Here’s the photoshoot I didn’t plan for but the one I got — and ended up loving. Let me backtrack a bit. I knew early on I wanted a second set of engagement photos (see our first set here!) since I had all the white bridal outfits to wear and nowhere to wear them (exclusively a Steph problem, apparently 😂). The issue was David and I couldn’t land on a location or concept — I just wanted photos, but he wanted something that made sense conceptually both on its own and when taken into account alongside our original photos. The only location we both agreed on was Mister Jiu’s. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t allow us to reserve the space to take photos (understandable, it is a restaurant, after all). So we let go of the idea and moved on — at least until we realized we actually did need more photos to fill out our guest book. In the end, we decided to move the shoot upstairs to Moongate Lounge and settled on a “day to night” concept (the “day” portion being our first set of engagement photos) with sultry bar vibes. I couldn’t love the photos more!

The Venue: Six months ago, I would never have imagined myself taking photos in which red is the predominant color (I hate red lol). But a few months ago, David and I decided we would be doing a traditional tea ceremony and banquet lunch for our families ahead of the wedding. The primary, non-negotiable color of tea ceremonies? Red. Once this was decided, I had an easier time accepting the look of Moongate Lounge, since the red color can serve as a sort of through-line between both elements and help our overall wedding feel more cohesive. Plus, we were able to use one of these photos as the invitation to our tea ceremony.

We shot these very casually on a quiet Tuesday evening. I secured reservations at 6pm, right when they open, for myself, David, and our friend Victor who helped us take these photos. My plan was to go there to enjoy drinks and light bites and see where the night took us — if it was too crowded and we couldn’t get photos in the space, at least we still got a good meal out of it. Luckily for us, it was a very chill night. The staff was so accommodating letting us pretty much have free reign to do whatever we wanted in the space. It couldn’t have panned out any better.

The Outfit: As much as I would have loved to wear one of the bridal outfits I’ve been saving, I felt a stark white look wouldn’t quite fit the sexy nighttime vision — and realistically, I would never wear an all-white outfit to go out for drinks at night — so I settled for something casual and playful: slouchy black jeans, a fun feathered top, and a tailored blazer to pull it all together.

The Vibe: We decided to lean into both the moodiness of Moongate Lounge and the concept of a sultry date night by playing with bright flash and black and white photography. Victor has such a talented eye and knew exactly what I was going for. When I look at these photos, we look so naturally in our element — just two people holed up in a dark corner booth enjoying good cocktails and great conversation. It truly is a testament to how your friends will always be the people who capture you best since they know you best.