Date: October 23rd, 2010

Ceremony and Reception:  Rice Memorial Chapel and Rice University, Houston, Texas

Amira and Matt is one of the sweetest couples we have ever photographed.  From their relaxed and fun engagement session to their wedding, their sweet personalities just show right through.   And picking Amira’s alma  mater, Rice University, is a really good decision.  What a great location!

It’s amazing isn’t it, that they met each other online also.

My wife Hazel was able to help me with this wedding and lots of awesome ceremony photos are hers.

Here are a few images from their wedding day:

Amira wore her grandmother’s wedding dress as well as ballet shoes.

The Jewish wedding tradition, the bedeken, takes place right before Amira walks down the aisle.  It involves signing of the Ketubah and Matt actually pulls the veil down on Amira at this time.

Amira circles around Matt 7 times…

LOVE Rice University!!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite images of the year:

Another one of my favorite images of the wedding – gotta love their expression of anticipation.

The Horah!

Congratulations Amira and Matt – one of the most friendliest weddings ever!

Ceremony:  Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas

Reception:  Stoneleigh Hotel, Dallas, Texas

The raw energy at this wedding is simply incredible.  Maybe it has something to do with Texas Tech because that’s where Christa and Kyle met each other.

The day starts off at the Stoneleigh Hotel, then at the Highland Park United Methodist church for the ceremony and back to the hotel for the reception.  The Stoneleigh Hotel has a great view from the penthouse up on the top floor, which allows you to see the entire downtown Dallas area.

The wedding reception  was so full of energy, that after the wedding I ran into one of my clients for 2011 in the hotel with her fiance’ – she actually went up to check out the reception because she can feel the music a few floors down

The sweet details were planned by her planner, Margaret Johnstone of Precious Creations and a couple of images in the gallery is photographed by Ashley Langford who came out to help me out for a few hours.

Some images of their day:

Christa’s parents and family came out and did a rap song

Check out the tattoo on her dad’s arm – it’s an image of Christa and her dog.

This is one way to eat a cake…

Congratulations Christa and Kyle!

Dallas wedding photography by Tony Ku, Ku Photography LLC

Ceremony/Brunch:  Congregation Rodfei Sholom, San Antonio, TX

Date: August 28th-29th, 2010

There is something really unique about Michelle and Michael’s wedding celebration:  they celebrated on saturday night in a wedding party/reception before getting married in a Jewish ceremony on Sunday morning!   Isn’t that cool?   What better way to get married!?

One of the fun facts about this wedding is that Michelle is a fashion designer and she made her own wedding dress – you can see it in the images on the second day.

Here are some highlights of the party:

Isn’t that a beautiful dress?  Michelle made it herself.

Congratulations Michelle and Michael!!

Austin wedding photography by Ku Photography LLC

Wedding Ceremony: Saint Michael Catholic Church, Houston, Texas

Wedding Reception: The Houstonian, Houston, Texas

Beautiful wedding at the Houstonian!

Melissa and Alfredo met each other the night before Valentine’s Day, just over a year ago.  Here is what Melissa told me about how they have met:

On February 13, 2009 the night before Valentine’s Day, Melissa and Alfredo went to a house party with their respective friends, and little did they know that night they would be meeting their future spouse.

Alfredo’s smile quickly captivated Melissa and before everyone started to leave to continue the party at a local club, Alfredo asked for her number. Two days later on Sunday,

Alfredo called Melissa, and despite being on call at the hospital, they talked for almost 3 hours that day!

After 9 months of courtship, Alfredo rented a beautiful sailboat in Kemah, TX, where he planned a romantic picnic, and proposed to Melissa in the middle of the ocean. Of course, she said YES and the rest is history!

The wedding ceremony took place in the St. Michael Catholic Church near downtown Houston with the reception at the Houstonian.  It was one of the best reception party that I have been to this year.

Slideshow of the wedding:

Some highlighted photos of the day:

Love this image of Melissa’s dad waving goodbye at the couple:

Congratulations Melissa and Alfredo!  Hazel and I are honored to be part of your day!

Houston wedding photography by Tony Ku, Ku Photography LLC

Ceremony:  University Christian Church on University of Texas’ campus

Reception;  Four Seasons Hotel

Page and Wes was married in the University Christian Church near UT campus and had their fun reception in the Four Seasons afterwards.

They met online through eHarmony after Wes received his MBA from the University of Texas and moved to Dallas.  After a few emails sharing their love for Texas, they met at Starbucks.  20 months later, Wes asked Page to marry him while treating her to dinner for earning Teacher of the Year award at her school in Dallas, TX.

Their band at the wedding was Memphis Train and they were fabulous.  The wedding planner was Barbara Hearnes at Barbara’s Brides and she did a great job!

Also, Ben Padolsky came by to help me and Hazel out, thanks Ben!

The slideshow to their wedding:

Highlight photos from their day – Page and Wes started off in the Four Seasons Hotel.

It was a fairly warm Texas day!

As always, the best moment is not the kiss, but the moments after….

Love the heart shape floor!!!  Before we left for the church, Page was selecting between champagne color and blue color – I was really happy that she chose the blue color

Page’s dad gave her probably the best gift I have ever seen a dad dod at a wedding – he sang to her (and he was GREAT!!!!!)

The guests went wild over the surprise performance from her dad.

I can’t believe she does this, ALL night, on the reception floor.  Page mentioned she does P90X exercises… i need to do that as well – it was hard keeping up!

Love how the dress pops up when she spins….

Congratulations Page and Wes!  Can’t wait to start working on your album!

Austin wedding photography by Tony Ku, Ku Photography LLC

Ceremony and Reception:  Holy Trinity Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas

One of the most emotional weddings that I have ever witnessed.

I covered Amanda’s getting ready at a local salon and then at her parents house in San Antonio.  I was really impressed by how close her family was, with her parents and her 4 siblings.

Frank works at a well known political think tank in Washington DC, and Amanda is also moving to the area right after the wedding.  We can feel during the day that this was going to be a really emotional day for them, since she’s getting married and moving on the same day.

The wedding took place at the Holy Trinity Catholic church – originally Hazel and I didn’t think we photograph there before but as soon as I saw those awesome red rows of chairs, I knew I have been there, about four years and over hundred weddings ago (and yes, I remember the red chairs!)   One of the best thing about the Holy Trinity is the unobscured views from literally all angles.  We discovered that it has some seriously nice light during day time – four years ago the wedding was at night, so there weren’t any available day light through.

Dad gets emotional when we head over to the church….

We love how playful Amanda and her bridesmaids/sisters were and knew it would be a really fun reception to follow.

Frank singing to Lady Gaga…

Love the little kid here – he has a small Canon G10 I think and was shooting up close, like what I do

Amanda’s sister serenades to her:

One of the most emotional ending to a wedding….

What an incredible, emotional, and fun wedding!   Congratulations Amanda and Frank!

San Antonio Wedding Photography by Tony Ku, Ku Photography LLC

Ceremony and Reception:  St. Regis Hotel, Houston, TX

A beautiful wedding in the St. Regis Hotel in Houston, Texas!

Denedra and Jeff served in the US army for a number of years.  Denedra has recently retired from the service and Jeff is now working as a contractor for the US government overseas.  Her wedding planner, Danyett Baxter of Two Be Wed, did a great job on her wedding when she was still deployed outside the continental USA.

She has some of the best details in the reception that I have seen this year – great job by Denedra and Dyanett.

I was really impressed by how the lighting that was projected onto the ceiling complements the theme of the wedding reception.

An impromptu bouquet and garter toss at the exit….

Congratulations Denedra and Jeff!

Houston wedding photography by Tony Ku, Ku Photography LLC

Ceremony and Reception: The Canal, Seattle, Washington

My little cousin got married!   Yup, in Seattle, Washington during the July 4th weekend.

This is what Flora says about how she and Scott met:

We had a bunch of mutual friends — I was playing in the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra and some of the musicians were also EE grad students at the University of Washington where Scott was working on his PhD.  I think we both knew of the other person and had been to the same parties for awhile, but didn’t ever talk until we happened to sit on the same ski-lift on a group trip to Steven’s Pass ski resort outside Seattle.

Skiing, I like that

The wedding day started off with Flora and Scott inviting family and friends to run with them around Green Lake.  Flora is an avid runner and did a marathon or two already:

Lucky day!  It’s rare that you get to see the Needle in Seattle even in the summer.

On the way back we were attacked by a few Zombies…. (with cellphone?)

Actually, there was a Zombies festival in the next city and they were just passing by the venue.  It’s certainly something I doubt i will ever see in Texas in a wedding!

Flora has played violin since she was four and continue to play today.  it was a totally spontaneous thing she did at her wedding and took over her friend’s spot in the quartet for Eine klein Nachtmusik by Mozart.

Scott’s dad presented them with Scott’s baby teeth and the reaction that follows.

This is my other cousin Ted (Flora’s brother) dancing with his sister.

My uncle dancing???  Wow!

Uncle and aunt dancing…  this IS a special treat since I have never seen them dance before.

Things that the bridesmaids will do before the bouquet…..

Congratulations Flora and Scott!!

Ceremony: San Fernando Cathedral, San Antonio, Texas

Reception: Private Estate, San Antonio, Texas

What a celebration!

Monica and David are law students in Florida, so it was difficult for her to plan her wedding in San Antonio.  We met with her mom, Carmen, on a rainy weekend just two months before the wedding.  She had planned to have the reception at her grandmothers’ estate in San Antonio, which has been converted to  hosts charity events, etc.

The Groves from Austin, TX was their their band – and you know the party will be great when there is a live band in the reception!

After looking back at the images again for the blog, I will say that this wedding is one of the best celebrations we have ever witnessed. It was truly loads of fun to photograph.

The day started in the Drury Hotel before moving over to the cathedral:

Love this image of Carmen having fun with friends and family

One in a million chance to get caught up on the disco ball…..

Congratulations to Monica and David!!

San Antonio Wedding Photography by Ku Photography LLC

Ceremony and Reception:  Houston Yacht Club, Houston, Texas

We finished off the May wedding days with Nathalie and Alex’ celebration in Houston, Texas.

From Nathalie about how they met:

We met during freshmen year at the University of Texas. We were neighbors at the University Towers and were introduced by our roomates Danielle and Daniel, who already knew each other.

We met Nathalie at her brother’s wedding a couple of years ago in Fort Worth, Texas.  We also photographed one of her close friends wedding last year, Ashley and Jimmy.  So we knew going in that the wedding is going to be great and the reception is going to be a lot of fun!

Nathalie’s sister, Megan, who graduated from culinary school, made their wedding cake!

We started the day at Nathalie parents’ house:

Alex gave her a present of a map of Galveston Bay, as Nathalie loves sailing since childhood.

Nathalie gave Alex a Ketubah.

Congratulations Nathalie and Alex!!!