Tribeca Rooftop wedding

We love so much about weddings that we would enjoy them wherever we are, but man is there something special about weddings in NYC, with their tremendous variety. Where else can you attend an event with posh fashion, heartbreaking emotion, and drag performers? Only at a wedding like Charlie and Max’s.

They lucked out with a gorgeous fall day, perfect for walking around the West Village and hopping on the 1 train down to TriBeCa to meet their massive, boisterous wedding party and on to TriBeca Rooftop, decorated to perfection by The Wild Bunch. In a nod to Charlie’s British heritage, half the wedding party were decked out in elaborate fascinators. Charlie and Max heightened the fashion themselves, with custom suitcoats and wedding bands and shoes they designed themselves.

The fantastic weather allowed for a touching ceremony on the rooftop and cocktail hour mingling, followed by a parade of heartfelt and hilarious speeches from friends and family. Then the party began, the energy brought by The Sugar Lane Band and even more toward the end of the night with drag performers joining the guests on the dance floor. An amazing day all over.

Day in the Life: Jackson Heights

There is nothing more important that we can do as family photographer than make everyone comfortable. Comfort is the key to “photogenicness,” and even more importantly to revealing the true self and emotions that can let you look back at photos decades later and say “Yeah, that’s it. That’s how we were … that’s who we were.”

We had a bit of a head start in that with Amadeo and Noelia: We had already shot their engagement session and Tatiana photographed their wedding. They were comfortable with us and we knew they were incredibly fun together, so we couldn’t wait to spend the day with them and Adrian.

And what a day. Adrian showed us his total mastery of the bicycle (and, importantly, road safety rules), and they all showed us how much fun and laughter they share together.

Central Park Boathouse wedding

“Classic” and “unique” might seem to be opposites — classic beauty seeks to honor and elevate what has come before — but Veronica and Gary managed to pull it off spectacularly. The examples are countless: It’s not often that guests of the Central Park Boathouse find themselves dancing with human disco balls, for example. We could tell this from their first message: Instead of working with a traditional event coordinator, the couple put their trust in a close friend, yoga instructor and activist Jase Cannon — and Jase absolutely nailed it.

The Boathouse was as beautiful as we’ve ever seen it, and quirky details like the human disco balls and flitting fairies blended seamlessly. But the real star of the day was the deep passion Veronica and Gary have for each other. Whether vamping in the Gramercy Park Hotel or laughing uproariously, spread out on a bench in Central Park’s Ramble, their energy was electric.

We’ve seen wonderful moments at weddings where the bride or groom unveil their musical skills and serenade their partner, but Veronica took it to the next level: She didn’t have the skills, so she learned, practicing piano for months in secret so that she could surprise Gary, and the wedding guests, at the reception.

It was an amazing day to be a part of. Thank you, Veronica and Gary!

Florist: Lenox Hill Florist & Events
DJ/Musicians/Lighting: Classie Sounds
Greeters & Entertainment: Athena Entertainment
Stylist: Lorenzo Hair Stylist
Makeup Artist: Esteban Martinez Makeup
Vegan Doughnuts: Dunwell Doughnuts
Wedding Cakes: Milk Bar

(click on any image to view larger)

Akwaaba Mansion Brooklyn wedding ceremony

Heritage Club at Bethpage Wedding

Belle Mer Newport wedding

Hotel on Rivington NYC wedding

Joyce and Nandish’s wedding reminds us that when you have the will to celebrate your love, nothing gets in your way.

In the photos below you will see Joyce and Nandish getting married before the impressive view from the roof of the Hotel on Rivington. You will also see them getting married inside the colorful reception area of the Hotel on Rivington. Do not call a script supervisor; there is no continuity error. They were married in both places, thanks to a sudden rainstorm that swept over the horizon and straight into us.

They simply had too much to celebrate. We always love doing weddings where the bride or groom have children already because it adds just another layer of love and connection to the day, and Joyce and Nandish's children were an integral part of the entire wedding, with sweet moments like Joyce's young son helping her get dressed … right after she helped him.

The Pierre Hotel NYC wedding

Rachel and Brendon’s wedding was a thousand positive adjectives turned up to 11. Each one —- gorgeous, wild, elegant, emotional — needs their own exclamation point. Take the ingredients of a Pierre Hotel wedding, Central Park in fall*, and a couple bursting with excited energy for the day and for each other, and you have a recipe for an amazing day.

Rachel and Brendon not only have amazing positive energy, but a deep connection to their family and friends (whom they treat like family). It has been such a delight to see Rachel mark occasions both happy and sad on her Instagram with photos we took at her wedding, from Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day to new engagements. It reminds us of the lasting impact wedding images have!

We were happy to be helped by Jerry Ng and Tom Harmon to capture as many aspects of this wild-and-joyous-every-minute day as possible. And thank you to Dawn Celovsky at State of the Art Enterprises for planning such a beautiful event.

*Something so wonderful that Ferris Bueller sang about it on the top of a parade float … even though he was in Chicago.

Central Park Boathouse wedding

Everything about Lauren and Doug’s Central Park wedding was gorgeous, including the weather. We specialize in making things work well when everything goes wrong, but it’s sure nice when it doesn’t! They started the day at the 1 Hotel Central Park with close family and friends, giving us the opportunity for a first look on a balcony overlooking midtown.

The ceremony and reception were at the Central Park Boathouse, which is not just beautiful inside but surrounded by some of New York’s most well-known pastoral landmarks. Of course, this can make navigating around hordes of tourists a challenge, but it helps that we have every nook and cranny around there memorized, including paths much less travelled.

The Lake House Berkshire wedding

We apologize if we’re blowing up anyone’s spot, but the Berkshires is pretty fantastic. Gorgeous, peaceful, quaint … and, on Christina and Armen’s wedding day, raining.

Luckily the morning filled with raindrops pattering on the lake gave way to a gorgeous summer day right in time for the first look. We always plan assuming things will go wrong, but sometimes they work out. And so much worked out on this day. A fantastic spot, a fantastic couple, and so much emotion that I feel compelled to not keep you from it with any more words.

Except this: Thank you Christina and Armen! This was such a special day.

A Day in the Life: Park Slope

It was not just a genuine pleasure to document the daily life of this wonderful family, it was absolutely enlightening. She is such a wonderful and bright child, and we took away so much in our own parenting, from better ways to safely get down from the couch to weird and wonderful toys. It is always such a fantastic honor to photograph inside the home, where the little moments that make up the backbone of a family play out.

FEAST at Round Hill wedding

We have had many different sorts of connections and ongoing relationships with our clients, but Gina’s is unique: She is the only person whose wedding we photographed who was also a vendor at our wedding. And appropriately for a venue officially named “FEAST,” she was in charge of our fantastic catering team from CxRA.

We knew Gina was a powerhouse, but we had also been won over by Pat’s easygoing nature and broad smile during their engagement shoot. But the wedding exceeded even our high expectations, from its beauty to the raucous fun of the reception to, yes, the food.

The fantastic Jashim Jalal gave us invaluable assistance at this wedding.

New York Botanic Garden wedding photo

I admit I never fully appreciated the set of modern or abstract art that makes you think “Is this wonderful or is it terrible?” This probably has helped with wedding photography, which has at least some objective-ish measures: broadly speaking, you are flattering someone or not, you are capturing a powerful moment or not.

But as with any art, it also is highly subjective. Sometimes we will process an image that we didn’t realize we had already processed for the preview and end up with an entirely different look, both of them valid approaches. And when I first delivered this photo I liked it but it wasn’t even my favorite one from the location. Now I just came back to it and everything about it felt electric to me.

Hopefully it hits you right away too. But if not, that’s OK … come back in six months.

Home engagement session

This was such a fun engagement shoot, partially because of its simplicity. Generally, more of our love plays out in our daily home life than on windswept vistas or famous monuments, so we loved just playing around in the apartment and surrounding block. It adds several more layers of meaning, particularly when you put up the photos in that same home!

Metropolitan Building wedding

Any time we see an inquiry for the Metropolitan Building come into our e-mail, we do a little happy dance and cross our fingers that we are available for the date. It is a playground for photographers, more or less literally … home not just to wonderful smaller weddings but countless editorial shoots and even music videos. It somehow combines a quaint Victorian aesthetic with a feeling that you are stumbling on the private property of a propmaster gone mad, and we love every bit of it.

But venues are just the backdrop, and weddings are about the people. Luckily our excitement grew and grew as we met and learned more about Hans and Scott. Frankly, it’s hard not to catch a bit of Hans’ ever-present excitement, which translated into his hands-on guidance in an East-meets-West theme that infused both the decor and the (amazing) catering, overseen by the fantastic work of Claire Stitzer at WeWedWell.

Things like this is why we can call weddings amazing after so long and really mean it. What else is there to say about a groom who would secretly learn to sing a song in Mandarin, and hide lyrics under the dinner plates so guests could join him in serenading his partner? Or about an evening where surprise Chinese Dragon performers start the proceedings? Or best yet, just getting to be close to people who love each other so much that they burst into tears?

Yeah, that’s amazing.

Planning: WeWedWell
Officiant: Sharon Simon
Catering: bonbite
Flowers: Gatherings Floral Design
DJ: Lindsey
Stylist: Styles on B
Tea Ceremony: Tea Drunk