{ Joyce and Yuki: Married! }
I admit I get teary-eyed at least once during most weddings. As a second shooter I’ve probably just met the couple that day, but still get so touched by the connection of two people so incredibly in love. So you can imagine how actually knowing the couple – in this case it was the bride Joyce – and sharing 14 years of friendship, sprinkled with graduations, heartbreaks, losses of loved ones, and laughter and tears alike, can do to someone. I bawled at the rehearsal dinner, I bawled when she was walking down the aisle, I bawled during the toasts, I think I even shed a tear during the first dance and it was the TANGO for goodness sakes. But I was SO happy for her. I mentioned this (between sniffs and snorts) in my speech at the rehearsal dinner, but Joyce, more than anyone else I know, was made to be an amazing wife and mother. She is one of the most loving and caring people I know and as her sister put it, “Yuki, you are the luckiest man in the world.”
Since I was a bridesmaid, I was banished from shooting the wedding, but I still snuck my camera along for some shots of the beautiful day. Joyce planned the entire wedding herself and did most of it from all the way across the Pacific Ocean in Japan, where Yuki is stationed and she studying at Cordon Bleu of Tokyo. Since I was generally out of commission, she asked Scott to document the day, along with the awesomely talented Jonathan Chan. From the perspective of a bridesmaid, I can say he made the portrait sessions really fun and relaxed and was a great photographer overall!
Enough of my babbling, on with the show! Most of these are my shots from those in-between moments when I was able to grab my camera. I’ve also included and noted the awesome shots Scott took that day!
Joyce was just radiating happiness from the moment she woke up (which was at 5 am! The only thing I radiate at that hour is grumpiness and um, bad breath. A big thank you to Christine for letting us all crash at her place!)
Scott grabbed this shot of us getting ready:
Joyce’s Jimmy Choos. Aren’t they elegant?
And of course, the dress:
I snuck this shot from the backseat on the way to the ceremony site:
Yuki and the swordsmen:
Careful! Watching that lipstick…
I could not get enough of her gorgeous bouquet!
Scott captured these moments during the ceremony, which was held at the Admiral Kidd Center on the naval base in San Diego:
“You may not pass until you kiss the bride…” 
Post-ceremony.. liberating our feet:
Once the ceremony was over I was reunited with my camera. Good thing too – there were so many stunning details during the reception that I probably would have gone crazy had I not been able to take pictures of any of it!
Joyce used a crane theme for the wedding and folded almost all of them herself. She told me how she was working on them even as she flew from Tokyo to LA.
It doesn’t get much better than a chocolate fountain:
Yuki’s sword makes an excellent cake cutter:
More shots of the sexy tango…
Dancing with her grandfather…
Prepping for the garter toss:
A really cool thing that Jonathan Chan did was set up a little photo corner, where the guests could take pictures of themselves. You can check out all the hilarious shots on his blog, but I borrowed a few shots to show you what happens when photographers get in front of the camera:
After the reception we took a one-hour breather, and then rushed to the beach for some more portraits. We made it just in time to catch that sparkly sunset light!
On the walk to the shore Scott had a moment of inspiration and set this shot up:
Joyce requested the shot below, which Scott snapped. It was an awesome idea!
—
Joyce, I love you and wish you and Yuki a lifetime of joyful moments together. I hope you’re having a killer time on your honeymoon in Thailand, swimming and eating banana pancakes every morning! Can’t wait til you’re back in LA!!
Tags: admiral kidd, admiral kidd wedding, coronado, coronado wedding, coronado wedding photography, japanese wedding photographer, san diego wedding, san diego wedding photographer, san diego wedding photography
August 4th, 2008 at
haha how cool. great shots, and jchan is an awesome guy
August 4th, 2008 at
i was waiting allll week for this post!! haha the pictures you and scott took are amazing. :D
August 5th, 2008 at
oh wow awesome! my favorite is the fourth photo of the dress! =)
I also love the photo corner idea.. I’m definitely going to ask for that at my wedding.. whenever that is.. ;)
August 5th, 2008 at
To reiterate:
1. You look lovely
2. Scott takes awesome pictures and really needs to start posting pics on his Xanga!
3. Bring him out next time you join us for bao!
August 5th, 2008 at
your pictures are so pretty! i love the one of us crossing the street. good job, scott, good job. haha.
August 5th, 2008 at
WOW You look stunning and so do your pictures! Your photography skills and post-production techniques are definitely improving at a drastic rate! Great stuff :D
August 5th, 2008 at
okay…now i must say…these shots aren’t great…they’re too freakin’ spectacular! actually some of the best I have ever seen…not sure what it is…but seriously ::patting U on the back::
and just a sidenote, I teared up a bit…just beautiful
August 5th, 2008 at
it was a beautiful day, and it was recorded just as beautifully in your photos.
August 5th, 2008 at
@GERKshinobi –
Thanks! Yeah he was really awesome!
@akamaichan –
Thanks Jenny! It was good seeing you! Are you next…? Dun dun dun. haha.
@gonchoi –
Thanks – yeah isn’t her dress amazing? And the photo corner was so much fun… the guests were going crazy! haha.
@Skunkabilly –
1. Thank you :) 2. I’ll tell him he’s already building up a fan base 3. Will do!
@Christine –
Haha oh I’ll let him know you said that. Thanks, thanks. haha.
@Furious Photographers –
Thank you! Those encouraging words mean so much coming from you guys. And I wouldn’t be improving if it weren’t for all your help!!
@dimsom –
Oh wow.. thanks! I’m glad to hear that the pictures touched you… it was really such a touching wedding and we were really trying to capture those feelings in the images!
@flamingdust7 –
Thanks Cindy! :)
August 6th, 2008 at
Nice, Adrienne! I too noticed a few posts back that your skills seem to have made a dramatic leap in improvement recently and keep getting better and better at a rapid pace. Keep up the great work! See you tomorrow!
August 6th, 2008 at
LOVELY photos! The dress is soooo pretty and the cake looks very yummy~! I really love the bridesmaid picture of them jumping! Great work~!
August 6th, 2008 at
wow AMAZING!!! seriously i echo everyone…your photography is getting sooooo good!!! i love your images and i love what you did with the post production. i keep trying to get that look, but haven’t figured it out yet! i think i’m going to be stuck with the bright/punchy colors my whole life. congrats to your friend and you looked beautiful as a bridesmaid!
August 6th, 2008 at
@Wayne Toshikazu –
Thank you Wayne! I’ve noticed the same with your photography… especially your post-processing! I can’t get over razor-sharp and perfectly exposed your images are looking! See you tonight!
@ImprezaGirl –
Thanks! The jumping shot was fun although it took us a few times to get it. The secret: bend your knees!
@iheartphotos –
Thanks Hana! I LOVE the punchy colors in your images! I’m still settling into my style, but I find I’m trying out different things to keep my images feeling fresh and crisp which is the style I gravitate towards… thanks for the compliment! :)
August 6th, 2008 at
Beautiful shots :o)
August 6th, 2008 at
awesome pics!! joyce must have had a wonderful day…
August 6th, 2008 at
How pretty! :) you just keep getting better and better Adrienne! Hope you are doing well!
August 7th, 2008 at
Wow these are some GORGEOUS photos! Your friend must have been so happy that you captured such beautiful moments from one of the most important days in her life! I’m going to be a bride’s maid as well in about 2 weeks and I can’t imagine having my camera there as well (I’m thinking being a bride’s maid alone is going to be hectic)! You’re so dedicated to photography it’s inspiring!
Keep up the good work!
August 7th, 2008 at
Awesome job being a bridesmaid / photographer! It must have been hard to watch that beautiful ceremony without a camera in hand. Can’t wait to work with you again
!!
August 7th, 2008 at
omg her dress was AMAZING!!!! Sooo beautiful, and gorgeous photos too!
And yeah I wish I got to meet you last night at the FTS seminar!
Hopefully I will bump into you one of these days :)
August 8th, 2008 at
@aliceandrandy –
Thank you! :)
@scoots08 –
Thanks! Yeah it was a beautiful day.. she did a great job planning it and everything came together so perfectly!
@jasminemariephotography –
Thanks Jasmine! Hope to see you around soon and hear all about married life!
@minteefoto –
Thank you! Yeah I figured it’d be too crazy too, but luckily there were quite a few times when I was able to pick my camera up. Have fun at the wedding!
@skyet99 –
Thanks, it was great working with you too ;)
@Lorelei –
Thank you! Yeah hopefully I’ll see you at the next awesome workshop!
August 11th, 2008 at
I don’t think I could ever get tired of looking at your pics! They are beyong awesomeness….more like FANTASTIC!! lol When you get wayyyyy too rich and dont mind a tag-along…I wanna be the first person on the list to sign up!! lol
PS- Thanx for being wonderful! ^_^
PSS- You’re taking my wedding pictures. Whenever that is. lol
August 11th, 2008 at
@Mizz_Kiwee_225 –
Oh wow, thanks for the sweet words!! It’ll be a long time before I’m rich (if ever? haha), but I would love to shoot with you sometime!
August 19th, 2008 at
What a cute wedding! And you’ve got some nice shots!
August 21st, 2008 at
i always plan to comment on your gigantic wedding posts after all the pictures load, but there are so many they don’t always load up. i really like the light in #733 and the timeless feeling of #831. how many weddings have you been to this year?!