Shang Chen Photography | the blog

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4 months ago

I've MOVED!!

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4 months ago

Rebekah and Matt, Married!

I had my first opportunity to shoot an intimate wedding on Cape Cod late June. Unless you were out of town or under a rock, you’d know that it had not stopped raining for weeks in June!!!! Rebekah’s wedding, unfortunately, got rained on, and we had to move from a beach location to a white gazebo. There was some hilarity with regards to the specific gazebo we were supposed to find - apparently we all went to the wrong one than the one the JP had recommended, but it turned out to work perfectly for this intimate ceremony!

Matt looking all suave








Ahh rain..


The whole gazebo




Beautiful symbolism in mixing sand together








Really cool jewelry Rebekah made for herself and the maid of honor




A happy beginning!
It was really great to meet you Rebekah, good luck with the little one!

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DIY Invitations - from Becca

One of my favorite parts about weddings (other than photography of course) is receiving an invitation and seeing the personalities of the bride and groom and the feel of the party reflected in the invitation. I just got a beautiful one from my former roommate Christina and I can’t wait to party it up with her! Becca, whose wedding I featured earlier this month, has begun a series of posts featuring how she DIYed many aspects of her wedding. Check out her post on how she made her invitations by hand! It does require some skill and ingenuity with Adobe Illustrator, but the results are nothing short of amazing =)

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4 months ago

Emily and Jesse, Married!

Planning a wedding is a lot of hard work, so I love it when I see that all the guests, family members, AND the bride and groom have a grand time at the wedding. The story of Emily and Jesse has been a long time in making, spanning both coasts of the U.S. in 7 years. I got to meet Emily and Jesse and Emily’s mom beforehand to scope out the gorgeous Union Club as well, and true to themselves, they spent their wedding in laughter, tears, tight hugs, kisses, stolen glances, stuck-out tongues, with all the warmth and genuine love a marriage could bring. You two are awesome!

Kicking it off with some details… Emily was incredibly prepared with baskets of emergency supplies lying around in the bridal suite and in the restrooms






I love this image of Emily getting ready


Right after she put her dress on


Coming down the stairs for the First Look..


Portraits outside


Being silly!




Group portraits








Right as Jesse began his vows… the handkerchief came out




Every dinner table was named after “Love” in a different language. How cool!


A very fabulous first dance!


I laughed so hard during all of the toasts. What a funny crowd!




A little back story to the cardboard cutout in this photo - one of the cousins could not attend, and so he sent along a cardboard cutout of himself that people could pose with during the wedding. He ended up crowd surfing the dance floor


See more photos here! Emily and Jesse, thank you so much for including me as part of your day. I couldn’t help but dance with the rest of you!

Vendor love!

Venue: Contact Jay at Union Club of Boston
Music: Jumpstreet Band
Violinist: Birdy Chou
Dance Floor: Boston Party Rental
Florist: Valerie Miller
Hair and Make-up: Mia Lisa Salon
Host Hotel: Sonesta Boston
Officiant: Jean Ellis La-Bossiere
Desserts: Modern Pastry
Rings: Peter Jon Studios

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Before or After?

You’ll notice that the majority of my brides during this upcoming wedding season have opted to do their portraits before the wedding ceremony, some even opting for something called a First Look, which is when the groom sees his bride in her beautiful dress for the first time, a very tender and emotional moment.

I am biased towards doing photos before, but I’ll try to weigh both sides. When planning your day, remember to allocate time towards what you value. For some, it is photography, for others, it is spending more time with their friends at the reception, for others, it may be a very long and lavish, tradition-filled ceremony.

Photos before the ceremony:
Pros:
- You can allocate more time - usually up to 2 hours - which is especially helpful if you have a large wedding party or you want to travel farther for your photos
- Your hair and makeup will be just finished and perfect
- Help chase away those pre-ceremony jitters by spending quality time with each other
- You can then see your guests at cocktail hour - which is usually a much better way to see them than during a formal reception where you may be confined to your table for most of the night
Cons:
- If you wish to do family photos, they may not all be present by this time
- Seeing bride before wedding? I hope it doesn’t bring bad luck!
- You might also be rushed if your hair and makeup runs over

Photos after the ceremony:
Pros:
- You’ll be all happy and relaxed from having finished the ceremony. It shows in a beautiful glow on your face!
- You can include family members as well if they’re around
- If you have a particularly long cocktail hour, this gives you something to do while your guests relax and explore the area
Cons:
- Time! You may not have planned enough time between the ceremony and the reception, and these photos will end up rushed, you can’t travel as far
- You may need makeup/hair touch-ups
- If your wedding is low on resources, members of your bridal party may be needed to help set up parts of the reception
- You may not be able to spend as much time seeing your guests at cocktail hour

For all my clients, I understand that sometimes it’s best to plan your wedding without someone giving you advice every which way. However, if requested, I’m always happy to help review your schedule, make sure you are not rushing too many things, and make sure you have planned enough buffer time in between to allow for any delays during the day.

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5 months ago

Rachel, senior session

Oh hello, look at this thousand-watt smile! The ever-adorable Rachel and I spent good quality time at Wellesley (yep, again!) for her senior session… It was after commencement, the campus was extremely quiet… to the point where we were a little spooked! However, I love not having people around, we were able to take command over any location we wanted without people getting in the way.

Love her pink shoes! This is what I’m talking about in terms of accessories!




These chairs and umbrellas looked very European


Beautiful back lighting!


Does anyone else think she resembles Keira Knightley? I think it’s in the eyes


Yes yes, shoes again


Sultry


Man, the weather that day was so good




See more photos from the session here. Thank you Rachel for such a fun afternoon! Good luck next year (I’m sure the kids will ADORE you)!

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Lisa and Javier, married!

In the famous words of one of their friends, Lisa and Javier are one gorgeous couple! I’m so blessed to have been able to be part of their beautiful, beautiful wedding in the middle of…. Boston Public Gardens! No joke, there was actually one other wedding happening around the same time, and their justice of peace accidentally walked to our wedding first! hahaha!

Pauline, their talented friend, playing great classical music


Lisa and Javier walking towards the wedding


The guests were obviously excstatic


During the ceremony, I saw Javier’s parents shed some tears…


Sharing a laugh after the kiss


Swan boats going by and congratulating the couple








The reception was beautiful. Simple and elegant, very reflective of both Lisa’s and the hotel’s style


The gluten-free cake!


Some more photos inside the hotel






What a great family!


Vendor information:
Ceremony: Boston Public Garden http://www.cityofboston.gov/parks/weddingpolicy.asp
Reception: Nine Zero Hotel, contact Kristin Alley
Dress: JCrew
Suit: Marshall’s
Cake: Vita Cohen at Celia Cakes
Make-up: Makeovers by Ligia
Hair: Malika at Dellaria Salon (Summer Street, Boston location)
Shoes: DSW
Rings: Barmakian Jewelers (Downtown Crossing, Boston)
Florist: Cassandra Liu
Justice of Peace: Jean E. Ellis-Labossiere

See more photos here. Lisa and Javier, congratulations! And thank you so much for making our time together so wonderful, I had so much fun, and was also nearly moved to tears by you guys’ honestly beautiful vows and readings to one another.

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Sweet Cupcakes

Oh. My. Goodness.

I’m normally not a sweets fan, really, I prefer bbq chips and buffalo wings and oysters over chocolate cake or cookies. However, I’m recently on a cupcake kick, and after many many days of never making it out, I finally got to visit Sweet in Harvard Square. Are these not DIVINE? Okay, a little sweet, a little pricey, but hey, if anyone wants to bribe me in the future, I’m sure you could totally do so with a dozen of these delights. * wink * The only kind of flavor I might not like is chocolate.

Anyway, I’ll admit, I’m behind on photo editing. I’ve been getting home from work (my actual full time job) after midnight most of this week so I’m trying to sleep and preserve strength to photograph during the weekend. Don’t worry though, they’re coming along, you will see them soon! My Mom (I LOVE HER SO MUCH) is coming this Saturday to help me get some more furniture into my condo (I’m still sleeping on an airbed, soo bad for my back), and take care of a lot of little things that I’ve neglected. I’m also getting some more administrative help this summer so that I can take some time off. I’ve been having a very emotional past couple of weeks. I like my day job and it’s not as intense as some private equity or doctor friends I know, but even so, not getting home for weeks straight until 10PM or later leaves very little time for socializing. Don’t get me wrong, I am so, so grateful for everything that has happened in my life so far and I’m amazed and flabbergasted at how quickly my bookings took off. However, I need to also focus on the important people in my life, like God, my boyfriend, my friends, my parents, and I would really love to successfully apply to and get into business school for entrance fall 2010! This is the reason why some of you are not getting sessions with me until September / October when you requested summer sessions. All my open slots have been booked, and the rest, I’ve had to close off so that I won’t go crazy. Having more me-time in between allows me to stay sane and for your photos to be good!

By the way, Lisa, one of my brides, set me up with a Yelp page! Thanks so much, you rock!

[ homepage | subscribe to my feed | fan me on facebook | i’m on yelp! ] 5 months ago