Amanda & Jordan thank you for letting us know that your wedding story is featured in the Spring 2010 issue of Contemporary Bride magazine.  Thank you for the copy of the magazine, and most importantly, thank you for submitting your wedding story to Contemporary Bride.

After going through the magazine, I understand why Contemporary Bride registered the phrase, “The Engaged Girl’s Survival Guide“.  They just know what every engaged girl needs to know.  They cut down to the chase and list every wedding vendor and detail of the bride and groom, even how many buttons are on a groom’s tuxedo.  In this New Jersey issue of the magazine they have 17 couples share their wedding stories.  The following is 1 of the 17 stories.  It is the wedding story of Amanda & Jordan.

August 8^th, 2009 was a day of many firsts for me.

It was the first time I:

* was at The Prospect Park Audubon Center at the Boathouse (for a wedding or personal leisure)
* was at The River Café
* saw a handmade silk bouquet by Twigs & Honey
* met stylist Sissi Chan
* assisted on two weddings in one day (yes, TWO (2) weddings!)
* was in Dumbo for a wedding day photography session
* assisted Willi and associate photographer, Ben
* brought a mp3 player with a recorder with me to a wedding
* tasted a Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory ice cream
* ate black cod with miso
* and so much more that I’m not going to bore you with

When I first walked into Prospect Park; it seemed like dejavu. I couldn’t pinpoint it until I’ve reached the Boathouse. I felt as if I was on the movie set of  Somewhere in Time; when I saw Cynthia and Matt in their wedding attire. The Boathouse is such a romantic setting for a wedding.

I did not plan on using my mp3 recorder, but when I heard the harpist playing Pachelbel’s Canon I couldn’t resist pressing the record button. A few days after the wedding when I listened to the recording; I was surprised by the content. Unknowingly, I had left the recorder on for the entire wedding ceremony. It recorded Cynthia and Matt’s wedding vows.

Now, I understand why talkies were such a phenomenon in the 1920s. Adding sound and especially dialog to photographs enhances the emotional content.  With Willi’s photo storytelling skills and my mp3 recorder we may have just added a new a la carte service.  Do let us know what you think.

By the way pescetarians I highly recommend The River Café’s black cod with miso!

The River Café
1 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 522-5200

Prospect Park Audubon Center at the Boathouse?
95 Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, NY? 11215
(718) 287-3400?

Cynthia & Matt’s slideshow was first published on September 27, 2009.

Dumbo, Brooklyn  is a very beautiful setting for not just wedding photography sessions, but also engagement photo sessions.

I hope everyone had a warm and wonderful holiday season!

Willi, theStoryteller, a Modern Lifestyle photographer, is still in the mist of post production and album making. Looks like he won’t be able to come up for air until the end of February; but in the mean time we would like to share an intimate wedding of a lovely, beautiful & fun couple from London, England.

Helen contacted us to photograph her intimate get away New York City destination wedding a month before their City Hall civil wedding ceremony. No contract was drawn; we promised to meet each other at 8 a.m. at the Hudson Hotel on one of the coldest day in December 2009.

They had a total party of three people: Helen, John, and Helen’s sister, Heather. Here are the challenges in a nut shell: Willi had to create a story of three people who comes to New York City’s City Clerk’s Office Marriage Bureau for a less than twenty second civil wedding ceremony to be pronounced husband and wife in 10°F (it sure did felt like it) weather and make it fill with fun, emotion, warmth, and NYC chicness, because that’s what the bride and groom came all the way to New York City from London to do. Thank goodness that the love was already there, because luckily for us Helen and John are so much in love that it shows.

We started the wedding photo shoot at the elegant Hudson Hotel Penthouse then we headed out to City Hall, Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Station. Due to the inclement weather; we tried, but were not able to utilize the terrace with panoramic New York City views. I was surprised that we were able to shoot in bathroom, but then it was chic and luxuriously stylish.

Well, here are the results from the challenges given! Be sure to view the slideshow too!

Please click on the play button to see more of Helen & John’s gorgeous wedding pictures taken in the penthouse of the Hudson Hotel, New York City Hall, Brooklyn Brooklyn and Grand Central Station.

Hudson Hotel
356 West 58th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 554-6000

Wishing you health, happiness & prosperity throughout the coming year

While going through our pile of magazines once more before they are recycled; I found this very interesting article from Fast Company magazine.  We may be in wedding industry and photography is our speciality, but we do not know all the facts and figures on weddings except for fact that June is the most popular month for weddings.

2,190,363 couples were wedded in the U.S. in 2008.

The world’s longest-married living couple, Zelmyra & Herbert Fisher of North Carolina, were, at press time, preparing to celebrate their 85th anniversary.

$707,051,028 worth of wedding cake and fondant frosting (more than 16 tons) was consumed last year in the U.S.

The average American wedding costs $28,704.

In frugal Mississippi the average drops to $18,562.

In spendthrift New Jersey that jumps to $36,113.

Behemoth David’s Bridal claims roughly 30% of the wedding-gown market, with dresses that start at $99.

Steel tycon Lakshmi Mittal spent an estimated $60 million on a five-day French wedding for his daughter, Vanisha, which included a 1,000 person engagement party at Versailles.

The discount chain Filene’s Basement has held its Running of the Brides event at dozens of stores each year since 1947.

At one store, shoppers cleared the racks of 3,000 marked-down dresses in a record 37 seconds.

In 1960, an American bride was typically 20 years old and a groom was 23. Today, they’re 27 and 29, respectively.

Six countries currently allow same-sex marriage: Belgium, Canada, Holland, Norway, South Africa, and Spain.

December is the most popular month to pop the question, accounting for one in five engagements.