Andrena Photography Blog

City of Lakes – Melissa & Samir’s Official Movie Trailer

Dina — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:11:04 +0000

Every once in a while, something comes down the pike that’s so extraordinary that you just have to share it with everyone. The uber-talented Kevin Shahinian at Pacific Pictures just released an amazing trailer for the Udaipur wedding of Melissa Kumar and Samir Shah, and if you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth a look. While Melissa was nice enough to inquire with me about shooting her wedding, I can only manage one trip per year to India and thus had to regretfully turn it down. I’ll admit, I totally missed out, because Melissa is just beautiful, and their wedding was stunning. I just had to share the trailer (sneak peek) for their forthcoming movie. I’m sure it will whet your appetite for more. To check out more of Kevin’s visionary work, be sure to visit the Pacific Pictures web site and blog. From concept through execution, it’s sheer fabulousness every step of the way.

“CITY OF LAKES” The Official Trailer from PACIFIC PICTURES on Vimeo.

Just Home From WPPI

Dina — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:31:24 +0000

Along with 10,000 other photographers, I spent the past few days attending the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) conference in Las Vegas. WPPI always provides photographers with a great chance to see all the new products coming down the pike, and it’s also one of the only times of the year that I get to catch up with my colleagues from across the country and around the world. I had a number of prints on display at one of the vendor booths, including a 60-inch canvas featuring my beautiful client Yasna Patel, which everyone agreed was a showstopper. I just got home and am exhausted, but I hope to post highlights from Cinal and Taju’s engagement session either tomorrow or Friday. We had such a great time during our shoot, and I think you’ll really love the images I created for this stylish couple.

Karri & Ian’s Wedding on Rock ‘n Roll Bride

Dina — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:31:22 +0000

I’m at a tabletop decor shoot right now, but I just had to quickly post that Karri & Ian’s “winter in summer” wedding is currently featured on Rock ‘N Roll Bride — a UK site devoted to stylish weddings with a rock and roll attitude. I’ll post more when I get home, but be sure to check out the fun post at the Rock ‘N Roll Bride web site. Thanks to the fabulous Kat for the feature and great writeup!!!

Christina & Anjun

Dina — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:28:11 +0000

Christina and Anjun were married at the oh-so-stylish SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. This was my first SLS Hotel wedding, and it was a lot of fun, as was the commute, since my studio is just one mile from the hotel. Anjun is a general surgeon while Christina is a nurse, so their place of their first meeting was of course the hospital where they both work. They were both so excited about their wedding, and I loved how they kept asking my opinion about this and that while they were making planning decisions. Christina even iPhoned me tons of photos of her various dress choices to see which one I thought would photograph the best. I’m so happy that this cute couple lives so close to me. We’ve already gotten together for dinner once, and I absolutely love hanging out with them. A big thanks to the fabulous Miss Greta for referring them to me.

Wedding dress by Winnie Couture, video by April and the team at Robles Video, DJ stylishness by Ajay and Parag at Special Occasions (who always rock the party), and stripper shoes (typed with the bride’s permission, because she totally needed the height since Anjun is so tall) by Trashy Lingerie. BTW, if you haven’t had a drink at The Bazaar at SLS, you’re missing out. It is absolutely one of the most stylish places to have a drink or enjoy dinner.

Aarthi & Vijay

Dina — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:41:56 +0000

When I first saw Aarthi smile, I knew that Vijay hadn’t had a chance. In fact, while I was shooting their engagement session, I asked him, “Was this one of those situations where you just saw her smile, and it was all over?” And he said, “Yep!” Aarthi and Vijay actually got married in India, but I was tapped to shoot their reception at the beautiful Four Seasons Westlake Village. Since we had a little time to do some portraits before the cocktail party, Aarthi was able to showcase three of her beautiful outfits. The incredible peacock on the back of her green-and-turquoise sari was a unique and gorgeous showstopper, but I also was a huge fan of the dramatic black sari. Aarthi then changed into her beautiful red wedding outfit for a little more shooting before all their reception events got underway. A highlight was their choreographed grand entrance (with a heaping dose of silly thrown in, which I loved), and a choreographed dance number that they did with their bridal party.

With coordination by the wonderful Sonia Sharma at Sonia Sharma Events, hair and makeup by the fab Oscar Naranjo at Ziba Beauty, floral artistry by Arsine and the team at Shirvan Design, and DJ deliciousness by Ajay and Parag at Special Occasions.

Amy & Kanishka

Dina — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:41:34 +0000

Amy and Kanishka were married at the lovely Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, and its beautiful rose garden was the perfect setting for this adorable couple’s Sri Lankan wedding. Amy is so tiny and cute, and she has such a sense of calm and serenity about her. Kanishka, meanwhile, is so much fun and just adores Amy with all his heart. Amy wore a traditional Sri Lankan wedding sari in white with crystals embedded throughout. Kanishka swanked it up in a cool suit and a big smile, which was really all he needed to look as swank as heck. The couple chose red for their reception decor, and tiny little plates of Tabasco were peppered throughout the room (to my absolute delight, since I put Tabasco on everything except pancakes and ice cream). The favor boxes also had the oh-so-stylish Sharffen Berger chocolates in them, which is yet another thing about this wedding that was totally after my heart.

Once the reception started winding down, a set of curtains parted to reveal a cool club lounge that had been set up in the next room for after-reception revelry. The couple made their dramatic exit by running through a path of sparklers and then sailing away on a boat into the dark marina (champagne in hand, of course). With coordination by Naomi Takahashi at DNT Events. DJ rockocity by Amit and the team at 3D Sounds. I’ll update the other vendor info soon, as I dont have it handy right now. Mad props to the delightful Stephen Jackson, the new wedding guy (well, “catering manager,” but “wedding guy” sounds more fun) at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey. He’s just great to work with and he is really focused on catering to the South Asian community.

New Blog Posts On Their Way

Dina — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:05:42 +0000

Hi, everyone!!! As usual, I’m at least 10 weddings behind on the blog, but have three new posts just about ready to go. So be sure to look for Amy & Kanishka at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, Aarthi & Vijay at the Four Seasons Westlake Village, and Christina & Anjun at the SLS Hotel a bit later today. I have great plans to get the blog back up to date over the next few weeks, so let’s see if I can actually do it. Hope you’re all having a great day. A big hello to my blog visitors in England, Hungary, Thailand, India, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Andrena Featured in South Asian Bride Magazine – And the Magazine is Fabulous!

Dina — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:30:46 +0000

I’ve been so excited for the arrival of the premiere issue of South Asian Bride Magazine. This gorgeous magazine is just stunning, and I would expect nothing less from Sadaf Kherani, publisher of this magazine and the lifestyle publication Rivaaj. This publication fills the huge void of US wedding magazines catering to the South Asian community, and it is both elegant and beautifully put together. Subscriptions are totally reasonable, so be sure to check out the web site to subscribe to and support this great new magazine. I’m thrilled that Reshma & Harsheel’s six-day wedding (private home and the Langham Hotel in Pasadena) got a four-page feature in the very first issue. You can see a full vendor list from this wedding in the original blog posting here.

Congratulations, Sadaf! The magazine is gorgeous, and I’m so happy to be a part of it.

Andrena Featured in Life & Style Magazine

Dina — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:17:20 +0000

Well, I have to say that I’ve never been featured in a magazine with one of the Kardashian sisters on the cover, but there’s always a first for everything. (And yes, I’ll admit that Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a guilty pleasure.) Life & Style Magazine ran two of my photos (they’re the ones on the left, both from Naomi & George’s wedding) in one of its recent issues. It was fun to learn that there are 680,000+ issues of Life & Style printed per week. I love knowing that my work was at a grocery checkout next to US Magazine and all of those fun mags. My two photo credits are in three-point type, but that’s OK.

Andrena Featured in the Ukraine’s Fleur d’Orange Magazine

Dina — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:00:30 +0000

I’m delighted to have been featured in a recent issue of the Ukraine’s Fleur d’Orange Magazine. This particular issue focused on weddings of the world, and included two-page features on a number of photographers from across the globe. The magazine asked us all to provide one funny story, so the translation basically says that one of my grooms opened up his tux on his wedding day . . . and found that there were no pants. He had to run back to the tux shop (which was closed for rennovations), and then find another tux shop. He made it down the aisle just in time. Congrats to my beautiful brides Yasna and Simrit, and to my great couples Bhakti & Ronil and Gwen & Mark for being featured in this gorgeous Ukranian wedding magazine.