I love Chinese weddings.  Yes, there’s always lots of good food available and people pushing it on you, but mainly because it’s a full day of celebrations and traditions.  There’s always so much stuff going on making it a rich opportunity for photographs.  From the getting ready, tea ceremony, significant items like fans, umbrellas, and oranges, the challenges the groom must undergo to prove his worth to his future bride, dinner games, and tons of pictures of family, it’s always a lot of fun.  Amy and Michael took on the challenge of combining Western and Chinese traditions a couple of weeks ago, and the results were spectacular.

Here’s a quick slideshow of the highlights from the day with very little processing.  With the help of Amy’s badminton friends taking care of the audio/video setup at the restaurant, I also did a same-day slideshow at the wedding itself, which turned out amazingly well, so I think I’m going to be doing do a lot more of them!  Also many thanks to my brother Simon, who helped second shoot in order to get everything in!

More pictures to come in the future…

Ceremony: Queen Elizabeth Park Celebration Pavilion, Vancouver

Reception: Dragon View Restaurant, Richmond

I received my studio sample albums last Friday and have been busy admiring them over the weekend.  I am simply delighted with them -- beautifully hand-crafted in Italy, they are a perfect complement to the level of dedication I put into creating the images that go into them.

The giant 16x20 showcase album I designed has an leather cover with a clear front cover to show off the underlying image, thick photographic paper pages, and a seamless lay-flat design.  It dwarfs the round table I put it on when it is opened up and it is impressive beyond words.  Leafing through it is like leafing through a museum or art gallery showpiece.  This is the one to aspire to, folks!

I also received some 8x12 sized versions of the primary album that would be perfect as parent albums.  As well, 4x5 albums are perfect gifts for grandparents or friends or to keep in the purse for bragging rights.

I challenge anybody to not want one of these for their weddings.  :)

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  Such a busy, yet wonderful festive time to be in Vancouver.  In between attending some of the Olympic events, Helena and Michael held a small and intimate wedding celebration at his parents' house near Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver with about 18 of their closest friends and family in attendance.

And what a beautiful setting it was!  The house is built into the side of the cliff and amidst the multiple levels of balconies and access to the waterfront we had a most memorable and enjoyable celebration.  The couple live in Geneva, and held the wedding back in Vancouver for the benefit of the friends and family that couldn't make it out to Ravello, Italy, where their white-dress wedding is going to be held.  So this was also a reunion of sorts for friends and family.

In a show of perfect timing, the sun decided to burn off the February rain and fog that day and gave everything a nice summery feel.  What I really liked about the wedding was the relaxed pace.  It wasn't rushed, and they took the time to enjoy the whole experience and catch up with friends and family.  Oh, plus the Thomas Haas (one of Vancouver's premier chocolatiers) chocolate cake as well -- a beautiful piece of work that was, and a different take on a wedding cake – delicious!

They're now back in their home in Geneva planning their Italian wedding for June -- too bad I already had a prior commitment for that date...arrgh! :(  All the best, guys!

Highlights video slideshow: 

(note: Flash 9 or greater needed.  Get it here)

Facebook Photo Album Link

Michael popped in during the makeup to steal a quick kiss:

Helena had to make a tough choice on what to wear as her wedding dress wasn't going to be ready in time for Vancouver, but she made a great choice!

Gorgeous setting overlooking the water.  Shades in February?  Only in Vancouver of course!

A shot showing the house:

Yet another different balcony:

I love winter light.  There's a diffuse, sometimes stark nature to it, that really is photo friendly.  Miriam and Tony had previously booked me way back in the summer and we had a great engagement session.  When I talked to Miriam and Tony again, Miriam was worried about the fact that the day they had picked was just a few days before Christmas, and that maybe the weather wouldn't be that great, and was I OK with it?  Absolutely no problem, I reassured her.  I can handle any situation, and I told her about the nice winter light and that we can always work with whatever nature (or man/womankind) threw at us.

Wouldn't you believe it though, the day turned out to be sunny!  I had been watching the weather forecasts eagerly and this was the one sunny day in between days of rain.  I started off at the Sutton Place Hotel, where Miriam got ready with her sister and friends.  The ceremony and reception lunch venue, Cecil Green House, a cool old house on the University of BC grounds, was a really nice location.  The windows in the ceremony area allowed light to stream in and backlight the couple as they took their vows.  This was pretty challenging lighting, but the amazing dynamic range of the cameras allowed me to retain the feel of the wedding without having to resort to using flash.  After that, it was off to the reception in a different part of the house (very convenient and smart planning for a winter wedding and its unpredictable weather).  After that it was off to a nice bright atrium-like extension for the tea ceremony.  The house actually swallowed up a surprising number of people.

The weather started to turn a little towards rain at the end, but we were done by then and had a great number of images.  Congrats guys, and I hope you had a great honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean!

I loved this spontaneous expression of delight (I can almost hear the squeals of joy!):

Miriam shared a few emotional moments with her dad before walking down the aisle:

Miriam's little niece was so cute and such a hoot!

Caroline and Scott planned a quick outdoor wedding on Kitsilano beach.  The whole week prior I kept an eye on the weather forecast, which bounced around from cloudy to sunny to cloudy to finally settle down on, you guessed it, rain.  And boy, did it ever rain.  The wedding party cosied up under an 8'x8' tent, and the other attendees were under their umbrellas in amongst the trees, which left yours truly to fend for himself as best as possible.

The skies began to clear up right after the ceremony, leaving some amazing potential to use the grey clouds as a backdrop for the beach shots.  I think we all had great fun on this one -- no dampened spirits here!