Date: December 15th, 2007
Location: Temple City, Arcadia, and Pasadena, CA

Yesterday, I shot the 25-year wedding anniversary of Cindy and David Chen, better known to my sister and me as...mom and dad! They've not only put a roof over my head for the first two decades of my life and taught me right from wrong, but have been the undying inspiration in my life. My parents have supported me in whatever I wanted to do and contrary to what some may think, was NEVER on my case about academics!

On a more serious note, I can say with high esteem that whatever I've learned and the person I've become are all thanks to my parents. I hope these photos mean just as much to them as they do to me. I realized that yesterday wasn't really about taking photos of the two most important people in my life, but was instead experiencing how they fell in love and what it truly meant to be blessed with the greatest parents in the world. I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD! Here's to another 25 years of being together!

I started the day at 9:30AM ish (waaaaay too early for me on a Saturday) taking photos of my mom's dress and wedding rings:

Rings in my mom's bouquet of flowers:

She absolutely loves elephants so I placed the rings on her little elephant crystal statues:

And on a (banana) hook thingy :).

My parents' bedroom; that photo on the wall of them was taking two and a half decades ago; oh how time flies!

My mom and I then went to a local wedding make-up artist where she got ready for the big day:

The make-up artist fixes her hair:

A view from above:

My camera lens bag is nothing compared to this assortment of make-up stuff!

Delicately putting on the lip...brush?

We did some indoor portraits back at home:

Relaxing on the leather couch:

Mother (she hates it when we call her that :) looking at her flowers by the door:

A close-up shot of the roses:

We then headed to an arboretum/park in Arcadia for some more formals. My cousin Stella and sister Shelly were my two awesome assistants for the day (thanks guys!). Also, my mom's sisters and their family came along for some pretty photos with the two re-newlyweds. Here's one of my parents lying peacefully on the grass:

Yup, that young lady there is my mother!

It was pretty tough and darn funny telling my dad to be romantic :P. It was more difficult trying to do so in Burmese. Come on guys, look at each other but don't laugh!

I "magically" changed into a suit but forgot to fix my tie. Kudos to my uncle Tom for snapping the photos of me with my family:

Now for the finale, we headed over to Pasadena for some late afternoon formals:

I think the tree in the background symbolizes their relationship very well: it may be old but it's still growing strong everyday; ahhh, my mom's going to kill me for the first part of that statement :).

How come I didn't inherit my dad's handsome genes? Here's he sporting some GQ looks:

This pose idea is courtesy of Stella; we finally got one of these two looking but not laughing at each other!

But only for a few seconds...this just might be my favorite photo of the day, it cracks me up every time I look at it. And I didn't know my mom's veil had a shade of blue in it.

Looking at me from the pillars:

Walking down the aisle all over again; thanks Shelly for the you know what in this shot ;).

Mrs. Cindy Chen on a small bridge:

We almost forgot about the traditional Chinese dress! My mom changed into one when we got back home. Mom, you look beautiful! Too bad I didn't get her beauty genes either :(.

I plan on making a huge leather album for my parents as their anniversary gift. Thanks mom and dad for putting up with my love for photography all these months, especially yesterday. And thank you to everyone else for taking the time to see a more personal side of my family's life. Happy holidays to you and your family and friends.