I have never met the bride and groom until today.  The mother of the bride knew me enough from prior weddings, so everything was arranged by the mother of the bride over email. You see, I did two of her brothers' weddings 1 and 2 years ago. Now I am a wedding photographer for the baby sister.

We went back to St. Anthony Catholic Church in Oxnard for a traditional Catholic Wedding. One of the bride's brothers had his wedding here, so I knew the lighting situation (dark, tripod absolutely needed).  I was rubber necking for the two brothers to come to the church.  They showed up with a few babies. Then I saw yet another couple from my past wedding!  So there were total 6 of my past wedding clients in one place. 

We had a standard "No flash photography" rule during the ceremony.  In general, "No flash photography" is expected during traditional catholic wedding ceremonies.  Some priests enforce "absolutely no photography during the wedding ceremony" rule.  But that's a rare case.  If you are that strict about photography, then you don't get booked as often. 

After wedding ceremony, we went to Heritage Square for formal photography and outdoor reception.  I did several weddings at Heritage Square before.  I directed everyone to my favorite spot.  I picked that location because it had the only solid shadow at that time.

The Heritage Square looked very classy.
As you can see from the picture, it was super fancy and super romantic.

During the reception I had a chance to talk to some of my past clients.  One of the couples will get re-married in 2 years to renew the vow.  I better come up with some kind of discount system for returning photography customers.

Having 6 of my past clients in the same reception was fun.  Not only that, I could recall a lot of guests from prior weddings.  It was fun, but, at the same time, it was a little strange to have all that familiar faces in the same reception. 

Back to Heritage Square, Oxnard

St. Anthony Catholic Church
* Popular Catholic wedding ceremony site for Hispanic people in Oxnard area
2511 S C St Oxnard, CA 93033    

Heritage Square Weddings and Events
715 S a St Oxnard, CA 93030
(805) 483-7960

Wedding Information:
Wedding date: May 12, 2007
Wedding Location: Heritage Square, Oxnard
Reception Location: Four Points by Sheraton, Ventura.

Photography schedule:
Formal Photography
Ceremony
Formal Photography
Reception

Fill flash photography

Our schedule was to skip on "bride getting ready" shots and take formal pictures before the ceremony. So, bride and groom saw each other before the ceremony.  It was a real nice day with a full Sunlight.  Actually the Sun was very strong.  Luckily we found a small shaded area just enough to create the illusion.  When I was taking above picture, I was standing under the direct Sunlight, looking at the Sun.  When I tilted my camera just a little higher, I would see the Sun blasting at my lens.  One of the wedding guests offered to block the Sun for me.  But it was not necessary. I was a little worried about the empty space between two trees in the back.  Strong Sunlight was coming through there.  I measured the shaded area accordingly and used fill flash.  After I got the mathematics down, everything else worked like a clockwork.  By the time of the ceremony, the groom already had a Sun-burn on his face.  It was a nice, Sunny day.

A perfectly restored VW bug. 

The officiant was a Pulitzer-nominated novelist, Rev. Mary Helen. After the ceremony, we drove to Four Points by Sheraton in Ventura. 

Bride's photograph taken at the side of a parking lot.
We had about 10 minutes before the grand entrance.

Their wedding theme was "Disney".  If you look at the bride's bouquet, you will see the face of Mickey Mouse.  Everything was about Disney.  They had Disney cake, Disney decorations, and Disney everything. 

But they didn't know that they had a BIG surprise coming up.  Captain Jack from "Pirates of Caribbean" was scheduled to make a surprise visit. Nobody but a few people knew about this surprise.

Oh, oh… the mother of the bride was very hip.  She danced "Hand Jive" in front of entire wedding guests.

     
1). Grooms-men's fancy cuff-links never saw the light day. Their shirt sleeves were too short. 2). Ring barer with Mohawk hair. (cute) 3). Captain Jack crashed the wedding (he was a surprise guest for bride and groom) 4). Disney theme decoration & cake.

Heritage Square Weddings and Events
715 S a St Oxnard, CA 93030
(805) 483-7960

Four Points by Sheraton Ventura Harbor
1050 Schooner Drive · Ventura, California 93001
Phone: (805) 658-1212