This week’s wedding is Dun and Siming.  They are from China and they met in the United States when they were going to school and met in church.  They go to North Avenue Presbyterian Church at the corner of Peachtree Street and North Avenue.

I got to the church at 6:30 am.  Yes I know that is really early to get to a church, but there was a reason that they wanted to start so early.  They were streaming the wedding to their parents and family in China.  There is a 12-hour time difference between Atlanta and China.  When the wedding started here at 10am it was 10pm in China.  When I got to the huge church in downtown Atlanta there were only 6 people in the building: me, Dun, Siming, two bridesmaids and 2 security guards.  I introduced myself to the bride and groom separately since we had only spoken on the phone once.  They were so sweet and thoughtful.

While I was setting up Dun was in the balcony area getting ready for the reception.  Their friends from church and school the came together and really helped out.  They laid out the center pieces and stacked the drinks to form a “D” for Dun, and a “S” for Siming, with a heart shaped stack of drinks in the middle.  There were balloons all over the room and a screen set up in the front of the room with a podium beside it for speeches.  It was a nice little intimate set up for some close friends.

Around 8 am Tara arrived and she started with the girls doing their getting ready shots.  I was in the sanctuary setting up my cameras and looking for a good place for the first look.  Dun and his friends are also very talented musicians who play at the church and they were going to play during the wedding service.  He had one friend from church sing, Dun was going to sing, they had a guitar player, and a friend on piano.  It was a full band! Since they had some time while the girls were getting ready they practiced songs they were going to perform.  They sounded great!

At 9am it was time for the first look.  I cleared out the sanctuary to give them some privacy.  I placed Dun facing away from the doors and then  Siming arrived from the bridal room in her wedding dress.  She looked stunning and the dress was perfect for her.  It was an A-lined dress with straps and a beautiful medium length train with embroidery on tulle. She had a tasteful veil that went just past her waist.  Also I had Dun in place. She came through the doors and came up behind Dun and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw the most beautiful woman in the world.  They enjoyed the moment and hugged each other tenderly.  Dun was stunned by her beauty.

We were on a tight deadline in the morning since we had to coordinate the video streaming.  At 10 am sharp the wedding started.  The bridal party entered the church and then everyone stood as Siming came into the church with 2 adorable kids holding her dress and scattered flowers down the aisle.  The service had two ministers. One was a senior pastor and the other was the Chinese youth pastor.  The ceremony was a mix of Chinese and American culture.  They sang some songs in Mandarin and some songs in English.  The pastor spoke both languages too so that everyone in China could follow along.  At the end of the ceremony the American pastor pronounced them man and wife!  It was a joyous moment shared all around the world!

The reception was really cute too.  Their friends opened the reception as if they were airline employees and the guests were passengers.  His friend even wore a life vest to bring the whole thing together.  They also presented videos from the newlyweds moms in China.  The couple were very emotional and missed them dearly.  The Chinese pastor streamed the presentation to the parents in China so they would not miss a thing.  There was also a surprise for the bride.  Dun had brought a guitar and wrote her an original song!  It was a very special international day for all.  It was such an honor to document such a special occasion.

Thanks for checking out this Atlanta wedding photographers blog! I hope you enjoyed the read and that it inspired you with some new ideas. Make sure you keep coming back to our blog to see what the Atlanta wedding photographers at Atlanta Artistic Weddings are up to! If you’d like to contact me go to the contact page and drop me a line at https://www.atlantaartisticweddings.com/contact-atlanta-wedding-photographer. I would love to hear from you!

Thanks again!