Unapologetic hugger. Gratuitous exclamation point and heart eye emoji user. Passionate about all things wine, cheese, travel, and chocolate.
hi, im moni.
Hello, howdy, and hi! I'm Monica, but my friends call me Moni (Mah-ni). I'm Monica - a fine art wedding & portrait photographer based n the San Francisco bay area and beyond!
I first fell in love with weddings when I was the maid of honor at my sister's wedding 10 years ago. It was there that I got my first taste of what a wedding day is truly about. It's not just about how beautiful the flowers were or how perfect the bride looked. It's about the people. The moments. The emotions. And the love shared between two people.
That's what I am about. I'm there to capture photos that are not just beautiful, but that tell a story. I want you to be able to relive every second of your wedding day through your wedding album. I''ll capture the classic portraits for the family albums, but most importantly, all the in-between moments. Whether it's the way he brushed your hair out of her face before he kissed you or dad tearing up during your first dance together, I'll be there to remind you of what this day means to you and to let every moment sink in. I'll be there to make sure your hair is perfect, to fluff your dress, but I may or may not also be the one to encourage you to pound another shot at the bar. I'll be your bridesmaid, hype woman, and photographer all rolled into one. Ready to get this party started?
Ever since I was young, I've always heard about my dad having this whole other life before immigrating to the United States. It had been many years later when I discovered that he had been a field reporter for a prominent newspaper in Hong Kong. Then at the age of 10, my dad passed, and everything changed. Ever since then, family photos have taken a whole new meaning for me. Through my dad's photographs, I saw bits and pieces of his life before I had fully gotten to know him; I saw him as a teenager playing soccer in Hong Kong, or how he wore a black bell bottom suit on the day he married my mom, and how empty the rooms looked in my childhood home from when my family first moved in.
I became a photographer because I too, want you to have these photographs. I want you to have the photographs that can tell a story for generations to come. I want you to look at a photo and remember how wet your dress got after dancing in the rain, but it was your wedding day, and you didn't care. Or how your car was filled with sand because the kids dragged it into the car, but you didn't care, because it was such a fun day. If that speaks to you, I'd love to meet you!
My Why
MATCHA LATTES ARE MY GO TO DRINK
I love matcha anything, but I can't make it through the day without a hot matcha or an iced matcha latte!
IF I COULD CHOOSE A LAST MEAL IT WOULD BE....
An in-n-out cheeseburger with raw onions, fries with extra spread, and a slice of chocolate cake or a Haagen Daaz rocky road ice cream.
MY FIANCEE, MARK
He makes me laugh harder than anyone in the whole wide world. If you were a fly on the wall inside our apartment, you'd likely find us cooking, eating, and quoting obscure lines from movies! We don't take life too seriously and always find a way to make each other belly laugh.
Photo by
Peony Photography
THE SPICIER, THE BETTER
If I could, I would make my ice cream spicy. That's how much I love spicy food! I love hot sauce, chili oils, Thai chilies, spicy chips, and anything you can possibly think of! I would love doing the Hot Ones challenge if I could. Every time I travel, I try to bring home a bottle of hot sauce home to my fiancee!
MY FAMILY IS MY EVERYTHING
My career started all because my family gifted me a little Canon Rebel T3i on my 23rd birthday. And I've been finding ways to repay them ever since. Whether it's taking my mom on my work trips with me or documenting my sister's family milestones for babies 1 through 5, my photography journey has always been rooted in family and love.
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