Washington Duke Inn: Emily & James: Part II
As promised, here are more images from Emily & James' fabulous Washington Duke Inn wedding!
Emily & James, God bless 'em, decided to see each other before the wedding, proving once and for all how hip they are. As West Coast photographer Jasmine Star says, "all the cool kids are doing it." I'm happy to report that their First Look session didn't trigger any bad luck and the wedding and reception went off without a hitch. The couple remain healthy and happy to this day. Tradition, be damned! :)
Many brides say they don't want their grooms to see them before the wedding so that they can have "That Moment": the moment when he sees you for the first time in your wedding gown. Doing a First Look on your wedding day doesn't mean you can't have that moment; you can, in PRIVATE, without 200+ guests watching. I know it's traditional for the groom not to see the bride before the wedding. But did you also know that, strictly speaking, the groom is supposed to stand at the end of the aisle with his back turned, not looking at the bride until she's right beside him? Why don't we still do that? It's also tradition for the groom to buy the bride's bouquet. Let's start a new tradition: the bride and groom agree to meet in a private location at a certain time. The groom has the bride's bouquet and presents it to her when she arrives. Then the photographer gets to have all the time she needs to get amazing pictures without the giant clock in her head ticking! And no one in the family or bridal party gets restless or ticked-off as we work through a long formals shot list after the wedding when all they really want is to go to the party! And the bride and groom get to go to the cocktail hour and spend more time with their friends! And maybe you save money by not having to have a cocktail hour (which we all know is just busy time for the guests while pictures get taken) at all!
Whew. I'm alright. I'm back now from fantasy land. Let's move on, shall we?
James sees his bride for the first time. Priceless expressions, up close and personal.
Their "posterity" portrait. It's great to have artsy images, but each couple should also have a well-posed, beautifully-lit portrait from their wedding day.
After completing all of the formals, it was time for the ketubah ceremony. In Jewish weddings, the ketubah is the wedding contract between the bride and groom. It is considered a high honor to be invited to the ketubah ceremony. The contract is read and then signed by the couple, the rabbi and two witnesses. Here, the rabbi signs the ketubah, while the maid of honor, the best man and Emily and James look on.
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The candlelight ceremony begins. Emily & James' wedding was held in the round with the huppah in the center. Both the bride and groom are escorted by their parents and circle the guests before processing down the main aisle to the huppah.
In traditional Jewish ceremonies, the bride circles the groom 3 to 7 times to symbolize her commitment to the groom: she creates a circle of love and protection as she walks. Circling as a tradition declined in the recent past with the growth of feminism; some saw the act as a statement of subservience. Circling is making a comeback with modern couples, just with a twist; now the groom circles the bride as well.
Lighting the candle together.
Emily and James: married!
The guest-book table featured wedding shots of family members and the signing book created with images from James & Emily's engagement session.
Greeting their guests during cocktail hour.
I loved the orchids and curly willow on the tables. All of the floral design was done by Kelly Odom.
The first dance to "Shake a Tail Feather" sooo fit Emily and James' personalities.
A picture-perfect big finish:
Emily and her dad after their Father/Daughter dance.
James and his mom. I love the look on her face.
The toasts were funny and sweet. The toasters were full of personality.
Mark grabbed Julia's reading glasses to read his toast. I love it!
Then it was time to party. No, make that, time to par-tay. First, the horah.
I don't think you've truly danced at a wedding reception until you've danced the horah. Everybody should do it at least once in their lifetime. As a matter of fact, if we all danced the horah more often, it might facilitate world peace. Everybody would be too happy and exhausted to fight. Just a suggestion.
Then the band took over, but they didn't get the stage to themselves for long. James and the fellas serenade the ladies with "My Girl."
Then it was the ladies' turn to wow the crowd with their rendition of "Dancing Queen."
A break to cut the cake:
Emily re-takes the stage:
More riotous dancing ensues.
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Ok, I'll admit it: I'm proud of this bouquet-catching shot. I don't know if it is mine or Frank's but it is suh-weet.
Oh, you two: how adorable can one couple be?
The end of the night and a kiss to cap off one helluva wedding, pardon my French. (Don't you just love MOB Julia's expression?)
Emily & James, we are so thrilled, awed, humbled and just plain gob-smacked to have been able to share this day with you, your friends and your families. We wish you loads and loads of love, laughter, luck and lots of dancing in the future!
Mariah and Robert
Mariah and Robert were married November 10, 2007 at St. Mark's United Methodist Church here in Raleigh. Working with this couple has been such a blast, not only because they are great people, but they really love photography. We had so much fun during their engagement session back in the Fall that I couldn't wait for the wedding day. Mariah incorporated so many special touches to make their wedding really personal. Her grandmother is from Puerto Rico and Mariah chose to wear her lovely lace mantilla as a veil. Mariah's hair was spectacular! I love these shots of her with the red rose tucked into all those curls.
Mariah brought her christening gown with her on the wedding day to be photographed with her wedding gown. I loved the sweet little details on the dress and grabbed an opportunity to photograph it with her grandmother's lace mantilla.
Another grandmother's New Testament and Robert's ring, plus a shot of the dress:
Mariah's bridesmaids were so fun! Here's a shot of all the ladies:
And the guys were a hoot:
Mariah had always dreamed of a candlelight ceremony. The church had recently installed new light fixtures but not dimmers, so when the overhead lights went out, they went OUT. I panicked a little, but luckily, our Canon cameras came through. Canon cameras are the best for low-light situations and one of the main reasons I prefer them over Nikon for weddings. (This ends the product placement portion of the blog post!) I always ask my couples to pause at the end of the aisle for a quick kiss, like this:
(Mariah's gorgeous bouquet came from Kelly Odom.)
After formals, it was off to the reception at Sister's Garden, a Raleigh tradition that is a great place for receptions. Typically, I stay after the formal photos to work with the bride and groom a bit while Frank takes off for the reception site to start photographing details and get room shots. I always stick my car keys in the back pocket of my camera bag. Frank grabbed the bag and took off for Sister's, not knowing he also had my car keys. Fortunately, I was able to grab a ride in the limo with the newlyweds, the best man and maid of honor and caught one of my favorite shots of 2007:
DJ Kent Bloms with Joe Bunn DJ Company did a fantastic job keeping people on their feet for what was a really fun night. The couple's first dance kicked everything off:
I just love it when I catch the groom in a sweet moment! I have to say Robert is one of the nicest people I've ever met. It wasn't long before Michael Jackson's perennial favorite "Thriller" got everyone out of their seats:
Mariah is a dance instructor (hip-hop is her specialty -- go, Mariah), so the dancing at the reception was, at the risk of sounding really uncool, "off the hook." Here's K., showing some flare:
A shot of the yummy wedding cake from Edible Art. The bow on the cake was a copy of the bow on Mariah's dress:
The sparkler departure craze continues, which keeps us on our toes! It's a tough shot to get, but when you do, it's golden:
Check out the flip-flops -- a bride's most useful accessory on her wedding day! Congratulations, Mariah and Robert...we wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness!
