On Sunday, October 10th (10/10/10), we were in Santa Monica, CA at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel to photograph the wedding of Yoko Tsuchihashi and Sammy Shakerchi. Their wedding had a unique blend of Yoko and Sam’s respective Japanese and Jewish traditions, combining a Japanese Sake ceremony with certain Jewish traditions such as signing the ketubah and the breaking of the glass.

This was a beautiful location for the ceremony — which took over the normal entryway for the front of the hotel, and offered a huge fig tree as the background. The reception hall was beautifully decorated and, as is Jewish tradition, the newlyweds and their parents were each lifted in chairs above the dance floor while the guests danced around them.

Here are just some of the highlights of the day:

Congratulations Yoko and Sam!

Certain dates are very popular for weddings. For example, I have photographed weddings on 07/07/07 and 08/08/08. On Monday, August 16th we were in Beverly Hills to photograph my 10/10/10 wedding couple, Yoko Tsuchihashi and Sammy Shakerchi, for their engagement portraits. They were both so photogenic and affectionate with each other that it was easy to catch natural smiles on their faces and love in their eyes.

They had a few spots in mind that they wanted to catch some photos — a grassy park, some of the ritzy shopping areas, and in front of the Yoko’s salon where they first met. But, when I suggested buying them ice cream cones for some shots, they both definitely jumped at the idea. It seems that they love ice cream just as much as Rachel and I do! Oh, yea… we had some too.

Here are just a few highlights of the day.