what a week! last monday, i headed down to the naval hospital with my sister, her hubby and my parents because she was getting induced later that evening. my twin nephews arrived on tuesday morning at 4:52a and 4:53a! i’m officially an aunt!!! i was there for the birth and it is such an amazing experience. i’m so in love with my lil boogers…william & maxwell [liam & max]. i’ll be taking newborn photos of them soon and will definitely share them.

below are some of my favorites from sheryl & rom‘s wedding! they had such a sweet ceremony at st francis xavier in los angeles. they are seriously the sweet couple ever. congrats again!! =)

chúc mừng năm mới! happy lunar new year! welcome the year of the water dragon…may your year be filled with happiness, love, good health and good fortune!

I had my first wedding of the year on the 14th for monica & bernardo. happy 10 year anniversary! congrats again you two! =)

over the weekend, the bf and i were in a wedding for a good friend of the bf’s. it’s so much fun to be in the wedding party once in awhile. =) linda and richard asked us and a few other couples, who are close friends, to be in their wedding and we couldn’t have been more honored. congrats again linda & richard! it was such a fun & special night! here are some photo booth pictures by elegant photo booths:

and fingerstachin’it:

so back to the topic…here is day two of the holiday mini specials! day two’s location was at turtle rock community park in irvine. i accidentally found this cool little spot during another shoot at bommer canyon, which is right around the corner. this park has such a quaint & versatile look and was perfect for these mini sessions.

here are a few of my faves.

christina and saba met a few years ago while getting their mba at ucla. saba was the event coordinator for the class events and during one of their outings, saba asked christina for her number. christina was oblivious and didn’t think anything of it since he was the organizer of all of the events. after spending time together at gatherings and class, they became inseparable without even knowing. over thanksgiving weekend, saba asked christina for her hand in beautiful kauai…underneath the stars. since it was so dark outside…christina had to run inside to their hotel room at the st. regis to make sure saba wasn’t playing a joke on her and that there was a real ring on her finger. haha. =)

we started out nearby their place in irvine at jeffrey open space since christina and saba wanted to include their dogs in their engagement session. afterwards, we headed over to bommer canyon for some gorgeous shots [partly overcast = amazing light!] then went to the lovely los rios district in san juan capistrano. i had such an awesome time with christina and saba…they were a blast to shoot! we treated ourselves to some ice cream [who can pass up ice cream...esp ice cream sandwiches?!] after our session and are some of my favorite photos from our session. don’t forget to check out their slideshow at the end of the post for more pretty photos! =)

by the way, don’t forget to “like” mimi nguyen photography on facebook for info on special announcements/facebook only giveaways and/or follow me on twitter. for more personal/iphone/daily photos…find me on instagram: msmiminguyen. now onto the photos…

just a quick announcement that we have won the bride’s choice awards™ 2012. that means we are in the top 5% of wedding pros nationwide! hooray! this is such an honor and I am so grateful for all my wonderful clients! thank you!!! here’s the header in the email i received this morning…an awesome way to start a monday…I’ll be adding the official badge when it’s available. =)

christina and eric are one of the sweetest couples i’ve ever met. a month before the wedding day, christina got hit by a drunk driver and her car was totaled. luckily, christina is okay but even after a month, her body was still recovering and Eric mentioned that she was still in pain. On the day of the wedding, christina was full of smiles and was glowing with happiness…nothing was gonna stop her from marrying her eric.

the wedding day was full of laughter and love. it was such a beautiful ceremony and the releasing of the lanterns were amazing to watch. i’m definitely adding the lantern festival in asia to my bucket list. from the awesome diy photobooth that eric made to their amazing tango dance…it was all ahhh-mazing and lots of fun. here are some of my favorites from their special day…congrats again, christina & eric!

happy 2012! hope everyone had an awesome new years so far! the bf & i celebrated with friends in san diego at the hard rock hotel this year. for the past few years, we’ve been pretty mellow in ringing in the new year so we decided to do a something different this year. hard rock definitely knows how to throw a party. we had a blast! here’s to 2012! wishing you all lots of good luck, love & happiness! it’s going to be a great year! =)

now to the blog post:

sophia from specific media does such an amazing job planning and coordinating the company’s holiday parties year after year! if specific media sounds familiar to you…it’s probably because they just bought out myspace! if you haven’t been on myspace lately, you should check out some of the new features…especially the music player…lots and lots of music. =)

this was my 4th consecutive year shooting specific media’s holiday party and everytime i am in awe with all the awesome details. the first thing you notice when you walk into the grand ballroom are the gorgeous centerpieces and the dramatic lighting. fayth from three petals and amber from amber event production did an exceptional job! this year’s theme was parisian with performances from fire dancers, aerialists, contortionists and of course, burlesque dancers which were all provided by zen arts…it was definitely a great show! in between acts, everyone enjoyed the open bar and food by various caterers, including furiwa. if you weren’t dancing, eating or drinking…you were at the cool flipbook station by a little scene. my assistant, john, and i were able to get a flipbook or two done and couldn’t stop laughing! lots of fun and loved the little flipbooks!

after zen arts performances, siren’s crush performed and are one of the best live dance bands i’ve heard! they are seriously ahhh-mazing! they definitely got the party started and everyone was on the dance floor…and i mean everyone…including me. =) the night didn’t end there…after siren’s crush, dj jay-p started up a whole new party. check out some of my favorite photos from the event:

the event was also featured on BizBash. Check out the details here.

venue | hyatt regency huntington beach | grand ballroom
event coordinator | sophia h. tran
photographer | mimi nguyen
assistant photographer | john dinh
photobooth | a little scene
florist | three petals
lighting/stage/dance floor | amber event productions
linens | wildflower linens
dj | dj jay-p
singer | jesse macleod
band | sirens crush
fire + burlesque dancers/aerialists/contortionists | zen arts
furniture rental | luxe events