Contemporary Destination Wedding Photographer

Jamie + Cheska | Shangrila Mactan Cebu Wedding

Among all the weddings we’ve covered at Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort & Spa over the past couple of months, Jamie and Cheska’s stood out the most for us for all the right reasons. It was hands-down the most relaxed shooting experience for a wedding day we’ve had in quite some time. We actually had fun and it shows in the photos.

It helped a lot that the people around us were not stressed out about everything. Jamie was a happy groom, cool as can be, and Cheska was a glowing bride while being her usual perky self.

And oh, ain’t the car cute?! A yellow beetle! Very funky!

{Jamie + Cheska | Shangrila Cebu Wedding - see more photos}

Paul + Criz | Asya Premier Boracay Wedding

They dubbed this the Crizpy wedding. Crizpy for Criz and Paul. From that alone you should already be able to tell that this is special.

Paul and Criz might have spent most of their lives, even their formative years, in Dubai but they’ve retained that special Filipino warmth and quirkiness in them. It’s not hard to imagine how that could happen seeing that they are surrounded by a very close-knit group of family and friends, most of whom were more than willing to fly from Dubai (with some even flying in from other countries) down to Boracay just to witness these two finally tie the knot.

{Paul + Criz Boracay Destination Wedding - see more photos}

Rennel + Charlene | Cagayan Destination Wedding

We found ourselves happy to be back in Cagayan de Oro last June for Rennel and Charlene’s beautiful destination wedding.  We loved the venue they chose for the prep and the reception, the Marco Hotel, and the other wedding details were also elegantly put together.

Planning their wedding, a destination wedding at that, was a challenge for them because Charlene was already US-based. As a result, Rennel had to be a hands-on groom.  But from the way he worded out how the wedding day would all turn out, with all the details he described, we could easily tell that he enjoyed the whole process of planning and was happy to do it for his bride.

Rennel cried when Charlene walked down the aisle.  Knowing him from our meetings and from the e-session, we expected that to happen!  What we didn’t expect though was the surprise proposal by his brother Reylan to her now fiancee Dyan. Lucky for us, I guess it’s safe to say that we will be seeing more of Rennel and Charlene next year =)  Arigatou gozaimasu!

Rennel + Charlene Cagayan Wedding {see more photos}

Paul + Criz | Boracay Destination Wedding {Preview}

We’re still in sunny Boracay, still working. Watch out for our post on Paul and Criz’s beautiful wedding here at Asya Premier coming very soon. In the meantime, here are some teasers.

Anthony + Mitch | Sonya’s Garden Tagaytay Destination Wedding

It was a celebration of love for each other, love for the creator, love for family and friends, and a love for music.

A month ago we mentioned in a different post that one of our brides sang her vows to her groom. That was Mitch, declaring everlasting commitment to Tony. You wouldn’t expect anything less than that, knowing that they both met and fell in love with each other during the second season of a little-known singing competition on TV called The Search for a Star in a Million.

That original song was a gift composed by their ninong, who just happens to be one of the Philippines’ most prolific composers and a master of hiphop and dance, Mr. Jungee Marcelo. The entire day was also graced with music from close friends, most of whom were also part of the above-mentioned singing competition. The reception, especially, felt like a mini-concert of sorts.

Tony and Mitch’s day was filled with an atmosphere of closeness and comfort from the people around them. That air was so contagious it spread towards us and we all made quite a few new friends along the way.

P.S. Thank you both for trusting us, even if we fed you guys alive to the mosquitoes. Joke! Peace. lol.

Anthony + Mitch Tagaytay Wedding {see more photos}

Anthony + Janka | Destination Wedding

It was not only a union of two people, but a marriage of cultures as well. Janka grew up in Cebu while Anthony is from London, where they both met each other. These two are genuinely in love in every sense of the word. One of the best men, Chris, introduced Anthony to us as “the lucky guy”, and that fact he knows very well.

We could tell that both Anthony and Janka loved music, since they picked a Beirut song as their SONG. Anthony sang the bridge from “Postcards from Italy” to Janka in front of everyone and he sounded absolutely glorious that for a moment we thought Chris Martin graced the stage.

The whole affair was intimate, with just around 40 close friends and family members were there. It was our first wedding where the bride had herself a man of honor by her side. He even rendered a tune during the reception to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd.

All in all, this emotional and momentous occasion turned out well. Rain poured down about halfway through the reception but by then nobody cared because they were gathered there for one reason and that’s what mattered to them that day. Cheers Janka and Anthony!

Anthony + Janka's Wedding {see more photos}

Wally + Stephanie | Cebu Wedding

The Archbishop Palace is one of the most intimate venues in Cebu City to hold a wedding ceremony at. For some odd but cute reason, Stephanie wanted to get married there. Now, knowing their expected number of guests, we couldn’t help but ask her how they were going to fit everyone in there during the ceremony. She told us that they asked most of their guests to just skip the ceremony and go directly to the reception.

Deep down, we knew their friends wouldn’t listen to them about that because knowing the kind of people Wally and Stephanie are, these friends weren’t about to miss their long-awaited official union in church. And show up in droves they did. The way the tiny ceremony venue looked with the people outside in their elegant, dashing and debonaire selves, it was as if celebrities were there. When it was time to kiss the bride, the place was just drowned in thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd that you could tell Wally and Stephanie were loved that much by everyone.

Everything went quite well that day, save for the mishap with Wally’s Japanese tie which stressed Wally quite much that morning having to go to SM to do some last-minute shopping and outfit changes. Did we mention that the bridal car was a Hummer? It didn’t get that much attention though *wink* *wink* haha. Also, it was our first coverage of a wedding reception at the brand spankin’ new Oakridge Pavilion. The place looked radiant and luxurious.

Stephanie told us that she’s going to become a full-fledged wedding coordinator after her own wedding. Knowing the kind of people-person she is and how enthusiastic she was coordinating her own wedding, we don’t doubt that that’s going to happen really really soon. Congrats Steph and Wally… and Wade, too!

Ogge + Sel | Shrine of Jesus and Manila Polo Club Wedding

It’s one thing when a couple books you because they love your work. But when a couple moves their wedding date just so they could book you on your available date… well that’s just a whole different level of awesomeness and love thrown our way! That was the case with Ogge and Sel.

We learned something about Sel during their wedding reception that we didn’t know yet when we bonded with them during their e-session. As you can see, the bride in the photos is in every way, a beautiful, poised, and elegant woman. But apparently, that was not the case before she met our valiant groom. “Boyish” was a word we heard mentioned by her college friends. It’s kind of hard to imagine, don’t you agree?

Ogge on the other hand, got “healthier” when they became a couple. It’s quite easy to figure out why Sel fell head-over-heels in love with him. You just gotta be around the guy to know that he is an overflowing supply of wit and charm. That is our constructive way of saying that he talks too much =)  Plus, his friends and siblings deserve their own sitcom on an American television network. Just sayin’.

Aaah… we love seeing these two together. Sel and Ogge, thank you for letting us be part of your wedding day, and for treating us like friends, and for the foodtrips, and driving us to the airport, and the abundant supply of Nestle products during our stay, etc. hahahaha!. The future is bright full of happy moments and romantic adventures and bliss for you guys. Trust us, we know these things. Love you guys!

P.S. Ogge, sorry for asking you to only give us a 30% smile. Haha!

Ogge and Sel Manila Wedding {see more photos}

Regg + Rhiniza | Plantation Bay Resort Cebu Wedding

Regg and Rhiniza had a Christian wedding last April. It was set in the middle of the Peninsula Beach at Plantation Bay Resort & Spa, one of Asia’s top beach resorts.

There’s something about Christian weddings that make them extra special, and that is the opportunity given to the couples to make their own vows during the ceremony. We had a bride last July who sang an original song to her groom during her vows. Very nice touch! More on that destination wedding in Tagaytay in the coming weeks =)

The day started out summery but then took a turn for the opposite just minutes before the processional was about to start. It would’ve been too much stress to handle for Rhiniza but luckily she had some of Cebu’s best in the wedding industry right by her side.

Snoogie Mata and her team were excellent as usual when it came to handling the situation. Wenwen Zaspa and his team didn’t only do wonders as image stylists, they went beyond the call of duty to distract everyone from the rain and lighten the atmosphere with humor and wit. And Rock Paper Scissors, we were there in every step no matter which weather it came down to and deliver what we set out to do.

In the end, everyone got what they wanted, a beautiful outdoor wedding by the beach, worthy of looking back to years from now.

Plantation Bay Cebu Wedding | Regg + Rhiniza {see more photos}

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SCHEDULE

2011
October 10-11: Hong Kong
October 12-13: Macau
November 12-16: New York, USA
November 20-23: Colorado, USA
November 20-23: Hong Kong and Macau
November 26 – December 3: Dubai, UAE
December 24-26: Hong Kong

2012
February 23-26: Vietnam
March 15-21: London, United Kingdom
March 25-29: Singapore
April 1-2: Vietnam
April 9-12: Japan
June 10-15: Singapore

For inquiries on availability, rates, and other international destinations, send an email to jeffroger.kho@gmail.com.

You can check out our complete out-of-town schedule here: Destination Weddings