Hey wedding world! I just wanted to give everyone a heads up and let you know I’ll be going to Europe (Paris and London) to photograph Karen and Steve’s engagement session from 6/11/09 to 6/17/09. It’s two weeks away so if you need me for anything, please let me know asap. For my awesome couples getting married before or right after then, I’ve contacted you about going over your itinerary so we won’t have to do it at the last minute. If you’re reading this and haven’t gotten back to me yet, ahem :). And if you’re a past client and have questions regarding your album, DVD, etc. or a potential client wanting to inquire about my wedding photography services, I kindly ask for your patience during that time period. I’ll still have my iPhone as well as Internet access in Europe, but it might take a bit longer for me to respond to you. Rest assure I’ll get back to you asap :).

If you’re a photographer/videographer, I need your help! I’m still looking to bring an assistant/videographer (nothing fancy, just need you to record me doing my thing with my Flip MinoHD) from the states or preferably already living in Europe. If you’re reading this and are from Paris or London (or anywhere nearby) and want to help me out, please keep reading! In return, you’re more than welcome to shoot with me, you’ll have a place to stay at either/both places, I’ll cover your meals as well as 50% of your travel fees, and share with you all that I know about the wedding photography business during the non-shooting times. And if you’re from Europe, you’ll always have a friend and a place to stay if/when you visit Los Angeles! If you’re interested (serious inquiries only), please contact me asap. Promise you I’m only half weird and half insane :).

Here’s my schedule:

6/6: Betsie and Andy‘s wedding | Santa Monica, CA

6/11: Fly from Los Angeles to Paris

6/12: Arrive in Paris and do a little sight seeing/hang out with anyone interested in meeting up

6/13-14: Karen and Steve’s e-session | Paris, France

6/15: Hang out with anyone interested in meeting up

6/16: Karen and Steve’s e-session | London, UK (take Eurostar from Paris to London that morning)

6/17: Fly from London back to Los Angeles

6/18: Play catch-up and prepare for…

6/19-20: Sarah and Chris‘ rehearsal dinner and wedding | Santa Barbara, CA

Here are some videos and photos of my last Europe e-session trip: Update #1 | Update #2 | Update #3 | Update #4 | Update #5 | Update #6. And here’s some of the e-session photos of Vince and Ann. Thank you guys so much! This next trip wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for you giving me a chance a few months ago. Rome, Italy | Paris, France Part 1 | Paris, France Part 2.

So there you have it. Honestly, it hasn’t hit me yet that I’ll be going back there in a few weeks; hopefully it will before I come back! These past few months have been a blur to me and I’m just trying to hang in there. But I’ve never had this much fun in my life and am just so thrilled to be doing something I absolutely love. I just hope the photos I take mean as much to my amazing couples and anyone else that views them as they do to me. Lastly, I just want to thank Karen and Steve, whose wedding at Cicada is coming up in November and actually lives in Orange County, for giving me this opportunity. I can’t wait to see you both in Paris!

After joining the wedding photography industry about two years ago, I’ve always been very curious about which one of my friends would be the first to be engaged. Most of the people I know (high school, college, work, and recently through photography) are either already married or still single. Well, it is with GREAT pleasure to announce that two of my good friends Gavin and Erin (of Gavin Wade Photographers) got engaged today!

I had a chance to work with both of them just yesterday at Emma and Brandon’s wedding in hot hot Palm Desert (sneak peek of it soon). Of course Erin had no idea that Gavin was going to propose to her today but a few of Gavin’s close friends did, and I was super duper anxious for both of them all of yesterday but had to keep my mouth shut :P. I won’t spoil how everything went down as I’ll leave that up to Gavin. But be sure to go over to their blog or Twitter account and congratulate the newest engaged couple!

And no post is complete without a photo or video. So during our pre-wedding ritual yesterday (eating those five dollar foot longs at Subway’s), I had a chance to sit down with Gavin and Erin and conduct an impromptu interview with them. Outside of being amazing friends to me, they’re even more amazing wedding photographers. They have such a huge heart and passion when it comes to providing outstanding, first-class photography to their brides and grooms. I love how Erin and Gavin are so honest, genuine, and simply ‘real’ with their answers to the questions I asked them in this interview. It’s one of the many reasons I admire E + G so much and have a blast working with them. I’m just so thrilled to see their business grow to new heights and can’t wait to work with them both again very soon. Congrats Gavin and Erin! So when’s the wedding?!?!?

Interview with Gavin Wade Photographers from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

Aaaaand…here’s a “short” video of what Gavin, Erin, and I were up to yesterday: shooting Emma and Brandon’s beautiful wedding at Ironwood Country Club. Gavin looks too cool and slick doing what he does so well while I apparently look like a crazy photographer running around doing who knows what. Heck, I even have the R-Strap on backwards, yikes. I am a total n00b! Special thanks to Erin for being a kick butt assistant/second/main photographer and recording these video clips. LOL at the 2:02 minute mark by GW! Now…when’s the wedding?!?!?

Emma + Brandon’s Wedding – 5/16/09 from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

I’m super, duper, like holy, moly wow-I-can barely-sit-in-my-seat-right-now excited to officially launch The Wedding Clique! I knew I’d be so excited that I wouldn’t even be able to write anything coherent here, so I made a video (right below) to tell all of you (especially brides and grooms) what The Wedding Clique is all about :). In a nut shell, it’s both an online and real-life (so you can see we actually exist :P) community started by a wedding planner/coordinator (Trini of NOZZA Studio), wedding cinematographer (Andrew and La Dawna of IOBON Cinema), and yours truly geared towards helping brides and grooms plan/enjoy their wedding day.

The Wedding Clique Introduction from iobon cinema on Vimeo.

We wanted to reach out to brides and grooms using an interactive, media-based website with lots of yummy quality videos and photos that will help illustrate the topics of our articles. Our goal is to help any/every bride AND groom (let’s give some love to the gentleman too shall we?) plan their big day. We want it to be fun and exciting for you and your future spouse. What you see on The Wedding Clique website is only the beginning. We’re already in the works on bringing a mock wedding workshop in April/May as well as featuring more wedding vendors. The Wedding Clique is your one-stop everything wedding shop. We sincerely hope you take a few minutes to check us out and let us know how we can help you plan your wedding.

The Wedding Clique Official Launch! from Henry Chen Photography on Vimeo.

This has been about seven months in the making. Brides, grooms, and the wedding world, we hope you like what we have in store for you later this week :).

Cinematographer + planner + photographer = let the good times roll.