Saratoga National Wedding Photographs :: Lunda + Jonathan (Part VII)

All good things must come to an end...and in this case, it's the last post of Lunda & Jonathan's epic wedding weekend in Saratoga Spring, NY. If you've missed anything, catch up now:

a day at the races **here**, getting ready at Make Me Fabulous **here**, the beautiful ceremony at The Museum of Dance **here**, the fabulous wedding party hanging out at Yaddo Gardens **here**

And now we're at Saratoga National for the wedding reception. New last names are always fun and I loved the little horse motif that was used on much of the wedding stationary:


When Lunda told me that her sister Ruth would be singing "Real Love" (written by John Lennon but also sung amazingly by Regina Spector) accompanied by their mother Connie on the piano, I will admit to having some reservations. It's a tough song to pull off.

But then Ruth started to sing and she has the most beautiful sweet voice and the words were even more poignant as she sang about her sister and new brother in law "From this moment on I know, exactly where my life will go, seems that all I really was doing, was waiting for love. Don't need to be afraid, no need to be afraid, it's real love."

Lunda's father had written a song that he sang again with Connie on the keyboards and it was cute and funny and sad and so lovely all at the same time.

And then it was time for the toasts. Ruth started off sharing little personal recollections of Lunda growing up, Courtney brought the house down with her hysterical stories of their time at school in TX and then Jake rounded it off with crazy stories from Vegas where Lunda and Jonathan met for the first time:


Here's another little glimpse of the wedding stationary and the reaction of the newlyweds to the inevitable clinking of knives upon wine glasses:


Lunda had wanted to get some pictures outside as the sun went down so we raced out of the building with seconds to spare before the sky was completely black:


And then raced back inside as it was nearly time for them to cut into this piece of delicious architecture:


I am loving the expressions on these pictures so much I would like to announce a little COMPETITION. Yes, that's right. The winner will get a beautiful 11x14 print either from this wedding or from another event I've photographed or one of my fine art prints if I've yet to photograph you. All you have to do is try to guess what Jonathan and/or Lunda were saying or thinking during these pictures and leave your answer in the comments **here**. The most inventive answer wins the print....I'll be choosing a winner on Sunday August 15th at 5pm.


The music was AMAZING all night - alternating between the live music of Bobby Dick and the Sundowners and the DJ skills of Susie Q mixing it up with a little Justin Timberlake especially for the grooms father. Frank is bringing sexyback. Who knew? The dancefloor was seriously packed.

As Beyonce started belting out "All the single ladies, all the single ladies..." the bridesmaids made their way to the dance floor for the bouquet toss:

And what a bouquet toss it was with Rebecca, sister of the groom, beating out her competition, I had a feeling she was in it to win it when I saw she'd removed her shoes:


So now I have a confession and a public apology to make.

First the background; as a wedding photographer I don't drink at weddings because I'm working. Trust me, you don't want any possible champagne-induced blur in your pictures. However this wedding was a little different. As soon as the cake was cut I was officially off duty and the phenomenal Susan Ashe took over as primary photographer so that I could enjoy a couple of hours as a guest with my husband who works with Jonathan.

The confession; I seriously had SO much fun at this wedding, especially with the amazing TX girls of the wedding party that after noticing most of them were on the dancefloor for the bouquet toss and enjoying two...well maybe three gin and tonics, I decided I should try and encourage more of them to get married so I could fly to Texas and shoot their weddings.

Hence the apology; Leanne and Preston I am sorry for insisting you should get married next and telling you dates that I still had free for 2011 as I took these pictures:

And of course, I didn't actually actually put the camera down, here's one of Lunda & Jonathan as the lights went up on the dance floor and the reception ended:

And it would be remiss of me not to do a shout out to all of the FABULOUS vendors that made this wedding happen. Saratoga brides would be wise to choose any of the following:

Wedding photography: Leah Haydock Photography

Fabulous co-shooter: Susan Ashe of Ashe Photography (based in Michigan, call her!)

Videographer Extraordinare: Justin Mayer of Mayer Video and click **here** to see Justin's video montage of the wedding

Delicious wedding dress: Eduardo Bonilla

Bridesmaids dresses: J.Crew

Wedding Party model ;): J.Crew (kidding!)

The most AMAZINGLY FABULOUS hair and make up: Make Me Fabulous

Ceremony Venue: Museum of Dance, Saratoga Springs, NY

Reception Venue: Saratoga National Golf Club

Wedding Party Pictures: Yaddo Gardens

Band: Bobby Dick and the Sundowners

DJ: Susie Q

Flowers: Wickford Flowers, RI (The Groom's Mother, Kathy Romeo!)

Trolley: Horsin' Around Trolleys

Cake: Glen Sanders Mansion

Photobooth: Saratoga Photobooth - awesome (very sharp pictures with a choice or color or black and white)

The best sandwiches in Saratoga (enjoyed by the photographers before we started shooting): Putnam Market

Oh ok, just one more, this was a total snapshot as we left to get in our taxi home. It was virtually completely dark in this hallway but the D3s at ISO 10,000 saved the day. One bridesmaid chilling, one texting, one sleeping. Love it.

Thank you and good night. And don't forget to leave your guess for the cake picture expressions in the comments...with your name so I can contact you if you're the winner