Anita & Mike Engagement | San Francisco City Hall | San Francisco Library

"Oh no, it's pouring outside again! Today is our engagement day!" Anita worried. "Don't worry! Let's have it done somewhere indoor, how about San Francisco City Hall?" I said. That was how we started the engagement session of Anita and Mike. On the weekday, you would find many new couples getting married in the City Hall, but there are some quiet spots in the building can be a perfect background for pictures. Anita also suggested to go to SF library for some shots, what a great idea! That was my first time shooting in library. We had to keep our tone down to avoid disturbing others, so I used my body language and showed them how to pose between the bookshelves, so hilarious!

Samala & Danny Wedding | InterContinental Hong Kong

In 2009 Christmas, I traveled to Hong Kong and also shot Samala & Danny's wedding there. We started the day in the hotel for the getting ready pictures, then we went to Hong Kong University and also stayed in the hotel for the portrait session. We had good amount of time for the session, all the images turned out beautiful. And I'm so proud of one image received an Award of Excellence in WPPI, which is my first international award.

Pamela & Allen Engagement | Merchant Exchange Building | Ferry Building

Pamela and I met at her best friend Jennifer's wedding two years ago and I was Jen's wedding photography. She started love my pictures and told me she would hire me once her boyfriend Allen propose to her. After the wedding, we kept in touch on Facebook and she always enjoy my images I posted. Two years later, she called me one day and told me she was engaged couple weeks ago and wanted to setup an appointment for wedding consultation. At the end of the meeting, she and Allen just asked for contract and we finished the booking on the spot. I'm so excited and looking forward to see Pamela and Allen with her wedding gown and his tuxedo, I promise their wedding pictures will go beyond their expectation! Let's rock it!

Mahsa & Pedro Wedding | Ritz Carlton San Francisco

Mahsa and Pedro tied the knots at Ritz Carlton San Francisco and this is my first Persian ceremony wedding. In the Persian ceremony, there is a table setup called Sofreh-ye Aghd and it includes the following items (information from http://www.farsinet.com/persian_wedding/):

• Mirror
• Candelabras
  
• A tray of seven multi-colored herbs and spices "Sini-ye Aatel-O-Baatel"
  
  1. Poppy Seeds "Khash-Khaash" (to break spells and witchcraft)
  2. Wild Rice "Berenj"
  3. Angelica "Sabzi Khoshk"
  4. Salt "Namak" (to blind the evil eye)
  5. Nigella Seeds "Raziyaneh"
  6. Black Tea "Chaay"
  7. Frankincense "Kondor" (to burn the evil spirits)
• A specially baked and decorated flatbread
• A basket of decorated eggs and a basket of decorated almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts in the shell
• A basket of pomegranates and/or apples for a joyous future.
• A cup of rose water extracted from special Persian roses
• A bowl made out of crystallized sugar
• A brazier "Manghal" holding burning coals sprinkled with wild rue "Espand" a popular incense.
• A bowl of gold coins
• A scarf or shawl made out of silk or any other fine fabric
• Two sugar cones
• A cup of honey
• A needle and seven strands of colored thread
• A copy of the couple's Holy Book
• A prayer carpet/kit
• An assortment of sweets and pastries

Of coures, each items has its own meaning and blessing. At the end of the ceremony, the couple dip one pinky finger in the cup of honey and feed it to the other one to sweeten life and this is my favorite part of the ceremony. Congratulations to Mahsa and Pedro again and it was my pleasure to capture the unforgettable moments for them!

Venue: The Ritz Carlton, San Francisco
Cake: Just Cake
Makeup Stylist: FACE IT make-up by Kristin
Florist: Asiel Design
DJ: Denon & Doyle