Viva La Vida

Hy and I went to the super cool Viva La Vida concert this Friday at HP Pavilion at San Jose. Hy and I enjoyed many songs from Coldplay, so we were super excited about Coldplay’s 2008 tour. And seriously, the concert was worth every penny if you love their song! The songs were, of course, great. Stage was creatively designed. Toward the end of the concert, the band even got off stage and stationed in the audience for two songs.

While we were in the show, Hy got a text message on the phone! Amazingly, it was from our 2006 HyStudio couple Lynnette and Lovekesh! Lynnete and Lovekesh were HyStudio website’s cover couple for couple months in 2007! It was great to hear from them! They saw us while we were looking for our seat earlier in the concert. And they just wanted to message us to say they were there too! We exchanged couple message through out the concert. It was super fun to still keep in touch like this with our old clients.

Here is the shout out to our old friends from 2006~ Lynnette and Lovekesh had their wedding banquets in Hotel Sofitel of Redwood City. Following is one of my favorite photo from their wedding!

This photo of Lynnette is framed on HyStudio’s studio wall

Lynnete and Lovekesh also had a traditional India ceremony the night before their wedding!

Recently, due to some uncertainty at my work place (yeah.. my day time job, not hystudio), I spent a lot of time contemplating over leadership during uncertainty era. Though things are uncertain, I was fortunate enough to be in a group that’s still expending. However, team building during an uncertainty era isn’t easy.

I’ve been enjoying a lot of summer reading on my spare time. The other day, the following excerpt really draw my attention. It was from Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture. Professor Randy Pausch is a computer science professor in Carnegie Mellon University, the context was about how Randy selects people to his research team at CMU:
“I know you’re smart. But everyone here is smart. Smart isn’t enough. The kind of people I want on my research team are those who will help everyone else feel happy to be here”

So true The team that works is not only the team that are full w/ smart people. But a team that works will be the team where every member enjoy each other’s company! This wisdom comes extremely helpful to me as I have so many positions that I need to fill. It’s a good reminder not only to hire smart people, but hire smart people who are also humble and sincere and who’s willing to help everyone else feel happy to be in the team!

 

Our Very Own Engagement - Minling + Tak

Minling has been the editor in chief for HyStudio for 2 years now. And this year .. it’s finally her turn

Minling picked a very romantic and grand location for her engagement pictures: The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay. We went there on a Sat. afternoon. While 3 of them are busy with photos, I enjoyed an afternoon of reading and zipping afternoon tea. The hotel is a beautiful location for a quick getaway.

This photo of Minling & Tak is super cute

Minling, being our innovative editor in chief, always wanted to incorporate the cotton candy in her photo. We took couple photos with the cotton candy.

Inside Ritz

Lastly, my favorite, love the reflection!

BTW, after the engagement session, we went to Old Port Lobster Shack at Redwood City for dinner. Gotta check it out, it’s soo yummy!

Congratulations Minling & Tak. Can’t wait till your big celebration!

 

Hai + Will (II) - Ceremony

Summer time this year has been great for Hy and I. With Frank taking on couple weddings, Hy and I have some time for ourselves. This afternoon, Hy and I hosted a family BBQ. Next week, we are hosting a house party for my coworkers. For the past 4 years, we didn’t have this luxury to enjoy summer. Hy was always out almost every weekend during summer time for weddings or engagement sessions. Past years, I used the time that Hy was out to catch up on summer readings. This year, I didn’t get to read as much, but I enjoy every moment of Hy being home with me. Last night, Hy and I watched “P.S. I Love you” together. It made me realize, life could be so unpredictable. We shall treasure moments together when we can.

Last week, I posted part I of Hai and Will’s wedding. This week, I will showcase the ceremony part.

Creative flower toss from the flower girl

Garre Vineyard and Winery at Livermore is such a beautiful outdoor ceremony location

Priceless moments

Hai & Will had a very creative exit. They danced out ~

Minling, HyStudio’s Editor in Chief, and I are so in love with this bridesmaid’s dress! Nice design and color, from J.Crew Weddings & Parties!

Mr. & Mrs.

Classic Bridal Bouquet by Nicole Ha

Another Favorite

Venue: Garre Vineyard & Winery
Florist: Nicole Ha
DJ: Aaron Dalugdug
Cake: Jen’s Cake
Videographer: Nam Nguyen, Clean White Shirt
Makeup/Hair: Anne Reyes/ IBA

 

Emily + Thao - E-Session

When Emily mentioned that she wants to take photo at Palace of Fine Art, I thought .. what can Hy do differently this time. We’ve done e-session at Palace of Fine Art in San Francisco multiple times now in the past 4 years. It will be no fun seeing the same photos.

As always, Hy can always bring back something fresh every time. I guess the uniqueness of each couple gave him different inspiration.

FYI, Palace of Fine Art is under renovation this summer. Regardless, it’s still beautiful place to visit.

I love the intimacy in this photo.

Then we headed to the cable car shoot. I always love photos in cable car. It’s so romantic.


See the reflection.

Love Emily’s hair ~

Love this composition.


The power couple ~

Follow two are my favorites

Congratulations Emily & Thao ~

 

Hai + Will (I) - Getting Ready

Venue: Garre Vineyard & Winery
Florist: Nicole Ha
DJ: Aaron Dalugdug
Cake: Jen’s Cake
Videographer: Nam Nguyen, Clean White Shirt
Makeup/Hair: Anne Reyes/ IBA

So sorry girls for keeping this blog idle for past week. I was busy studying for a trip to Tibet. I’ve been reading a book regarding a traveler bicycling through Tibet. So, I’ve been spending some of my spare time reading up history of Tibet and scenic tours within Tibet, Kashmir in India, and Silk road of China. I probably will be visiting India again later this year after the summer cools off. So, I am hoping to get some of the trip planning out of the way.

I so enjoy looking at Hai & Will’s wedding photos I don’t even know how to start posting them on the blog. I am going to split the photos in 3 blog posts. So, I can have some time picking the good ones to show you girls.
First, the beautiful gown ~

Hai and Will put a lot of thoughts into their wedding. There were just so many details. For example, the table names. The head table is named “Romeo and Juliet” with subtitle “… You and me babe, How ’bout it? Parents sit at table “Hero”. Guest tables have names range from “You and Me”, “Magic”, “Dreams”, “Loved”, “Beautiful”, “Time”.. etc.

Getting ready

Anne Reyes from IBA did a great job with hair and makeup for Hai

The beautiful bride ~

Hai & Will decided to meet each other before the ceremony to get some fashion shots done

Doing anything fun on the 4th of July weekend? Hy and I will be at Napa this weekend enjoying the wine country, visiting some wedding sites and of course, trying out new restaurants and bring home cases of wine I will be posing more photos over the weekend as well. So, stay tune ~

Congratulations Hai & Will ~

 

Baby Tristan

Baby Tristan & his mommy and daddy live in Taiwan. When Hy and I went visiting last month, we took some photos for the 6 months old Tristan.

The lucky boy is already in his brand name Baby Gucci shoes

This baby seat is sold around the world. I’ve seen a pink one in US.

Tristan and his round table knights.

Then Tristan shows us many of different expressions ~

I miss Tristan so much already. I will be babysitting Tristan at the Kawaii island of Haiwaii in Oct. I can’t wait.

 

Stephanie + Eric

I’ve known Stephanie for many years now. We attended the same fellowship together weekly for many years. Stephanie and Eric got married in our home church, a small English/Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Fremont. Hy and I got married in our home church as well. We had our ceremony at our home church, then the banquet at Mountain Winery.

So, seeing the ceremony photos of Stephanie and Eric reminds me of my own ceremony. Since our church is like a family church, we probably have a fair amount of overlap in our guests list and helpers list

This is Kevin, our in-house drummer. Like many folks in this church, he’s so multi-talented.

Maybe I am bias, our little cute church, very photogenic.

Husband and wife~

This is our church’s play ground

It’s a small playground, but fits many adults

We went to Elizabeth Gamble Garden in Palo Alto for some outdoor photos.

Elizabeth Gamble Garden in Spring, full of beautiful tulips!

Banquet is at Ming’s Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto.

I gotta explain a little why I post this photos here. There’s a Chinese saying that life is filled with 4 flavors: Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy. So, back to my ‘for better and for worst‘ post, this plate symbolize the 4 flavors of life that the husband and wife would need to face together.

And of course, the plate is not only there for photo. The newly wed supposed to taste the four flavors on their wedding day hee . .

Lastly, a ring shot. I was there that night, so my ask, Hy’s execution.

Congratulations, Stephanie & Eric!

 

Christina + Ryan - E-Session

On a Spring Sat. afternoon, Hy and I met Christina and Ryan at Carmel downtown for their engagement session. We bumped into Christina and Ryan at Nicole & Crystal’s Una Bella Sera at Casa Real the week before their engagement. It was always great to see familiar faces in big parties.

Even it’s already spring, it was quite a chilly day in Carmel. Regardless of the chilly weather, Christina and Ryan were excited for the photo shoot. After the photo shoot, Hy and I had dinner with the love birds. That was my favorite part, hearing the love stories, of how the couple met and fall in love.

I love the green colors of the following 2 photos.

Christina did her own makeup for this engagement session. I thought it was done by professionals!

I love Christina’s shoes! Looks great in this photo with the pink wall

This is why I love Carmel so much. It’s such a colorful town!

Congratulations Christina & Ryan. Can’t wait till your big day!