Style Art Life

This wintery NYC engagement session is a stark contrast to where Betty & Nelson will be saying their I do’s…. which will be under the warm sun of Mexico’s Mayan Riviera. Both Betty & Nelson are born and raised New Yorkers. During their planning process, they decided on a whim to forego the traditional Chinese ceremony and to truly do something for themselves…so Mexico was the logical place to tie the knot as they have been there before and loved it. Following the weekend of fun, a more traditional Chinese Banquet will be thrown back in New York.

I can’t wait for this wedding to happen and to be a part of all the fun. During the engagement shoot, Betty kept stealing my breath away from her natural beauty.  I can imagine how much more beautiful Betty will be on her wedding day.  As for Nelson, it was like hanging out with an old friend from college…speaking of which…he did warn me of his “Frat Boys”and how they really like to party. All I have to say is bring it and let the fun begin!

During the shoot, Betty spotted this beautiful dog walking by with his owner. From seeing her excitement on her face over the beautiful ol’ pup, I of course, stopped the owner to see if we could borrow his dog for the shoot. He so kindly obliged and it was awesome!

When Nelson initially proposed to Betty, he had written her a poem. So a copy of that poem tied up in a pretty red satin ribbon was incorporated into the shoot.

 

A Holiday sneak peak of Betty & Nelson’s engagement shoot!

My first meeting with Esther & Tae went like this: “So, do you have any questions?” | “No, where do we sign?” ……Ok, it didn’t happen in exactly 2 sentences, but that was the gist. I know I am always facebooking about all the laid back couples I constantly get to meet,  but I think Esther & Tae really wanted to drive home the point of super laid back.  They were already sold on my work through this site and just wanted to meet before booking me. And while we laughed over cappucinos and steal cut oatmeal, they also decided to book my teammate Mel Saladino for the month-of-coordination who was also at our meet-up.

Esther flew up from Atlanta where she is currently base to do the engagement shoot amongst the foliage of New York…a priviledge of the seasonal change which she didn’t experience growing up in Florida. What I love about this shoot was its pure simplicity. Without any props, intricacy of ideas or contrived set ups, the shoot simply highlighted the sweet & playful nature of Esther & Tae’s relationship. Neither Esther nor Tae had ever experienced a professional shoot and were unsure how to be for the camera …What made the shoot turn out so wonderful was their complete trust in me as we ran around to some of New York City’s classic staples.

We started off at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then went over to Central Park. Since it was the start of the Holiday season, the Bergdorf window displays were revealed on the day of the shoot, so we seized the moment to do some shots there. Of all Holiday window displays in the city, Bergdorf is by far my favorite and the best above all the others. I even went as far as bringing them to mine & my husband’s sacred holiday-shopping-drink spot, BG, which happens to be on the 7th floor of Bergdorf’s. And our favorite bartender, Robert, was also there to serve us.

So let the count down begin to what will be a fun Brooklyn wedding affair!

 

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 Joey & Janice met on Fire Island while Summering there with friends. So of course, it was only appropriate to have their engagement session where they first met and continued to spend their Summers together the years after.

Joey is in the boating insurance business, so it was a bit apropos to include a nautical touch to the day’s shoot. I love the sweetness of their relationship and both of their willingness to go with me on the ideas I had…even Janice was willing to get splashed by the waves in her pretty dress to get the right shot.. It was really an honor to spend the day with them as we rode the ferry over together and then ran around the quaint little area of Fire Island. Weather was amazing and I was soaking up every moment of the morning light that came our way.