sara & george are married! finale.

…and the finale! they got married! this day, we were ready for. maybe not any of the rest; we aren’t used to shooting like that but THIS, we knew what we were doing. it was a wedding day and as different as it was from most other wedding days we’ve been involved in, we were prepared. when i walked into the girls room everyone was lounging, sara’s sister, chelsea, was straightening her hair while george’s mom sipped hot tea by the window and sara’s mom worked on getting some music going. as sara started to get ready it became clear to me that as calm as everyone was, there were tears of joy just under the surface. even just a little hug or glance would draw them into their eyes, glistening for a second before they were blinked away. this was the beautiful thing about this wedding, the intimacy. everyone was so deeply connected to what was about to happen it was impossible for the emotion to get swept away in the decor or the coordination. the natural focus of family was so apparent; i blinked back a few tears myself as i shot.

sara had the train cut from her dress since we’d be walking around the city- it was a great idea AND it gave her a little extra lace to make this perfectly lovely hairpiece!

while i hung out with the ladies, matt spent time with the guys as they made the morning bagel run and dropped luggage off at the hotel george & sara would be staying in for their honeymoon. this means matt and i took VERY different images- but i liked how these next two seemed to go together anyway:

it had been an overcast trip so far, the wind blew cool and the skies remained a thick grey for the majority of the time we shot. but there were two moments, perfect moments when the sun did peek through. one was just before sara & george first saw one another in central park. just as we walked up the sun blared through the clouds and matt and i scrambled to adjust our settings to capture it. this meeting was one of the highlights of our trip, their eyes glistening, their families watching and the sun reflecting the way we all felt. again i realized how perfectly a small elopement fit sara & george.

this lady taking a picture was not a family member but seemed equally as excited as everyone else that sara & george were on their way to get married!

after we all pulled ourselves together, we made our way to city hall. home of the fastest weddings on the planet. oh my gosh. we had a little while to wait before the blink of an eye that was their ceremony, so we shot a few in the lobby before we were called in:

the ceremony started before i knew it and was over just as quickly. i let out an audible squeal at one point things were moving so quickly- embarrassing myself thoroughly. it was perfect though, exactly what they wanted- simple and official. and then, after a few family portraits, it was time for the reception at THE gray’s papaya– the one from the movies- perfect for sara & george- known to be huge lovers of entertainment. from there we headed to the buttercup bake shop for cupcakes and coffee and a sweet toast by sara’s dad. as a sidenote: matt had the most amazing peanut butter and jelly cupcake the world has ever tasted. if you’re ever there, i know it’s strange, but TRY IT!

we all thought this backdrop was about the cheesiest most amazing thing we’d ever seen so there was no way we were going to pass it up! luckily we had our light so we could make the most of it, haha:

grandfathers make me smile:

we stopped in central park for a few green portraits- nyc has such a diverse landscape we could never get tired of shooting there!

after lunch and cake we made our way to rockefeller center for their first dance. the top of the rock overlooks the whole city and as sara & george are considering moving there, it was just the right place to conclude their reception!

sara & george: no idea where to begin with you two- you’re perfect together and we feel so blessed that we’ve been able to watch your relationship grow and strengthen. we cannot wait to see what is next for you guys; we’re confident it will be awesome! thank you so so much for including us in your sweet wedding; we wish you the VERY best!