Carmela & Tim's Wedding

This is going to be a long post but worth looking at I promise! I met with Carmela and Tim a couple of months before their wedding date and fell in love with them right away - especially Carmela! They are a great couple with so much good energy that they are a joy to be around. Carmela has a beautiful smile on about 90% of the time - the other 10% she is laughing.

To top all this off, they were getting married at one of our favorite locations - Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue, Long Island. The North Fork of Long Island is abundant with vineyards and wineries and a lot of these vineyards cater to the wedding industry. Bedell is one of the finest in my opinion with some of the best wine on hand, and incredible location and a great open air deck.

Kim met with the girls for some pre ceremony pictures - here is one of the bridesmaids with a junior bridesmaid..

Carmela checks her make up and hair..

A view from the Church balcony..

How often do you get to shoot a Philippine wedding? Well, for us it turned out to be twice in a month!! If you read the Kate and Axel blog entry below this one, you'll remember that Axel's heritage is from the Philippines - well so is Carmela's and I think I surprised the priest a little when he started preparing me for the pinning of the veil, the rope and so on and I was able to finish off all his sentences!

How adorable is this flower girl with her bubble blower?!

On to Bedell! It was a picture perfect afternoon and Carmela and Tim had hired a String Trio to play during the cocktail hour..

One of many group shots with the vineyard as a back drop. Here the Bridesmaids and Junior Bridesmaids pose with the Ring Bearer, Carmela and Tim..

A stroll and a kiss through the vines..

A view of the property from the deck. Carmela and Tim chose a lemon yellow theme for their wedding. As you will see in the table setting photos coming up, the details were so unique and beautiful that I was in heaven just shooting them..

I particularly like this backlit portrait of Carmela...

..and while I was in the vineyard, Kim was on the deck shooting down - this was a great angle to frame the couple with all the leaves..

And now for the details, details, details..............

Here's my favorite flower girl again enjoying all the space to play in..

And the first dance.......

During the Best Man speech or Toast, I try to get to a good vantage point where I can shoot the Best Man as well as the Bride and Groom. Quite often the best photo ends up being the Bride and Groom's reaction to what is being said......

Sunset over Bedell..

and the winery lit up at dusk..

Carmela and Tim, you know how much we loved shooting you both and your wedding was a photographer's delight. Good luck to both of you and we can't wait to get back to the vineyard!

Kate & Axel's Wedding

Kate and Axel had their wedding ceremony in one of our favorite Churches to shoot in - St. Patrick's right here in Huntington village. St. Pats is a beautiful church with a long aisle, plenty of light and a great balcony. The reception was held at the Huntington Crescent Club which is where Kim and I had our reception almost 12 years ago!!

It's always nice to get some detail shots, especially shoes and the invitation!

Kate makes her first appearance as the beautiful bride in her dress and is met at the bottom of the stairs by her mother...

Here's a shot from the balcony I was talking about - such great light fills the Church evenly from all angles.

Kate has a tender moment at the Altar..

Axel is from the Philippines so it was only right that they should incorporate some traditional Philippine culture into the wedding ceremony. Part of the traditional Philippine wedding includes pinning a veil to the couple and attaching a rope around their shoulders..

One of the flower girls decided to play 'Peek-A-Boo' during the ceremony..

...and then on to the Harbor Boating Club for some formal photos.

OUCH!! This photo makes me cringe every time I see it! Look closely and you will see that there are eleven guy's legs in the picture but only 6 men - that's because an over zealous Groomsman actually grabbed Axel's right leg by accident while hoisting Kate in the air and although Axel is smiling in this picture he was pleading with everyone to put her down!!

This only adds salt to the wound when all the Bridesmaids are laughing at your misery..

I had to include a photo of Best Man Alvin. Axel's brother was quite a keen photographer himself and came armed with his professional Nikon to duke it out with us!

A stroll down the dock to get some photos by Kate's parents boat all decorated with flags for the special day...

Meanwhile on shore, Kate's parents steal a kiss outside the Harbor Boating Club...

It's no secret that I like backlight and flare in images. It always seems to give an ethereal look to the photograph and makes whites GLOW! We were walking between locations on the golf course when I saw Axel help Kate with her dress and I was able to grab this candid shot before they knew I was taking it..

...and this is where we were heading to. The Crescent Club has one area that is filled with Bamboo trees (are they trees?) and they make for a great back drop. I was actually outside the trees shooting in but Kim found a much better angle, asked them to turn toward her and got this beautiful shot framed by the Bamboos!

I love these pictures of Kate talking with one of the flower girls..

...listening to the Best Man's speech..

...rockin out hard to Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer"..

and watching her parents dance to their wedding song at the end of the evening!

Kate and Axel - it's always fun to shoot at the Crescent Club - it holds special memories for Kim and I. We had a great day with you both and wish you many years of happiness!!

Erin & Matthew's Wedding

Erin and Matthew got married at one of our favorite Churches to work at - St. Pat's here in Huntington and had their reception at the Woodlands in neighboring Woodbury.

Kim met Erin at her parent's house to shoot some getting ready pictures while I headed to the Church.
I was in two minds as to whether to include this first image or not - although it would probably never make it into an album, there is something about the timing I particularly like. Renowned fashion photographer Guy Bourdin once shot a whole fashion spread for Vogue in the 70s in which the models (and the clothes they were modeling) were always obscured by some obstacle be it a lamp post, car, tree, etc. The concept was quite brilliant and I think this photograph is reminding me of Guy's work a little. Brilliant job Kim!

Here are a couple of nice shots of Erin just before leaving for the Church..

Two bugle players announce the arrival of Erin..

...as she waits in the limo for the coast to clear..

This is one of Erin's Bridesmaids. Her name escapes me right now and I apologize for that, but I wanted to include her on the blog because she had one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard! She sang a hymn during the ceremony and had the whole Church spellbound..

So when we left the Church there was a threat of rain but nothing too obvious. By the time we showed up at the Woodlands however, we were in the middle of a downpour and this was all in the space of 30 minutes. Erin and Matt waited in their limo for as long as they could then made a bee-line to the reception under the protection of a few umbrellas!

Luckily the storm blew over and we were able to go outside for all the Bridal party pictures..

The girls certainly did not want to be outdone with this pose..

Magenta and white rose bouquets complimented the navy Bridesmaid dresses perfectly..

Matthew is quite a Corvette fan and all the place cards were displayed on metal cars while the tables were named after classic Corvettes...

Quite a first dance!! Sometimes you just get lucky and happen to be standing in the exact right spot at the right time - I don't think I could have recreated this dress swirl if I had tried!

It's always a fun time when the inflatable instruments make an appearance..

...and I dare you to keep your hands still during YMCA!!

Yes indeed, a fun time was had by all!
Thank you Erin and Matthew for trusting us with your wedding memories - we had a blast!