It’s 1:25am, and I’m watching Sleepless in Seattle. Last night, John & I hung out at home. We watched Dan in Real Life and then played some Pokemon Puzzle League. John’s so good at it now that he’s a level 7 and still beating me (I’m a level 6).
Saturday morning – I slept in, got a shower, had some cereal, made some homemade business cards for my LA Wedding Woman officiating business, then got ready and headed to Downtown LA’s Kyoto Hotel in Little Tokyo! I was officiating a wedding for a great couple – Lana & Ivan. The hotel was incredible, and Lana was so beautiful! Since I got there pretty early, I helped decorate the reception area. They really didn’t have any help otherwise, so I am glad I was able to be there for them! They were very grateful.
The ceremony went very smoothly and the reception was fun. I was invited to stay and sit with the guests. The photographers that they hired were sitting away from guests and had a ‘vendor meal’ instead of a guest dinner. The restaurant made me a fantastic vegetarian guest dinner. I made some new friends – Omari (from Long Beach) and Betty (from Corona). I plan to stay in touch with them. Omari is going to the next Keegan Michael Key and Betty reminds me of a mix of my mom’s friends back east and my friend Emily.
Most of the guests left by 9pm, and I stayed until about 9:30pm – leaving with the remaining guests. It was a really fun wedding. There were 5 kids, all of whom seemed to have a better time than most of the adults!
Sadly, the photographers left just after the cake-cutting and missed the kids dancing. They also missed the couple saying good-bye to everyone. It was around 8pm that they left. I really was surprised, but maybe they were only hired for a certain amount of hours. Still, I wish I had had my camera! They were a husband and wife team from Santa Clarita and they were shooting with expensive equipment – both Canon 1D Mark II’s and some high end lenses. I was sad that they were charging less than me. I know that they didn’t work as long as I normally do, and they can probably charge less since they’re married and aren’t splitting the payment with a non-family member. Still, I really want to get more photography jobs. I don’t want to lower my prices, but people are broke these days! Brides are hiring cheap photogs or using friends as their photogs.
Anyhow, I got home, edited some pix from the past year (I have a huge back-log), and watched the end of Titanic (depressing); and, then while the photos exported from Lightroom, I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and hung out with the kitties.
It’s now officially Sunday, and I am typing this recap while watching Sleepless in Seattle. I’ve seen the end of this movie many times, but the beginning only once. I’m getting kinda tired.
Tomorrow, I’m going back to downtown LA to shoot Greg & Katy’s engagement photos. I can’t wait! I love shooting in downtown 🙂