Valen Studios interview with Ying and Zach
Favorite photos and why?
Ying: My favorite photo is one that was taken outside, what I love about it is I love the color and I love that it feels like that we are in Alice in wonderland. Also how the photo was taken at an angle and then the way they made the veil look was very unique. It was a very interesting way to capture that moment, all the veil photos I thought were just beautiful and stunning because it captured our love story.
Zach: Something special that happened that day... we were outside and it actually rained and it only rained for about 5 minutes total and we all had to go inside to do the signing. Something that was really amazing was when it rains it's a good omen because Israel is in the desert. It rained literally for only those five minutes. That was just a really special amazing moment, why bring that up? Because we went back outside and then we took all the pictures of the veil and most of them were just out right beautiful!
How did we make you feel special?
Ying: I don't think it's just a one-day occasion that you guys made us feel special I would have to say that it actually started with the engagement session. Right away we felt that we can trust you guys and that you would make us feel very special on our big day. Not only did Valen Studios listen to what we wanted, they made us feel like a family and on top of that you made me feel so beautiful. Steve and his team made me feel so beautiful on the inside, this makes me so excited, it feels so genuine and makes us happy. We were just really thrilled to go through the whole process and that you guys were the ones to take these pictures and capture this moment of our lives. We love how passionate you were on our wedding day, it's as if you were apart of our wedding too.
Now that your wedding is over, what two things would you keep the same?
Zach: I would keep my bride. hahaha
Ying: I loved everything. I love the family, the people, the food and I love the photographer! there's nothing I can think about specifically that I would change, I just loved the whole day, it was perfect.
Zach: I loved everything about the wedding there's really nothing I'd change in terms of the vendors we used and of the relationship we built with Valen Studios and some other people. I loved the event all to put together, we had a very unique wedding because we had three different ceremonies! We had the Jewish traditional ceremony, the Chinese ceremony and the typical American ceremony with the whole aisle and what not. But yeah I loved everything, I can't really say one thing I'd do different.
Now that your wedding is over, what's one thing you would do differently?
Ying: One thing that we might have done differently is when we were looking for the right venue, we thought maybe we'll host somewhere in Chicago because part of her family is going to come in from China. China to Chicago is a long flight and we were really quick to find a beautiful venue which we loved. We put down a down payment right away because we were excited only to realize a week or two later that maybe everyone's not going to come in from China, and actually about 95% of our invited wedding guests live in the suburbs. To do a suburb wedding would be more convenient and even more cost-effective, so don't be so quick to to jump into a certain venue unless you really know that that's what you really want.
Zach: We ended up going with Deer Path Inn located in Lake Forest, IL. The service was top notch and the food was amazing. We were very happy with our final decision. https://www.thedeerpathinn.com/
Current Groom to future Groom...
If you want somebody who's going to care about you and make the whole process fun and to really be in tune with what you guys want as well as making you feel extremely special on your wedding day, then definitely go with Valen Studios. Due of how passionate they are with what they do, you can tell that they love what they do here and not only do they love photography, they love people too. When you blend the combination of passion and love for people, it creates this amazing experience personalized for you, and made us very happy with everything we got.
The DJ we went with was Ryan from 4 Sure Entertainment. http://4sureentertainment.com/
Special note from Steve, owner of Valen Studios,
"I have worked several events with Ryan from 4 sure Entertainment and I'd have to say that working with Ryan has been nothing but a total joy! Ryan is incredibly friendly and his experience shines through every time. I love his enthusiasm and hard work. We were in constant communication throughout the evening to ensure a smooth running event! For real, Ryan is awesome!" ~Steve