we had the pleasure of working with Jeannie Uyanik and Krista from C&G Weddings at Jane and Fred’s wedding at The Lighthouse.  just wanted to get a few images up to share…

“old school holdouts” take note.  in my opinion, it is much better for a bride and groom to see each other before their ceremony to do their portraits.  you just don’t get shots like these below when a couple sees each other for the first time at the altar. (see the tears on Jane’s cheek and on Fred’s jacket?)

congratulations to David and Vanessa – you guys know how to throw a fun party! people mag got it right,  it really was a bash!

more David & Vanessa to come…

the celebrity filled bridal party (that’s Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel,  Gregg Bello and Martin Starr above) and guest list made things a bit interesting – i’m not really used to going on shoots in central park with a security detail and hiding in the rambles… but we love changing things up.

but i had sussed out well in advance that this hot dog vendor posed no threat…

and a great party – and one of my faves…  we all had a really great time working together.

many thanks to the multitalented (and even more importantly – fun to work with) Michelle Rago who did a great job planning the wedding.

more to come…

we’re looking forward to another wonderful wedding at The Plaza this weekend too!!

and if you want to see our little highlights reel of the entire wedding check out http://www.briandorseystudios.com/highlights/kim/

You can also see the full Wedding Channel post here http://weddings.weddingchannel.com/wedding-planning-ideas/who-got-married/June-2009/angela-and-marc-wedding-nyc-ny.aspx

Enjoy!

Now if you’re interested in seeing posts about weddings in Anguilla or St. Barts or your considering having a wedding at The Plaza or The Metropolitan Club or you just want to get some ideas for locations for an engagement session in tribeca just use search. it’ll bring up relevant posts for you to peruse.  now the blog becomes a great wedding planning resource as well.

it’s also great for you wedding planners so you can quickly find images for the events we’ve worked with you in the past.

check it out.

a great room for a ketubah signing…

and a final moment to collect thoughts before walking down the aisle…

the ballroom at the st. regis

and the view from the headtable

and the kiss at the cake cutting (alternate angle)

just another perfect day…

our many thanks to the always wonderful Ellen Kostman of Sidekick Events who did the planning and to Dejuan Stroud for the flowers.

check out this stunning hand calligraphied invite courtesy of Sloane Madureira Design.

Makeup artist: Lori Hamlin
Hair stylist: Courtney Benedetti

the bride’s dress was Elizabeth Fillmore from the incomparable Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier.  we love mark and his staff!

and some sweet blues from manolo blahnik.

and the groom’s custom suit was by Mr. Ned with groom and groomsmen’s coordinating ties by hermes.

it was a great day or everybody.  ok, almost everybody.

more to come …. in part 2

this is how all good destination wedding receptions end.

recently, we had the pleasure of working with jung lee and josh brooks and their wonderful team from Fete who were planning a wedding at the stunning and ultra-hip Eden Rock at St. Barths in the French West Indies.  Party central for the rich, beautiful and famous.

first, a little background on St. Barths – it’s a tiny little island off the coast of St. Martin with a postage stamp of an airstrip wedged tightly between a mountain and the ocean.  to get there you need to take a small plane that fills up at the local self-serve gas station.

and despite the fact that the planes are very small, they often end up in the ocean anyway (just check out YouTube).  which was underscored for me when I noticed this painted on the side of the plane.

i felt like i was in the cockpit myself.

excuse me, brian, would you mind helping me put the flaps down and giving me a little more friction?  sure captain, no problem…

it’s a really stunning way to arrive – unlike most Caribbean islands, St. Barts is basically a big rock – as are its many outlying smaller islands.

depending on how the winds are blowing, you can either approach the runway the hard way or the easy way.   the easy way approach gives you a great view of eden rock.

here’s a shot of the infamous airstrip and a plane taking off the easy way.  i think landing the hard way (coming in over this hill and dropping fast) results in some pretty bumpy landings as evidenced by the tire marks.

see?  postage stamp.

once we landed, we did a little recon…

the next day featured the rehearsal dinner…. and keeping with the little airplane theme, the brilliant placecards for that evening were balsawood gliders with the guests names and table on them suspended from the ceiling.

So here’s a funny little story about the value of being prepared for everything.  At this point for this event, my team and I have traveled hundreds of miles on multiple planes and boats – carrying our gear all the way since we can’t trust checking it or even letting someone else handle it.  We just can’t take the risk that something will get lost or damaged.   So I’m about 5 minutes into shooting cocktails at the villa and I hear this thud and crash of glass on concrete at the poolside.

Turns out the little clip do-dad that holds my camera to my rapid strap came unclipped and that thud sound was my Canon 1Ds Mark III hitting the ground and the smashing glass was my 24-70 lens.  Funny how $7500 of gear can be smashed because of the poor design of a $3 clip.  Fortunately, I travel with plenty of cameras and lenses so we didn’t miss a beat.   A special thanks to my amazingly patient associate, Chris whose flight arrived later that evening spent a half hour tweezering glass out of my lens.

After dark, the guests slipped into some flipflops to walk down the candlelit beach from the villa to the famed La Plage.

and the view of Eden Rock from La Plage…