31 Jul 2011, Posted by Carmen in Blog, East Bay Wedding, Outdoor Wedding, 0 Comments
Berkeley Tilden Park Wedding Photography | Subterraneum, Oakland | Susan + Pan
Welcome to Susan & Pan’s “pan”-cultural wedding! (Sorry everyone, especially Pan – I had to make that really bad pun!) But seriously, it really was pretty fantastic how many different cultural and personal elements this couple wove into their Tilden Park ceremony. Pan’s father is from Greece, so Susan & Pan got Stefania placed on their heads early on in the ceremony. In Ancient Greece, these were wedding crowns made with olive branches, vines and lemon blossoms, in honor of the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love. The joining of the two unbroken circles by a ribbon represents the union of two individuals into one. There was also the Jewish tradition of sharing wine from a Kiddush cup, as an affirmation of their hope for the future, and many beautiful blessings read, each by a different friend. There were also 2 poems read, one of which was read in Greek by a friend of theirs, who by crazy coincidence is Greek herself (she’s the one in one of the photos).
After a break at Susan & Pan’s home, a change of clothes for the evening, and a brief stint at The Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, we moved on to the second part of the wedding day, for a complete change of pace. From idilic Tilden Park meadows, we went to the reception at Subterraneum in Oakland – a very cool (literally too!) wine storage facility in an industrial area that doubles as quite a hip reception site. Being foodies themselves, Susan & Pan set up several yummy food spreads at Subterraneum, as well as a very fun photo booth and a full bar set up in the freight elevator (!) complete with a whole range of drinks from non-alcoholic wine-country sodas to Uozo, of course 
. And then it turns out that Pan used to be a national ballroom dance champion, and Susan (who’s a lawyer by day), has been tearing up the floor at the swing dance halls by night for a while, and they actually met on the dance floor. So their first dance was a jaw-dropping lighting-speed swing dance not to be missed! I could hardly photograph it for just wanting to watch it! Thank you to Lisa Zanassi Blake of Bellissima Vita Weddings for her awesome wedding coordination that kept the whole day running smoothly. Congratulations Susan & Pan, it was a joy to share your wedding day with you!
Some of the wedding guests were just so gosh-darned stylish!
and then back home & to the Claremont Hotel for a rest and a change into evening clothes…
Love this next mood shot by my second shooter Lisa Whalen…
You know the toast is good when the whole family is laughing uncontrollably…
