The Mountain Terrace Wedding – Scarlett and Stephen

Steven and Scarlett’s Mountain Terrace wedding was held outdoors on a sunny fall afternoon in November, coming all the way from Hong Kong for their destination wedding in San Francisco. Scarlett loved the scenic backdrop of trees at the Mountain Terrace, a site rarely seen in Hong Kong, and Stephen was raised in the Bay Area, so it made sense for them to hold their wedding at this gorgeous venue. With friends and family flying in from all over the world, including a Couple whose wedding I photographed a few years ago (Kate and Ben wedding), they rented out a large Airbnb to get ready nearby and to hold their customary Chinese wedding games, which included a dance routine by the guys, as well as guessing Scarlett’s lips through a lipstick stained paper towel. After a goofy and laid-back morning at the house they set out for the venue to sneak in some couples portraits before the ceremony since they skipped taking engagement photos and wanted to focus on the natural beauty at the wedding venue. Knowing Scarlett loved the trees, I knew immediately where I wanted to place them for my “guaranteed laughter” direction I give 🙂 

Easily one of my favorite photos of the day was influencing Scarlett to laugh so hard that she ended up hurting her stomach! 😀

If I could have every Bride and Groom enjoy themselves this much I would say I’ve done my job! There were no fancy tricks or special lighting for the photo, but to me “Moment” is the most important part of any photograph, and capturing the sheer joy in body language is the best reward!

As a sign of their huge hearts, Scarlett and Stephen requested the officiant to start off the ceremony by giving time for the guests to turn around and meet someone new and introduce themselves. I think this is easily the best introduction to a Couple and wedding ceremony you can ever have, and it just goes to show what kind of people they are. After some equally funny and emotional vows at the ceremony, we kicked things into high gear during the cocktail hour and I got to really have fun (and let them be themselves). Since it was a relatively smaller sized guest count of 70, we ended up shooting formals of most everyone in attendance…but a normally mundane task proved to be quite amusing as the guests were almost as fun as the Couple, and the wild poses foreshadowed what the dance floor would be like! If you don’t believe me – scroll til the end! 😛

You know it is a good party is when the Bride is knocked out at the end of the day…and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Venue : The Mountain Terrace
Videographer : Peek Media
Makeup and Hair : A-List Makeup
Cake : Studio Cake
DJ : The Celebration DJ
Florals : Sweet Peas Floral Designs
Transportation : Destination Systems c