Ojay and Karen are both from San Francisco, but they were both in Hong Kong for work when we got the chance to shoot their engagement photos. They have lived here for the past few months and these streets will now remind them of the glory days leading up to their time to walk down the aisle when they go back to San Francisco in the middle of next year.
With every turn of the corner of these streets in every photo, a familiar sight, a warm feeling, and a sense of nostalgia. What a way to remember these sweet times! Ojay and Karen… what a great couple.

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!

Everything was going normally for a reception, that was until a surprise video came on the screen right after dinner carrying messages from the couple’s family and friends. The guests laughed, Cheska shed some tears, Jamie shed some more.

The best man, Chris, also had a hard time giving his speech because he couldn’t hold back his own tears.

When it came time to dance the night away at the end of the reception, the guests actually headed for the dance floor and partied instead of just heading home like a lot of other receptions we’ve experienced.

But for all the fun that everyone was having that day, it was still emotional for many. It really felt like a wedding celebration. And oh what a very cool couple to know.  Jamie and Cheska, congratulations! We’ll visit you guys in London soon, yeah? Cheers! Haha!

Couple: Jamie Hyland and Cheska Farrarons
Wedding date: September 23, 2011
Wedding ceremony: Shangrila Mactan Cebu Philippines
Hair & make-up: Jessie Glova
Wedding gown: Edwin Ao
Wedding coordinator: Snoogie Mata
Event stylist: Pink Flora
Cebu wedding photographer: Rock Paper Scissors Photography

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.

Most of the details you see here were all done by the couple with the help of their family and friends. They’ve kept the colours bright and sunny while maintaining elegance and just enough of the couple’s personalities to shine through.

How cute are the pinwheels on the girls’ bouquets? They also appear on the guys as their boutonnieres.

Did we mention that the bride did her own makeup? Most of the female entourage did theirs as well. A very talented bunch we tell ya.

The bride’s mother, Tita Cherry, did the bulk of the wedding planning along with Criz (the bride). Her attention to detail is remarkable!

Paul had his own boutonniere customized with a guitar, a camera (that flashes!), and a macbook. Nice!

The groomsmen are a different story. This group of guys have been the loudest, most restless and the most fun bunch we’ve met so far in our two and a half years of covering weddings. An incident comes to mind with them doing a jump shot resulting in a damaged resort fixture haha. If you have a good eye, you’ll notice this in one of the photos here.

It rained hard the day before the wedding. But we all prayed together that night for good weather for the next day. And even though there were scattered rainshowers during the morning and early afternoon of the wedding day, God chose to answer the simple request of these good people when the time came for Paul and Criz to walk down the aisle. You just had to be there. The atmosphere was near-perfect. Scenic view of the Boracay shores, enchanting music from David Gray, enthusiastic crowd, very adorable vows, beautiful couple….. oh what a beautiful day.

To put a twist to the conventional clinking of glasses when the audience wants the couple to kiss during the reception, they put wands with ribbons on each table and all they have to do is wave their wands and they’ll get the couple to kiss. Wave for a kiss. Very original, yeah?

Couple: Paul Aggarao and Criz Peñalosa
Wedding date: September 10, 2011

Make-up artist: Criz Peñalosa
Hair stylist: Victor Ortega

Ceremony: Asya Premier Suites Boracay
Videographer: John de Guzman of Cinemaworks Wedding Art Film

Boracay wedding photographer: Rock Paper Scissors Photography

Last July, we spent a whole afternoon and evening with Ryan and Leana just strolling around Singapore’s botanical gardens and the streets of Little India. It’s kind of amazing that a city as urban as Singapore would still have places tucked in its corners that are distinctly holding their own against a fast-growing modern and globalized world. We wrapped up the shoot soaking in the best view of the city at night right on top of Marina Bay Sands.

After the shoot, they also treated us to a sumptuous dinner of chili crab, cereal prawns, etc. and the conversation seemed to kick into high gear that we lost track of time. That my friends is one big reason why we love doing e-sessions.

Aside from getting our creative juices flowing to hyper levels, we eventually get to make our couples relax around us so we could shoot them in a more comfortable atmosphere during their wedding. On top of that, free dinners, new friends, more inspiration, free dinners (did we mention that already? hehehe). We can’t complain. We love our job.

Couple: Ryan Syson and Leana Tan
Wedding date / date presented: October 2, 2011
Singapore wedding photographer: Rock Paper Scissors Photography

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!

Couple: Rennel Gayas and Charlene Docdocil
Wedding date: June 17, 2011

Preparation: Marco Hotel, Cagayan de Oro
Ceremony: San Lorenzo Parish Cagayan de Oro
Reception: Marco Hotel, Cagayan de Oro

Wedding gown: Protacio Empaces Jr.
Videographer: MVP Studios
Cagayan Wedding Photographer: Rock Paper Scissors Photography

We are so excited to post a full feature on Jamie and Cheska’s beautiful wedding yesterday at Shangrila Mactan Cebu.  But before that, let’s have a look at their cute engagement session in Cebu.

Jamie’s very shy and Cheska, well she’s not hahaha. They wanted something fun for their e-session so we thought we’d play with stop-motion again. This was quite fun!

Couple: Jamie Hyland and Cheska Farrarons
Wedding date: September 23, 2011
Wedding ceremony: Shangrila Mactan Cebu Philippines

Hair & make-up: Jessie Glova
Wedding gown: Edwin Ao
Wedding coordinator: Snoogie Mata

Cebu wedding photographer: Rock Paper Scissors Photography