my birthday week came to a close at nicole & dan’s wedding and since i’d been celebrating pretty much all week i was quite prepared to celebrate more! i arrived at the W- incidentally the perfect place to begin any party- and nicole immediately introduced me around. the room was full of family and close friends all talking and smiling and enjoying adorable tiny sandwiches. nicole’s sense of humor made it easy for me to enjoy shooting all day- she had us all laughing out loud with her offhand comments! literally, LOLing. i should hire her to write this blog. AND redesign this blog- LET ME JUST TELL YOU- she’s got an amazing design sense and it took a serious ‘discussion’ with matt for me to realize that i cannot include every single picture of every detail of her wedding. let’s get back to the tiny sandwiches at the W- hair and makeup was in full swing and since the guys didn’t need matt for another hour he was able to grab the rings and nicole’s dress and capture some killer details! this is my favorite ring shot taken on an old typewriter at the bar:
meanwhile the girls (and i) were laughing and generally relaxing and enjoying the day- love this next series of nicole and her bridesmaids:
before the guys started getting ready matt met up with them and they all made their way up to the roof to make some amazing images! the day was so cold the water from the pool was steaming- pretty:
after all of the finishing touches we jumped into a trolly bound for the king plow arts center– where the ceremony and reception was held. when we walked in we headed straight to the site to check on the decor. mark thompson, floral stylist for christopher confero luxe event design and a friend of nicole’s from design school worked with christopher to lovingly craft an environment with nicole in mind. she knew the general concept of their design but many of the details were a surprise- i think i was excited as everyone else when we were greeted with this perfect entry table!
nicole & dan’s wedding was illuminated by HUNDREDS of candles and to complete the glowing, romantic atmosphere, a dreamy golden tree was projected at the altar. i’d never seen anything like it before- the candlelight flickered off the old bricks and glistened at the edges of more than one set of eyes. the effect was intimate and calming. (attn photo nerds: we shot the ceremony at 6400 ISO at 1/40th of a second)
after the ceremony we had a few minutes to grab some portraits before the reception. it was freezing outside so after a few one light portraits around the grounds we decided to embrace the cold for the last few shots and capture the breath that came out in a puff of white with each exhale. the resulting images are pretty intense:
meanwhile the guests were enjoying the beautiful hors d’oeuvres and sparkling beverages that define bold american catering. they clustered around high tables with natural arrangements of perfect buds in re-purposed glass- glowing with the flickering warm light of yet MORE candles. so glad we had a second to grab some shots of the decor before the party started!
nicole & dan entered to deafening applause and cheers with grins stretched across their faces. the celebration was joyful and there was plenty of dancing and laughing! here are a few of our favorite shots:
just before the end of the evening we snuck nicole & dan out for just a few more images of the two of them. i love capturing just a few portraits at the end of the wedding day- after everything is over and there are no more details to worry about- it’s so natural and relaxed.
nicole & dan, thank you so much for allowing us to photograph such a beautiful day! we enjoyed getting to know you guys more as well as your families- capturing it all was great! we wish you both the very best!
