A beautiful early July day, prior to all of that month’s intense heat that followed, hard to find a more beautiful bride than Stephanie. And who better to greet the newly married couple on the steps outside the church than Steph’s adoring 2nd grade class (who didn’t love their second grade teacher, especially if they looked anything like our bride?). With their reception by the water at the Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club, their’s was an endless evening of fun and celebration, including a round of both a tarantella and a hora, and that was just to get the party rolling. With music by the fabulous “Play by Play” of “Faze 4″, and a hearty helping of memorable speeches and “performances” by friends and family, it was truly a night to remember. Congratulations once again to both of you, Anthony and Stephanie.

We first met the two of them at Sarah’s sister Jennifer’s wedding two years ago. Sarah grew up in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Doug in Syracuse, NY. They had met in Boston back in 2004. When it came time to take our family portraits, Doug was right in the mix (as was Sarah’s other sister Molly’s soon to be fiance Jeff-and whose wedding we’re photographing next June). So all indications were that I’d be getting a call in the near future. And here indeed we were.

Married at the beautifully elegant and understated Silver Spring Country Club in Ridgefield, on a picture perfect nearly-summer day, Sarah could not have been a more beautiful bride. Her gown, from the extraordinary Alison Fischer from The Plumed Serpent in Westport, was a Monique Lhuillier (“Edie” its name). Silk satin organza with a chantilly lace corset bodice embellished with seed pearls and delicate ribbon details (Alison’s description, of course, not mine). She also had all of her accessories custom designed by one of Alison’s accessory designers to further show off the fantastic details on the gown. The broach on the back of her dress, as featured in our photos, was beyond spectacular.

With non-stop music by Leigh Henry and his band Celebration!, the best location, a magnificent gown, two wonderful families, and the charming and adorable Sarah and Doug. How special was this day! Very special! Congratulations to both of you.

In so many ways it was a day filled with special details and special meaning. Ali, as you can see here, was a gorgeous bride. Her Judd Waddell gown from The White Dress by the Shore (“silk mikado fit to flare with alencon lace accents”) was customized by the extraordinary Beth Chapman (her quotes) with straps designed by Ali, incorporating lace from the gown and beading from her mother’s wedding gown. Her veil had been her mother’s, which she surprised her with as she was getting ready.

Once in her gown, Ali met John in her mom’s backyard, where they strolled out to a very small “island”, connected by a very short bridge, for a quiet moment before our family portraits. All before heading off to the church and cocktails and reception at the Inn at Longshore. Surrounded by friends and family, and some amazingly cute Irish dancing nieces, it was a non-stop celebration of life and love, the memories of which I’ve hopefully done justice to below. Congratulations to Ali and John.

on their picture perfect Spring wedding day.

From Dumbo (directly under the Manhattan Bridge overpass, for those not in the know) to Hoboken, Central Park to Battery Park, there’s never a lack of great locale, and never a photo session without the unexpected bringing something extra special to the mix.

And what could be more special than spending the afternoon exploring their Long Island City neighborhood with Julie and Adam. With their wedding plans set for Tappan Hill in October, and the mid-May weather at its finest, we walked and talked, got to know each other a bit better, and took (I think you’ll agree) some beautiful pictures together. More of the wonderful story of Julie and Adam, of course, to follow.

Upon reading this past week about baseball legend Ken Griffey, Jr.’s decision to retire, after an illustrious 22 year hall-of-fame-bound career, I couldn’t help but reflect upon one memorable day, more than a decade ago, when I had the extraordinary opportunity to meet, in fact spend the day with, and photograph Ken.

Let’s start with a little historical background*. It was December 1999, Griffey had been playing for the Seattle Mariners for the previous ten years, having joined them at the age of 19, joining a franchise that had not had a single winning season since it began play in 1977. An instant sensation, Griffey not only led the Mariners to their first playoff appearance by 1995 (and two years later being named the
American League most valuable player-indeed two years in a row), but he quickly had a candy bar named after him. “Ken’s enduring legacy will be as the ballplayer most responsible for keeping Major League Baseball here in Seattle…”, said Howard Lincoln, the Mariners’ chief executive.

By the late ’90’s, however, as weak pitching and other factors doomed the efforts of the Mariners, Griffey asked to be traded. The reported original list of teams he was willing to talk to included Cincinnati, where he spent his formative years as his dad Ken, Sr. starred for the Reds’ championship teams in the 1970’s, Atlanta, Houston and Cleveland. Atlanta and Houston were never serious players, and while negotiations with the Reds appeared to break down, the rumor mill was spreading that the Mets had become a real contender to land Griffey.

And as the decision deadline neared, I found myself in the midst of my own little Griffey deal making. With thanks to my Connecticut agent at the time, the incomparable John Brewster, I had been commissioned to fly to Orlando for an advertising shoot, featuring none other than Jr. himself. Hitting the news stand before catching our flight, I picked up a copy of that day’s New York Post for a little quick read. It was Sunday December 12th, the shoot scheduled for Monday morning in a studio near Ken’s Orlando home. The headline on the front page of the Post was typical for the tabloid, “Dead Kids Learning: Bombshell report: Schools scammed millions with phantom students”. At the very top of that day’s paper: “Headway in Transit Talks”, “Dandy Brande: Hef’s Newest Bunny”, and finally “Mets Back in Griffey Chase”. Flipping that day’s paper over to the back cover and “Sports Sunday”, the headline read: “Back in the Hunt: Mets zero in on Griffey after Reds drop out chase”.

It was in that context that we showed up at the studio on Monday morning. And while I’ll deny in a court of law (at least if surrounded by my Worcester “boys”) that I was ever anything but a life-long Red Sox fan, having spent so many years living and working in NY, you could taste the excitement and anticipation in the air.

The rest of the story, of course, has been also well-documented, the headline on Monday morning’s Post, which we already had a copy of before Griffey showed up that day, was “Grif Just Says No To Mets-Agent: It’s Either M’s or Cincy for Junior”, the lead sports story going on to say, “Ken Griffey, Jr. will not be a Met. He will be traded to the Reds or play out his contract in 2000 as a Mariner, his agent, Brian Goldberg, vowed yesterday.”

Showing nothing but characteristic total cool throughout the day, seemingly unfazed by the media storm that surrounded his every move, Ken arrived on time for our photo session, joked with all of us about what was happening around him, stood for hours on end in various product endorsement poses, always the consummate professional. Have successfully completed our day’s assignment, I fortunately remembered John Brewster’s parting words of wisdom to me, to make sure to ask Ken to sit for a quick black and white portrait at the end of the session, no product endorsement, no baseball uniform, just Ken, the results of which I present to you above.

An addendum to the story: our photo stylist had with her two baseball caps for Ken to wear that day, one for the Reds, one for the Mets, all depending upon which way the wind was to blow that memorable day in December.

* Historical context courtesy of the New York Post.

A rather typical blustery April day, lots of sunshine, but winds whipping around the sound, we managed to take the bridal party outside for a few photos and then returned inside for the family pictures and the beautiful ceremony by the water. Adding to the special nature of the day for both Jordana, Brad and me, one of the officiants was their good friend Diana, soon to be a rabbi, and whose wedding I also photographed. Particularly significant in that it was Diana’s first time officiating at a wedding, and amazing job that she did, standing alongside her mom Donna, whose extraordinary voice graced the ceremony as well. In fact it was a day surrounded by some of my favorite people, brides and grooms whose weddings I’ve previously photographed or the parents of couples who I’ve worked with or both. What could be more fun.

And the total pleasure of having the opportunity to photograph Jordana and Brad’s wonderful wedding day, a non-stop celebration of love and laughter and family. Thanks to both of them for including me. Looking forward to sharing many more memorable events with all of you.

Back “in the day”, when I was an advertising and magazine photographer with a studio in NYC, one of my long-time and most wonderful of clients was a kids’ fashion catalogue called Brights Creek. Allie’s dad and my good buddy Arnie was the Senior Product Manager and at its peak, we spent as many as forty days a year together taking pictures in the studio of the latest (in ’80’s) kids’ clothing. And while most of the kids were actually models, each of us managed to, at times, sneak in our own kids to the mix, including young and adorable Allie.

But enough about the past. A bit about Allie and Justin today, and how they first met. Allie’s best friend Andi went on the Birthright trip to Israel in July 2009. When she returned she told Allie that she met the perfect guy for her, that they had so much in common, both went to and loved Penn State, both were Jewish with close families, and that their personalities were extremely similar. Allie was finishing up her masters from Penn State, and Andi informed Allie that this “perfect guy” was going to be at the Penn State football game the last weekend of September. She gave Allie his number, she called and introduced herself, and asked him if he and his friends wanted to meet at a bar for a few drinks. They ended up doing just that, at a bar called “The G-Man”, and the two instantly clicked. They met a few times that same weekend at various bars and restaurants, and they’ve been together ever since. She would make the long drive from PSU to Jersey City, where Justin was already living, and he would make the same trip in reverse to see Allie. They were engaged on February 6th, 2010 on a skiing weekend at Hunter Mountain in Upstate New York and their wedding will be taking place on Memorial Day weekend 2011.

So while all my relationships with my brides and grooms is special and “personal” for me, once in awhile I have the unique opportunity to work with a couple with whom there’s already a long history, whether it was the fact that my dad had photographed their parents’ wedding, or that I’d had a personal long-standing friendship with the family, as in the case of Allie and hers. So its with great anticipation that I eagerly await the wedding of Allie and Justin next year and with great excitement that I share with you these pictures of our day spent on the streets of Jersey. Enjoy.

They met at a camp fair in Westchester (NY). They were both recruiting for their respective camps. They talked for only a few minutes, but then two months later at the Tri-State Camp Conference in Atlantic City (how fun does that sound?!) they really got to talk, at which point Ashley suggested to Dan that he ask her out sometime, which of course he did-later that night. She knew Dan was the one the first time she was at his place and saw the inside of his refrigerator. He had it filled with ginger ale…she had mentioned to him that she has a very sensitive stomach on one of their first dates, so he went out and stocked it, just in case. The rest is history, and camping.

We met on their wedding day at the very chic Bryant Park Hotel, where Ashley and the girls were getting ready. From there we strolled across the street to Bryant Park, which was just starting to really come into bloom, for photos of the two of them and their outrageously fun bridal party. While my original vision might have been to get the entire group on the little carousel in the park, at the risk of making a lot of little kids in line cry, we opted for some great moments with just Ashley and Dan. From there off to the ceremony and reception, all of which took place at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, overlooking the Hudson River. It was a beautiful early Spring day, if just a bit windy. Ashley, glowing in her gorgeous Monique Lhuillier gown, her sister Hayley, with her own wedding planned for next year, flawlessly functioning not only as maid of honor, but as wedding planner extraordinaire, and Dan with his ever-present charm and cool.

As the sun set over the Hudson and Ashley and Dan exchanged their vows, I couldn’t help but think that this was truly a match made in heaven, in this case “camping heaven”. Congratulations Ashley and Dan.