Wedding
Tina + Brian {Fairfield, CT Wedding Photography}
Weddings are full of joy. Usually, it is the excitement of the couple that carries the day. As a wedding photographer, you learn to tap into it and let it carry you along and provide the energy and focus that the day demands.
Then you get the call. One of your close friends from way back when is getting married, and they want you to photograph the wedding. Then, it’s not just the emotion of the couple…this is an important person in your life, and you can share directly in that joy and celebration.
So it was when Tina got in touch several months ago. We were good friends back at Fairfield U, and I would have bent over backwards to get to photograph her big day. And since she now lives on the same road as the university, and was having the ceremony and portraits on campus, I was prepared to bend over backwards to photograph the wedding.
Other friends were also involved in the day. Kerry and Rebecca were in the wedding party. Sidebar: when Tina asked me to shoot the wedding, she insisted there would be no bridal party. Real small and simple, she said. She ended up with 12 bridesmaids.
And Kristie Kistner, another dear college friend who has a photography business in Connecticut, was able to help me out second shooting.
I loved it. Now that I am done with the photos, and the gallery has been delivered, it’s really pleasant to think about what I have contributed to a friend’s life. Decades from now, when her grandkids are looking at the photo album during some family holiday, they’ll be looking at the work of a good friend. That makes me feel good.
Plus, it was a great wedding. Congratulations to Tina and Brian, and many many many best wishes as they continue their lives together.
Will + Luann {Anthony Wayne House Wedding}
This beautiful country wedding is going back in the archives a bit, and for some reason it never came up in my blogging queue. Which is funny, because this is just the kind of wedding I love to photograph. I’ve been shooting so much in Philadelphia recently, and there’s lots to be said for working in the elegant Center City venues, but when it’s a beautiful autumn day and there’s a fantastic historical venue and a gorgeous couple, well.
So congratulations to Will and Luann! Their ceremony and reception, both held at the historic Anthony Wayne House in Paoli, PA, were the height of elegant, laid-back, all-smiles-on-deck joy. A heart-felt outdoor ceremony under a handmade wedding canopy. A walk along a rustic fence beneath full-blown autumn color. A tent reception on a perfect evening. A fire ring. And I’d like to call your attention to the photograph of the setting sun shining through the champagne glasses as the toasts approach.
Really. In so many ways, a perfect day.
As an aside, Luann’s makeup artist for the day was Kim, one of my brides who has appeared here previously. It took me awhile to recognize her, but I finally came around to it. Always great to see past couples out and about in the world!
Congratulations, Emily and Vic! { Philadelphia, PA Knowlton Mansion Wedding }
Emily and Vic were married at Philadelphia’s Knowlton Mansion, and even though the wedding itself was almost a year ago, I just had the pleasure of finishing up their album and seeing them again to hand it over.
Knowlton Mansion is such a fantastic venue–pity the ceremony couldn’t have been outside. The giant old house has all kinds of little nooks and crannies and intimate spaces that create great light, and the event space is also wonderful.
Emily and Vic themselves were also fantastic, a chill, slightly wry couple with a sense of humor and go-with-the-flow demeanor that is so enjoyable to work with. Detail of the day: Vic and his dad made the wine that was used in the ceremony and that was handed out as favors at the end of the night. Always lovely to see one of my photographs on a wine label!
Congratulations to this beautiful couple, and I wish them many years of happiness!
For those who want to know, many of these images were shot on film: Kodak Portra 400 and Tri-X, the two greatest films around these days.
Congratulations, Indra and Chris! {Glen Cove, New York Wedding Photography}
Indra and Chris’s wedding at Glen Cove Mansion was one I almost did not get to shoot. When the couple initially booked me to photograph their wedding, it was planned for Philadelphia. A change of plans moved the celebration to Long Island. I’m always disappointed not to get to work with a couple when plans changed, so I let them know that I always welcome the opportunity to travel someplace far (not that Long Island is terribly far), and they ended up sticking with me and having me drive up. I am so glad that I did.
I am such of fan of ceremonies and rituals…anything that shows how one culture or another celebrates momentous events. Indra and Chris’ wedding was just that. First, there was a Hindu wedding ceremony with all of its rich colors, textures, ornate decorations, and elaborate symbolism on the altar. There are the shawls and the circling of the fire, the music. It was wonderful and beautiful.
As if that were not enough, they then went outside and had another ceremony in the American tradition, outside, on the patio, with the tux and the white dress and a lovely harp. The day was transitioning to evening and it could not have been more perfect.
One more transition to inside for cocktails and a beautiful reception, with a long string of friends and relatives giving testimonial to what a wonderful couple, what a wonderful day, what a wonderful celebration was at hand.
Thanks so much to Indra and Chris for having me drive up to Long Island for the wedding. Great people make the drive worth it, and this drive was worth it. Many many congratulations!
Rebecca and Miguel {Easton, PA Wedding Photography}
We’re gonna start with that image. Because I love it. Not just because I loved working with Miguel and Rebecca, not just because this photograph kind of instantly raised the bar for what I am willing to accept out of myself….I love it because of how this image happened.
It was one of those days where I felt as if I was just cruising along. I have my routine. I have my way of doing things, and in general it works. I was making nice pictures (see below!). We had a good bit of down time after the ceremony and before the reception, and we got to spend much of that time in the wonderful upstairs rooms at the Bank Street Annex in Easton. Not much was happening, and I wanted to do something that showed off the fanciness of the rooms.
During weddings, I am mostly a natural light photographer (at least up until the reception). But this day, I looked over at my lighting bag, and decided I wanted to take out the big umbrella, the Photek Softlighter II, and do something fashiony. Rebecca was game for draping herself all over that chair, Miguel perched himself on the table, and we got the shot in just a couple tries.
Photographers often say that the equipment does not make the photographer, and that is true. But the roll equipment can play in driving creativity should also not be overlooked. It was my equipment that motivated me to take this image, and it is the lights that make the image. Ask me sometime about the stuff I use! I love it all for different reasons, but most of all, I love it because it helps me take the images I want to take.
But enough about me! To Rebecca and Miguel!
Congratulations Katrina and Aaron! {Nanticoke, PA Wedding Photography}
Sometimes, a bride and groom and wedding day and venue and even the drive there are just perfectly right up your alley. In an ideal world, all of us photographers could pick our ideal clients and just work on weddings that tickle us pink. There is much to be said for working with a variety of clients in a variety of settings on a variety of celebrations, but boy don’t we all love it when things just click.
Katrina and Aaron’s wedding was one of those clicks. A smart, fun, funny, charming couple with an excellent back story, lots of outdoorsness, lots of details, perfect weather, a bluegrass band, a singing married couple. It all added up to a beautiful day. So many congratulations go out to the couple, as well as an expression of gratitude for asking me to shoot such a personal event.
Kim and Brenton! {New Hope Wedding Photography}
I’m going to be honest with you: it was a rainy spring. Certainly more than 50% of my spring weddings didn’t just see rain…they saw Start-Building-The-Ark rain all day long.
It got to be frustrating. You get to a couple a little bit, you find out about their venue. You realize that this is a pretty cool couple and a gorgeous venue. You eagerly anticipate the day and plan out all the wonderful outdoor shots you can get amidst all the little nooks and crannies of an amazing location.
Then the rains come.
Somewhere along the way, you are reminded that the best part of weddings is not the great backdrops they take place against. It’s not the location. It’s about expression, and gesture, and mood, the words that are said, the way the bride wraps her arms around the groom’s neck on the dance floor as the evening carries on.
So let it rain! Kim and Brenton got married and did so stylishly, they celebrated, they danced, they made people cry. Congratulations, and best wishes!
Congratulations, James and Amanda! {Philadelphia Wedding Photography}
James and Amanda celebrated a small, classy, simple wedding aboard the Moshulu in the Delaware River back in the first few days of 2014. Here’s wishing them all the best!
Of course, weddings are fun events pretty much all the time. The true test of a relationship is when adversity strikes. Which in this case came right about ceremony time, when the hired officiant did not show up and couldn’t be reached. Amazingly enough, panic did not set in, tempers did not flare, and cheese plates appeared. An alternate officiant was somehow found, and she arrived and provided a wonderful, warm ceremony for these two very deserving people.
I cannot thank James and Amanda, and their families, enough, for how they handled an incredibly…um…incredible situation. Everyone can be on good behavior when all is going well. But when people actually become more pleasant when the situation is dire…that means you are among good people.
The staff of the Moshulu also deserve credit. They brought out the hors d’oevres, a cheese plate materialized, cocktail hour was moved up to right now while the officiant got herself down to the boat, and it was all done with kindness, care, and attention.
I had the easy job. I photographed good-looking people dressed well and laughing at fate.
Erin and Marc’s La Massaria Elegant-Rustic-Country-Club-Barn Wedding {Gilbertsville, PA Wedding Photography}
La Massaria at Bella Vista Golf Club was such an excellent venue for Marc and Erin’s wedding. The event space is a perfect blend of rustic and elegant, and, if this one evening is any indication, the weather there is always perfect. Add in a pleasant and professional banquet staff, an amazing couple, and one of the funnier best man speeches to come down the pipe in some time, and you’ve got an event to remember.
One thing I loved about this day was the pacing. Wedding days can be long and exhausting, but there were these little pockets of time throughout the day that allowed us to take a moment, relax, breathe…enjoy a half-glass of wine to calm the nerves, take a moment to grab some quick candids of the kids, reflect on the importance of being surrounded by those who love you, thank the officiant for a deeply personal and meaningful ceremony.
Thank you so much again to Erin and Marc for having us document their wedding. It was a pleasure, pleasure, pleasure.
