Mico and Isabel – Jaja Samaniego

Miguel and Isabel

After three months, I finally got to shoot a wedding again. Coming forward to the task wasn’t easy. The team of 7 was reduced to a team of 3, we practice the highest standards to keep everyone safe.

The new normal dictates you wear a mask, maintain a distance and to maintain good hygiene. No one wants to hurt or to be hurt, so we practice the standards to keep everyone safe.

We arrived at the house at around 11am, only immediate family was there, everyone in the house had masks, and my skills were rusty. The family members were kept to a bare minimum, and the grandparents didn’t even attend. Luckily they lived close-by, so close they were an eyeshot away.

Everything was bare, no wedding coordinators, no wedding cars, nothing fancy. The abundance that was once there was reduced to the bare essentials.

What used to be a routine suddenly became this nerve racking challenge. I’ve had shoots of more than a hundred people, but suddenly ten became a daunting task. I knew I was shooting a historical moment not only for the couple, but also for me as a wedding photographer. It was my first time in my career to cover an intimate wedding during a pandemic.

Arriving at the church, parking slots were easy to find. The chairs that were filled from front to back had only one row filled, groomsmen and bridesmaids weren’t even there. Ceremonies that took an hour or more became half an hour long. The full production reduced.

The immediate families were there, a sincere gesture and sacrifice was made to make this wedding happen. Isabel’s dad even mentioned, “maganda na nangyari to simple lang.”I completely agree, I like this new norm.

The elegance in simplicity, no need to impress, the intimacy of family.
This will be the new norm for a while but I like this new norm.

Here’s Isabel and Miguel’s testimonial from their experience with us:

When the COVID lockdown was first announced, the strict regulations meant that Mico and I would need to move and downscale our May 1 wedding. Because our extended family and friends would no longer make it, we wanted to invest in capturing memories that would feel special despite our celebration’s small scale, and that could be shared with our loved ones, too. We’d booked Jaja long ago because we loved her candid, easy and vibrant style, so there was no question she was the supplier we wanted to keep. Her team was kind enough to offer us a simplified wedding package, and chat over Zoom to discuss our new plans.

We planned our new date in a matter of weeks. Since we could only have immediate family present, we did not have a coordinator for the day. But Jaja and Mariel went above and beyond their expected roles, and shared with us not only their own health and safety guidelines for shooting, but also a well-paced flow for us to use and adjust for our wedding day, which helped us have the most relaxed intimate wedding possible.

And relaxed it was! The team all arrived earlier than expected. We didn’t feel any time pressure from Jaja and Yosef, or any need to get certain shots in. We just let the day happen, and let them do their thing. They were also very considerate of COVID guidelines (the team all wore masks and kept a good distance), while at the same time stayed very personal, giving us kind guidance for our photos. We got our artist’s edit today and we couldn’t be happier with how Jaja and her team captured our wedding day – much smaller, yes, but still our dream come true. They brought out the very best of our homes, our families, our intimate ceremony and vows, and of course, our simple love story.