Traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai Engagement Session | Cory & Yen
When I got Cory & Yen’s initial inquiry email asking if they could do their engagement photos in the traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai, I just about jumped out of my chair out of sheer excitement.
Yen’s native culture is one I’ve been simultaneously fascinated with while also not spending much time learning about, so I couldn’t wait to learn more during our time with them. Over the month between setting their date and photographing them, I spent one too many hours on Pinterest in absolute awe of how stunning the ao dai are both in detail and color, and I became even more excited when the weather at Montana de Oro the night of their session was a deep, heavy fog.
This weather is normally something I would dread, I love the sun and its bright effect on photos, but this was an occasion in which I was grateful the dense fog would allow nothing else about the scenery to pop but Cory & Yen’s bright red outfits. Even better than the combination of culture and weather were these two. Cory and Yen are two incredibly kind and gentle people, both to each other and to everyone around them. We had such a great time learning about their story and hearing about their upcoming wedding plans!
These two met when Yen had first moved to the United States from Vietnam and was working in a sushi restaurant here on the Central Coast. Cory and his friends came in one night and Cory himself ordered a roll embarrassingly wrong, or so he thought. Yen was attracted to his charm and his ability to make her laugh, and the two began dating. Here we are six years later!
Cory and Yen got engaged at the top of Prefumo Canyon overlooking Morro Bay last fall after a wine tasting adventure at Kelsey, and have been planning a wedding day that reflects who they are and the people they love perfectly. Their wedding plans are the ultimate epitome of what it means to ~ do you ~ on your day.
These two, after being married in a traditional Catholic ceremony, are joining everyone they love at the local bowling alley for their reception. They love this idea because it doesn’t feel so formal, it’s more like any regular night they would spend hanging out with their friends and getting the opportunity to enjoy all of their guests. And the best part? These two aren’t fans of regular cake, so they’ll be eating a giant cinnamon roll cake instead. We’re so freakin excited for them!!
Keep scrolling to see some of our favorite photos ever, and these two celebrating their engagement season :) AND a special shoutout to one of our favorite makeup artists on the Central Coast, Anna Grimes, for doing such a stunning job on Yen’s makeup for this session!!!
