Full Weddings

Garden City Hotel Wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

We feel truly lucky to have been a part of Julie and Marc's incredible wedding at the Garden City Hotel. The sun was shining brilliantly, setting the stage for a beautiful celebration.

We've had the pleasure of photographing two of Julie's cousins' weddings, so seeing so many familiar faces made the day even more special. The wedding party was filled with vibrant energy throughout the event.

The most unforgettable moment was when Julie, a talented trombone player, surprised everyone (including Marc!) by joining the fantastic Hank Lane band for a set.

The dance floor was electric, with Julie fully embracing the moment and dancing with as many friends and family as possible. We're genuinely grateful to have shared this unforgettable day with Julie, Marc, and their loved ones, capturing memories that will last a lifetime.

Tribeca Rooftop wedding: Salisha and Andrew /  by Ryan Brenizer

Salisha and Andew smile with their whole bodies. On a typical day, it’s a pleasure to be around their cheer and energy … but on their wedding day, their joy and personalities were busting down the walls of the fantastic Tribeca Rooftop.

The wedding was filled with talented performers bringing energy, bringing song, bringing emotion, and frankly bringing it, but the deep emotion of the day was anything but a performance.

Thank you for making the world a better place with your laughter and love, Salisha and Andrew!

Harvard Club wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

Neither rain nor more rain nor … even more rain … could keep Kelly and John from a marvelous wedding day. The grandeur of the reception at the Harvard Club and ceremony at Church of St. Vincent Ferrer didn’t hurt, but their deep connection to each other and family was truly what defined the day.

Legacy Castle wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

Right from the start we knew Suzette and Andres had a tight bond — so tight that they introduced themselves to us as “SuDre.” We also knew that a giant (for 2021) Hindu/Dominican wedding featuring a couple as fun as they are would be raucous , joyous, and just an amazing experience throughout. Few venues could properly hold all of this energy — the pre-2020 plan was to essentially take over the city of Montreal — but The Legacy Castle served perfectly.

Le Chateau South Salem wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

Usually our highest compliment for a wedding is “Boy, I wish I’d been a guest!” But our assistant Brendan did us one better in his assessment of Lauren and Taylor’s wedding. As we packed up, he said “Well, I don’t need to plan a wedding now — this was perfect in every way, I’ll just do this one.” There are, of course, a few more stages in wedding planning than just saying “Give me the Lauren and Taylor!” but it shows what a fantastic experience this day was, partially due to the fine work of Le Chateau but also because of the great spirit and kindness of their friends and family (which are probably not part of the package.)

New York Botanic Garden wedding at The Garden Terrace /  by Ryan Brenizer

The New York Botanic Garden is a magical place, and Amma and Jesse’s wedding made the most of it. From the incredible greenery — enhanced with the wonderful asymmetric designs of WYLD — to an absolutely crazy dance floor featuring Jesse’s hilarious and unique dance moves, every part of this day reminded us that part of the fun of this job is that we get to go back and re-live the stories ourselves.

Mansion at Oyster Bay wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

Here it comes, 2021! I don’t think we’ve ever been so excited to document or even just be at weddings again, tied only with last June when our job and passion became legal again. Every wedding has felt deeper and more meaningful than ever, as every guest had to be deeply conscious and *work* just to be there, and we are vaccinated as of the end of March (but still careful) and ready to mix with that wonderful energy again.

And what a fantastic way to start 2021 than with Alli and Alex. A little FYI: We were once slated to star in our own reality show — but it turns out that you’re not the perfect reality show subject when your job is to be an oasis of calm at all times. Still, it was a fun experience to make and we got to meet amazing people like Alli. And since then, she met the amazing Alex, and they make beautiful music together … literally. They met when they joined the same band.

They were originally slated to have a big party at the Mansion at Oyster Bay. That didn’t happen, but we are so thankful that the Mansion opened itself to us to do portraits with them.

George Peabody Library Baltimore wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

Probably the greatest honor we feel as wedding photographers is doing a wedding for another wedding photographer. After all, these people spend each day looking at this stuff, and know exactly what they like. But it was an even greater pleasure when that photographer is someone like Michael Stravinos, who is not just talented, but has been a friend, a workshop student, and collaborator.

And then you add that the wedding would be at the fantastic George Peabody Library in Baltimore, a place I’ve wanted to shoot in ever since I first saw it? We jumped at the chance. It didn’t matter that we also had to be in New York and Pennsylvania that weekend … we were going to make this happen.

It was amazing start to finish, filled with tears, laughter, Greek dancing, beautiful details, a solemn church ceremony … dripping with meaning and emotion throughout.

For the photographers out there, this was our first wedding with the Sony A9, and apart from the more technical aspects it was incredible to be able to shoot all of the events of the day completely silently, getting angles during prayers and at moments of peak emotion while intruding as little as possible. We always want to capture the real emotions so that you can look back and feel what it was like to be there in the midst of it, and this has been a helpful tool for us.

Ashford Castle, Ireland wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

It's hard to overstate the beauty of Ashford Castle: It was something so profound that Casey knew she had to share it with her friends and family, even though absolutely none of them, Casey and Ford included, live in Ireland. But maybe, for a second, let's not put it center-stage. Let's focus on the bonds that made Casey and Ford plan a complicated multi-day celebration in an Irish castle just to show their friends and family a good time, and the bonds that made so many of these friends and family show up that they completely sold out the castle.

And it's not a small castle.

Ireland is an incredibly gorgeous country -- the cliches are true. There are colors of green that don't exist anywhere else, times when you have to turn down the saturation in your camera just so reality doesn't look fake. But, of course, it comes with a lot of what the Irish call "soft" weather: Rain, and a lot of it.

So yes, it rained on this wedding, but … well, all you need to know about the mood is that, after days of carousing together, there was enough joyful energy left that festivities were still going strong by sunrise.

Thank you to Olivia Buckley for her fantastic planning work, making a wet, complicated event come out perfectly, and to Casey and Ford for kindly planning their Ireland wedding just at the right time for our "working honeymoon" in the best place we could imagine.

Hudson Loft wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

We knew we were in for something special with this day since we had seen Alexis and Danny's energy and passion for each other at her sister Taylor's wedding, but they surpassed even our high expectations. As soon as Alexis wrote to us, we did a little happy dance to be able to spend time with her family again … and now we got to meet Danny's fantastic family including his daughters. There is a special place in our hearts for weddings where the bride, groom, or both have children because it makes so clear what weddings are: the forging of a new family.

It doesn't hurt that Alexis and Danny both hit you in the face with their charisma, too. These are people ready to smile, laugh, and dance at any moment. They had an entirely new emotional spin on a first look. There was such a huge pent-up release of energy when they saw each other, and a culmination of countless in-jokes during their planning process, that they burst into uproarious, can't-catch-your-breath laughter.

This was matched only by the tears from Danny's daughters eager to make Alexis their step-mom, heartfelt testimonials in private moments before the ceremony, and exuberance from family and friends ready to party.

It gave us joy to document this story, and more joy to re-live it through the photos, and we hope it does the same for you.

Planner: Kerry Gittle at Awe by Kerry
Hair: Olivia Halpin Hair
Makeup: Elizabeth Lerman
Chuppah: Your Chuppah NY
Officiant: Weddings by Bettina
Caterers: On the Marc Events
DJ: DJ Vik Events
Videographers: Intrigue Wedding Films