Before their grand wedding overlooking Kowloon at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, Helen and CY travelled to Prague for a winter pre-wedding — a quiet chapter before the celebrations to come. We began in the Presidential Suite of the Mandarin Oriental, where the terrace above Malá Strana opened onto a city wrapped in snow. They were playful, radiant, and full of ease, bringing warmth to the coldest of days.
As Prague softened under falling snow, its medieval spires and winter light became the backdrop to something more than a portrait session. It was a journey through the Czech Republic — through Prague, Český Krumlov, and Hluboká Castle — shaped less by poses than by presence, and by the tenderness of CY wanting to keep Helen warm through it all. What emerged was a portrait of place, time, and affection that felt entirely their own.
Two months later, I joined them as a guest at their wedding at the Peninsula. As guests arrived at the InterContinental reception, an installation of photographs and keepsakes from their life together greeted more than 250 people. At its center was a very large framed canvas of Helen and CY on the balcony of the Hanavský Pavilion, snow falling around them, smiling in a warm embrace — a quiet image that held the room still.
She had never experienced snow before.