{"id":20466,"date":"2026-07-18T01:40:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T01:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/photography.stephanieip.com\/journal\/?p=20466"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T19:36:59","slug":"trump-national-golf-club-wedding-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/photography.stephanieip.com\/journal\/trump-national-golf-club-wedding-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"A First Kiss at the Altar at Trump National Golf Club Wedding | Cassidy & Hudson"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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From Engagement to \u201cI Do\u201d<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Some weddings you arrive at knowing the couple – this was one of them for us.<\/p>

We photographed Cassidy & Hudson on their engagement morning.<\/p>

The proposal happened first \u2014 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\u2019t put words to it until we got to know the couple a little bit more at their Wedding weekend.<\/p>

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 \u2014 she is the kind of girl who lives in the moment and lets you catch her most raw and true self.<\/p>

What I didn’t know yet was what I would witness at their rehearsal dinner this evening.<\/p>

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The Rehearsal Dinner <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Spot: Bluewater Grill, Redondo Beach<\/h5>

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.<\/p>

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.<\/p>

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.<\/p>

Born in adversity,<\/em> Derek said. And that’s just how it started.<\/em><\/p>

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He finished chiropractic school early. Took over a practice at 24. Hired Cassidy at 16 \u2014 because she was, as Derek put it, so incredibly intelligent and smart and such a go-getter.<\/em> They would arrive at the office early and read scripture together before the day began. That’s where the relationship started.<\/p>

She’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,<\/em> 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.<\/em><\/p>

But the moment I will remember the loudest from that evening was quieter than any of the speeches.<\/p>

Hudson’s biological mother, Adriana, died of brain cancer when Hudson was about three years old. His father Derek eventually remarried \u2014 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.<\/em><\/p>

Before the evening ended, Alison stood and presented Cassidy with a gift.<\/p>

She had found, after Adriana’s passing, three precious pieces of jewelry. She had held them through Hudson’s brothers’ weddings \u2014 presenting one piece to each bride at their rehearsal dinners. A ring to Megan. A ring to Amanda.<\/p>

At this rehearsal dinner, she placed the last one in Cassidy’s hands. A sapphire ring.<\/p>

It had your name all over it,<\/em> she said.<\/p>

I was across the room with my camera, no up close moment of the ring, just the moment that mattered the most.<\/p>

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