Vannie and Ken | Palm Event Center | Wedding Photos

There is something special for me when I open the door and see the bride for the first time. It’s never the same. Sometimes I see a big mess and half naked girls running around. Sometimes it’s just a bride and her mother quietly sit on a balcony. And sometimes, I am the first one to enter a room. But this time, I entered a room full of quiet excitement. Full of anticipation that something big is going to happen in just few hours. Vannie and Ken decided to see each other before the Ceremony which was quite an exciting experience. From my angle I was able to see Vannie standing and Ken approaching her from upstairs. This is always special moment and I was able to capture it from a perfect angle.

We continued to a place called Mera Vino in Pleasanton for a wine tasting and some appetizers right after. I never been at Mera Vino before. Its a boutique store with tasting room and a green green elevator which we was able to use for photos thanks to very friendly staff. Special thanks to Raj for allowing us to move everything around. We got couple of nice shots up there including one with girls backs and with flowers. Speaking of which, Wendy from Wedding Flower Design did an excellent job on flowers.

We arrived at Palm Event Center about two hours before ceremony and started to work on family and bridal party photos right away hoping to finish everything within an hour. Vannie, Ken and bridal party needed to rehearse their super special first dance which turned to be a great performance.

It’s fourth time I work at Palm Event Center and second at Barrel Room. I think getting married inside is a perfect choice for this venue. It gives a feeling of a big grotto filled with wine barrels. This combined with dozens of candles (proved to be handy when gas lighter refused to work) is a rare opportunity for a photographer for some creative shots.

It was challenging to put together a slideshow for this wedding as originally I had 105 photos selected. There is no song is long enough for this. I am so happy Steve Siu from Piano Reimagined provided me with this beautiful song (Cure – Just like Heaven). Steve is amazing piano player. I have his entire piano collection in my car and iPod.

Main “problem” appeared to be my brother Alex who taped the entire wedding and wanted to make a highlights movie link for his upcoming bridal fair. Of course he worked couple of days and probably nights to get it done. He did. After I saw it (holding my breath), I had to redo my slideshow as I originally wanted a faster song. This became a longest time I worked on a single slideshow. I tried to fit it into “Lovers in Japan” song but it didn’t work as I picked too many photos… Anyways, enjoy the slideshow and feel free to comment!

Here are some detail shots I took throughout the day. There were plenty…

And… Finally… You must see this video my little brother made (if you missed the link above). If you one of those who haven’t booked him yet – do it ASAP. Last two weeks he met with five couples and booked all FIVE! Vannie and Ken is a type of a couple you love pointing the camera at, I guess it wasn’t that hard making this video after all.