Blog
Full wedding & engagement stories, as well as wedding planning resources.
The Foundry Wedding - Long Island City, Queens - Sabrina & Josh
Past clients of mine referred Sabrina & Josh to inquire with me about their wedding, and I couldn’t have been luckier! Sabrina knew them through improv comedy, and she actually met Josh by first becoming his improv coach and (quickly thereafter) realizing they had a strong connection and started dating. They live in Greenpoint together, and knew they wanted an outdoor wedding, and The Foundry was the perfect wedding venue nearby to suit their needs.
The Foundry is a green oasis in the middle of Long Island City, Queens- a unique industrial venue with tons of character that is beautiful on its own, without needing to bring in much decor whatsoever. A historic steel foundry from the 19th century, it was renovated in the 80s to host events keeping its original raw character intact. There are many large gears/mechanical elements and original furnaces built into the design. The green outdoor space compliments this perfectly, being surrounded by plants, and blanketed with ivy walls.
Brooklyn Winery Wedding - Brooklyn, NY - Kristina & Andrew
Brooklyn Winery is a dynamic space that works perfectly for weddings. The space was historically used for manufacturing, but has been transformed into a unique rustic wedding venue with a succulent wall, exposed-brick walls, warm lighting, and and old-school bar that creates a romantic ambiance. Like its name suggests, it’s also a fully functioning winery, offering up custom-made labels with their wine as wedding favors, and giant stainless steel casks giving their space and industrial vibe. The room they use for ceremonies has a giant sky light that allows for tons of natural light to pour in, and also features a large statement wall covered in live plants. Guests move into the bar area while the space is flipped for the reception.
MyMoon Wedding - Brooklyn, NY - Emily & Tatsuya
MyMoon is such a unique wedding venue, with so much character you truly don’t need to bring in any extra decor at all. A beautifully re-imagined 19th-century boiler room- with exposed brick, reclaimed wooden floors, lofty ceilings, and unique metal sculptures throughout- creates a warm rustic environment. The open sky courtyard with potted plants and seating nooks for people to mingle during cocktail hour, contrasts the industrial, moody interior used for receptions. The ceremony space is framed by twinkle lights and crawling ivy walls, and is outfitted with a retractable roof as a built-in rain plan, so you can have an outdoor ceremony no matter the weather (they even have heaters!)
Sustainable Ideas for an Eco-Friendly Wedding
Over the years, I’ve seen a wedding or two- or 200 :P and I’ve seen how wasteful they can be… but they don’t HAVE to. So much of this industry is about the planning up until the event- but not about what happens after. What do we do with all these flowers, all these plastic cups that ended up in the trash can, this decor we’ll never use again, a wedding dress??
Planning a wedding can be overwhelming as it is, and you may not have time or energy to find out every little thing you can do to make your wedding eco-friendly. So I decided to collect a list of my favorite sustainable ideas from past weddings I’ve shot, or from other resources on the interwebs and put them all in one place, so it’s easy to share with new clients, and anyone who happens upon this blog post while wedding planning! Please share widely :)
Central Park Elopement & Restaurant Wedding Reception - Manhattan, NYC - Angela & Dan
For Angela & Dan's wedding, we started at their hotel in SOHO, walked around Tribeca, then took an Uber to TAVOLA - a classic pizza shop in Hell’s Kitchen for pictures. We then met their families under the archways at Bethesda Terrace, where Dan’s cousin officiated a quick ceremony. Finally we were off to IL BUCO in Nolita for their brunch reception.
Green Building Wedding - Brooklyn, NY - Jenah & Joe
I knew we were the perfect fit from our first phone call. They both work for non-profits in the city- Joe is in environmental engineering, and Jenah is a screenwriter. Their friends call them the “King & Queen of South Slope.” They’re all about community. “We want to live our lives not just ‘doing no harm’ but leave it a better place for the people around us.”
Greenpoint Loft Wedding - Brooklyn, NY - Marisa & Michael
Greenpoint Loft is one of my favorite wedding venues to shoot at in NYC. The unique wedding venue is on the top floor of a warehouse space with a warm raw vibe, in the historic industrial neighborhood of Greenpoint in Brooklyn right on the water. It’s such a fun area to explore for portraits, with plenty of city backdrops to utilize. The building itself was originally a pre-WWII rope factory that’s been restored, complete with high ceilings, exposed beams, distressed brick, lots of natural light through the large windows, and countless industrial details and textures to incorporate into decor and photos. It has a timeless, classy, vintage feel, and is a perfect blank slate for hosting weddings.
All About Wedding Albums
Here’s my informational blog post about the wedding albums I offer! Most of my clients end up getting a couple album, and many get parent albums as well, so I wanted to have a place for them to refer to in order to set expectations about the quality, design, and customization process.
7 Reasons to order a Wedding Album
Whenever I meet with potential wedding clients, I always ask if they’ve thought about getting a wedding album. To be honest, most of the time it isn’t something they’ve considered since they’ve been glued to their phones just trying to find a wedding photographer with the right style, personality, and professionalism- AND is available for their wedding date. Which is hard enough! But the physical products they offer should ABSOLUTELY also be a deciding factor. I believe every wedding deserves to be commemorated in an album, and I’ve put together a bunch of reasons why!
Brooklyn Heights Promenade Engagement Session - Sam & Tom
Sam & Tom had their engagement session in Brooklyn Heights- we walked along the promenade by the water, and finished up at COLONIE one of their favorite bars in the area. Tom actually grew up a block from the promenade (the awning from “1 Pierrepont St” was his old building!) It was my first time going there and I was blown away by the view of the Manhattan skyline! Can’t wait to go back once it’s a little warmer.
10 Things to consider when planning a city wedding
10 Things to Consider When Planning a City Wedding
Manhattan Restaurant Wedding and High Line Portraits - Amanda & Todd
Amanda & Todd had their restaurant wedding at DEL POSTO, a classic Italian spot in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, and we did portraits on THE HIGH LINE nearby. They *strategically* went the non-traditional route and decided against having a “wedding party” & formal ceremony. They eloped at city hall a couple days beforehand, in order to free up more time to get to the party! Now THAT’S what I call priorities ;)
They both got ready at THE STANDARD with just their parents and closest friends. The hotel literally cuts right through the High Line, so we ended up doing their first look right below it! It was a SUPER sunny day, but we played with harsh light & shadows left by the Manhattan architecture which made for a really unique look.
Jane's Carousel Wedding - DUMBO Brooklyn, NY - Alison & Jason
Alison & Jason had their wedding reception at the vintage, iconic Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO. Theirs was not your typical wedding- they scrapped formalities they didn’t need, and added new ones in the most thoughtful, intentional way.
DUMBO Engagement Session - Brooklyn, NY - Sam & Mark
Sam & Mark are good friends of mine from college, and live just across the river in West New York (which is technically in NJ?) So they took the train in and we explored around Dumbo at sunset, and then grabbed tacos and caught up.
Williamsburg Engagement Session - Brooklyn, NY - Rohan & Joe
For Rohan & Joe’s portrait session in Domino Park, we spent a hot summer evening walking around Williamsburg and hanging out by the water. We were connected through one of my favorite couples from 2018, Katherine & Bryan who got married at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston- where I got married! I knew any friends of theirs would be good peeps, and couldn’t wait to meet them.