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Ceremony at New Community Baptist Church in Mountain View and reception at Dynasty Seafood Restaurant in Cupertino.
Ring and John (BTW, don't they look great?!!!) started the morning at the Cypress Hotel. (No doubt a few of you will recognize the wallpaper and lounge areas.) As the ladies applied their finishing touches, the guys went on a McDonald's run. With everyone now ready, we filed into the elevator along with John's special accessory, a football. More on that later. Sweet! I love it when we have a generous amount of time and rarely run out of interesting photography ideas. Downstairs we took advantage.
The large church was packed, I mean packed. It was amazing! More people just kept coming. Highlights included a pre-ceremony ballet performance, plenty of live music and singing, and the pastor's creative references to football which is one of John's favorite sports. That explains the ring pillow that I got a shot of below.
After a brief stop with Ring and John at Cuesta Park for a few fun shots, we hightailed it to Cupertino Square for the reception. But not before squeezing in another 5 minutes of portraits in the mall with the entire wedding party for a special page I have planned for the album. :D
Dynasty Seafood's large banquet room was bursting at the seams with nearly 400 guests. A variety of pink and brown paper lanterns were hung from the ceiling which dressed up the room nicely. After the tasty banquet, there were no shortage of games, activities, and challenges to keep the crowd entertained. Mr. DJ also played plenty of Asian anthems to keep the youngin's satisfied. New Order, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Anything Box... c'mon you know what I'm talking about! Something worth noting are the wedding cupcakes. They were made by a business that John's sister (Jessica) co-owns!
Floral Arrangements: Tanjeeryn Designs
Cupcakes: Cupcakes by Andrea and Jessica
Music: Jeff Lee
In June the family vacationed on Oahu. As usual, we stayed with family in Nu'uanu off the Pali Highway. We were there for almost 2 weeks which allowed ample time to sample the great local food - especially shaved ice! We needed it because it was HOT - almost a record breaking string of days near 90 degrees. (Sorry for the low quality Blackberry phone picture above!).
You can get shaved ice almost anywhere in Honolulu but the local's know where to go baby! The following are the most popular and include my tasting notes. (FYI, this is a non-exhaustive list).
Shimazu Store (aka B&S). Google Map.
I was only recently told about this place. Holy smokes, didn't know what I was missing and such a short drive from the house to boot! Parking can be difficult to find here because it's on a busy street, but at worst you can park down at Foodland and walk back half a block. Be aware that School Street is one way.
Shimazu's sizes are off the charts! The large (my normal purchase) is almost as big as a person's head - you might be able to find an image on my Facebook page. The server was pouring syrup on the cone forever to compensate. I called it a meal of ice - nice if you are trying to lose a few pounds - but a person can get tired of eating ice. The quantity of ice did require quite a bit of time to finish.
Their ice tends to be loosely packed and coarser compared to the others on this list. The flavors are good and dense but they get drawn into the center of the cone fairly quickly and you have to suffer through the plain ice on the outside to get at the good stuff. I started dropping ice "accidentally" to get to the flavor core. Verdict, good if I'm near home or I want some variety, otherwise it's Waiola. They do have some cool t-shirts for sale though.
Waiola Store. Google Map.
Waiola serves the shaved ice by which all others are judged IMHO. The store has been here forever and they just recently cut a second serving window out of their wall to accomodate demand. It is so popular that people pull up at all hours during the day and frequently park illegally to get their fix. They bought an adjacent parking lot in recent years so this is less of an issue. (Their Kapahulu store has closed BTW).
Waiola's ice is the best! Very soft and light but packed tightly. They have a HUGE variety of flavors so you could spend a week here without having the same combination. They also offer a wide variety of ice-related desserts - not just the standard cone. I could eat here everyday, and on previous trips, I have.
Matsumoto's. Google Map.
This is a North Shore institution. If we drive up past Haleiwa we go to Matsumoto's. There is always a line because people think the same way we do - if you're driving up past Haleiwa... Can't imagine what this place is like when the Triple Crown is running!
The ice coarseness is between Shimazu and Waiola and the overall size was very comfortable to eat in a reasonable amount of time. The ice is packed more tightly than Shimazu which probably helped keep the flavor on the outside a bit more. Their flavors are on-par with Waiola tastewise, but I think Wailoa has more overall variety. However, Matsumoto's was the most generous with the ice cream and azuki (cooked red beans) - yum!
Another thing worth mentioning is their great t-shirt section. They had tons of designs and a few were quite desireable (non-touristy). Unfortunately, almost every one that I was interested in was out of stock.
John's Groceries. Google Map.
This place is literally a hop, skip, and jump from where we usually stay on Oahu. It really is a neat little neighborhood shop in Nu'uanu. Something you'd never expect in a residential area. Never knew it was here until my wife's brother mentioned it last year. Had to try it.
The overall impression is unremarkable, but not bad. I think the key selling point for me is that I could walk there any time I needed to get shaved ice. One negative is that they aren't always open. I walked over there in the hot afternoon sun one day only to find them closed. WHAT???!!! I wouldn't write the place off of course because we are talking about shaved ice here. :)
Hope you can use this on your next adventure to Oahu. If you hear of another place I absolutely must try please share it with me!
Long overdue! Ceremony in the Mather Redwood Grove at the U.C. Berkeley Botanical Garden and reception at Scott's Seafood in Walnut Creek.
It is quite a privilege to photograph the wedding of a peer. Afterall, there can probably be no more qualified a critic. Alex and Diana, the excellent photographer behind Heart Studios, asked me to photograph her wedding and I was only too happy to accept. She was also going to bake her own cake. That's right the bride is baking her own cake a few days before the wedding and not just some sheet cake with Betty Crocker frosting. Incredible! I couldn't resist offering to photograph some of that now could I? Two Kitchen Aid's, two ovens, and a bunch of friends over to help. It was fun. Check out her results below.
The Mather Grove is heavily forested and light was a concern for me. That morning I fretted about the heavy fog along the Bay but weather cooperated perfectly. A low overcast gave way to bright sun which pleasantly lit the ceremony area. The wedding party walked up a winding pathway to the front of the amphitheater where a good friend presided over the ceremony. Due to spotty cell coverage you will see below how the groomsmen used an advanced hand signaling protocol to cue the musicians.
After the ceremony we had almost an hour of fun with the bridal party in the botanical garden. This really is a cool place to work - filled with interesting trees, plants, flowers, nooks, and crannies. We finished by working with Diana and Alex alone and then drove over to Walnut Creek - couldn't wait to see the cake. Dinner and dancing, nice :)
Everyone was fun loving, Captain Morgan made several appearances, certain members of the bridal party seemed amenable to removing clothing (didn't take them up on the offer), and the party peeps enjoyed the DJ. There was even an afterparty party involving a hot tub. No rest for Diana though as she was shooting a wedding the week after.
Congratulations you two and thank you very much for including me!
Floral Arrangements: Deb's Flower Market
Cake: Patisserie Blazick
Music: Royal Sound Entertainment
