TRADITIONAL WEDDING for an extraordinary engagement
A month ago, I was blessed to capture a special day for a couple with an intense love that lasted a long engagement. The beautiful couple had a traditional catholic wedding. The ceremony was held at Santo Tomas el Apostol (Saint Thomas The Apostle Church) located in Los Angeles California.
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The ceremony was indeed beautiful which lasted about 1 hour. It was surely a typical catholic wedding ceremony as it included a service and then the joining of man and wife. Actually, there was one twist to this ceremony as instead of a “regular” band to play the wedding song , the ceremony music was provided by a mariachi band. Yes, you heard me a mariachi band. If you don’t believe me, check out the image below. Look to the front of the church behind the pastor and below the crucifix.
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The Bride was supported by a Maid of Honor, a Matron of Honor, a Flower girl and four Bridesmaids. The Groom was supported by a Best Man and 5 Groomsman that you can see from the image below.
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Before the wedding, I made sure to talk to the deacon and ask what my restraints were at the wedding ceremony which enabled me to plan out my photography execution. I was fortunate to have free reigns to where I could walk to during the ceremony. I did my best to be a fly on the wall and not interrupt the ceremony, but yet capture some key shots that you will see below.
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After the one hour long ceremony and about 30 minutes outside the church taking the basic family and friends outside the church shots, we proceeded to the formal shoot location. The couple was looking for more traditional form portraits so I had to hold myself back which wasn’t difficult as I matched the formals with the age of the couple. I physically scouted the location one week prior to the wedding day and at the exact time of the formal session so that I can accurately plan out the shoot by knowing the exact lighting conditions. If I may add that it was a very windy location, but I was able to shoot fast enough to capture the images.
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After the formal shoot, we proceeded to the reception location named Ports O’Call Restaurant and Banquet in San Pedro. The reception location was only 3 miles from the formal shoot location. Yes, I did think about the reception location when determining the formal shoot location.
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As a special bonus to the couple, I provided the bride and groom a slide show for their guests displayed on a 60 inch projected screen via my projector and Netbook. The slideshow displayed images from their engagement session and a few images from their past to illustrate their growth through the years. As the slide show played all of the “grown ups” attentively watched the slideshow while the kids played with the giveaways.
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The beautiful wedding day ended with the bride and groom dancing with their friends and family. Thank you for allowing me to capture such a close and intimate wedding day.
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