I was in a store the other day (I mean, who isn’t a store on a regular basis these days leading up to Christmas?) and as I was conversing with one of the store employees, I said I was an artist. I didn’t say what kind, I didn’t explain that I did my art with a camera, I just stopped at, “I’m an artist.” It felt weird, but good, because I was stating what I feel is at the core of who I am as a photographer. I am an artist.
When I am contacted by a couple who are having a culturally diverse wedding, the artist in me gets a little extra excited because I know I will have the opportunity to photograph color, texture, moments, and people that are different from most of the weddings I photograph. I enjoy those weddings too, but I also crave newness and change and different cultural elements feed that craving.
Xuan is Vietnames and Ethan is Cambodian. They were married at Cambodian Church of the Nazarene in a Christian Ceremony, and held their reception at U Garden in Minneapolis. Before this day, they also had a cultural ceremony that I referred to my friend Emmy (who also assisted me at this wedding) because I was not available for that event. You can see some of their photos from that day on Emmy’s Blog.
Xuan and Ethan, their friends, and their family are incredibly kind, warm and made me feel at home with them. Xuan emailed me after the wedding and had these kind words to say, “We just had a small gathering of the family and viewed them together for the first time tonight and we LOVE them! This was so much fun. We are in awe of your skills, the lighting, framing, angles, we love them all. Thank you, thank you!! You were the best investment of our wedding day. Thank you for being so worth it!” For me, praise for my hard work and efforts for a client from just doesn’t get much better than that!
Jesus and the donuts. ‘Nuff said. :)
They filled the sanctuary with candles. It felt so cozy.
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” James Keller
I have a photo almost identical to this from my wedding, so I’m a little sentimental about this one. ;)
I shared this photo right after the wedding with this quote: “To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” David Viscot. Xuan is so lovely!
Their reception was at U Garden, right by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, so we spent a little time there doing some portraits.
Ethan has such a great smile!
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the amazing food at this weddings! My second photographer Emmy took this photo. YUM!
They had a live band and several talented singers entertaining guests during dinner.
One of their traditions is to go to each table to receive gifts and give and receive blessing/toasts. This is one of my favorite parts of the day because there are so many great moments!
Sometimes, they make the couple do funny things for their gifts, like fish them out of their spouse’s pants. ;)
