I have been very fortunate for the last string of six years. I have been selected each year with having one or two of my clients’ weddings featured in bridal magazines. 2009 was a great year in terms of my having the honor of photographing several beautiful and elegant weddings. Several of them, in my opinion, were worthy of magazine publication. My clients, Rosemarie and Sam D’Angelo, was certainly one of those weddings and the magazine, Metro Detroit Bride agreed. In fact, not only were their images published, but the wedding was the feature wedding and provided us with a two page spread. Click here to see their blog post link from last September, and here to see their wedding highlight slideshow. Congratulations Rose and Sam!!! One Special Note: Carolyn Hefner, Wedding Planner Extraordinaire of the first class China Closet, was somehow left off the list of vendor credits. Without Carolyn’s focused attention to details, creative vision, and meticulous planning, the day would have fallen short of the extraordinary event it became.
Blake and Jason’s wedding took place on a beautiful June day in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. It was a perfect day for a beautiful and elegant couple. The day began with my meeting them both just prior to the ceremony at Christ Church Cranbrook where they both waited in separate rooms for the ceremony to begin. They were surrounded by close family and friends and the reception convened at the nearby, pristine Bloomfield Hills Country Club. Blake and Jason and their guests were treated to a beautiful sunset as they toasted and enjoyed their meals under a tent in front of the clubhouse. Cutting the cake and dancing followed upstairs inside. Be sure to check out the highlight slideshow at the bottom of this post. The classy wedding was the result of the couples top notch vendors which included:
Complete Wedding Planning Services: Carolyn Hefner and staff of the China Closet
Florist: Ralph Bellisario of Bellisario Florists
Band: The Sun Messengers
Cocktail/Dinner Music: Scandinavian String Quartet
Cake: Patisserie Parmentier
Tent and Decor: Special Events Rental
Invitations & Menu Cards: Cartoleria
Attire: Bride – Roma Sposa
MOB – Katrina Bocci
Men – Fox Formal
Onsight Seamstress: Seka
Transportation: All Star Transportation
Like many of my clients these days, Maria became familiar with my work because she is friends with former clients of mine. For me, there is no better way to find future clients! Maria and Joshua’s wedding day began with my starting at Maria’s parents’ home where Maria and her bridesmaids were getting ready. Some of the photos below are among my favorites this year! I love documentary style photography – finding images that tell the story of moment. But that is only half of what makes these memorable images. The other part of the equation in making great images is when your subject is emotional and expressive. You will see below that this came very easily for Maria on her wedding day!
The day continued with the ceremony at St Hugo’s Catholic Church in Bloomfield Hills where I met Joshua for the very first time. Joshua is the perfect compliment to Maria. It was obvious to all that they are happy and in love and are surrounded by wonderful family and friends. The evening moved forward to Orchard Lake Country Club for the wedding reception and celebration. I am so happy that they invited me to photograph their beautiful day! Please see the highlight slideshow at the bottom of this post to see how the entire story unfolded. Their day could not have been the success it became without the expertise of the following vendors:
Florist – Dave Calcaterra of Thrifty Florist
Linens – Special Events
Cake – Orchard Lake Country Club
Videographer – Chad Shwartzenberger
Day-of Coordinator – Molly Robinson
Paper Products and Design – Jen Wells of Miss Pickles Press
I met Erin and Brian for the first time when I arrived to photograph their wedding at the luxurious Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, Michigan. Upon meeting them, Erin warned me about both Brian and her father in that they were certain to shed tears throughout the day! She wasn’t kidding! Both men were very emotional and you will see this in some of the great moments captured below! I love photographing Jewish weddings because they are rich in tradition and very, very festive! The entire event – ceremony and reception – took place at the one location. Of course, the wedding day’s success was, in part, due to the contributions of Erin and Brian’s great wedding vendors:
Florist – Breath of Spring (Bruce)
Day of Coordinator – Party Assurance
Linens and Chairs – Modern Art
Cake – Townsend Bakery
Band – Intrigue
Programs and Place Cards – Lee’s Specialty
Videographer – Jeff Schoenberg
Enjoy some of my memorable photos below as well as the entire highlight slideshow at the bottom of this post:
Samantha and John flew me to Boston to spend the weekend with them over the Memorial Day holiday to photograph their engagement photos. I had not met the couple in person but I knew this was going to be a special event because of their enthusiasm and excitement they had expressed over the phone and via email. The goal was to photograph them similar to how I had photographed another client of mine in Boston last year where we had walked around the city, photographing creative portraits where ever we went. I would love to do this with all my clients! Not only did we spend two days together walking around Boston and Rockport (seaside photos below), but I left Boston having made two new friends! In photographing a couple as if I were out on a date with them, like you will see below, it allows me to get to know the couple, learn about their personalities and see them interact with one another. It prepares us all even more for the wedding day because they get to see me in action as well. You will see a combination of spontaneous moments as well as posed. In posing Samantha and John, they allowed me to be “me” and to be creative and fun.
I had as much fun spending the weekend in Boston with this couple as I can remember! They are terrific and I am very excited to photograph their wedding this coming August! Enjoy some of my favorites below and scroll to the bottom of the post to see their highlight slideshow!
Tara and Prasad’s wedding day ceremony and reception was held entirely at Burton Manor in Livonia, Michigan. I have photographed a few Indian weddings over the years but this was the first weekend where I photographed two in consecutive days! Tara and Prasad’s wedding day was a beautiful, joyful and colorful celebration! We had not met personally before because the couple resides out of state, but we had a some time before the reception to get to know one another and photograph a few portraits at a nearby park. You can see from the photos below that Tara and Prasad are very much in love and and I found them to be as warm and friendly a couple as you will ever meet. You can see some of my favorite moments below as well as the highlight slideshow at the bottom of this post. Tara and Prasads list of vendors were as follows:
Cake- Edwards Cafe Northville MI
Venue – Burton Manor
Florist – Fancy Florist
Caterer- Ashoka Indian restaurant, Krishna catering
Video – Anil Relan
DJ- DJ Naveen
Yes, I am a big fan of American Idol – there I said it! So you can imagine my surprise – as well as the bride and groom (Michelle & Bobby) – when we were told that three of American Idol’s Top Ten Finalists – Michael Lynche (Big Mike), Casey James and Andrew Garcia – were just down the hallway (at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, MI) in the lounge . After our band, Intrigue, spotted them on their break, they invited the A.I. trio to come down and sing a few songs. They agreed and shortly after midnight, put on a show for the remaining guests of this beautiful wedding. Below are some of my favorites, including the guys walking into the ballroom, being greeted by Michelle with open arms! NEWS ALERT: So far we’ve been contacted by Fox2 Detroit, AI Now, and Yahoo Music for permission to publish these photos for their news articles!
A photo of mine was selected by www.theknot.com as one of their Top Ten Most Outrageous Wedding Photos. This very cool diamond ring ice sculpture image was captured at an October, 2009 wedding I photographed of Ranae and TJ’s reception at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, Michigan. The photo is below and you can click here to see the write-up on the knot.com.
We photographed Aarti and Atul’s spectacular wedding entirely at the beautiful Dearborn Inn. It was as colorful and beautiful of a wedding as you will ever see! I am so grateful that this couple – who come from a long list of friends whose weddings I’ve photographed – selected me to be their wedding photographer! I was assisted by my second photographer, David Yarnall. You can see some of my favorite moments below as well of the highlight slideshow of almost 200 hundred photos at the bottom of this post. Aarti and Atul had a terrific list of vendors, who all contributed to making this day a huge success:
Decorator/Florist by MPE Events, Inc., Videography by Fifth and Main Productions, Catering by Rangoli, Hair/Makeup by Brides on Location, LLC, Shutterbooth by Shutterbooth, Inc., Deejay by Jay Chana DJ Services, Elephant by Ivory Haven Farms, Mehendi by Mehendi Art and Desserts by Sweet Creations. Enjoy my faves and the slideshow:
