Bomee and Ivan’s Multicultural Philadelphia Wedding Celebration

Like many modern love stories, Bomee and Ivan’s began with a swipe on a dating app. In fact, Bomee was the one to make the first move on Hinge.

Bomee and Iván’s day was a beautiful mix of three cultures. Iván is from Colombia while Bomee was born in Korea and grew up in Philadelphia. Their ceremony took place at Antioch Church in a combination of English, Spanish, and Korean. While navigating these cultural differences, what has brought them together is their shared faith. Bomee is also fluent in Spanish  and even wrote her vows to Iván in his native language.

During the reception, Bomee mentioned that it was so beautiful to see a big room full of so many different cultures because it was what she envisions heaven to look like. One of my favorite parts of documenting weddings is learning about so many different cultures and religions and being able to capture the beauty of them all.

We did the first look a little differently, and with a lot less looking. Bomee and Iván wanted to pray together before the ceremony while saving the first look for the wedding aisle. The solution was to cover Ivan’s eyes with a tie! Seeing his reaction at the altar definitely made the blindfold worth it in the end.

Bomee and Iván also kept it simple with no wedding party, just a few immediate family members helping them prepare. I always encourage my couples to think outside the box and remind them that they don’t have to do anything they don’t want to just because tradition says they should. No wedding party allowed them to have more time together just the two of them, and they still were able to enjoy the company of all their guests during the reception. 

They went for a clean and simple look for their wedding decor, using all white flowers with touches of greenery. These details matched perfectly with Bomee’s satin bridal gown with a long veil and Ivan’s classic black tux. They also had a super fun bubble exit leaving the church on the way to their limo!

After the reception, we headed to the beautiful Stoneleigh Gardens for portraits. It was such an amazing location with so many places to take photos. I could have spent all day there! We were also so lucky with the weather, the clouds made the light very soft and it started to drizzle just as we were wrapping up!

The most meaningful part of any wedding is knowing that I was able to help the couple feel good on their day and to create something they will love forever. This sweet review from Bomee and Iván is beyond words!
“Becca is truly the best! We feel so blessed to have found her; she was just the right person for capturing our wedding! She is able to speak Spanish, which is my husband’s native language, and she made us feel so comfortable from the first conversation we had with her. The photos turned out simply beautiful, but what makes Becca a remarkable photographer is her ability to make people feel at ease and to roll with any situation thrown at her. Our wedding day didn’t go as scheduled, and the timing of everything was thrown off, but Becca made sure that we were able to get the shots we wanted and her calm and cool demeanor helped keep us relaxed as well - which in turn made the photos turn out even better! It was such a pleasure to work with Becca and we would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a photographer to capture their special day!”