Ryan Brenizer — New York City Wedding Photographer » "Work is Love Made Visible." --Kahlil Gibran

What better way to spend Independence Day than with Heather and Jordan at their Ritz Carlton Battery Park wedding? You may recall that we’d already had lots of fun together, with an engagement shoot stumbled across by Dave Chappelle. The day was extremely hot and windy — the moment Heather stepped outside her gorgeous cathedral veil almost went flying off the edge of the building — but they couldn’t have been having a better time. They were so excited that every time they saw each other in key moments, from the first look to the ceremony and kiss, cake cutting, anything, they would just keep bursting out in gales of laughter.

Of course a wedding at the Ritz was classy and gorgeous, with a fantastic cake that marked the day in another way, looking like fireworks exploding over the city. We never did see the fireworks display, which was on the other side of the city, but they had plenty of their own. Congratulations!

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I love shooting weddings in California. Not just because the cities are great (although there is a special place in my heart for San Francisco), but because you can’t throw a 5D Mark II without hitting three great wedding photographers there, so when a couple says “We want to fly you in to shoot this,” I know that their styles and mine will mesh perfectly. That was true with Karen and Kamil, and it was oh-so-true in the case of Valerie and Matt.

I mean, all you really need to know is that they Rick-Rolled their ceremony. After the gorgeous and heartfelt ceremony (with vows that Val, of course, read off her iPhone), the strains of Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up came over the loudspeakers, and the crowd went nuts as the wedding party danced their way off.

I don’t have to tell you how much fun I had; just look at the photos below and the slideshow. Their love, their awesome friends, and their care for their guests having a good time was constantly palpable. Congratulations Valerie and Matt!

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Yes, as the best man noted, their names rhyme. And frankly, I think that’s kind of awesome — it shows the natural chemistry these two have. Wedding days can bring stress and worries, particularly when the weather threatens rain on and off and whenever the words “highway traffic” is involved. But the moment that Karen saw Aaron, that was it. He was it. Smiles and connection and pink socks. And you know what? The rain held off, leaving only a gorgeous sunset over Manhattan, which the Water’s Edge has a great view of.

As someone whose name starts with Ryan Kelly can attest, the Irish throw some good parties. Mix that with Karen’s Greek heritage, including traditional dances at the reception, and things really get going. But their deep affection for their friends was represented in yet another way — a close friend of theirs, the amazing singer-songwriter Langhorne Slim, performed at the reception, a performance both touching and fun.

This day was so important and meaningful in ways that are theirs alone, so for a public message I will just say congratulations to you both.

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I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about tricks like flash composites or the Brenizer Method, which I tend to use to open up new possibilities in portraiture. But my real love in photography is storytelling, and Elyse and David knew that they wanted photojournalistic coverage that would just let them enjoy their day. And why not? Elyse started her career in journalism … usually I’m the one telling stories about having to explain myself to officials on a photo-shoot, but her journalistic adventures came up several times during the speeches.

I always enjoy temple weddings, because you combine all the importance of ceremony and ritual to the marriage process, from the separate receptions of the Kabbalas Panim, to the (rainy) march to the b’deken, and the ketubah signing all before the public ceremony, but you also have the relative calm that comes from having every moment of the wedding day in one place. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the temple is gorgeous. Fitting, of course, with these too. David, no one pulls off a Snoopy yarmulke like you do.

Congratulations!

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Sarah and Michael had a gorgeous, elegant wedding in Columbia University’s Saint Paul’s Chapel, with a reception at the Faculty House. With the fantastic help of Nerissa and Jennifer at Private Receptions, every detail was stunning, from Sarah’s unbelievable dress to a cake with some of the finest detail work I’ve seen anywhere. The black and white theme added to the urban Manhattanite feel. Yet these two sophisticated New Yorkers both originally hail from Canada — warmth and kindness are the right kinds of stereotypes for a country to have, and Sarah and Michael and their families more than lived up to it. Not having grown up in America, they are making up for lost time, now on a tour of all the lower 48 states — a fantastic idea and something I would love to do.

Words don’t do justice to how gorgeous St. Paul’s Chapel is, the fun of an endlessly energetic band, or the relaxation of guests smoking hand-rolled cigars on a terrace in the summer night. Luckily I took some pictures.

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There are few couples I’d rather get lost in the woods with than Mary and Mike … which is good because that’s exactly what happened.

They’d just finished a classic, emotional Catholic ceremony on Long Island, and we were all excited to head out and take some pictures with them and the extremely fun wedding party. So we went out to a forest reserve they’d heard was nice (with the groomsmen picking up drinks along the way, ensuring that the wedding party was getting more fun all the time), and it was great, but required a lot of walking along winding roads. We photographed some relatives … and then they left. We photographed the wedding party … and then they left. This left us with the opportunity to take intimate portraits with Mary and Mike, which I loved.

“Great!” I said. “Which way is out?”

“Hm, we’ve never been here before either…”

So the adventures continued for a bit, and we took some more portraits along the way. (There’s always a silver lining). But we got them back to the cocktail hour right on time, important because Mike was understandably excited about a full-sized rowboat filled with seafood that was the centerpiece.

The reception was incredibly raucous and fun — I’ve never seen such choreographed entrances, including a groomsman who borrowed some of my gear to pretend to be me, photographing the bridesmaid playing America’s Next Top Model. The giant dance floor was filled to capacity all night, mixing between modern and ethnic folk music with twisting and turning line dances that eventually took them outside into the night.

A wonderful time, congratulations you two!

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You know you’re going to have a gorgeous, classy wedding at the TriBeCa RoofTop, and Ellen and Jeff’s fantastic affair was no exception. After all, one of the biggest arbiters of style in Mahattan is how many random letters are capitalized in the middle of a place name, and no one beats TriBeCa RoofTop. We started the day at the new Trump SoHo Hotel (see?) and had a gorgeous, sunny day shining down on their ceremony. I don’t need to tell you how clearly in love these two were; all you have to do is look through all the different expressions below or on the slideshow. Tears to laughter in two seconds flat.

Ellen spent most of the day in a gorgeous gown, then joined her mother and aunt in a colorful, traditional Korean Hanbok. I was joined on this day by Kenny Pang, a friend and fellow NYC wedding photographer with great energy. As always, the photos below and in the slideshow are just the ones I took, since I use them for promotional purposes, but he did a great job covering the guys and the wedding day.

Congratulations, Ellen and Jeff!

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I knew Alicia and Jason were awesome. I just didn’t know how awesome they were on the dance floor.

It was a hot, humid Memorial Day weekend for the two of them — as I took the flash composite group photo (in the slideshow), at any given time half of the party was in the shade fanning themselves. But that didn’t stop everyone from having a great time throughout the day, whether it was the carefully choreographed wedding party entrance, or Jason doing the Kid N’ Play routine from House Party.

A gorgeous couple and a gorgeous day (at least, when you look back in the photos and don’t have to feel the heat), but in the end it all comes down to the fun you have and the love you share. At the reception, the DJ asked a woman who had been married for more than 60 years to give advice to the newlyweds. She paused for only a moment: “Just keep dancing!”

Congratulations, you two. I’m sure you will.

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