Shang Chen Photography, jetsetting wedding photographer of dynamic couples » Boston Public Library

Featured on Miss Indian Bride, Prepare to Wed, and WeddingWire

Shang — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:45:21 +0000

I’ve had the super-awesome honor of being featured recently! Whenever I find out my work has been published I literally want to jump up and down like a little girl… oh wait, I am little. Anyways, thank you to all the wonderful and hardworking bloggers who gave blog love to these amazing weddings!

A triple-feature of Agya and Salil over at Miss Indian Bride

Check out the last post for Agya’s super-helpful vendor reviews, a must-read for any brides planning Indian weddings in Boston

Prepare to Wed featured Sue and Ryan’s Boston Public Library wedding

And WeddingWire highlighted all the delightful fall details in Britt and Aaron’s wedding

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Sue and Ryan’s Wedding at the Boston Public Library!

Shang — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:15:37 +0000

The nerd heart in me skipped a beat when Sue and Ryan approached me about photographing their wedding at the magnificent Boston Public Library. Sue chose the Boston Public Library as she’d spent a lot of time there when she was in Boston. It’s been a pleasure working with them, even remotely – Sue and Ryan met in New York City and moved to San Francisco and planned their wedding from there. Sue and Ryan were the first couple with whom I conducted consults via video chat! This wedding is chock full of autumn-inspired details, apologies to those with slow internet connections, but it’s totally worth the read!

Sue and Ryan work in the creative industry, so of course, designed their elegant invitation suite that used iconic images inspired by the BPL

In the afternoon Sue got ready at her friend’s house in Winchester

I watched Sue wash her hair and hum “I’m gonna wash that man right outta my hair”. It was one of my personal favorite memories from the day

Most of the afternoon was spent with everyone in the room fawning over the flower girl. This was a quick moment I caught as she showed off her curls to her father

Apparently this was the same day as when President Obama was in town for a rally. I booked it over back to downtown Boston to get photos of Ryan and his groomsmen and his father in the courtyard while we still had daylight

An autumn wedding meant that I also was able to push myself with more creative off-camera lighting. Thank you so much Christina for helping out!

The talented team at Table and Tulip was behind the gorgeous floral design of the wedding. Moss, tree stumps, and these really cool silver vases created a fresh look that felt like it was breathing

If you want an inspiring hall to study in, check out Bates Hall in the Boston Public Library. It’s one of my favorite places in Boston

The ladies arrive! They had these cute feather-accented shoe clips which coordinated with the headband that Sue wore

Did I mention it was very windy that day?

This is one of my favorite portraits of Sue. She looks like a goddess!

The following two were completely candid captures as she accompanied the flower girl down the stairs

Sue and Ryan chose the Abbey Room for their reception. The Abbey Room is well-known for its gorgeous murals. I was extremely pleased to see how ALPS provided uplighting and spotlights to show off the murals and wood paneling. Tip for brides-to-be: consider using uplighting to accent the beauty of your venue, especially if the venue’s own lighting is not adequate. The staff commented how this is the most well-lit they’ve seen the murals during a wedding!

Sue and Ryan had their ceremony in the Chavannes Gallery

We grabbed some quick portraits back in Bates Hall

Let’s get the party started! Sue and Ryan were all smiles for the rest of the evening, dancing their way into the night. At the end of the night, Sue ran around the room and high-fived her guests – so awesome

And yes, details! Check out the rings – you can make out a fingerprint on Ryan’s band. Too cool

The cake, provided by BPL’s in-house caterer, The Catered Affair, was decorated in these gorgeous leaves and then Table & Tulip adorned it with succulents… and smelled so good!

Top row: Escort cards, moss terraniums, detail of escort card setup
Row 2: Succulents, Sue’s gorgeous (and heavy) bouquet, my dinner
Bottom row: Escort card table – those are real blocks of fresh moss!

Mmm mmm, The Catered Affair sure had delicious food! They operate a restaurant inside the library during business hours

Thanks you two for such a great evening, and congratulations!!

Shang Chen’s assistant: Christina Lee Photography
Venue: The Boston Public Library
Catering, cake: The Catered Affair
Dress: Amy Kuschel
Hair and make-up: Salonika
Uplighting: ALPS
Florist: tabLe & tuLip
Suit: Jil Sander
DJ: DJ Spinelli
Rings: Lorinczi Jewelry

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Agya and Salil, Engaged! | Boston Engagement Photographer

Shang — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:00:14 +0000

This whimsical, playful engagement photo session could not have been more fun! If I didn’t show the pictures with the umbrella you probably couldn’t even tell it was drizzling during most of the engagement session, this couple was just way too fun to be around! Agya spent a part of the relationship working abroad in The Netherlands (where I used to live for a bit of my childhood) and they love traveling. They also love color. After some brainstorming we decided to bring paper airplanes into the session. They were lightweight, fun, and could not match them better!

We began the shoot at the Boston Public Library. A great spot for photos, but also significant for them because they wanted to incorporate an European feel to their photos. This is them making airplanes in one of the really cool library rooms

The next two photos make me really giggle. Too cute!

And this is a sweet one

Salil cracks me up! He was channeling Mary Poppins

This clear umbrella is pretty cool

And we let the airplanes fly!!!

Agya is gorgeous! All my brides are when they smile =)

Did I say something funny? I hope I did

I am so excited for their wedding this summer at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf! It’s going to be an Indian wedding with a sangeet!

Thank you Maria for helping out! Check out a cool pic she took of the airplanes here

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Mary and Jason, Engaged! | Boston Engagement Photographer

Shang — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:34:44 +0000

All right ladies and gentlemen, I’m very very psyched to be posting up the first engagement photos featuring my 2010 couples! Woohoo! I have to say Mary has predictive powers. We changed the engagement session date right at the last minute to avoid that crazy snowstorm right before Christmas, and boy are we glad we did so! One of the reasons I’m also psyched to be working with my 2010 couples is that I really feel like I’ve become friends with everyone. It’s really my goal to be a personal wedding photographer – I don’t just stop at the wedding, I try to help out with other wedding planning questions whenever I can, and on top, it’s just great to have more friends in general.

Mary also had her hair and makeup trial run the day of the engagement session with Carolina of From Hair to Eternity, a Shang Chen Photography preferred vendor. Made my life a lot easier! It was really cold that day so almost the entire photoshoot was indoors.

We began at the very beautiful, very classic, Boston Public Library

One of the reasons why I love Boston so much is because I think it’s one of the few cities in the U.S. that reminds me of Europe. And having spent my childhood in Europe, I always have nostalgia for that place

I think Mary read my mind. When I went on my family vacation to Australia my cousins and I had an impromptu session with some bubbles. So M&J brought bubbles!

Mary and Jason continued to be creative as we headed over to the MIT Stata Center

A faaaaav!

Or maybe this one

Can’t wait! aaahh this picture makes me giggle :D

I just know that the wedding is going to be a blast!

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Elizabeth and Bryan | Boston Engagement Photography

Shang — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:58:24 +0000

When I listened to Elizabeth and Bryan describe what they loved about each other, I knew we had to do a sunset photoshoot for this sweet couple! We began our day at Boston Public Library and ended by the Esplanade, and boy was it beautiful light! One other fun fact – Elizabeth and I had the same birthday! So I’m totally not surprised we had so much fun!

Look at them, they’re too sweet!

I love those flowers she’s holding!

I love the quality of the background in this one

I love silly jump shots!

Yum, sun flares!

They wrote their wedding date in chalk

A GORGEOUS tree on the Esplanade (this might be my boyfriend’s favorite climbing tree, but I’m not sure)

Goooorgeous, btw, I think they coordinated their outfits really well

Watching the sunset

Congrats you two! Thank you for such a fun photo session! It was my very first official sunset session, but definitely not my last one!