Melissa and Paul Wedding Slideshow.

There is so much going on that I want to share, but I'll have to break it down into separate posts.  First of all, I'm blogging from Boston!  I flew into NYC yesterday morning and then took the boltbus straight up to Boston.  I'm really excited about the S.H.E reunion with Sophia and Hsiao, but before I can even think about exploring more of Boston with the girls, I need to finish a ton of work because this friday I am going to Indonesia!!

Finally, I finished editing and putting together the slideshow. :)  I'm very excited to present Melissa and Paul's wedding slideshow.  I am very glad to have been part of their wedding day.  Melissa and Paul, all their friends and family, and even the vendors were a lot of fun to work with.  I want to also thank Eugene for second shooting with me. :)



Here is the list of venues and vendors that contributed to the day:

Ceremony: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church
Reception venue: Villa Christina
Food & Bev: Villa Christina
Cake: Villa Christina
Videography: Wages Video
Florist: Anik Designs
DJ and Coordinator: Lethal Rhythms
Lighting: Party Over Here Productions
Vintage Car: Charisma Coach
Wedding Dress & Bridesmaids dresses: New Natalie's Bridals
Bridesmaids custom jewelry: Bosca Creative Jewelry
Custom handmade veil: Zoica Matei
Cake Topper: Ann Wood Handmade

Tara and Jamie E-session Slideshow.

Tara and Jamie's engagement slideshow:

Melinda and Ben E-session Slideshow.

Melinda and Ben's engagement slideshow. 



The song set to the slideshow is falling in love at a coffee shop by Landon Pigg.  I thought it fit the atmosphere of the photos being in Athens really well.

Probably one of the most random things I've ever done, but I was also a booth girl selling tee-shirts and CDs at Landon Pigg and Among the Oak and Ash last friday.  A fine frenzy is also on tour with them for the next few weeks if you wanna catch them.  They were all very sweet people and fun to hang out.



Wow.  I look so happy here.  Secret's out.  And I thought I was too old to have crushes.  lol  And check out that scarf that someone made him with his name on it.  Gosh, I want groupies!

Pauline Wedding Slideshow - Huntington Beach, CA

Here's Angeline and Paul's wedding slideshow.  Click here if the below image link doesn't work. :)



Just so happens, it's posted the same day as Angeline's bday... so happy birthday Angeline! :)

Melissa Bridal Session Slideshow.

I'm going to share a slideshow of Melissa's bridal session to start off the week. I tested the slideshow out with a few songs, but 'Sway' by Pussycat dolls fit so perfectly. The runner up was 'Labels or Love', which is also a fun song, but maybe not as appropriate for the newlywed. hehe Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful start to your week! ;)



If the above image link does not work, click here.

Again, the venue was the Georgian Terrace Hotel, and the flowers were done by Anik Designs.

Gloria and Frank E-session Slideshow

Frank and Gloria met through teaching Sunday school. Soon after, they began dating and were engaged! After hearing about their clever proposal story, I could not help but share it with one of my guy friends. My friend responded, "Yeah, this guy makes the rest of us guys look really bad." haha I think the more I hear these stories, the more I realize how much thought and effort is needed to orchestrate such a perfect proposal. It's hard to be original. Since I'm not as great of a writer/story teller as Frank is, I'll just give a shortened version his story below the slideshow. (Hope you don't mind me sharing. It's really *that brilliant. But, of course, God is *that brilliant.)



If you can't view this image link, click here.

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Frank's proposal story:

I tried thinking for many months, even soliciting the help of my good bros and sisses, but just couldn't come up with something I was excited to do. Then a few weeks before the actual proposal (on 2/23/09), I was joking around with Gloria. I told her how wonderful she was and how I had no clue how we ever came to be (or in her words, how I tricked her into dating me). In that same breath, she made a comment to the effect of 'You're going to have to trick me into marrying you by luring me to the altar with chocolates and ice cream'. (Gloria eats cookies, chocolates, and ice cream as often as I drink OJ. Okay, maybe not THAT much but she enjoys her sweets.) We both laughed and I warned her that it just may happen. Of course, she didn't think anything of this conversation but I knew right then and there that's how God wanted me to do it. (Quite ironic as I felt God was teaching me a lesson about futility in depending on self even in this piece of my life.)

If I recall, the moment she stepped inside the front door she saw a dimly lit hallway with strange footprint cutouts (made of construction paper) on the ground, beckoning her to walk ahead. On each footprint was an M&M cookie, some Lindt dark chocolate truffles, Ferrero Rocher chocolates (regular), and Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares (both Milk Chocolate with Caramel Filling and Dark Chocolate with Mint Filling). Strings of white christmas lights lined the sides of the hallway off in the distance. As she walked forward, she would see a poster displayed on an easel on her left, saying:

Want to travel to every continent on earth?

------------>

(Free ice cream!!)

(I was trying to include things we had discussed that she wanted us to do together before we died. A couple's "bucket list" if you will.)

As she continued ahead, still following the footsteps and chocolates on the ground, another sign became visible:

Want to learn how to play 'old people' sports?

------------>

(Also, free ice cream!)

As she came near the entrance to the sanctuary, she could see the christmas lights turning to direct her view to the front of the sanctuary. As she turned, she could see the footsteps (and still more chocolates and M&M cookies) leading her to the front of the sanctuary to the altar.

At the front of the sanctuary on the table usually used for communion, I placed one last sign that read,

"Want to start a family? (Try the ice cream)."



(Photo courtesy of Joshua Fu.)

Beside the sign were the same chocolates and cookies, but also three ice cream cartons - one of which being her favorite, Haagen-Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle, which I introduced to her to early on in our dating relationship. By this point, she was out of sorts, both because she knew what was going to happen, but also because it all felt so surreal. She moved slowly towards the raspberry truffle carton, carefully opened it, and found inside it a ring box. She took it out, placed it in her hand, and studied it for what seemed like an eternity to me (I was standing in a nearby room in the dark, peering out at her throughout the process). Eventually, she opened it and upon finding no ring inside the box, I walked out in a suit - having changed from my casual clothes - with the ring in hand, told her how much she meant to me, knelt on one knee, and asked her to marry me.

*******

Reading the story over to write my blog just put a smile on my face. So very cool to see how God is always faithful. :) I'm excited to be shooting their wedding, which is in EIGHT days! Hope ya'll are excited!!

Jean and Mike Slideshow.

Below is Jean and Mike's slideshow to finish off the set. You can view all of Jean and Mike related blog posts here. I loved how they added a bit of their own twist into every aspect of their wedding, from all the smaller details in having a picnic-style wedding to their first dance. The first dance was mos def one of my favorite parts of the day. :)

I have a couple girlfriends of mine in the wedding planning process, and it's has been a hot topic of conversation over the past month. You can really take it anywhere.... granted that your man will be willing to take dance lessons. ;) I have to admit that I've done plenty of research of my own. hehe I can't help it. I love dancing!

After this surprise first dance video blew up on youtube, I can see that a lot of couples have chosen to go the unconventional route. There are literally tons floating around on youtube. You can get lost on there, and I wouldn't recommend it. lol I still must say that Jean and Mike did a very good job executing their first dance and keeping it very fresh. What was even more impressive was the fact that they involved their parents. Too cute! Here's a link to the youtube clip: Fresh Prince of Bellaire First dance - Jump on it. This one is definitely worth a watch. ;)

Enjoy!



If the above image link doesn't work, click here.

Jean and Mike E-session Slideshow

I think this was the most fun I've had on a photoshoot so far this year. Everywhere I took Jean and Mike, it was a playground full of photo ops! Especially running rampant in target in the toy section. I love how they were completely down for anything. Even hanging upside down on monkey bars, even though it's probably been over 20 years since any of us have had monkey bar experience. :) For purposes of fitting into the song, I had to narrow down the photos, but there were so many I really liked. But without further ado, here's the slideshow.

http://www.estherjulee.com/showit/jeanandmikeesession/

Melissa and Paul E-session Slideshow

Melissa is a graphic designer who happened to have graduated from the same school as I did! The first time I met with Melissa and Paul, we instantly connected and I think we chatted for two hours non-stop over Suno. All my suno dessert melted before I could even finish it! Melissa graduated from Tech and Paul is from Auburn. They had the cutest engagement story that involved stealing some furniture to setup a beautiful breakfast on the beach. lol

She was telling me how she had been searching for a wedding photographer and that she hadn't seen any work that really impressed her. I was thrilled when they ended up booking me that day of our consultation. :) I wanted to exceed their expectations and give them one amaaazing session. These days, I feel like I've definitely gotten into a groove of things, which has allowed me to just execute out my vision much better. I really enjoyed every bit of this session: the shooting, the editing, and putting together this slideshow. This is some awesome turnaround time, though. I had to pull a couple of all nighters to finish it. haha Hope you guys enjoy it! :)



Click here! :)

Eunice and Wes Get Hitched!

I had a lot of fun shooting this wedding. There was so much emotion captured. I almost got sucked into all the emotion. I tend to cry at most weddings, and the funny thing is I don't even have to know them all that well and I will still cry. haha But it really is an honor to witness and be a part of this beginning.... of a beautiful future together. Absolutely amazing how God brings two individuals together and shows His faithfulness... and how sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised with His timing.



Press play! I love this Jason Mraz song. You will not believe how long it took me to merge these two songs using Garageband. I am a complete newbie. haha I felt like the first song, though, is so fitting for these two. :)

Oh, YES! And I must say this. Remember that slideshow I put together of our church taking our adopted refugee family to the Coke museum? It's here, if you didn't see it. So the director of RRISA (the organization that helps resettle refugees in the Atlanta area) saw the slideshow and completely loved it and proposed the idea of working professionally with me to do future projects with them. This could be an amazing opportunity to be to combine the gifts I have been given and be able to reach out to the community here. I am super excited!