My friend Stella just had her wedding at the Smogg Shop in LA, and it was an awesome wedding. It was unique and totally Stella! She looked stunning and her decorations really stood out. Here are some pictures for reference for future brides!
Tag: los angeles
Our Engagement Photoshoot at UCLA & Malibu [Makeup, Hair, Clothes]
To read about our engagement shoot day and see previews, click here
To read about how we came about choosing our photographer, click here
Although I love photography, I rarely come out good in pictures. I come out good in 1 out of maybe 100 pictures I take, and those are the pictures I put up. So I’ve always been envious of girls who come out so good in pictures, and was so stressed out when I realized I needed to take engagement photos! Being the research nazi I am, I spent hours looking for the right photographer, makeup artists, hair stylists, and the right clothes/shoes. After having finished the engagement shoot, I can now look back and happily say that I’m 85% satisfied with the way everything turned out. Here’s few pictures of my hair and makeup:
1. Hair
Unfortunately my hair only reaches to my shoulder at the moment. I had no idea I would get married this year and kept my usual style of short hair with light curls. I went to my salon of choice and sort of forced a consultation (Korean salons usually try to just consult you the day of) and the lady looked at my hair and said unless I’m going to do an up-do, I should get extensions because it’s too short and it wouldn’t look pretty in pictures. Thank God I went in before because I wouldn’t have had enough time to consider and buy them. They looked so great in pictures and I received so many compliments on my hair. As for the salon of choice, I went to Etude in Koreatown mainly for Jungha the makeup artist and sort of had to get my hair there as a package. I’ve never been 100% satisfied in their hair styling at Etude in the past so I wouldn’t really recommend them, but this time it was better.
The difference between makeup/hair stylists in Korea and America is that America’s is so varying in skills and price that it’s just best to go with whoever your friends recommended/weddingwire & yelp reviews. Also, it’s A LOT cheaper, ranging from $100~400 for hair + makeup for 2 sessions (probably because they aren’t as professional and well known as the ones in Korea). In Korea, there are only a top few who are known that does mainly Korean celebrity’s makeup, and many of the brides pay thousands to get their makeup from them. I, too, am one of those brides who wants best of the best for her wedding. I was quoted $1400 to have it done at the top salon in Korea in a VIP room for 2 sessions, matching the price of a family friend that got it done at that price few years ago. (It’s a bit higher now) Whether or not it’s worth it, I have no idea. I’ll just have to see at my wedding day, which I’ll write reviews on it later!
For extensions, I Highly recommend The Hair Shop in Los Angeles. (My dad’s friend’s store, but no bias here) They have all kinds of wigs and extensions, and I was able to find my 16 inch, Hair 101 7-piece extensions (real human hair) for around $100 after discounts (30%). There’s a newer and slightly better (less hair, but silkier) 7 brand ones, but the lady recommended that 101 is a perfect fit for asian hair. I actually got two so that it can blend in nicely with my real hair since I have a lot of hair and it worked out perfectly for me. It’s really a great buy because you can use it for a long time!
When you bring it to the salon the day of, they curl your hair, and they curl each clip-on extension one by one before putting them on my head like this:
I personally don’t like how I came out here in this picture, but just to show how my hair looked in photos, here’s one of the samples:
2. Makeup (for Asians)
I just chose Etude because my mom goes there and I didn’t think there would be that much difference amongst any of the ones I was offered. It’s koreatown, not Korea, so my expectations were not high. As I had expected, Jungha was okay, or pretty decent. The makeup looked too cakey in person but it actually came out better in pictures. I think I would like to venture out and try some of the new and upcoming makeup artists though because I feel they are just as good and spend more time on you… In any event, here’s me getting my makeup done by Jungha:
I usually put eyeliner only on the ends of my eyes to make them look long, and I put on eyelash extensions to make them look full. Instead of getting eyelash extensions that last a month, I decided to get the individual ones that split into three strands from CVS (American ones are thicker than the korean ones, so always get them for studio pictures. For natural look, get Korean ones), to make them look fuller. Jungha put them on one by one for me and I liked how they came out. This is my usual Korean one and it’s too light and thin:
3. Clothes
I shopped with my mom to get my engagement clothes and it was a lot of trying on and walking around. I wanted a formal wear for UCLA, Anthropology-style clothing with cute boots for picnic/trail, and long casual dress for the beach. We looked around at Nordstroms (for my fiance), Anthropology, Zara, and Bloomingdales, and I love how they turned out in our pictures! Here are some sample pics of our clothing:
It was a fun day! I love how the pictures turned out.
Birthday Dinner @ Scarpetta, Beverly Hills
My favorite Italian restaurant when I lived in New York was Scarpetta in the Meatpacking District. Their pasta dishes are amazing and their appetizers are to die for. So imagine my excitement when I found out that they were extending their empire to Los Angeles, in Montage hotel, Beverly Hills! When my fiance asked me if there was any particular restaurant I wanted to go for my birthday, Scarpetta it was, all the way. 🙂 I have yet to visit Providence (a French/American cuisine) and wanted to save this venue for a special occasion, but I wanted to revisit one of my favorite restaurants with my favorite person on my favorite day.
For my birthday, oppa got me Canon EOS 5D Mark III.
I’ve always been interested in photography and it’s a professional camera I’ve been eyeing for awhile. I did much research and it’s one of the best cameras out there. I could write a whole blog on this but I shall save that for later^^ Expect awesome pictures to come in later posts! hehe
We don’t have much pictures because I don’t know how to use the camera yet, but here are the course meals with wine pairing and my fiance:
I didn’t have a birthday dinner with friends this year because there’s just so much going on, but few of my bridesmaids held a small get-together so that we can chitchat^^ thanks loves!
Our Engagement Photoshoot at UCLA & Malibu [Preview]
Hi Everyone!
My fiance and I had our engagement shoot last weekend in LA! Because it was on my actual birthday it was more meaningful. Our photographer, Iris and Light, was awesome and awesome and I couldn’t have asked for better photographers. Both John and Jonathan were filled with so much personality and so fun to work with. We felt like we were just hanging out the whole time with good friends! My friend Ara joined us with her cute Canon camera that she just bought and took snaps of picture for us throughout the session. 🙂
As I mentioned in my previous post, our photographers allowed us to choose up to many locations and clothes changes, from 3PM to sunset. We loved that they worked with us and were so flexible in terms of time and locations! We chose:
1. UCLA
(my undergrad and his grad)
2. Malibu Backbone Trail
for shots with beautiful trees/flowers/picnic travel theme
3. Malibu Point Dume State Beach
for shots at ocean, rocks, and sand at sunset
My mom and I went around shopping for the right outfit for weeks and I’m so glad everything ended up looking cute in the pictures. I can’t wait to see the final edited ones! Here are some of the pictures Ara took and she did a great job!
Behind the scenes (with our photographer John telling us how to pose^^)
and………
what our edited photos will look like!
This is a copy Iris and Light put up on their website! I loveee the lighting and the soft color touches. I can’t wait to see the rest! I’ll post them right away when I get them. 🙂
Wedding, Cities & Motherhood 