““I thought he was a handsome, charming, carpenter dude..” I giggled when I heard Anna describe her first impression of Gus as we chat over dinner at the very restaurant that they will be having their wedding dinner tomorrow night. And I have to agree – Gus is quite the handsome and charming dude – the neat ponytail, the perfectly groomed beard, the lines on his face that seem to almost tell a life story of everywhere he has been and all that he has done.
Anna and Gus’ wedding was quite a challenge to put together, hence the title of this post. =) First, it was to plan a Chicago wedding from Nashville. Anna was really looking forward to coinciding her reception with the Navy Pier fireworks, hoping to treat guests to a fantastic view of the city from the 30th floor overlooking Lake Michigan.
As if planning a wedding from afar wasn’t challenging enough, 6 weeks prior to the wedding, the venue in Chicago suddenly became unavailable. Anna took it in strides, and made a gutsy decision under 2 months before her wedding — she moved everything to Nashville. Anna and Gus restarted wedding planning all over again, with me being the only vendor from Chicago they kept.
Within a week, they quickly booked several downtown locations as they moved forward in full force with a Nashville wedding. Then, 4 weeks before the wedding, a huge storm poured over the city of Nashville, and flooded parts of downtown Nashville, even destroying some historical landmarks.
I spoke to Anna that day. Despite the devastation around her, she kept a positive attitude. “Oh, we’re fine! Luckily, the ceremony venue is ok, and the reception venue is ok. But the park where were going to have our picnic the weekend after the wedding is destroyed! I guess we’re just gonna have to find someplace else!” she told me with a cheery voice. I’m guessing that by now, nothing really phases her anymore.
“You know what, at this point, as long as Gus is going to be there, and I am going to be there, wherever that is, and we get married in the end, that’s all that matters.” And she continued chugging along on wedding planning…her optimism and determination reminded me of The Little Engine That Could. =) And she did. On June 12, 2010, Anna and Gus were married. =)
That put alot into perspective for me. Do the linens and the flowers and chair covers and cake matter in a wedding? Yes. Absolutely. Do they matter more than the person that you’re marrying, and the act of getting married itself? No. No at all. It just put into perspective for me that when things get tough, and I’m faced with obstacles, I just need to re-prioritize and make sure that what’s MOST important to me is safe, everything else is just icing on the cake.. no pun intended. =)
p.s., I should add that Anna is an artist (www.annajaap.com) and the paintings you see in the background during the ceremony are all her work!
The day after their wedding, my husband and I got our butts out of bed at dawn to do a day-after photo session with Anna and Gus in the river that ran near their backyard (that actually overflowed practically to their doorstep during the flood!).
Some wedding info:
Ceremony: Estel Gallery (www.estelgallery.com): 115 Rosa L Parks Blvd Nashville, TN 37203 | (615) 251-8997
Reception: Allium Nashville Restaurant (www.alliumnashville.com): 501 Main Street
Nashville, TN 37206 | (615) 242-3522
Flowers: OSHi International Floral Decor Studio (http://www.oshiflowers.com/): 207 Capitol Blvd Nashville, TN 37219 | (615) 972-5425
“Love is not a feeling. It’s a commitment. Loving Sung enough to marry him, is like a making a promise and commitment that I will keep up. Marriage is not something I do just because of the feelings I have towards him…..because feelings come and go. There are times when I feel annoyed or angry at Sung, but I have to remember that I love him, which means, I am committed to make it work, and be considered at all times…that ‘keeps up’ a marriage.”
These words were repeated during Lynn and Sung’s wedding ceremony. This was the most important thing that they learned at their premarital class, and one of the most important relationship advice I’d ever received from someone.
“Premarital classes?” I remember asking in curiosity..I’ve never heard of that before. If you were like Lynn and Sung, where your story isn’t about a whirlwind romance, and it isn’t a story where he swept you off your feet, or a secret surprise proposal that made everyone cry, you might have heard of or been planning to attend a premarital class.
This is a story of a steady, comfortable, assured relationship, where both Lynn and Sung took that walk towards marriage, one step at a time, TOGETHER. No doubts, no “I don’t know what he’s feeling..” or “What if she says no?”… I think that the idea of deciding to be married to someone, once it hits you, is a big one. And often times, this is an internal decision you make and experience individually (for me at least). Then, it’s usually the execution of that decision that creates the romance and perhaps, a surprise proposal. But wouldn’t it be nice to have that experience together? To discover that “I’m ACTUALLY going to spend my entire life with you” feeling, together? That, told me that Lynn and Sung are going to have a marriage that will last a lifetime and beyond.
Some wedding info:
Venue: Eaglewood Resort & Spa (www.eaglewoodresort.com): 1401 Nordic Road, Itasca, IL 60143 | (630) 773-1400
Flowers : Tatiana at Mila Design (www.miladesign.com) | (773) 395 0231
Once your engagement photos are ready, they are uploaded onto your personalized photo website, where all your images, including those from your wedding, will be viewable. This site is a personalized website that can be password-protected if you wish, and has an easy-to-remember web address that was created specifically for you! You can share this link with your friends and family at any time. Here, guests can view information about the wedding, and view galleries from your e-session as well as your wedding. The site will be updated as images become available. Any slideshow that I create will also be stored on this site for future viewing.
Here is an example of a personalize photo website. An optional fun feature — if you are a facebook junkie (I, unfortunately am one of those), this site can also be embedded onto your facebook wall or a tab on your facebook profile, allowing you to view the entire site (including playing galleries and slideshows) directly from within facebook, and to tag your facebook friends who appear in your photos.
I love that I am able to offer this at no additional cost to all my clients who book a Collection. This is THE way to share your wedding photos — a regular photo gallery just won’t do it for me!
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Back in 2008, I photographed Rachel on a cold fall afternoon. I had just decided to go professional with my photography, and was looking for any/every opportunity to shoot anyone who was a willing subject. If you have a pulse, I’ll shoot you.
Rachel’s mom, Linda, was a colleague of mine back when I was still working a 9-5 office job. When she found out that I was going into professional photography, she quickly offered her oh-so-cute baby girl for me to photograph.
Now, almost two years later, Rachel is much taller, has twice the energy, and is totally having conversations (yeah, I knew her back when she was just mumbling words!) Some things never changed though — she still loves pink, her unforgettable chubby cheeks are still chubby as ever, her beautiful curly brown hair, and her rambunctious personality that never ceases to surprise you.
Also, I’m convinced Linda fed her at least two bottles of Red Bull before I got there. Where does all that energy come from??
Oh, and something else that is new — Rachel now has a little sister! Welcome to the world, Maddie!
Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | Follow Me on Twitter | Visit My Facebook Page! | View My Portfolio
“So, how comfortable are you guys with the cameras?”, I asked Lynn and Sung. “Oh, not at all,” the both of them said in unison. “We’re probably gonna be one of your worst couples.” I think I might have blurted out a nervous laughter when I heard that. =) Sung was pretty clear to me at the start that they were going to challenge me that day.
Lynn and Sung, if you’re reading this, I just want to tell you, that you were NOT difficult at all. So, no, you don’t get the “Most Difficult People To Shoot” prize!
It’s really about being comfortable with each other, even if you’re really uncomfortable with the camera. The crazy-camera-totting me may be following your every step, but that’s easily forgotten once you get into the groove of things. A little bit of awkwardness at the start is very typical for everyone. But with my stay-back, laid-back, shoot-from-afar style, people tend to just ignore me after the first 20 minutes or so, and instead, focus on each other. THAT’S when I start shooting.
I’m a fan of the cupid. There’s a cupid in every relationship — be it a co-worker, a family member, a waitress, a book, or even a cab driver. The cupid in Lynn and Sung’s story was Sung’s sister, who was determined to set them up.
Lynn called it the “set up,” while Sung called it the “con job.”
It all started one evening while planning for her Halloween party, when Lynn decided to ignore Sung’s sister’s phone call, knowing that she was going to bug her about introducing Sung to Lynn at the party. By missing this call, Lynn never heard the end of it for the entire week after that. Out of guilt, Lynn decided to finally let her set up a meeting with Sung over dinner and a movie, having been promised that it was going to be “totally casual, its soo not going to be a date!”.
Of course, once the non-date evening started, Sung’s sister felt conveniently tired, and proceeded to excuse herself to go home early, leaving Lynn and Sung to spend the rest of the night alone.
“But we were ok with that anyway, because we liked each other even from the start,” Lynn said shyly with a smile as Sung rubbed her arms and held her close to keep her warm as the temperature dropped with the setting sun.
Years later, Lynn was telling this story to a friend, when Sung exclaimed, “What Halloween party??” The “con job,” as they now call it, is that his sister never invited him to the Halloween party. The guilt trip that Lynn got for the entire week after the missed call was just a con job to get Lynn to agree to a date with Sung!
And, my friends, they lived happily ever after. The end.
Sung is known for his lack of cooperation in front of the camera. Every photo of him (seriously, almost EVERY photo I found of him on facebook) has him covering his eyes with two fingers, just like the black bar that goes across someone's eyes in a censored image without model release. So to reward him for being so cooperative during our session, I told him he could strike his famous pose 10% of the time. And this is what we got. This is, after all, what makes Sung unique!
Contact me (wen@wenphotos.com / 312.436.2221) | Follow Me on Twitter | Visit My Facebook Page! | View My Portfolio
