AXIOO

Directed by: Yosep Sugiarto

If you're wondering what the characters in our title mean, it's Mazel Tov, which means Congratulations in Hebrew. Yep, because we travelled 53554.9 Miles to Israel, just to say Mazel Tov to our dear friends Ayu and Haryo. Yet the best thing is that we also get the chance to shoot their fun and beautiful wedding.

Just to back up the story a little bit, about 4 months ago Aprilla, sister of Ayu, a good friend of mine all the way from when we were in San Francisco approached David and I and told us that her sister is getting married in Israel and she wanted us to be there. To be honest, I was delirious to the fact that we'll be shooting a wedding IN Israel, and above all, we're shooting a friend's wedding. Excited does not even come close to describing how I felt.

So after a long anticipation, December finally came, the four us David Soong, his wife Felicia (Fen), Yosep Sugiarto and I flew to Israel. We had a few days before the wedding, so we went for a tour around Israel and shot countless footage of the beautiful city, learned a lot about the history of Israel, went to places which I usually just read in the Bible, and of course ate their local food (and for the record: I LOVE ISRAEL FOOD).

It was winter season so it was quite cold the few days we were there, so we were quite concerned about the weather for the wedding day. But we were in Israel, the place where many miracles were performed by Jesus, the place where Jesus turned water into wine during a wedding feast, so we kept praying and believing. And true enough, that one day on the wedding day. The weather was PERFECT. It was warm and sunny on a winter afternoon. We had a beautiful service at Augusta Victoria Church in Mount of Olives. The weather stayed warm thru the nite as we partied and had plenty of fun and laughter at the rooftop restaurant in Mamilla Hotel. Ayu was dazzling in her beautiful wedding gown, and Haryo was as charming as ever.

The wedding, to me, couldn't get any more perfect, as many, I'd imagine would be dreaming to have this kind of wedding. It was intimate, it was beautiful and.. oh yeah, it was in Israel baby! So again, Mazel Tov to the beautiful couple. May your journey together be as beautiful as your wedding day.

Shalom

Donny