Each year I get a handful of inquiries for wedding photography in NYC and I almost always respond with a polite no. There are more than enough fabulous couples and venues in New England and traveling with all of my equipment is kind of a pain.
But once in a while I'll make an exception and when Caitlin & Paul emailed me about needing a wedding photographer for their NYC wedding celebrations I knew it would most definitely be one of those exceptions. I'd actually photographed their wonderfully intimate wedding ceremony at Migis Lodge last year and had a blast worked with them and their families in a torrential summer storm. Caitlin & Paul's Migis Lodge Wedding Pictures
I told Audrey to pack her bags and off we went to the big city. Much as I love Boston I'm not sure we have any wedding venues quite as impressive as 620 Loft & Gardens. As part of the Rockefeller Center this unique setting overlooks Fifth Avenue and has St Patrick's Cathedral as a most impressive backdrop. The perfectly manicured garden has a reflective pool and the wall-to-wall windows of the loft overlook Radio City Music Hall.
After setting up our lights I made my way to Caitlin & Paul's apartment where the ladies were relaxing with tea, hair and make up.
Caitlin's grandmother recently passed and this was the little purse she had carried on her own wedding day:
Audrey met up with Paul while he got ready:
Caitlin's mom Barbara helped her into her Monique Lhuillier lace wedding dress:
Caitlin & Paul love the view from their roof so we took a quick picture up on the roof:
We then meandered around the Rockefeller Center for about 20 minutes to take some relaxed pictures so that Caitlin & Paul could spend cocktail hour with their friends and families:
Next up it was time for relaxed yet totally mantel-worthy pictures indoors at 620 Loft and Gardens:
The garden was all set up for the ceremony, can you imagine a more beautiful setting for a NYC wedding?
Caitlin & Paul really wanted guests to feel welcome at their formal/informal celebration of their wedding so guests were handed glasses of chilled champagne or wine on arrival while they enjoyed the views from the rooftop:
As the clock struck six o'clock Caitlin walked down the aisle with her father Tom (check out his skull and bones slippers). How awesome is it to be married for almost a year and then have another wedding celebration? You're reminded of your vows and get to make new ones. You get to celebrate with all of your friends and family again. Maybe everyone should do a vow-renewal for their first wedding anniversary?! :)
The wedding was wonderfully officiated by a good friend of Caitlin's family, Joseph.
Happy re-newlyweds!
I'm usually all about pictures of people vs. food but the hors d'oeuvres at the wedding were off the chart. The wedding was perfectly catered by Sonnier & Castle, a big shout out to Edward who was just great to work with keeping us in the loop on everything that was happening. Tell me you're not getting hungry looking at this picture?
Also loved the flowers by Vee Zey designs:
Cocktail hour is one of the best times of a wedding and it's so much more fun to spend your time mingling with your guests vs. taking formal pictures.
You're probably looking at this picture and thinking what!?!? I thought it would be interesting to show you what the 620 Loft & Garden space looked like at noon when we went in to set up our lights. A big hello to Jen who was great to work with getting us early access and arranging for security clearance! It's such a perfect blank space:
And then just hours later it was an elegant setting for a NYC wedding reception with large banquettes and leather benches and candles everywhere:
As the sun went down Caitlin and Paul took a few minutes away from the party to take advantage of the spectacular deep blue twilight sky and twinkle lights of the city
A few more reception details - a candlelit fireplace with comfy leather club chairs:
Caitlin & Paul's first dance was rather spectacular:
With guests coming from all over the world - The Netherlands, South Africa, England and more - to celebrate the wedding the toasts and speeches were pretty epic.
As the night went on the dancefloor opened and Silver Arrow Band wowed everyone, amazing wedding band!
One last picture to end the blog post....
...before Audrey and I turned into pumpkins/hopped into a taxi:
Caitlin & Paul (and your extended families!) - thank you so much for choosing me as your 620 Loft & Garden wedding photographer. It was lovely to see you both again and to document wedding part II!
No comments