I have been in Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden (Long Beach) a few times before.  I was here last month as well.  But I have never came to the Japanese Garden for a night wedding reception. It was a perfect day for outdoor wedding.  The entire garden was lit up.

It was a morning wedding.  Ceremony was scheduled to start at 9am.
I was scheduled to come to the wedding site (Japanese Garden) by 8am.
So, I had to wake up 4 am and hit the freeway by 6.

Waking up 4am on Saturday was not easy.
I was worried about not making it to the wedding on time.
I hit the freeway at 6am, the Sun was not up yet.

I was super hungry.  I only had my ritualistic coffee.
Traffic to Long Beach was very good.
As I was driving, the Sun was coming up.  It was a clear day over Los Angeles area.
But, when I arrived at Long Beach, everything went dark… morning fog was very thick at Long Beach.

California State University Long Beach, 30 minutes before wedding ceremony

It took me less than 70 minutes to get to Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden.
In fact, I was too early.  I left CSU Long Beach and went to Krispi Kreme near by.
We don’t have Krispi Kreme in Ventura County anymore, so I enjoyed a couple doughnuts there.  I bought 3 bags of coffee as well.  They should last about a year.

Earl Burns Miller Japanese garden is not just known for the garden. it’s also well known for the Koi Fishes.  They sell fish food right by the pond for $0.25.  You need to bring your own container.  You can sit by the pond and feed the fish… and watch them fighting for food.

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, Long Beach

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden, Long Beach

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden
CSU Long Beach 1250 Bellflower Boulevard  Long Beach , CA 90840
http://www.csulb.edu/~jgarden/ 562-985-8889

Long Beach Airport Marriott

I was looking at a long day (1pm – 11pm, plus 3 hours driving) I left home 10:30AM, 2 & 1/2 hours before my schedule. I went through some heavy traffic, but I arrived at Long Beach Airport Marriott about 40 minutes before my schedule.  It’s always better to get there early. After a few limo shots, we went to the Japanese Garden. We took care of formal shots before the ceremony. We had a very strong Sunlight. Luckily, there was a big tree.  I took all the pictures under there. Everything went smooth.

Before reception, when I was taking detail shots of the table, I leaned on my camera and broke my flash cable.  It didn’t really effect my work because I carry 3 identical cameras at the weddings just in case. 2 of them are equipped with identical flash system.  So, broken cable didn’t effect me at all. Well, I’m out $60.00 I got to know the DJ.  We joked a lot. The DJ kept the party going.

Long Beach Airport Marriott Hotel
4700 Airport Plaza Drive  Long Beach, CA 98015
www.marriott.com/property/propertypage/LGBLB
(562) 425-5210

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden
CSU Long Beach 1250 Bellflower Boulevard  Long Beach , CA 90840
www.csulb.edu/~jgarden/ 562-985-8889