For those readers who wish to have a short and succinct summary up front, I have two words for this…read morewedding photography studio --- ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING.
Just to give you a small disclaimer, neither my wife nor I have any affiliation with the company nor any of the staff. And although we have only had a few months to get to know them, we are extremely pleased to have found this hidden gem located in Temple City, California. Now for those of you interested in the details, I will try to describe the wonderful experience we had, as well as why we felt so lucky to come across this particular studio.
Being from the Bay Area, my wife and I had decided to get married in San Marino, because her family resides there. Depending on what step you are at during your journey to wedding day, the various choices and details can become a bit overwhelming and daunting at times. So you can imagine I was a bit apprehensive, when her siblings told me to go down and explore the various rows of wedding photography vendors that are littered down the street of Las Tunas. I must have explored at least seven different photographers in one day, and each will initially overwhelm you with various sheets about pre studio and separate wedding photography sessions, as well as other intricate details regarding digital files, resolution, and various packages. In all honesty, it takes some time to understand how to separate and compare the various packages and deals.
But what really remained in my mind as I continued interviewing potential photographers, is the staff and quality that I experienced when I visited the first photographer's studio, Elegant Bride and Collection. When you enter the building, you will notice that there are disparate pieces of artwork lining the entire interior of the studio; from beautiful hanging fabrics, to a gamut of uniquely painted themes across each wall, and even the ceiling. I later found out that the entire studio was designed by the master artist and photographer himself, David (Wei). Having some experience in amateur digital photography as well as Photoshop, I felt that David was a true artist and if you want to experience this first hand, simply ask him to view any of the sample photo books or some of his vivid work on the computer, then go carefully compare to the other photographer's finished works. His final product and layout are practically flawless, and David is a perfectionist that strives for detail in his work. I had witnessed other studio samples that had graininess and aliasing in their published books; not so with David. Being that the staff's native language is Chinese, I was also concerned that he might have problems communicating under the chaotic activity and overwhelming number of wedding participants on the big day. Instead, David has a very unique and comfortable method of leading all of the participants to align themselves into various configurations resulting in stunning portraits. I was also impressed by the fact that he used a very high end camera in both the studio and wedding day photos (a detail you want to make sure to bring up if you end up interviewing alternate studios). Even my own out of town family was very impressed with his immediately apparent leadership and artistic vision; indeed, he was able to get even the youngest children to smile and stand straight for him-- quite a feat!
But although I was very impressed with David's work as a photographer and artist, I was also very happy with the way we were treated by Mimi, who handles the business end. She treated us very pleasantly during the entire process; made various trips to get food for us (and made us tea on every visit) , helped us select and fit our studio outfits, and when it came to negotiating, she was quite fair, flexible, and reasonable.
And lastly, we had no idea how well the makeup artist would turn out. As my now wife, Linda, can be a bit picky about her makeup (as I'm sure most brides are on their big day), we were treated to the third member of their staff, Alicia, who is not only an expert in makeup, but literally treated my wife like she was royalty. Everyone who saw my wife in makeup, had to do a double take because they couldn't believe this movie star was her. Her sister literally didn't recognize her when she entered the studio. My wife is attractive to begin with, but Alicia literally made her look like a movie star. Secondly, she followed her around everywhere on the big day, and not only did she make her look stunning and uniquely different in each wardrobe change, but made her happy with pleasant conversation throughout the entire process.
In summary, we highly recommend them to any couple seeking a top notch team of professionals, dedicated to making your entire wedding photography experience a superb one.
