This weekend I had the joy of traveling to shoot the wedding of Stephanie and Aaron.
Stephanie is a triplet, and last year I photographed her sister and brother-in-law's gorgeous wedding.

This past winter, I photographed their Times Square engagement session, in which we did a famous reenactment. Together we created an awesome guest book from that session, and a large wall art print of the famous photograph. That print is an instant family heirloom that I'm sure their kids and kids kids will love. 

So, when they asked me to do their wedding in Long Island, I jumped at the opportunity. Assisted by the fantastic Cary Barker, of Christine Barker Photography, we drove up on Friday, and shot this daytime wedding on Saturday.

 

The bride and her sister.

The wedding was on the Long Island Sound, and the tropical Crescent Beach Club.

 

The mother of the bride. There were lots of tears of joy at this wedding. 

 

 

I love the Navy Sword Arch, to close the ceremony. The bride and groom have to kiss to gain passage through each cross of the swords. 

 

And after the last passage, the Navy man taps the bride on the backside, and shouts "Welcome to the Navy!"

 

This bridal party was 90% the same people as were in Chris and Alexis' wedding. It's enviable that their group of friends are so tight. With each wedding, they're growing closer in friendship and love.

 

Aaron and Steph choreographed a great dance for their first song....I'm told that Aaron really stepped it up in rehearsals and got into the dance, but by my account, they both stole the show.

So many more images to share, but this one has to be included. Guess who caught the garter? Stephanie and Alexis' triplet brother. Guess who caught the bouquet? His long-time girlfriend. Perhaps another blog post for this family in the fall of 2012? Just sayin....:)

Aaron and Steph, you two are the best. The bonding of not only yourselves and your families, but also the strengthening of your tight-knit group of friends is just inspirational to witness. I  hope you've rested up from your marathon wedding week and are enjoying these first days as newlyweds.

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I had the honor of photographing the wedding of Brian and Jessica this past weekend. They are actually old friends, I think I met Jessica when I was 10 years old. So when they hired me to do their wedding, there was a lot of excitement at witnessing and documenting this amazing step in their lives (and a high-strung nerve or two hoping I would do a great job).

They were married at the Inn on the Lake, a beautiful hotel on Canandaguia Lake, in upstate New York. My husband and I stayed at the Inn when we got married in 2001, so it carries some great memories for me.

When I got to the site on Saturday, it was like a flood of memories, as I ran into old friends that I haven't seen in a decade. The flood of memories were brought in on the tsunami of rain that was pouring down all around us. The rains were so hard that boats were crashing together on the picturesque backdrop of a lake. yikes.

Here's the exterior of the hotel - from where I was standing when I took this, to that front door, I had to walk through 4 inches of water.

But, as the heavens sometimes do, the sun began to break through just before the ceremony began, and just got more glorious as the day went on.


What was most remarkable about this wedding between Jess and Brian, was the palatable love that infused the entire day and on into the night. Beginning with Jess' aunt, who sewed rings from the generations of women in Jess' family into the underside of her gorgeous Vera Wang gown ...

Getting ready with best friends Shelby and Allie...

Jessica with her mom (who drove us to and from gymnastics for YEARS....)

Jess and her dad, heading down the aisle...

Brian and Jess, laughing joyously through most of their ceremony...

That love that I mentioned infused the day really was visible in this unique element of their ceremony. They selected seven locations that were relevant to their relationship (10 years in the making) and lives together, and then asked people from those locations to bring soil or stones from there to the wedding. Those folks then came up during the ceremony, told a story about Jess and Brian in that place, and poured their soil into the large container. Beginning with Jason, Jess' brother, who poured in soil from Fairport High School, where they first met...

Right after the ceremony...in disbelief....First Dance....

The SPIRITED bridal party!Jessica and her aunt

Jessica said to me "I love props" for her pictures, and she wasn't kidding...a barrel, a fish, a post, and some boat houses later, I think we got a few good ones...

And that sun just got more and more brilliant as it began to set over the horizon...

The people that were witness to their union were the most important thing for Brian and Jess, as evident of Brian's one image request "to get everyone into one picture".
Thank god for wide angle.

As I was leaving, my good friend Chad said "Parting shot?" and gave me this last image of the night.

Thanks again, Jessica, Brian, Chris, Allie, Matt, Shelby, Chad, Shannon and Mr and Mrs Blank, for welcoming me back into your lives for this brief moment! It was a beautiful day, and the start of a great marriage. Have a wonderful time in Italy you two!

more to come...sv