Shang Chen Photography, jetsetting wedding photographer of dynamic couples » MIT Stata Center

Mengmeng and Shawn, Engaged! | MIT engagement photography

Shang — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:00:03 +0000

In planning this engagement session, Mengmeng and Shawn told me that they did not have many photos of themselves together. Whenever they traveled, they’d often take photos of each other but few together. This is exactly why I really emphasize engagement photos for a couple – it’s also a great way to get some casual photos together that you normally would not be able to do yourself, and if you’re not used to having photos together, then it’s even more important to see what it feels like prior to the big day. We chose MIT – one of my favorite campuses to photograph – as that’s where Shawn went for grad school. (I was introduced to these two through another MIT couple, Karen and Bryan)

This is a really cool new structure somewhere inside the halls of MIT. It looks like paper but I think is made out of some kind of metal. Can anyone tell me more about this?

I really like the clothing that Mengmeng chose to wear – playful and colorful!

We took these engagement photos while spring was in full bloom in Boston, who knew all these beautiful flowers would be everywhere! I prefer shooting near large flower bushes as opposed to flower gardens because they are tall enough to match the people

They were nervous, but also a super playful couple who are quite at ease with each other

Another favorite spot of mine =)

Yep, it’s the Stata Center!

Their wedding is coming up in July and will be gorgeous outdoors ocean side wedding because they really like the ocean. Hoping that the weather will be just as – if not more spectacular – on that day!

Thank you Ze Liang for assisting!

June 11 – back to Boston
June 14 – 16 – NYC
July 29 – August 4 – San Francisco / Bay Area
August 23 – 25 – NYC
August 31/Sept 1 – Return to Chicago

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Karen and Bryan, Married (part 2 of 2)! Boston Wedding Photographer

Shang — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:20:52 +0000

If you’re just joining in, be sure to check out part 1 of this wedding first for some pretty cool wedding photos! If people are to ask me what makes a quintessential Shang Chen Photography wedding photo… I’d have to say… COLOR. I love color, I like expressing different emotions and stories with it. MIT just happens to be one of my favorite places to shoot because there is always so much color to check out, and architecture too!

I often like having the groom hold the bouquet sometimes. Creates great contrast against his black suit

yes, water fountains

Bam!

We cabbed it to the Boston Public Garden for some more beautiful sun-drenched photos

We needed a break! We stopped by the nearest Starbucks. The baristas were so excited for Karen and Bryan that they comped all our drinks!

The Chinese wedding banquet was held at Hei La Moon in Chinatown. I love this clothesline of old childhood photos

Instead of clinking glasses, Karen and Bryan required that guests who wished to see them kiss had to play chubby bunny and then say a well-wish with the marshmallows in their mouth!

Members of the family gave Karen and Bryan gifts of red envelopes and jewelry during the tea ceremony

A fabulous first dance!

Nom! We had cupcakes for dessert!

This is Alan – Karen’s cousin. I met him this past summer on my trip to Seattle as he is a mutual friend of my photog friend, Anna Wu!

Danny, May, and Scott, just some of my ex-co-workers =)

And instead of a traditional bouquet toss or garter toss, the guests played two massive games of rock, paper, scissors

And everybody danced!

Including Bryan’s parents!

Joyce sneaked a quick pic of us two in Hei La Moon’s mirror =)

With the bride and groom!

Thank you loves for giving me such an honor to be there for you as a friend and photographer! There are a ton more photos online at my Facebook Fan Page

Shang’s assistant: yjliu PhotoArt
Wedding dress: Custom-made from Taiwan
Rings: Ben Moss, Titanium Kay
Flowers: Blooms by the Box
Hair and Make-up: Pyara
Reception dress: Mori Lee
Reception: Hei La Moon
Cupcakes: Lynndell’s Bakery
Tuxedo: Men’s Wearhouse

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Karen and Bryan, Married (part 1 of 2)! Boston Wedding Photographer

Shang — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:10:56 +0000

Gchat buddies. That’s the first thing that describes my friendship with Karen. And Bryan? We were once co-workers. Together though, they make up quite a team, if you can’t tell from their engagement photos, they infuse their lives with laughter and lots of active fun. When Bryan first asked me if I was available for his wedding he sent me an IM that was something like “will you be around for September 2010 and are you still shooting weddings?” It completely did not hit me that he had gotten engaged! Once it did, of course I ran over to his desk (we were at work) in excitement – but not too excited, we were supposed to be working after all! I’m so psyched to present their wedding photos, these are some of the most fun wedding party photographs I’ve taken all year. We dedicated a total of around 2 – 3 hours to portraits – some before the ceremony, some after, so this wedding will be blogged in two parts!

First off, my favorite wedding party photo of the wedding. I can’t get over how cool this shot is

I spent the mid-morning getting ready with Karen and the ladies

So pretty! I’m glad we got to include the veil in some of the photos =)

Being both grad students at MIT, it was fitting to do the First Look right in Killian Court

Bryan is clearly very, very excited

Group hug!

When I landed from Chicago I could not believe it – there was a heat wave in Boston. It must have been 80 degrees that day. Boston knew I was coming

Thank you alls for having some fun!

The wedding ceremony was held at the super-cool MIT Chapel. Look at these cuties who prepped the aisle for Karen’s entrance!

Dr. Um of Citylife Church officiated the ceremony. Karen, Bryan, and I all attend Citylife but we go at different times so I almost never see them!

And they’re married! Stay tuned tomorrow for some freaking awesome portraits of them two! I’ll start with this one

Joyce assisted me throughout the day. Fun behind-the-scenes shot!

Shang’s assistant: yjliu PhotoArt
Wedding dress: Custom-made from Taiwan
Rings: Ben Moss, Titanium Kay
Flowers: Blooms by the Box
Hair and Make-up: Pyara

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Britt and Aaron, Engaged! | Boston engagement photographer

Shang — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:13:07 +0000

From our first meeting over coffee and hot chocolate, I felt a connection with Britt and Aaron. Maybe it’s because of how honest they are about themselves. Or because they’re nerdy – they both attended MIT (Aaron for grad, Britt for undergrad). They are actually my last 2010 couple – as in, they’re getting married in November 2010 at the Harvard Faculty Club =) Our original plan was to do engagement photos in Beacon Hill where Aaron used to live but it was so deathly hot on their engagement shoot date that we moved indoors to one of my favorite indoor locations, the MIT Stata Center. For most couples it is the bride who usually finds me. For this one, it was Aaron, who has quite an eye for art himself. This session was adorable to bits, I couldn’t stop aww-ing the entire time!

This picture about sums up how cute they are

And this!

And this.. okay you get the point =)

And that’s their date!

And they’re very playful as well! No boring couple here!

I’m so obsessed with how Britt did her hair that day. It just curls in every perfect way

The view towards Boston from MIT is one of the best

I think this shot arguable remains a favorite amongst all of us

I say it with all my heart when I can’t wait to see you two married!!!

Thank you to Amie for helping out!

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Diana and Greg, Married! | Boston Wedding Photographer

Shang — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:02:10 +0000

Remember the rock climbing engagement session? By comments alone that was one of the most popular engagement sessions on this blog to date =) The energetic couple is now married! So many incredibly awesome vendors came together for their gorgeously detailed and modern wedding – including several of my favorites!

I fell head over heels for Diana’s birdcage veil which is adorned with a fabric and feather flower fascinator. It really completed her modern look! Her dress was a Jasmine from Camilla’s Bridal

Diana and her bridesmaids got ready in a room at the MIT Faculty Club. There were large windows and the light streaming through was just perfect

Also, Carolina and her team, From Hair to Eternity, another one of my favorites, provided the makeup and hair for the bride and bridemaids. Carolina, you’re so wonderful!

The bridesmaids wore cute dark blue strapless dresses with a bubble hem, all from Zara!

We did all the portraits (First Look, family, wedding party, ones of just the bride and groom) before the wedding ceremony – and it gave Diana and Greg ample time to spend with their guests during cocktail hour. I really encourage everyone to try to get as many portraits done before as possible if you value having more time with your guests – including a First Look

The next two photos are extra sweet as they are with the respective grandmothers.

Greg’s grandmother loved the kiss so much she said, “Do it again!”

The bridal party was energetic and up to my crazy antics. It was boiling hot that day so I was definitely trying to get them inside as soon as possible!

We took photos all around the MIT campus. I love this campus. Diana is currently a Ph.D. student there

This couple is just too gorgeous

It’s so fun playing with Diana’s dress too!

One more with that window light. Can’t get enough of it!

The ceremony was held at the MIT Faculty Club as well, officiated by a preferred vendor of mine, Jean Ellis-La Bossiere! I think it’s really cool that Greg is walked down by his parents

Uncles from both sides participated as well – Diana’s uncle gave a reading in Slovak (Diana is Slovak), and Greg’s uncle sang in German (Greg is German)

Diana’s parents and grandmother reacting to the beautiful song

The professionals who were at the MIT Faculty Club were really quite amazing. Nina, thank you for being so on top of things and making everything run so smoothly!

During cocktail hour, there was a really great display at the escort card table – two large photo trees showing photos from Diana and Greg’s younger years. Everyone particular got a kick out of the one where Greg looked like John Lennon

This is the gorgeous view of the Boston skyline from the reception room. This is why I love this town so much

The staff at the MIT Faculty Club and Orchids N’ Blooms set up this jaw-dropping reception. The table linen is sheer with navy blue swirls to match the white and navy blue wedding colors

And here’s the dip during the first dance!

Diana and Greg and her families were endlessly fun, I did not want to leave the wedding!

I turned off the flash for this picture to show the amazingness that is the couple behind RC Uplighting, my new friends! The colors went from amber to blue during the night and really adds a whole level of modern color to the reception

Diana’s parents showed some very lively Slovak dancing!

The ringbearer was a bundle of exploding energy

Mike Gent of Murray Hill Talent DJed the event. I thought his tall and thin speakers were really cool, you can barely see them!

The reception went on with a mixture of lively American AND Slovak music. I love multi-cultural experiences!

The guests also got to enjoy a dessert buffet of Slovak treats

More details and inspiration!

Row 1: the wedding cake (from Icing on the Cake), bridesmaid bouquet, groom’s boutonnière
Row 2: Flower displays at reception and ceremony
Row 3: Detail from Diana and Greg’s letterpressed invitations, Diana’s bouquet

Row 1: Wedding program, more reception table
Row 2: Inter-course sorbet, menu, the guestbook that I custom-designed!
Row 3: Beer with customized labels as wedding favors, the ceremony setup

Thank you guys so much for your love, your friendship, and for being so awesome to be around. I wish you two nothing but joy and an amazing life together. From what I’ve learned from your friends, I expect nothing less!

The vendors:

Venue and catering: MIT Faculty Club, Nina Matthews, Catering Director
Cake: Icing on the Cake
Dress: Jasmine from Camilla’s Bridal
Rings: Bride’s rings are from Blue Nile, groom’s from E.B. Horn
Bridesmaid dresses: Zara
Tuxedos: Men’s Wearhouse
Florist: Orchids ‘N Blooms
Make-up and hair: From Hair to Eternity
DJ: Mike Gent of Murray Hill
Ceremony guitarist: Lindsay Straw
Upllighting: RC Uplighting
Shang’s assistant: Nithya Sharma

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Rebecca and Naimish, Engaged! | Boston Engagement Photographer

Shang — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:14:43 +0000

One thing that I really like about the relationship between Rebecca and Naimish is how at ease they are with each other, and how playful they are. These two people are so smart and made their engagement photos so fun and creative, I cannot wait to be there for their combination American and Indian wedding later this year!

We chose the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA as our location on a very cold winter weekend because it is the alma mater of Naimish.

Rebecca is currently in her residency in internal medicine, I thought the red stethoscope was a really cute touch

Portraits like these are so endearing because the couple here is so natural in a candid moment. I typically have them sit together and maybe I’ll say something funny, but it’s mostly unprompted. Actually, I probably wasn’t funny, but I like it when my clients laugh!

Can you tell I’m obsessed with the entrance lobby in building 7? I used to spend some childhood time here because my father used to be a professor in building 5 and this is where I entered to visit him

Sending secret messages with matching iPhones? This was Rebecca’s idea

Playing with light

Thank you to Mandy for assisting!

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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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