Valentine’s Day celebrates love and, in the case of bride and groom Erika Siah and Wen Hui, their relationship is a true testament to February 14, having endured six years in a long-distance relationship before tying the knot. Wen had lived and worked in Shanghai while Erika lived in Malaysia.

Says Hipster Wedding‘s Andrew Nguyễn, who covered the nuptials and different ceremonies of the day, the bride and groom traveled a long way with their family and friends from Shanghai,  Malaysia, and America to celebrate a wedding in Đà Lạt, Vietnam because, the photographer adds, “Erika likes flowers and this romantic venue very, very much. She even told us about her thoughts of living in Đà Lạt for the rest of their lives.”

Photos © Andrew Nguyễn/Hipster Wedding

“This was my first wedding using a Sony system,” Nguyễn recalls. “Everything seemed so easy to control until I got a problem with my memory card and it took me 10 minutes to solve. The camera didn’t let me change the card, so I had to copy images and format the card. It was a break time after their ceremony, so I was very lucky. I will never shoot a wedding with only one body again (I was waiting for the new Sony a7R III to arrive, so I had to use one body).”

Another issue that came up, he says, is that the bride and groom “spoke only Chinese in the whole wedding, especially their tea ceremony. My crew and I had to guess what was going on, and so many traditional events were taking place while we were trying to understand. We did some research about the traditional tea ceremony and had a discussion with the the bride and groom beforehand, but the reality was so much more involved.”

GEAR OF THE DAY

Camera: Sony a9

Lens: Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2, Zeiss 55mm f/1.8, Sony FE 85mm f/1.8

Lighting: Godox V860II Speedlite

VENDORS

Wedding Planner: The Planners

Videography: Jacob Dinh Film

Hairstyle and Makeup: Toan Le

Florist: Jardin de Lanh

Venue: Ana Mandara Resort

Submit your wedding to Rf editor-in-chief Jacqueline Tobin for a chance to get featured here.