GRECO WEDDING
Curtis Arboretum
Being in the photography business has been a great way for me to meet many of the fabulous vendors who all work so hard to make a wedding or any event a success. I was thrilled when I found out that the Grecco wedding was being catered by Joshua’s. I have been a frequent visitor to their Jenkintown restaurant and knew that Kat and Matt must be foodies to have them cater the wedding. Since then, Laurie Durkin of Joshua’s has used several of my images on their site. You can see my work on Joshua’s site. You can also see wedding images in an earlier blog post from Kat and Matt’s wedding, or in a gallery on my site.
One of the best ways to assemble a great crew of vendors for your wedding is to ask one of them who they might suggest using for flower, photography, video, catering, lighting, invitations, etc. After all, who knows what is out there better than those of us in the industry!
On a separate note but food related, I am photographing Chef Jose Garces for Kroger Food Corporation on Monday. Too bad there are no Kroger’s in our area – I won’t be able to see the ads locally, but I can still eat at one of Jose’s great restaurants here in Philly.
MARIA + MIKE
St. Demetrious Greek Orthodox Church
The Merion
When Maria and Mike came to me last year to talk about their 300 person Greek Orthodox wedding, I knew I was in for a great time. I started at Maria’s house with her family, relatives and bridesmaids. My second photographer Rebecca started at Mike’s with his family, complete with all his relatives from Greece. I think this takes the prize for the most people that have been present at the getting ready session! Many thanks to Rebecca for shooting with me once again and to Chris Rodgers of Xposed Film for being a great videographer to work with.
Although Maria’s house was feeling small with all the people, I was still able to find great locations to shoot. I loved the color of Maria’s bedroom walls – the room she and her sister shared until the wedding day. It made a great backdrop for a portrait.
The big picture window in the living room and the conveiniently placed ottoman came in handy!
It is always a treat for me to shoot a wedding – especially a wedding in a Greek Orthodox Church, which was a first for me.
The church was absolutely beautiful!
With a little help from Maria’s mom, I was able to make sure I photographed the most important parts of the ceremony. The common cup of wine, the candles, the joining of the hands, the crowning, and The Dance of Isaiah to name a few.
I still had time to shoot the details and the kids who were a great source of entertainment during the ceremony.
I think I am still picking birdseed out of my camera equipment!
We stopped at Logan Circle for some formals on our way to The Merion in Cinnaminson, NJ.
I wasn’t quite ready for the large amounts of money that were being thrown on the dance floor.
Congratulations Maria and Mike. I will be posting images from their earlier engagement session soon.
RACHEL + NEEL
Brantwyn was the beautiful setting for the August wedding of Rachel and Neel. Rachael and Neel came to me after attending Deanna and Aaron’s wedding at The Camden Aquarium about a year ago. After a wonderful first meeting with Rachel and Neel and Neel’s family at my studio, (where Neel’s dad and I enjoyed talking about the techie aspect of photography), I was really excited to shoot the wedding. They were planning what was sure to be a festive and colorful event. They didn’t let me down and provided me with so much to photograph. You can’t miss with a first look at a staircase like this!
Once again, I had the pleasure of having Rebecca Barger shoot with me. While I was busy photographing the bride getting ready, she was busy with the groom and the detail shots below. Thanks Rebecca – always a pleasure to work with you!
After the outdoor ceremony, Rachel and Neel changes into traditional Indian clothes for the remainder of the evening. I must say, Rachel looked stunning in her wedding dress and was a knock out in the brightly colored saree.
I think this is one of my favorite shots of a family welcoming a new bride.
Neel’s mom decided that the wedding would not be complete without a bollywood dancer, Inessa. It was so wonderful when the beautiful grounds of Brantwyn turned into a backyard party as the guests got up to dance with Inessa. At first I was concerned about the challenges of lighting a group in the almost pitch black outdoors, but found the setting to be wonderful and rich once I set up my lights.
Congratulations Rachel and Neel and thank you for letting me be a part of such a wonderful and photogenic celebration.
IRIS + SAMUEL
Iris and Samuel chose to have their formals at the beautiful Woodrow Wilson Hall at Monmouth University in New Jersey. Although it rained most of the day, luck was with us for the formal session outside.
Iris had her Aunt, a fashion designer in NYC, design and make her dress. As luck would have it again, her Aunt enlisted her friend who designs for Vera Wang, to make the beautiful veil seen in the opening shot in the blog!
In the Chinese tradition, it is customary for the groom and groomsmen to fill red envelopes with money to bring to the brides house before the wedding. Providing they have filled them correctly, the brides family and bridesmaids will let the groom see his bride. Since the couple was getting ready at a hotel, Samuel and his groomsmen had to walk down the hall to Iris’s room to be let in. Thanks goodness he put enough in there!
Sam’s Dad is a jeweler and ordered the rings that are on top of the beautiful chinese invitation Iris designed.
Iris had a keen eye for detail. In addition to designing her invitations, she planned all aspects of the details of the wedding and reception, right down to the color themed candy bar. I loved the white and red chinese “to go” containers for the candy.
Iris poses here with her Aunt, the designer of the fabulous dress!
