Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
A few Saturdays back I had the honor of photographing two weddings for long time gay couples. First up, Bill and Steve’s intimate wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park!
After 15 years together, Bill and Steve were officially married in November 2011 in a very small ceremony at their home. But they also wanted to have a larger reception for 40 of their friends and family. After searching all over New York for just the right venue, Bill found a suite at the Ritz-Carlton which would be perfect for the ceremony and a seated dinner. As it turns out, it was also the first gay wedding held there!
Cocktail hour included music, hors d’oeuvres and a slideshow from their November wedding by friend Ira Block. It was a very moving ceremony meant to complete the one begun in November. There were not many dry eyes. Bill and Steve’s love and commitment to each other was clear to everyone there. Following the ceremony, dinner was held in a room perfectly appointed for an elegant, candlelit dinner. In a change from the usual wedding traditions, toasts were give by Bill and Steve for each of their 40 guests! Their closest friends and family were honored with stories and given a chocolate picture frame with an image of the couple with them.
Bill and Steve’s cake reflected their passion for spinning at Fly Wheel. And there were also groom sugar cookies! (Shame I had to leave and didn’t get to try them, but it was on to wedding #2 for me!)
Vendors
Ceremony and Reception: Ritz-Carlton Central Park
Cake, Favors: Ritz-Carlton Central Park
Florist: Perriwater
Invitation, Menu, Table Numbers: Arlene Boehm, Graphic Design
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Perrie and Adam were all set for a lovely late summer wedding at the Bowery Hotel in Manhattan this past August, only mother nature had other plans. As Hurricane Irene barreled up the East Coast, I couldn’t believe it! I’m no stranger to hurricanes, but New York, really??? The call to postpone the wedding was made the day before and I was just so lucky it was rescheduled for October 15, the only fall date I had open! I guess sometimes things just work out in the end. Perrie and Adam got to take their honeymoon to Greece before their wedding and the new wedding day had prefect weather and lots of fun!
Ceremony and Reception – Bowery Hotel
Planner – Rebecca Joyce of Just About Married
Dress – BCBG Max Azria
Programs – Documents and Designs
Placecards – Painting – Jenna Samotin, Calligraphy by Annette Milano
Flowers – Superior Florist
Cake – Sugar Couture
DJ – Oren J. (DJ Silver Medallion)
Photography – Kristy May and Miho Aikawa
(more…)
Friday, January 21st, 2011
In November 2009, I attended Pictage’s PartnerCon in New Orleans. It was such a great event in many ways and I met a lot of great people. But just like with every conference or workshop, you leave so excited but a bit overwhelmed at the new information and the work you now must do. Better late than never, I’m finally implementing one of the pieces of advice I gleaned from a workshop by Atlanta photographer Shari Zellers. Shari suggested joining a professional organization like ISES or NACES which are composed of all kinds of special events vendors from florists, caterers to event planners and designers. She described how the connections she made with order vendors has helped her career and even more importantly also found her good friends. I was inspired at the time to join, but it just wasn’t the right time.
ISES
Since moving back to New York over the summer, I’ve been learning about the wedding and special events industry in New York. Quite a daunting, but exciting, task! I finally decided to check out ISES, International Special Events Society, and attended a networking event on Wednesday at the Helen Mills Theater with my new business cards in tow. It was such a great event. Should I have been surprised? The speaker Andrea Nierenberg was excellent! She even emailed everyone a list of tips after the event so we could better focus on what she was saying. A few things I learned:
- One should wear nametags on the right, not left, so when you shake hands it can be easily seen.
- Listen, more than you talk!
- Write Thank You cards. Just one a day, or a few extra emails a day can keep you on someone’s radar.
- Follow-up! Ask people what their preferred form of contact is.
The food by member Paul Neuman’s catering company, was delicious. (A reason to join right there!) I somehow managed to get the last cheesecake lollipop which was awesome. As were the mini lobster rolls, gruyere and mushroom pizzas and addictive flaky cheese sticks at the bar. Not that I had much time to eat, given all of the talking!
A yummy chocolate covered strawberry by Neuman's
Needless to say, I joined. I met lots of really interesting people and look forward to more events (with awesome food!) and meeting others who love what they do as much as I do. Somehow David Fletcher of New York’s Best convinced me to sponsor the next event in February!
Now to see what other gems of past workshop advice I can put to good use!
Oh, and the Moo cards were a hit!
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
I had such a great time last weekend in New York for this wedding in White Plains. Great people, lots of wonderful food and fantastic entertainment from Soul System Orchestra! The only issue we had was rain, but it didn’t ruin all the fun. Here are a few highlights, more to come soon!
Ceremony- Chapel of the Divine Compassion, White Plains, NY
Reception- Rye Town Hilton
Music- Soul System Orchestras
Tags: Central Park, Gay Wedding, Intimate Wedding, New York, Ritz-Carlton
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