Jessica and Sean were married on February 11th, with a ceremony at St. Monica’s Church in Santa Monica, and a reception at the Bel Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades, California.
I was excited to see Jessica and Sean get married after doing their engagement session up in Big Sur in Northern California. They told me their amazing love story of how they met at Oxford and have seen each other through not only graduation—Sean is now a lawyer and Jess works in marketing—but also all sorts of traveling adventures. They both love the outdoors and camping and go on trips frequently.
I started out the day with Jessica at the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica as she was getting ready while my second shooter, Ahjile Miller, was with Sean and his groomsmen. We coordinated with each other to make sure that Sean and Jessica didn’t see each other before the wedding, and when Sean was ready, he walked with his groomsmen the few blocks to the church while Jessica took a private bus with her ladies so that they would be sure not to accidentally spot each other.
After the stunning ceremony, it was off to the reception, where Jessica’s old schoolmates got together on the dance floor to sing one of the songs they used to play in college. It was so fun to watch these old friends having a blast together, and it really set the tone for the day.
The live band was one of the best I’ve heard at a wedding; one of the guitarists even jumped into the crowd to play with the dancing guests. They were the perfect backdrop to Jessica and Sean’s amazing first dance and kept up the energy getting everyone out on the dance floor with the bride and groom. It was amazing to see both families out there dancing with each other and enjoying the music together.
While everyone was dancing, I was able to experiment a little with the lighting, using a special combination of flashes to help me blur the crowd and color them and the subject differently. All I had to do was wait for that perfect moment when Jessica and Sean were dancing in the middle, surrounded by all their friends and loved ones.
Jessica and Sean decided to do something a little different for their reception, with pies instead of a traditional wedding cake. It was a unique and incredibly tasty twist on the usual wedding fare!
Toward the end of the day, we had only about five minutes to grab some sunset pictures, but I knew that I wanted to utilize Jess’ veil in the shots. I used an ultra-wide angle lens for the veil shots while my assistant lit them with a strobe, and I love how it turned out.
Sean & Jessica, thank you for letting me be part of your unique wedding. It was so much fun to celebrate with you and all your friends!
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Jimmy Bui
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Such an amazing emotion in your photographs!
Thanks for sharing
Amazing pictures! Love your style!
Awesome wedding, love the pictures and the edit style. Congrats!