do is shoot in such a way where it reminds the Bride & Groom of how it looked during the Wedding, and I shoot at angles which veer over peoples shoulders, and try find angles where it looks as if you can see from their point of view. Sounds like an easy concept, but pretty hard to execute whilst trying to not make the guests or speakers feel uncomfortable.
After the speeches they hosted a slideshow presentation of pictures from their lives. This is something I had not seen before and it was amazingly sentimental. It brought out laughter and I heard a few “awww’s” lol… They even included the engagement shoot that I had shot for them in the slideshow.
I forgot to mention earlier that they had the engagement photos printed in a photobook, a large print of one of their shots in a frame. It was amazing for me to see that they made their engagement photos very much a part of their actual Wedding Ceremony.
In closing I would like to take the time to say Judith & Tuan were so laid back, easy going, and immensely caring and considerate to everyone on the day… they did not make the day all about 'the wedding day' but made the day about their lives together overall...
These two days were two of the longest shoots I have ever had, but at the same time, it was the smoothest I have ever had. It is an amazing honour to be a part of their day with them, and I am just wishing them all the best for the future!
Hear, Hear for the Bride and Groom! Amazing day and fantastic shots from Leo!
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