“Love, joy, and passion.” Three more than perfect words to describe Jessie & Jesse’s beautiful wedding day. Albuquerque is a city rich in history, scenery, and romance, but that’s only the beginning. Taking the cultures of both the Bride and Groom and crafting their wedding around those backgrounds proves to be a beautiful take on tradition. Every image captured by Daran Wu (Daran Photography) left us in complete and utter awe. Join us as we share this lovely affair below.
The love story
The bride Jessie Lo and the groom Jesse Acker-Johnson met at the Val Tidone Music Festival, a beautiful, picturesque hill town near Milano in Italy.
The Bride is a classical pianist, and the Groom is a classical guitarist. She first paid attention to him because the awkward coincidence of their identical names – Jessie & Jesse. However, after their first conversation, they both knew they were struck hard by Cupid’s arrow (you can call it love at first sight, that kind of things really do happen)!
The rest of the festival, the Groom would play his guitar for the Bride whenever and wherever he got a chance to. Their encounter in Italy could be described as a romantic movie plot, and laid the foundation of the love story of their lives.
After Italy, the Bride had to go back to Vienna, where she was pursuing her musical career/degree. The Groom had to go back to New Mexico, and was moving to the Bay Area in California. The following 8 years of their relationship was mostly long distance. It was a difficult yet most rewarding time – a true test for love, trust, perseverance, patience, and faith.
They are each others’ best friend and are learning how to love each other more and be a better partner every single day.
Wedding design and details
Number of guests: around 100
Wedding theme: natural elegance
Theme colors: fuchsia and white
Wedding environment and atmosphere: relaxed, intimate, joyful
Special details: Amazing music performances
Thoughts from the photographer
Daran Wu: I’ve been shooting weddings in different countries for many years, and Jessie & Jesse’s wedding is definitely one of the most memorable events I’ve ever captured. Albuquerqu is recognized as one of the most culturally diversed cities in the States, and it’s certainly a very special place to host a wedding. Multiculturalism is something I find truly inspiring, and Jessie & Jesse’s wedding was a perfect combination of Asian and Western traditions.
I remember seeing the Groom, Jesse, playing the guitar casually outside of his place. I was not only attracted by the beautiful melody and his great skills, but also enjoyed the peace and joy in the air.
The wedding speeches were so natural and heartwarming. These speeches truly showed strong friendship and love, and that’s exactly what I think weddings should be all about.
“I’m willing to do my best for her”
Daran Wu: During this trip to New Mexico, something that really touched my heart was Jesse’s willingness to always try his very best for his Bride Jessie. He kept on asking me if there was anything he could do to coordinate with me to make things better. Shooting pre-wedding photos for 2 days was a crazy thing to Jesse, but after the photo sessions he said: “Jessie is not an ordinary bride, I’m willing to do my best for her, and I did it!”
Thoughts from the Bride
Jessie: Before my two international weddings, I was searching through many photographers online. When I saw Daran‘s work, I knew this is exactly the style that I desire. I made a risky move and hired him and his assistant to fly out to New Mexico for our US wedding. It turned out to be the RIGHT decision of a lifetime.
They are not only spot-on professional, but also incredibly warm, fun, life-loving, interesting, curious, and dedicated people. They are constantly inspired by their surrounding and were able to react to the environment. It was great fun shooting with them during the process.
I’d also like to mention Vivian Wu, my make up artist that I hired from Canada to come to New Mexico, was also a fantastic decision. She was such a loving support and a great spirit to have around during the sometimes stressful and intense wedding preparation. She was quick, professional, considerate, helpful, nice, and fun! I would like to say it made the bride’s job so much easier to have her around.
When you look at Daran’s photos, you can see that he sees things in a different angle, which is sometimes pleasantly surprising and artistic. His way of story-telling is one of the kind.
I have attended many other weddings and I have to say that this team is currently unbeatable. Many Americans guests are still giving me nice feedback about my team and appreciate their work a lot.
Daran also shot my Taiwan wedding later on and also did a great job. All these memories become such vivid and beautiful pictures under his lenses. My wedding guests, my family, my husband, and I had a very pleasant experience with Daran and love the great memories he has forever saved for us.
About Daran Wu Photography
Daran Wu: I am Daran Wu, a destination photographer based in Taiwan. As a photographer, I love my life, and I’m always practicing my sensibility of capturing precious moments. My goal is to show your real character through my photos, because each wedding should be a unique story.
Find the photographer:
Daran Photography Website | Facebook
Other vendors:
Makeup artist: Vivian Wu
