Jasmine & Julian's Wedding Day Coverage
Often we see larger weddings being featured on wedding blogs. From a packed wedding schedule to a big guest list, larger wedding days are fun to capture as there is just so much happening all the time. How about more intimate weddings though? I remember back in 2012 when I got married myself, mine was an intimate wedding too with over 10 tables at Four Seasons Hotel. This brings us to the present day, featuring the intimate wedding day coverage of Jasmine & Julian. They were getting married in Four Seasons Hotel as well and had their banquet at the Windows East room on the 20th Floor. Not sure if this is a new venue for the hotel but I have not shot at this particular room till this year (2023). Perhaps since the pandemic, hotels are now more equipped to cater to both smaller and larger wedding guest lists. I recall when I was planning my wedding, most hotels had a minimum booking of close to 40 tables (nearly 400 guests). Four Seasons Hotel was one of the few hotels at the time which allowed for a smaller guest list.
For Jasmine & Julian, they started their day early for bridal prep. This is quite different from caucasian weddings which start much later in the day accounting for the nicer lighting you see when you look at photos from the bridal prep. To deal with the darker lighting conditions we had to set up various external lights around the home. This would create more flattering results when for our bridal prep shots.
After the bridal prep was completed, Julian arrived for what was a very relaxed gatecrashing session which involved answering questions about the bride. I have noticed over the years that couples prefer simpler gatecrashing games or none at all. In place, they would allocate more time for a couple or bridal party photoshoot during the wedding day. As Julian had arrived slightly earlier than expected, we decided to do the bridal veiling after the gatecrashing to allow the makeup artist more time to complete her work. As there was a glass dining table in the living room we had requested for the bridal veiling to be done in the living room instead so that we could get some cool reflection shots.
Next, after Julian & Jasmine’s first look, we proceeded to Julian’s home as part of the next leg of the morning’s customaries. Beforehand, Julian mentioned to me that his family would like to have a short family shoot session in various spots around their home. I didn’t include too many of those here but you get the idea. For family photoshoots, usually I bring a mobile studio setup to ensure consistent lighting for the family. Fortunately, I had my intern Xinyi with us to help!
After the morning’s customaries were completed we headed to the hotel for the Solemnisation & lunch banquet. I thought I’d share some impressions about Windows East as it was one of my first times shooting there. It was on the 20th floor of the hotel and is a beautifully intimate space filled with natural light. The windows in the space let in a lot of daylight and it is a venue very suitable for lunch banquets. There is a small outdoor area overlooking the orchard area which is good for a quick photoshoot during the banquet. Beside the dining area are other function rooms and it also leads to the rooftop swimming pool area. If you have more time during your banquet you can also pop out for a couple photoshoot in that area.
I am thinking of starting to do vlog posts of weddings that I cover. I used to do it in 2016 but stopped. Do you think it would be something you would be interested to watch?
