MEF Photography Blog! » San Francisco-Based Wedding, Family + Portrait Photography

I love this couple.  I love this wedding.  I love Polish weddings.  I love.  I love.  I love.  In fact, if it were up to me, this whole blog would read a little something like this:

Love love love love, love love; love LOVE.  Love, love lovelove love — love.  Love loveLOVE, love love love.  Love love love love love love.

Get it?

You might remember this story from Maggie + Artur’s engagement session, but I love it (are you surprised?), so I’ll repeat it.

They met while out with friends.  He liked her, she liked him.  They exchanged phone numbers.  He liked her so much that he called her right away… but she didn’t answer, so he left her a message and waited hopefully her reply.  And he waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  A day, a week, a month went by and he kept on waiting.  For three whole months he wished for the phone to ring.  He thought it all but lost when finally, after three long months, she called back — and suddenly it was as if he’d never waited even a second.  Not long after they started dating, they got engaged, and they planned their whole wedding in just 5 short months.  As Maggie said to me, “What the point in waiting?”  What’s the point, indeed. :)

This past September 18th, all that waiting was made worthwhile, as Maggie + Artur were wed at a (lovely, I’m sure, though I can’t prove it because I didn’t understand it!) Polish ceremony at Holy Cross Church in New Britain.  They followed it up with a rousing reception at Baltic Restaurant in Berlin.  Did I mention that I loved it?  Because I did.  Let’s look!

*****

Maggie had her makeup professionally done by Iwona at Forever Young Day Spa in New Britain, and it looked out-freaking-standing.  Let me just take a moment to make a bit of a declaration: All (yes, ALL, every, 100% of) brides should hire a makeup artist on their wedding day.  Whether you go to her or she comes to you doesn’t matter.  What’s important is that a MUA knows not only how to do your makeup well, but how to do your makeup well for the camera — and these two things are not one in the same.  Makeup simply doesn’t photograph the way we see it — and some makeup simply doesn’t photograph well at all (I’m looking at you, mineral foundation).  MUAs know this and it’s their job to make you look good.  Besides, you have more than enough to worry about on the day as it is; indulge in the luxury of being pampered and taking something off your plate.  It is well worth the (reasonable) cost.  And anything with a hard appointment time helps keep the schedule on track — never a bad thing!  Moral of the story: Hire a makeup artist.  You will be glad of it.  Shutting up now.

Isn’t Maggie lovely?

I love the shot of her hands on the right.  When I showed these to Glen he said, “She looks beautiful and nervous.”  Exactly what I was going for.

Maggie’s dress and jewelry came from Camille’s Bridal (awful website!).  Her necklace and earrings (left) shined like diamonds, and I’ll just be super modest and say that I’m big time proud of that picture of her shoes.  The room where Maggie dressed had fabulous furniture!

Are you getting excited about this dress yet?

My jaw dropped.  Her dress was so lovely and perfect for her — my favorite yet!

AND a birdcage veil?  Yes please!

I love this photo.  Love love love it.

Maggie’s mom put five-dollar bills in each of Maggie’s shoes.  I’d never seen this before, so I asked if it was a Polish tradition, and was told that it’s meant as blessing — a wish for bride and groom to lead rich lives (both monetarily and figuratively).   I loved it.  On the right, Maggie’s bridesmaid is pushing a peeking bill back beneath her toes.

I had so many gorgeous veil shots to choose from, I had a really hard time narrowing them down.  Thus, you suffer through several!  Like this one:

AND THIS ONE!  (And, just in case you hadn’t had enough, there are more in the slideshow linked at the end of this post!)

How gorgeous is this church?  I know, right?

Love the excitement on Maggie’s face here:

The entire mass was in Polish, which was both fascinating and challenging.  Because I couldn’t understand anything, I had no idea when any of the “big” events were going to happen (vows, rings, kiss, etc.).  I’m happy to report that I was on top of my game that morning — didn’t miss a thing, including the rings (right). :)

Beautiful!

“A Polish-English Mass and Prayer Book.”

After the ceremony we drove to Walnut Hill Park in New Bitain for bridal party photos.  I know I don’t normally post these, but this was one good looking bunch:

After we finished with group shots, they brought out a bottle of champagne to toast among friends before the rest of the crowd headed over to the reception:

Maggie + Artur stayed behind with me for some portraits:

The weather was perfectly overcast (although the sun did peek out a time or two), and the clouds were amazing.  Made my job easy.

Enormous thank you to Maggie + Artur for their willingness to hunker down in the grass for this shot.  My favorite:

Super cool getaway car?  Yes, please!  (Although, I’m just going to go ahead and say it: This guy drove like a FREAKING MANIAC.  MAY.  KNEE.  ACK.  I could barely keep up!)

Great car, though.

Reception time!  Stew Leonard’s did a beautiful job on the flowers.  They actually delivered to Maggie two ENORMOUS bouquets to choose from.

Upon entering the reception, the parents of the bride and groom presented them with bread and salt — another Polish tradition (though I understand it’s common to several other cultures, as well).  The bread and salt are meant as a sign of hospitality, as a hope that the couple never know hunger or suffering, and as a wish for a life of good health and cheer.  I’m totally on board with all of this.

First dance. :)

I adore the photo on the right because I know that, as I took it, Artur was singing to Maggie.  Melts my little heart.

Love the motion blur on her dress as she twirls. :)

CANDY!  This was a fun ring shot to take.  And, side note, Artur designed Maggie’s ring himself — I love it because I’ve never seen anything quite like it.  Very modern.

My favorite thing about this Polish wedding (and, from what I gather, Polish weddings in general) was the dancing — totally different from what I’m used to.  Not the moves, I mean, but the flow of the whole evening.  The couple comes in, is presented with bread and salt, has their first dance and toasts, then everyone dances a bit.  The first course is served, everyone eats, then back to dancing.  Salad is set out, and yet more dancing.  Next, the main course, followed by even more dancing.  Finally, cake cutting, cake eating, and then a whole lot more dancing.  An ample supply of alcohol sure didn’t hurt, but I really enjoyed that dance was an integral part of the evening and that there were very few times when the dance floor was empty.  If I could get my non-Polish friends and family to dance like this at my wedding, I would be one happy camper.  Doesn’t hurt to try.

A parting shot of the happy couple, partaking in some of that wonderful dancing:

Check out many more images from Maggie + Artur’s wedding in their slideshow.  I promise, it’s only 90% birdcage veil photos.  Well, okay.. maybe 95%. :)

Maggie + Artur, what a wonderful day your wedding was — beautiful and filled with joy from start to finish (even the parts I couldn’t understand!).  And what a treat to experience something so unique and different from my everyday.  Thank you for putting your faith in me and for inviting me to be with you; it was a pleasure.  Enjoy your photos!

I’m falling behind on my posts for this week!  On y va! (My way of working in a little French: “Let’s get started!”)

Marissa + Junior hold the trophy for greatest amount of time between an engagement session and a wedding.  Generally speaking, my love for my work fades over time — the further away I get from a picture I took, the less I favor it (usually because I’ve gotten a little better at what I do!).  Yet some of my all-time top picks still come from Marissa + Junior’s engagement session, which I shot over a year ago.  The first photo in that post is hanging prominently in my office, in fact!

Marissa + Junior were actually the third wedding I ever booked, but also the furthest out, so they benefited big time because they got me dirt freaking cheap AND experienced.  A rare and lucky combination (and one they deeply appreciated, which was quite gratifying).  I finally had the pleasure of photographing their lovely wedding on August 28th at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, in Hamden, CT, followed by a reception at The Lily Lake Inn in Wolcott.  I managed to make Junior laugh a couple of times, and I got to spend part of the morning with their precious dachshund Pepper (WITH WHOM I DID NOT ABSCOND, THOUGH I VERY MUCH WANTED TO, YOU’RE WELCOME), so I consider it a very successful day.  Shall we?

I don’t think I left a single piece of furniture in Marissa’s parents’ living room untouched.  I moved a lot of stuff around — but I promise I put it all back!  I just really liked this corner and the buttons on top of the curtains.

Going over the ceremony details one last time:

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a gaggle of bridesmaids frantically search for the “eye” half of the hook-and-eye closure on a wedding dress (left).  I think I was the one who found it this time. :)

I like all the hands in the photo on the left.

And here’s Marissa, looking beautiful and ready to go.  By the way, her dress was EXACTLY what I expected.  I haven’t lost my touch.  ;)

To the church!

The guests’ reactions to the flower girl, just to put a smile on your face. :)

Junior was a little overwhelmed when he saw his bride, but the thing I like best about this photo is Marissa’s brother’s reassuring hand on his shoulder.  Perfect.

I’ve always wanted to take a photo from a church balcony.  Mission accomplished.

I gave this photo to Marissa + Junior in a sneak peak just after their wedding; it was one of Marissa’s favorites.  I love it, too.

I know that all my couples love one another, but Marissa + Junior’s passion is palpable — obvious to anyone who spends time with them.  Everyone should be so lucky to have someone feel for him as these two do for each other. :)

Husband and wife. :)

Marissa’s theme was cherry blossoms, which she managed to work into every detail of her reception:

…including her cake, which was DELICIOUS.  (A big thank you to Junior for making absolutely sure I got a piece — he even followed a waiter into the kitchen for me!  It was worth it!)

First dance.  Love the one on the right.

This picture makes me smile.  So much joy all in one place.

Because of a number of unforeseen delays in the day’s schedule, we didn’t have as much time as we wanted to take portraits of the two of them.  Their reception ended early enough, however, that we were able to spend a few minutes afterward roaming around the Lily Lake Inn grounds for a few shots.  Here’s what we got:

I think this is my favorite.

Talk about handsome!

And last but not least, another favorite.  I love the warmth in this one and the contentment on Marissa’s face:

Don’t forget to check out these and my other favorites in Marissa + Junior’s slideshow, set to a classic Edith Piaf recording of “La Vie En Rose.”  (If you have problems viewing the slideshow, would you do me a favor and let me know about it?)

Marissa + Junior, I already know that you love your photos, so I won’t tell you to enjoy them.  What I will say is that it was a pleasure to work with you and an honor to photograph your wedding.  You two put trust in me well before anyone else did and made me feel so welcome, and for that I will be forever grateful.

And I take it back, I will say it:  Enjoy your photos!