Mary + Carlo’s Los Angeles Wedding
Jeremy, Anthony, and me!
Mary and Carlo’s wedding was one-of-a-kind. I am overwhelmed with joy for being lucky enough to support a great cause, and to support my friend, Anthony Carbajal, who was recently diagnosed with ALS. My assistants for the day, Eric So and Tory Stolpher, also dedicated their day in honor of Anthony. We wanted to make sure that we had everything covered for him and for this couple. In our industry, it’s easy to believe that shooting weddings is all about the money – but it simply isn’t. It’s about coming together, supporting one another, and being there when someone needs a helping hand.
It’s incredible to see the photographer community rally together to support not only a great cause, but to also support a great fellow photographer. I am so thankful to call Anthony my personal friend, and I feel lucky to be able to shoot on his behalf.
In case you didn’t read the back story of this couple, here’s a cut and paste excerpt from a previous blog post:
“I met Mary and Carlo through Anthony Carbajal. You may recognize him from his ALS ice bucket challenge video that went viral. Anthony recently was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.) It runs in his family, and he’s had symptoms for about a year. When Anthony was diagnosed with ALS, doctors suggested that he quit wedding photography, since it will accelerate his ALS. This devastating news left him unable to photograph all of the upcoming weddings he had booked. Anthony had to call his couples and refund all the money and let them know the horrible news.
One of my close friends, Jeremy Chou, heard about this. He decided to rally the photography community together to create a fantastic campaign called #OneForAnthony. We would all rally behind Anthony by shooting his weddings on his behalf, and all of the money from the couples would go 100% to Anthony.
I was lucky enough to have been chosen by one of Anthony’s couples – Mary and Carlo.”
Mary and Carlo have a big Filipino family, and everyone was super friendly and welcomed Eric, Tory, and myself as a part of the family – and man, is this family incredible! Even their two dogs were a part of the wedding, and were adorable in their proper wedding attire!
One of the most touching speeches I’ve ever heard was at Mary and Carlo’s wedding. Mary had prepared a slideshow for her father, who had unfortunately passed away before the wedding. She had stated that her father had once told her that yellow was the most visible color in the spectrum – so that’s why she picked yellow as her wedding color – so her dad could see her from up above. Wow.
Near the end of the wedding, Carlo had a special surprise set for his younger brother. Carlo has two younger brothers, and it happened to be the birthday of one of his brothers. During the reception, they brought in a cake and sang happy birthday to him. It was so moving to see how touched he was by the moment.
Their wedding day was beautiful and joyful and perfect. Their young love reminds me of when I just got married, and I was simply in awe of this whole journey we entered in to. I loved seeing how much they are in love with one another and I’m happy to share their love with you today.
Ceremony Venue: St Dominic Church
Reception Venue: The Castaway Burbank
Day-of Coordinator: Monette Zamora
Photographer: Ning Wong Studios on behalf of Anthony Carbajal Photography
Videographer: Robert Macaisa
PS If you haven’t seen Mary & Carlo’s engagement session, check it out here: Mary + Carlo’s Los Angeles Engagement Session
