Two weeks ago while most people were focused on Thanksgiving and which sales they were going to hit up the following day, I was with Maria and Tri as they were rehearsing their wedding here in San Jose. Then, two days later, on Black Friday while everyone was shopping or laying around sleeping after the Thanksgiving holiday we were all at their wedding.
So I wasn’t originally quite positive on how exactly Maria and Tri found me. At first I thought it was simply through Maryann, their wedding coordinator and an old friend from high school. Turns out that Maria is the sister of my friend Manny – also from high school, and someone who I’ve been to a couple weddings with over the years. Ha! That turned into a funny conversation the morning of the wedding when I finally put all that together.
Maria and Tri actually live in SoCal, and even though I had been living down there timing just never quite worked out to meet in person. Maria joked that in the weeks leading up to the wedding she became mildly concerned that no one had heard much from me. Whoops! I was actually caught up in the middle of an unexpected move from LA back to the SF Bay Area. But still was looking forward to their wedding and ready to rock it out.

Maria and Tri put on a lovely ceremony in San Jose, followed by an absolutely awesome reception – I’m pretty sure their families danced the entire night as soon as the music started.
Anyway, I have hundreds of photos below for all of you to check out. Whether you missed the event or just want to relive it, I hope you guys enjoy this recap of Maria and Tri’s wedding.

And, like usual, I’ve saved a lot more comments for the captions below..

 

Arriving at the church on Wednesday afternoon everyone listens to the church coordinator on details for Friday

Maria was going to be escorted down the aisle by her mom! Because of the holidays/etc Maria’s dad wasn’t able to travel to the wedding. Mom was glad to step in though

Tri, laughing as they totally mess up the handoff and have to redo it

Originally Tri and Maria were going to be seated, but they would literally be looking right into the sun because of where the chairs were placed.

They made the decision that they’d be kneeling for ceremony’s mass instead

After the walk through everyone went through a few more small details and last minute questions.

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Two days later, on Friday morning, I met up with the girls at the hotel. I always start my weddings with the bride and bridesmaids

Hair and makeup is a long process, so I typically hang out for most all of it

Even the flower girl got a bit of makeup for the special occasion!

I think the most entertaining parts of these mornings though are all the girls sitting around and laughing about old stories. Maria and her bridemaids have all known each other a long time

Manny came by to see if the girls needed anything. He ended up having to run several errands that morning. But I remember being brother-to-the-bride years ago and doing the exact same thing

Mom, checking with Maria which pillow she wanted to use for the rings. There were two choices.

Hair’s done! Haha!

Maria had chose gorgeous dress, with a corset back

But she laughed and said “I hope it still fits…”. Maria bought the dress a couple years ago when they first started planning everything… but, life happens and the wedding date got pushed out a couple times

As it got closer to noon I broke away for a bit and met up with the guys downstairs. Most of them were trying to wake up still. Tri was up and ready to get dressed though

it was quiet in the boy’s rooms though. They still had headaches from the night before, but they were laughing about it… so that’s good, right?

And just as quickly as I arrived in their room, Tri was dressed and ready to go

Maria was still getting a few final touches on her hair, so it was time for a few details. Like those sparkly shoes!

And the rings

Getting some help from mom!

So as Maria was getting dressed, she was halfway in and the girls started all laughing realizing the dress was still laced up – so Maria was stuck for a moment while they un-laced it so she could get in!

Whew! Now time to get re-situated

Corset backs are no joke, either. I’ve actually helped do quite a few of them between my wedding work and work with model/fashion shoots in LA.

The girls, watching the ladies deal with the dress

The girls kept going a little tighter..

Then a little tighter again

Maria started laughing saying “I guess I didn’t eat enough donuts!” since she was pretty sure the dress was going to be a little big on her after having purchased it a while ago

Helping Aunt Maria with her shoes

As the girls headed out they made sure to grab their champagne

Arriving at the church

Inside the guys were all hanging out and talking, greeting family as they arrived

Tri was looking sharp

Tri greeted his nieces and nephews as they arrived

Good friends make sure you look good, too

In the back Maria was lined up and ready with the rest of the bridesmaids

Selfie with the bride before she walks the aisle!

Tri was all smiles when Maria started walking down the aisle

And so were Maria and her mother

Big hug for Mom

Then the pastor got things started

He welcomed everyone to Maria and “Tree’s” wedding…. cue a moment slight panic when I think “Oh my god… I’ve been pronouncing Tri’s name wrong. There’s an accent attached to his name that I didn’t know about. And Tri was too nice to correct me…

The pastor discussed marriage and his excitement about this wedding because he had only dealt with Tri and Maria over the phone since they are not members of his church as they live in SoCal

First reading

Gotta say though, the kids did great during the ceremony.

Second reading

Mrs. Landa collecting the flame for her side of the family

And Mrs. Do doing the same

Leaving the individual candles for the unity candle part of the ceremony later

Next was exchange of vows

And Maria started laughing because the pastor called Tri “tree” again.

So Tri corrected him

But Maria was still busting up, everyone had a good laugh.
And it turned out that along with myself, several of the groomsman were suddenly questioning if they had never known Tri’s name and always pronounced it wrong up until this point when they realized they hadn’t. haha!

Next Tri exchanged his vows with Maria

Then a blessing

And a blessing on the rings

A ring for Maria

And pledge

And a ring for Tri

Presentation of gifts

And the lighting of the unity candle and symbolization of the joining of their families

The wedding lasso (or rope) ceremony

Communion

Gifts for the virgin mother

And gifts for their mothers

A few final words

So the pastor asked Maria and Tri to step up to the top with him… but Tri immediately noticed the bright sun in their faces…

And for the first kiss he did his best to position himself and Maria in the shade so their photo would not be ruined. Thanks brotha, I appreciate it! Otherwise this great moment would have likely been pretty blown out looking

Lots of congrats from the family and friends

And then it was time to start going through all the family photos… which is always a hilarious mess of people everywhere

What’s more fun was just watching them in between everything… with the two them talking and laughing together. Tri and Maria seemed to just plain be having fun the entire day

The wedding party, everyone looking great

And the bride and groom!
I took a ton of other family shots, just too many to share here for you all

As we were leaving we did some photos outside, too.

Back at the venue Maryann had been running around getting all this setup

With the lastttt little bit of light when ran outside to do a few photos

This girl, man… Maria didn’t stop laughing and smiling the whole night. It was great

Recreating this shot of them from five years ago

Maryann had brought sparklers for everyone!

Heading back in to grab and drink and wait for the grand entrance and introduction

The girls were joking about faking a shot like they were doing something, then they all totally lost it and laughed at themselves… resulting in this shot :)

We had plenty of time to kill though

So we started playing around on pretty much everything in the hall there. Including this piano

So we’d do a nice one… everyone smiling

Then everyone would revert back to their goofy selves and we’d get some hilarious stuff

Like stuff like this

At this point in time the real party was here in the hall… the family inside was missing out

But to me, the fun stuff watching Maria and Tri chat and interact

or sneak kisses mid-conversation when we weren’t taking a photo or doing anything

Maria, trying to be serious since we still had like 15 minutes to kill…

..see, serious.

and then immediately laughing

The flower girl and ring bearer wanted in on the fun

Mom and Dad wanted another shot as they walked through hall, too

Maryann, getting people lined for the entrance

 

 

 

 

Mr. and Mrs. Do!

Everyone cheering and welcoming the newlyweds

Making their way through everyone

And out to the dance floor

It was time for their first dance

Both of them were pretty quickly in their own world dancing together

A prayer before dinner

Speeches opened up with the best man

And then Maria’s friend and old roommate was up next

Afterward the mic was passed about a bit for friends and family to say a few words

After getting a bit of food to eat Maria and Tri got up to walk tables and say hi to family, starting with Mom and Grandma

All the family was having a great time, even in photos wanting to goof around

And it’s even funnier when your bracelet gets caught on someone else’s dress!

The ladies of the family!

Lots of congratulations from everyone though

This series though! Hahaha! They couldn’t stop laughing. If I recall from what the girls were saying, they’ve all grown up together

bridal selfie!

I had to get my photo with the bride and groom of course!

And one with their planner, Maryann

Mother-Daughter dance!

I dunno what they were talking about, but Maria and her mom were laughing and giggling the whole time

This little girl jumped onto Maria’s dress as she was watching it swish around on the floor

Then Maria turned to see why her dress was stuck

And started laughing when she realized what happened

Next was the Mother-Son dance

high-five little homie!

Big hug for Mom

Getting ready to cut the cake

There’s always that brief moment where it looks like neither of them trust each other to not make a mess…

But they were sweet about it

With a little kiss afterward

And a second bite for Tri

Maria wanted a photo biting the cake, but totally did not trust Tri in that moment telling him he better not do anything

Time to get that garter off Maria

And like a champ, Tri used his teeth

with Maria giggling the whole time

A football made it a bit easier to throw

Fumble!

the little kids were on it though! recovered the ball immediately. haha!

The bouquet was next

But I think it hit the ceiling landing only about 10 feet from Maria

Illiana was on it though! She beat everyone to that bouquet!

And right after that, it was time to get down. The music when up, lights back down, and everyone hit the dance floor

Tri making his way over to his wife

Uh oh.. .jacket’s coming off…

Things are getting serious now! haha!

I stole the rings for a bit for a few more photos

I was really bummed that I wasn’t available for Manny and Beate’s wedding this Spring. These two are a blast

Tri and Maria danced together a lot of the night, too

Beate dancing with the little girls

Manny getting down with his sister

new sistersssss!

So I didn’t know that Manny’s mom owns a dance club… which explains so much simply because the whole family loves dancing and pretty much never stopped that night

Sometimes the bride photo-bombs you and her own wedding…

The night was winding down and it was the last couple songs… Maria and Tri were still together on the dance floor

As the night ended with took a few more photos of the goodbyes and thank you’s with the family and friends who remained.

I had a