Lovers in Japan

I know I have yet to blog about my own wedding before I show our post-nuptial video but I’m dying to share this with everyone. From the beginning we were decided on getting a post-nup photo session instead of the usual pre-nup pictorial. We had a couple of reasons why we wanted to do it this way. One was that we didn’t want a video overload in our wedding. We limited the videos to our wedding slideshow and on-site video to have the rest of the time for a very relaxed program. Another reason was that we couldn’t pick the perfect spot in Manila to shoot it. So instead of stressing about it before the wedding day, I just resolved to the fact that I will just think about it after the wedding.

Ian and I planned to have our honeymoon in Japan. Francis Perez, one of our photographers at the wedding candidly joked about having our post-nup in Japan instead. We laughed at the idea at first. But as the days passed by we started to think about how cool it will actually be to shoot at a foreign country with all the beautiful unexplored sights. So Japan it was! And Francis was in for the ride!

Our photo shoot was indeed a memorable one. Even with all the preparations, weather research and organized planning we were in for an unexpected surprise. We woke up early and met at Starbucks, each of us excited for what was in store for this Japanese adventure. I nervously told Francis that I was just going to try out some random Japanese salon for my make up. I knew I was either going to hate it or love it! Fortunately, we found a really nice salon with the kindest staff. The Japanese are known to be meticulous with their art, hence my curls was as perfect as perfect can be. Not a strand out of its right position and I felt like one of those girls in a Japanese ads I saw in the subway.

Now we’re ready! We shot a few pictures at the salon and my make-up artist ran to get her camera and started shooting along with Francis. Wow, I felt like a movie star! But this was not a happy foreshadowing of what was ahead. As the afternoon drew near and we were at our first location in Nara, it started raining. Goodbye perfect curls, hello freezing weather. It was probably 5°C and I was in a gown wearing only a light jacket. But the show must go on! If my husband and photographer weren’t complaining, I sure wasn’t gonna start. Looking back I can’t help but laugh. Although the weather wasn’t ideal, we had such great memories of our shoot that made it worth it. My favorite is when we were shooting at the busy subway. Francis says “Janna, when I say sit, just sit on the floor, don’t mind the people walking, just pose. We only have seconds to capture this shot.” I had to stop myself from laughing because after a few seconds when we started posing, four or five passers by pulled out cameras and cellphones to take our pictures. Thank you Francis for another Hollywood moment. Our shoot ended a little before midnight and I was too tired to think.

All in all, I walked away just hoping I looked decent in a few shots. Besides, we were not pressured to show it to anyone.

After rain comes a rainbow. Here’s ours…

Special thanks to:

  • God – For making Japan such a beautiful place, and for the rain that actually made our shoot look very wintery and cozy.
  • My husband Ian – For being such a dashing subject and making it easy for me to act in-love.
  • Super photographer Francis Perez – For being the brain behind the camera and for the art you brought to life.
  • Japanese salon – For my ultra Japanese look and the perfect curls that lasted an hour.
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