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Sun-Jae & Hyun-Min // Fairytale wedding at Calamigos Ranch Oak Room

HYUN MIN: The day of our wedding started as a total whirlwind. We were both up till 4am trying to finish making all the little items and decor pieces we wanted for the ceremony and reception, and then we had to get up at 7:30am! We barely had a chance to look at each other properly that morning, and I just remember frantically saying “See you later!!!” as we each rushed off to get ready. As I was getting my makeup and hair done, I was constantly nervous and worried that something wouldn’t go as planned, but having my aunt there the whole time was a huge relief. My wonderful mom sadly passed away almost 20 years ago, and for a long time I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stop crying on my wedding day because she wasn’t there. My aunt, as my mom’s sister has always been like a second mom to me and my siblings, and I could feel her love and care in every moment during the preparation. She took care of me, all the bridesmaids, my fiance’s mother and aunts, the makeup artists……Everyone with such loving attention and I think that was what helped me slowly calm down my nerves as the morning progressed.

Once I was done getting ready though, it felt amazing! It was as if everyone around me, the hair/makeup artist, our wedding coordinator and the photographers all had waved a magic wand and made everything feel perfect, sparkly and happy! I think from that moment on I pretty much couldn’t stop smiling. First look was so much fun – it was wonderful to see Sun Jae’s face light up as he opened his eyes and saw me, and after that we were just a pair of grinning, giddy, silly lovebirds! Contrary to my worry about crying too much on my wedding day, I was so filled with excitement and glee that I almost started to worry I wouldn’t cry at all. I needn’t have worried though, because once I started reading my vows during the ceremony, tears just started gushing out. As I read on and looked at Sun Jae’s tender smile, all the sadness I ever had before I met him seemed to wash out of me through my tears, and I felt like I was being born again into a loving, blissful life together with him.

Our wedding day, despite the crazy start to it, was truly a fairytale dream come true. Everything was so beautiful, glowing, and fun. It was more joyful than I ever imagined any day could be, I just wished it didn’t fly by so quickly! The most magical part was seeing how our union brought two separate groups of family and friends together, and it was like everyone had been sprinkled with glittery, happy fairy dust. I hope Sun Jae and I can always love and laugh together, and be able to spread that joy to all those around us, for as long as we both shall live!

SUN JAE: My first look experience was truly magical and unforgettable. I honestly did not know what to expect, as I nervously closed my eyes shut and waited at the spot where my bride was to arrive for the first look. Hyun Min got out of the shuttle bus and walked toward where I was standing. I held Hyun Min’s hand and slowly opened my eyes and I was struck in awe! It was even more beautiful than I had imagined. My mouth was just wide open with joy and happiness the whole time. Our photographer Tiffani was awesome so we quickly warmed up to taking photos and from then on, we were just having fun and enjoying the moment together. It was the happiest, most joyful moment of my life. Looking back on that day again it was a full day of so many emotions, love, and laughter. At times, there were moments when we were hustling and the day just went by too quickly. But getting to spend a whole day with your loving wife, blessed by the people we cherish, was such an amazing experience that I will forever keep dear to my heart.

MY VENDORS //

Venue: Calamigos Ranch – The Oak Room : www.calamigos.com | Coordinator: Tanya Boyd : http://xoxowed.com/ | Photographer: Sun & Sparrow : www.sunandsparrow.com | Videographer: Jun Ku Lee | Florals: The Little Branch : www.thelittlebranch.com | DJ: Abraham Chase : http://voxdjs.com/ | Photo booth: Pixster Photo Booth : www.pixsterphotobooth.com | Invitations: Bride and Groom’s drawings added onto a design from www.minted.com | Rentals: Pretty Vintage Rentals : http://prettyvintagerentals.com/ | Cake: Lark Cake Shop : http://larkcakeshop.com/ | Cake Topper: DIY by the Bride and Groom! | Wedding Gown Maker: Hayley Paige | Wedding Gown Boutique: JLM Couture : www.jlmcouture.com | Wedding rings: Tiffany & Co : www.tiffany.com | Engagement ring: Brilliant Earth : www.brilliantearth.com | Hair & Makeup: Theresa Huang : https://kohnur.com/ | Bride Shoes: Emmy London : www.emmylondon.com | Bride Hair Accessories: Twigs and Honey : www.twigsandhoney.com | Bridesmaids dresses: Jenny Yoo : www.jennyyoo.com | Bridesmaids robes: KIM+ONO : https://kimandono.com/ | Groom Suit: Hugo Boss : www.hugoboss.com | Groomsmen suits: The Black Tux : https://theblacktux.com/

To see more photography from Calamigos Ranch venues, click on any of the links below.

The Oak Room | The Redwood Room | The Pavillion | The Birchwood Room

Andy & Eileen // Boho Engagement in Los Angeles

FROM THE GROOM // We met in college. It was the first couple weeks of our freshman year at UCLA and we were trying out the Wushu Club. We met after practice when we sat down in a circle with newly-met friends and introduced ourselves to each other. Even then, I thought that Eileen had a unique personality and perspective on life. It was part of the reason she was always pleasant to be around. We grew closer during our sophomore year when we spent a lot of time talking about our lives and aspirations in the stairwell balcony of our dorm building. It was one of the nicest places to watch the sunset because of the solitude and clear view of the westward skies. We would talk for hours during the sunset and we would later meet each there again to talk more before saying goodnight.

I love Eileen’s personality. To me, Eileen has always been a bubbly, joyful person. She has this disarming personality that makes you feel comfortable being around her. There is no judgement or silent bitterness because Eileen will accept and love who you are as her friends. She is filled with optimism and love that she doesn’t hesitate to share. This manifests in her helpful nature too because she’s always offering help to her friends when they need it. At times, Eileen can also be super random, but in such an adorable way. Whether it is making cheesy puns/jokes or making quirky dances and expressions. It makes me want to give her a big hug!

For my proposal, I brought Eileen to Hawaii on our first big vacation together. To keep it a surprise, I intentionally misled her into thinking that we were going to Alaska! I had planned out the whole trip so Eileen wouldn’t have to worry about anything. I decided to ask on the 3rd day of our trip. That morning I planned for us to go on a hike. Long story short, our rental car got towed, but a very kind restaurant manager helped us out and we got to our hike! We were only a little delayed, but I wanted to be back at our resort by sunset. Our relationship developed during our time watching the sunsets in college. I thought it would be meaningful to watch it one last time as a boyfriend-girlfriend couple. It was how we began so I wanted it to be a part of how we would start our journey into marriage. Anyway, while we were walking to the exact location that I had chosen on Google Maps (never been to Hawaii before after all!), Eileen was looking for pockets to put her phone since she was wearing a beautiful sarong. She instinctively slapped my pockets and had actually slapped the ring box! She initially thought that it was our action camera, so I tried playing it off and thought it worked. Instead, Eileen surprised me later by revealing that she knew it to be a ring box based on her sensory perception and my nervous answer! She had shown me a selfie video that we took while walking to the Google Maps location; in the video, she would silently freak out whenever I looked off into the distance, since she was also nervous herself!

When thinking about our wedding, I am most looking forward to seeing and feeling the emotions of the day with Eileen. I want to see the excitement and joy in her expressions. We have spent so much time dreaming about our future together that it is hard to believe it is almost here. This wedding is going to be a culmination of the love that we have shared for the past several years. I hope to see the joy in her eyes when we realize how much we love each other.

FROM THE BRIDE // Andy and I met in our first year of college. We started as friends after both of us joined the UCLA Wushu Club (performance-based Chinese martial arts). After being friends for over a year, we began to grow closer as we spent more time learning about each other. We would meet up when the school day ended and spent hours together. On many early evenings, we watched sunsets together in the stairwell balcony of our dorm building.

Andy soon became the best part of my day, and the sweetest person that I had come to know. He always thoughtfully and generously gave his time and heart to see me smile. One of the first gifts that he had given me was a sketch of a willow tree – which was my favorite tree – drawn with my hometown as the setting. On Valentine’s Day in 2011, he made a bouquet of paper flowers for me after I had once mentioned how much it saddened me to watch flowers die.Before going home during an uneventful weekend went home April Fool’s Day came, and we met up at the stairwell balcony again. I played a prank where I told him that I was moving to another college….in another country. Andy later told me that he got really sad and almost confessed to me right before I blurted out “APRIL FOOL’S!”. It wasn’t very nice of me, but it warms my heart every time that I recall his sentiments and emotions at the time.

Our beginning was sweet and fun and filled with wonderful memories. Somewhere along the way, we realized that we had embarked on a journey and we never looked back. I sometimes feel like I have known him my whole life. Our “official” dating anniversary is May 15, 2011, but our relationship flourished gradually. There was no “first date,” and I am sure that he did not explicitly ask me to be his girlfriend (or vice versa). Instead, it was a steady pursuit, and constant, gentle force that we somehow just knew was so natural, and beautiful, and so right. It has now been 7 years since May 15, 2011. On every 15th of the month since then, we would wish each other “Happy 15th” – most of the time, he remembers first and calls me at midnight even after he had initially gone to sleep. “Happy 15th, Eileen. Happy (x) years and (y) months. Happy (z) months.” So far, I have received his 84 wishes of a happy 15th. I love that Andy upholds this tradition with me. It is not in the numbers that we find meaning and excitement; it is in our unspoken stories of any single day in this period of time and the way that we celebrate all of them with intention with our spoken wish. On our next 15^th, we will be flying out for our honeymoon!

I love Andy for his humble and ever-growing heart, for the tender way that he takes care of me, for the way that his gentle smile brings me home. We have so many memories together through the years, and I am filled with joy to continue onto the next adventure in life together. Our wedding will soon be here. My heart overflows with excitement and anticipation as I think about experiencing all the moments of the day together. I look forward to our entire wedding ceremony, especially our vow exchange. There is so much beauty in committing our lives to each other. On our wedding day and into our marriage, I pray that we keep our hearts open and connected and always guided by our love for each other.

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CANDLELIT WOODLAND WEDDING AT CALAMIGOS RANCH // BRANDON & CHLOE

CANDLELIT WOODLAND WEDDING AT CALAMIGOS RANCH // BRANDON & CHLOE @ 2019 Sun & Sparrow // Malibu Wedding Photographers

1. Describe your how you felt on your wedding morning, all the anticipation and the love. What were you most looking forward to in the beginning of your day.

The day began with us both very excited, yet also waiting for the other shoe to drop. We had a lot of bad luck leading up to our wedding and throughout our wedding planning that caused us to be anticipating something to go wrong on the day of. It had been pouring rain all week and our ceremony was supposed to be outside so we were fully expecting to have to get creative come day of. The rain cleared up, though, that morning and we were ready for our day to begin with the sun shining. We felt very blessed to have had woken up with a kiss from an angel, but still on edge about the next hurdle coming our way. Our relationship has always been easy because our foundation is rock solid, but we have had many hurdles throughout that makes us laugh when we think about them and just were ready for the next one to come on our wedding day (since that is typically how our luck has been in the past). I think we were both looking forward to getting the day going since we had been waiting a long time for this day to come due to our long engagement. We were ready to start our next chapter.

2. Did you have a ‘first look’ or a ‘walk down the aisle’ moment? How did you feel when you saw your significant other for the first time?

This is where, of course, how hurdle came in! We were supposed to have a first look at 3PM, but when I (the bride) arrived to the venue to meet Brandon for the first time, I was immediately informed that the Groom’s shoulder had been dislocated when he was putting on his suit jacket and the paramedics were on their way. Our first look immediately was put on the back burner and, instead of a romantic meeting on the bridge like we had planned, it was me running into the grooms room, throwing my bouquet and just trying to help hold Brandon’s shoulder in any way I could without hurting him further. The paramedics came after about a half hour only to tell us they couldn’t do anything other than transport him back to the hospital, so after 45 minutes of going back and forth on if he was going to leave he ended up popping it in the socket again himself, just in time for our family photos. We didn’t get a first look, we didn’t get much bridal party photos and we don’t have too many romantic shots since the first hour of photos were cancelled due to the shoulder mishap, but we do have a pretty funny story right on par with the rest of our relationship to remember forever.

3. What was your favorite moment/story from your wedding day?

Our favorite moment of our wedding day is probably the dance party. We finally got to let go from the year + stress we felt planning this wedding and dance the night away with all of our nearest and dearest. Our band was the best band in the world and kept the party going until the very last song. The dance floor was always popping and everyone is still talking about how much fun they had celebrating with us.

4. How did your day most feel like a fairy tale?

The only reason I would use fairy tale to describe our day is because it ended with us married and most fairy tales end happily ever after, which in our case is exactly what happened. The lead up to our ceremony and reception was full of bumps and bruises and we didn’t get to capture all of the moments we had really wanted to, nor did we have the time to take all of the photos we had hoped to take, but the day ended with us loving each other more than when the day started and that was all we could have truly asked for when all was said and done.

Trent & Chloe // Fairytale Calamigos Ranch wedding at The Redwood Room

FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Trent & Chloe’s wedding was such a fun day to be a part of! These two were beautifully candid and natural, you could tell how much they loved each other by just seeing the way they held hands. We loved everything about their glorious day, especially being at The Redwood Room. We leap for joy every time we hear that a bride wants a Calamigos Ranch wedding!! Every moment felt like a dream, even for us as Malibu wedding photographers.

One thing we love most about being a part of weddings, is that we are able to partner with each bride and groom in their wedding day vision. They spoke about how their personalities were very laid back and relaxed. They wanted to feel like they were in a hidden forest wedding at The Redwood Room. Knowing these things about them, we did all we could to photograph their personal fairytale Calamigos Ranch wedding.

We are so grateful to be a part of so many amazing love stories and can’t wait for the next adventure!