The Red Horse Barn — blog — Veronica Chou Photography

Kawai and I lived together for two years in college, where I had something of a first-row seat to the earlier stages of Kawai and Bryan's relationship (as seen below). So when she asked me to take some photos for their bridal party, of course I said yes!

The two of them met while volunteering for their church youth camp, but didn't reconnect until a missions trip to Mexico a year later. They spent a week serving, working, praying, talking, eating, and caring together, capping off the trip with a 4 hour van ride playing games on their mobile devices and sharing snacks, where something special was growing, but neither of them knew exactly what to expect. Shortly afterward, Kawai headed back up to Berkeley for her senior year of college and Bryan stayed in SoCal, but their communication (and love for each other) only grew over the 400 miles between them. As Kawai puts it:

... we can’t stop talking. At first it’s just texting and a handful of awkward-bantering-sharing emails, a smattering of Facebook posts… but the communication only swells instead of fade over time, and soon we are a flurry of all-day texting…

Weekly phone calls, a Wordpress poem, and many more moments over the next four years lead us now to their wedding day, which I was honored to help partially document. Read more about their relationship in their own words at their tumblr.

These two really made their big day the story of their love, whether through bookshelves chronicling their journey before and through couplehood, corsages and boutonnieres made by the bride's mom, the Batman pie topper, or a ceremony arbor built by the bride herself!

Kawai and Bryan opted to do a first look, which I always recommend! It's a precious, private moment for the two of you to enjoy time on your own in the midst of the craziness of a wedding day, and it honestly helps take some of the jitters away before the ceremony!