It’s us—we tied the knot.

Thanks!

8.13.12 is a post from: Markku & Hana

The Silk Pavilion was transformed into a cozy chill–out place, perfect for the guests’ cocktails that preceded the formal reception program.

Among the details worth noting was the amazing ice bar by Cibo:

VIP guests were in canopied long tables adorned with large candelabras and opulent centerpieces:

Just outside, there were inviting cozy day beds for lounging around:

Truly, the ambience was nothing short of amazing.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A Romantic Kind of Lush is a post from: Markku & Hana

… as if nobody is watching, like no one is around.

… Like No One Is Around is a post from: Markku & Hana

I wonder how it feels to have yourself buttoned or zipped up in your wedding dress, or to smile under the bridal veil.

Seems like pure bliss.

Under the Veil is a post from: Markku & Hana

It was raining so hard last night during the Azkals–Kuwait match, yet I know it was just freakin’ hot when the team made their way around the oval despite the 2–1 setback. Wouldn’t you agree?

We lost alright, but they’ll never have a goalkeeper as awesome as this guy—Neil Etheridge. Awesome.

Also check out highlights of the first and second half of the Azkals vs. Kuwait game last Thursday at InterAKTV.

Hot! is a post from: Markku & Hana

We shot John & Kristine’s wedding more than a year ago, and it was the first we covered as M+K associate photographers. Though we’ve shot a handful of weddings on our own before this, it was an overwhelming challenge to live up to the high standards that comes with the brand. But who wouldn’t take on such a challenge?

Isn’t it amusing that grooms smile and laugh a lot during their preparations…

… yet you can always catch them drift into brief moments of reflection?

And though brides often appear more concerned with how they look and other little details…

… they are at their truest, tensest spirit just before they walk the aisle and embrace eternal oneness.

We were fortunate that John & Kristine were such a relaxed couple that we hardly felt the hours go by.

Here’s something almost every wedding photographer knows: the smile of relief that comes after the ceremony is always more natural than the smile of anticipation that precedes it all.

To John & Kristine: keep on smiling, keep on loving!

John & Kristine (Santuario De San Jose, Pan Pacific Hotel Manila) is a post from: Markku & Hana

It took me quite a while to finally blog about this wedding. With Joey being one of my closest friends, it just seemed like I couldn’t find the right words. It was simply too hard.

So I’ll just quote his wonderful words and let them speak for their blessed union.

Our love will be the love story that everyone will celebrate.

It will be the good news that everyone shares.

It will be the legend that writers immortalize, …

… the ideology that philosophers build on, …

… the standard that everyone follows.

It will transcend space, time, dimensions and realities.

It will be a reminder that love, and everything that comes with it, exists and that it is the one thing that makes this life worth living.

Being witness to Joey’s life stories and lessons, I’ve seen the concept of love in all its gloom and beauty. Yet now, seeing Joey & Mae bask in its glory, it is proclaimed—it is the one thing that makes life worth living.

Joey & Mae (Wiwaha Chapel, Bali, Indonesia) is a post from: Markku & Hana

A union as lasting as theirs perfectly fit the shoes Jeff picked for their special day—a pair of classic Chuck Taylor All–Stars.

I saw something like this only on the web before, but when I saw the groom’s boutonniere, I was amazed how stunning and unique they were. Vatel Manila surely did a great job on them.

Edz also crafted a set of of themed necklaces that complemented their wedding day’s rich details.

By the time the ceremony commenced, it wasn’t hard to see everyone smiling, perhaps infected by the couple’s radiant grins.

But some were crying tears of joy instead, like the Maid of Honor one of their closest friends.

Shooting weddings is always fun throughout the day, but the couple pictorials after the ceremony is definitely our favorite.

It’s a blast when you have to do almost nothing yet smiles and poses just present themselves naturally.

To complement their little well–wishers’ tree, Jeff & Edz shared their storied history using photos hanging from clothespins, like an outdoor darkroom.

To Jeff & Edz, here’s to more 12 years of togetherness, each one a million times as wonderful as the last!

This wedding was a M+K shoot, hence the M+K watermark . These are the associate photographers/second team photos. For Mimi & Karl’s takes, it’s on their blog.

Coordination: Jody Liwanag of Events Experts
Styling: Vatel Manila
Make-up: Madge of Makeup Studio
Video: Threelogy
Catering: K by Cunanan

Jeff & Edz (Mango Farm) is a post from: Markku & Hana

This wedding will always be special, it being Hana’s very first onsite slideshow. Abe has been Hana’s classmate for a long time, all the way back to their grade school days. They’re perhaps as close as any two friends can get that when Abe revealed that their growing up AVP wouldn’t make it, Hana decided to do an onsite instead.

What makes it very memorable was that the conditions weren’t exactly favorable. First of all, Hana decided on doing an onsite the midnight before the wedding day. They had already booked a different team of photographers and videographers, which meant we had to shoot on the sides with limited time. And since the wedding will be at 7:30 in the evening, the reception immediately follows, leaving barely enough time to do the slideshow. And if you think all of that makes it hard enough, Hana was also one of *the* bridesmaids.

I could go on rambling about Hana’s knack for self–inflicted torment, but I’d rather not get in trouble.

And so it was 1.11.11, the eleventh of January 2011. Lucky numbers as you’d look at it, and everything turned out luckily well indeed. Everything that could’ve gone wrong, didn’t. Jeff & Abe had their first look in the afternoon, and thankfully there was still enough light to shoot that. Hana’s slideshow was done just before the program was concluded, and the rain started to trickle as if on cue just as the slideshow was playing. It was the lucky numbers, I think.

(I couldn’t end this post without mentioning Dulce Fortunado’s excellent hosting and handling of the program; she left enough room to squeeze in our slideshow at the end of it all. Lastly, Lemuel Castro’s (also a classmate of Hana and Abe) Cava catering was really good, I would’ve feasted more on the Chicken a la King if I could!)

Jeff & Abe (San Agustin Church, Baluarte San Diego) is a post from: Markku & Hana

We interrupt everyone’s busy holiday schedule (and this blog’s lack of activity) just to greet you all a very merry Christmas! May we all have a healthy 2011 ahead of us.

Merry Christmas! is a post from: Markku & Hana