From Engagement to “I Do”
Some weddings you arrive at knowing the couple – this was one of them for us.
We photographed Cassidy & Hudson on their engagement morning.
The proposal happened first — a carefully planned surprise at a location that meant something to them, the kind of session that requires weeks of coordination and one very well-kept secret. We were there when Cassidy said yes. We watched Hudson’s creative set in asking Cassidy, and the genuine joy and happiness that only belongs to them at that morning in Palos Verdes. On our way home that morning, we felt something particular special about this pair, but we couldn’t put words to it until we got to know the couple a little bit more at their Wedding weekend.
Having the familiarity with the couple, leading up to their wedding day felt like catching up with an old friend. When I arrived at their rehearsal at Trump National Golf Club, I already knew these two – I knew how Hudson looks when he’s nervous, and I knew that Cassidy doesn’t perform for the camera — she is the kind of girl who lives in the moment and lets you catch her most raw and true self.
What I didn’t know yet was what I would witness at their rehearsal dinner this evening.
The Rehearsal Dinner
Spot: Bluewater Grill, Redondo Beach
The rehearsal dinner was at Blue Water Grill in Redondo Beach. I stayed through every speech. I’m glad I did as the evening allowed me to learn more about the couple the most authentic way possible.
Hudson was named after a missionary his parents had applied to in Hawaii on their honeymoon, and on the that very same day they received their acceptance letter, they found out they were pregnant. They couldn’t be missionaries anymore. So they named their son after one instead.
That detail, offered by Hudson’s father Derek, is the kind of thing that reframes everything you thought you understood about a person. Hudson was born seven weeks premature in Florida while his parents were on vacation. He went directly into an incubator. His mouth was taped shut around a breathing tube. His mother and father couldn’t hold him for the first three weeks of his life.
Born in adversity, Derek said. And that’s just how it started.
He finished chiropractic school early. Took over a practice at 24. Hired Cassidy at 16 — because she was, as Derek put it, so incredibly intelligent and smart and such a go-getter. They would arrive at the office early and read scripture together before the day began. That’s where the relationship started.
She’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me, Hudson said when he finally got up to speak. My car broke down for a long time. She would pick me up every morning at 5:30am. That’s when I started to realize I couldn’t live without her.
But the moment I will remember the loudest from that evening was quieter than any of the speeches.
Hudson’s biological mother, Adriana, died of brain cancer when Hudson was about three years old. His father Derek eventually remarried — a woman named Alison who, by every account in that room, loved Hudson and his siblings as completely as any mother could. Derek’s toast included a line about Alison that the room received in near silence: there has never, ever been a hint of insecurity in your life in regards to this. You’re just such an amazing woman and mom to them.
Before the evening ended, Alison stood and presented Cassidy with a gift.
She had found, after Adriana’s passing, three precious pieces of jewelry. She had held them through Hudson’s brothers’ weddings — presenting one piece to each bride at their rehearsal dinners. A ring to Megan. A ring to Amanda.
At this rehearsal dinner, she placed the last one in Cassidy’s hands. A sapphire ring.
It had your name all over it, she said.
I was across the room with my camera, no up close moment of the ring, just the moment that mattered the most.
Why Trump National Golf Club
Spot: Trump National Golf Club, Rancho Palos Verdes, California
For couples planning a wedding at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes — the reason usually falls within one thing.
When Cassidy and Hudson were choosing a venue, they weren’t looking for grand ballrooms or manicured gardens. They were looking for the ocean.
“The ocean views and cliffside are truly incredible,” Cassidy told me. “That’s what sold us. We really couldn’t picture ourselves anywhere without the ocean in the background — we’ve done a lot of hikes out in the Palos Verdes, and this venue just spoke to us.”
Trump National Golf Club sits on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, perched above the Pacific on cliffs that drop away behind the ceremony terrace. On a clear June evening, the view is the kind that doesn’t need to be described — it announces itself.
The bridal suite courtyard with good natural light, a stairway winding through bougainvillea hedges, the clock tower with stone paving for clean leading lines, Founders Park just below, and across the street the Maryland Ryan Sunset Park with open grass fields and the ocean as the backdrop.
Getting Ready (11:30am–2:15pm)
Coverage note for brides: Getting ready coverage began at 11:30am with Hudson and his groomsmen, and at 12:45pm at Trump National for Cassidy’s bridal preparation. Hair and makeup completed at 2pm, dress on by 2:15pm. With a 4pm ceremony, this left a tight window for bridal portraits (2:15–3pm) and groom/groomsmen portraits (3–3:20pm).
Cassidy and Hudson chose not to do a first look — which is absolutely a valid and meaningful choice. But it’s worth understanding the tradeoff: without a first look, all couple portraits and most family formals happen after the ceremony, compressed into the window before the reception. On a day with 250 guests and a full wedding party, that window fills up fast. We made every minute count, and Cassidy and Hudson later told me every photo came together exactly the way they had envisioned. That feedback meant everything. But I’d be doing future couples a disservice if I didn’t say it plainly: if there are specific moments you’re hoping to capture — a letter exchange, an extended getting-ready session, unhurried portraits — a first look creates the time for them. Without it, you’re working within whatever the post-ceremony window gives you, and some moments simply have to unfold on their own terms rather than be chased. That’s not a failure. It’s just the nature of a wedding day.
If you want unhurried getting-ready coverage that includes flatlay details, dress reveal, and candid bridal party moments — build in at least 2.5 hours from photography start to ceremony.
Hudson started his morning with his groomsmen and his seven siblings. The room had the energy of a large family that’s used to being together: loud, affectionate, completely at ease.
Then Cassidy’s dad showed up with his G-Wagon.
Richard hadn’t been part of the original getting-ready plan, but the idea surfaced organically — use the car as a prop, get the guys together, have some fun with it. We said yes immediately. What followed was fifteen minutes of the groomsmen and groom doing exactly what you’d hope a group of guys in suits would do with a blacked-out G-Wagon on a wedding morning: leaning on it, laughing, owning the moment. It wasn’t on the timeline, but it just felt completely right.
Somewhere in that same window, Hudson’s Dad gave Hudson an adjustment, the chiropractic kind of adjustments – father putting his hands on his son one more time in the way that needed no explanation. We documented it all authentically.
Cassidy’s getting ready was at the bridal suite within the backside of Trump National Golf Club, with her maid of honor and older sister Courtney alongside her. By the time she was in her Justin Alexander gown, the courtyard light was doing exactly what I had hoped.
Since Hudson and Cassidy had decided against a first look together — saving that for the altar, I proposed something that wasn’t on the original timeline: a first look between Cassidy and her dad, and a separate reveal moment with her bridesmaids. Neither had been planned, but we felt it was the right moments to document, so we did them.
Richard seeing his daughter in her dress for the first time. The bridesmaids gathered in the bridal suite before anyone else saw her. Pastor came in to say a prayer. These are the moments that are meaningful to this particular couple and their families, they became some of the most quietly powerful images from the entire day. We couldn’t roam far from the suite given where we were in the timeline, but we made every corner of that room count.
Ceremony (4:00pm)
Spot: Cliffside Terrace
Hudson’s wedding party was almost entirely his own family — his sisters, his cousins, the people who have surrounded him his whole life. Cassidy’s sister Courtney walked as maid of honor. The flower girl understood her assignment and sprinkled rose petals as she entered down the isle, welcoming the bride.
When Cassidy appeared at the top of the aisle on her father Richard’s arm, Hudson’s expression was exactly what you hope for and can never quite predict.
They had never kissed before. Not once. They had made the decision to save that moment for the ceremony — for the altar, for the first time in front of everyone they loved. When the officiant pronounced them husband and wife and they finally closed that distance, 250 people held their breath at exactly the same moment.
It was the kind of first kiss that earns the silence it gets.
Couple Portraits (5:15pm)
Coverage note for brides: Couple portraits happened in one window — approximately 55 minutes starting at 5:15pm, right after family formals. By the time we reached the reception program, the sunset window at 7:45pm had closed. It happens. A day with 250 guests, no first look, and a full wedding party processional moves fast, and some things have to give. What we got in that 5:15pm window was genuine and beautiful — and Cassidy and Hudson said every photo came together the way they envisioned. But if sunset portraits on the cliffside are important to you at Trump National, build them explicitly into your reception timeline as a named break, and protect that window with your planner.
After family formals wrapped, I had one window with just the two of them. Two spots: the trail overlook at the top of the cliffs, where the Pacific opens up behind them in every direction, and the stone pillar gazebo at Founders Park below — quieter, more sheltered, a different quality of light entirely.
That was it. Two spots, one window. And it was enough.
Reception (6:00pm–9:30pm)
Coverage note for brides: Reception ran from 6pm to 9:30pm — 3.5 hours. Key moments were front-loaded: grand entrance 6:18pm, first dance 6:22pm, parent dances 6:25pm, welcome speeches 6:30pm. Dinner and toasts 6:40–8pm. Cake cutting and open dance floor at 8pm.
The ballroom opened at 6pm — chandelier light, the dance floor already calling. Cassidy’s Dad gave the first welcome speech. The toasts moved through the bridal party with the warmth of a group that has known each other long enough to have authentic stories to share.
Hudson and Cassidy’s first dance was to I Have But One Heart. The whole song. They didn’t cut it short.
Sunset came and went at 8:05pm while we were in the ballroom — the dance floor full, the espresso cart and gelato cart and donut table all running, the full abundance of 250 people in a good ballroom when everyone was enjoying conversations and togetherness. Some evenings the sunset is the punctuation. This one didn’t need it.
At 9:15, the sparkler send-off, the pair came down the glowing steps and sparklers, headed straight into the getaway vehicle. There they left the party with a true grand exit.
How to Plan Your Wedding at Trump National Golf Club, Rancho Palos Verdes
Trump National Golf Club sits at 1 Trump National Dr, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275 — on the Palos Verdes Peninsula between Los Angeles and Orange County. Cliffside ceremony terrace with direct Pacific Ocean views, cocktail hour at the terrace level, ballroom with 250+ capacity, chandelier, fireplace, and central dance floor.
Here’s a dedicated guide for couples considering this venue — including a sample timeline for an unhurried full day of coverage. You can find it on our Trump National Golf Club wedding photography page.
Build in time for the stairway. It is one of the most distinctive portrait locations on the property and deserves 10–15 dedicated minutes.
Plan around two portrait windows. 5:15pm for grounds portraits in warm afternoon light; 7:45pm for sunset portraits on the cliffside. Both are worth it if your timeline allows.
Vendors
📍 Venue @trumpgola Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles
🗒️ Planner Paola @sayidotodetails_paola Say I Do To Details
📸 Photographer Stephanie @photography.stephanieip Stephanie Ip Photography
🎥 Videographer Hai @elisefilms Elise Films
💋 Makeup by Melody at Spackle & Glue @SpackleAndGlue.
🎀 Hair by Lin at Kelly Zhang Agency @kellyzhangagency
💐 Florist Mitsuko @mitsuko_floral Mitsuko Floral
👰🏻♀️ Wedding Dress by Justin Alexander @justinalexander @bridalelegancestudio
👗 Bridesmaid Dress by Azazie @azazieofficial
💒 Officiant Chris at Arxis Group
💍 Rings by Medawar Fine Jewelers @medawarfinejewelers
🪩 DJ Christian @voxdjs VOX DJs
☕️ Espresso by Lattes Inc @lattesinc
🍨 Gelato by Gelato California @gelatocalifornia
🍩 Donuts by Sidecar Doughnuts @sidecardoughnuts
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