wedding

A Broadway-Worthy Celebration: Katie & David’s 501 Union Wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

If we had a hashtag for “legitimately wonderful humans,” Katie and David would be the cover image. To say these two are "involved in musical theatre" is a dramatic understatement. It’s in their DNA, and their wedding at Brooklyn’s 501 Union was less of a standard reception and more of a Tony-worthy production where the love was the headliner.

From the moment David arrived in a classic yellow cab to the final sparkler exit, the day was packed with personality. We’ve photographed a lot of weddings, but we haven't seen many that balance high-end elegance with such distinct, quirky personal touches. Case in point: instead of a traditional quiet downtime after dinner, guests were treated to Ouija boards set out with dessert. It was moody, cinematic, and perfectly them.

And then, there was the talent. When your guest list reads like a Playbill, you know the reception is going to be good. The night was filled with show-stopping performances from friends and family, each one seemingly trying to outdo the last in terms of heart and skill. It wasn't just a party; it was a showcase of community and affection.

The day flowed seamlessly thanks to the incredible team at Jason Mitchell Kahn & Co. Jason, Dani, and the crew planned this to absolute perfection, managing everything from the emotional "Mini-Vows" (featured in the NY Times!) to the complex run of show for the performances.

We are so lucky to be surrounded by clients we’d want to hang out with any day. Katie and David, thank you for trusting us with your memories (and for later trusting us with your family photos!).

The Creative Team

A huge shout-out to the incredible vendors who made this day happen.

Brooklyn Wedding at the Weylin /  by Ryan Brenizer

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect summer day for a wedding at the Weylin under its iconic domes. The couple kicked off the morning at The William Vale, then stole away for a quiet stroll through Domino Park with sweeping views of the NYC skyline—proof that this stretch of Williamsburg has become one of the city’s most sought-after destinations. It was an honor to work alongside Peter of Film Cars NY, with Slick Little Bride planning every detail to perfection and Abigail Kirsch Catering keeping everyone happily fed. Huge thanks to the Rous Film team for capturing the day on video and to Mod Society Music for a dance-floor soundtrack you could hear all the way in Manhattan. Shout-outs, too, to Book Hipstr for the photo booth, Styles on B for hair, Jen Xiixii for makeup, Fleuresque Design for florals, and NY Trolley Co. for stylishly ferrying guests between locations.

Ashford Castle, Ireland wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

It's hard to overstate the beauty of Ashford Castle: It was something so profound that Casey knew she had to share it with her friends and family, even though absolutely none of them, Casey and Ford included, live in Ireland. But maybe, for a second, let's not put it center-stage. Let's focus on the bonds that made Casey and Ford plan a complicated multi-day celebration in an Irish castle just to show their friends and family a good time, and the bonds that made so many of these friends and family show up that they completely sold out the castle.

And it's not a small castle.

Ireland is an incredibly gorgeous country -- the cliches are true. There are colors of green that don't exist anywhere else, times when you have to turn down the saturation in your camera just so reality doesn't look fake. But, of course, it comes with a lot of what the Irish call "soft" weather: Rain, and a lot of it.

So yes, it rained on this wedding, but … well, all you need to know about the mood is that, after days of carousing together, there was enough joyful energy left that festivities were still going strong by sunrise.

Thank you to Olivia Buckley for her fantastic planning work, making a wet, complicated event come out perfectly, and to Casey and Ford for kindly planning their Ireland wedding just at the right time for our "working honeymoon" in the best place we could imagine.

Yale Club wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

We loved this wedding so much it hurts.

If we’d written that at any other time, you could write it off as florid hyperbole. But now it is keenly true: Not only are Melissa and Zach fantastic people to be around whose love for each other is obvious, but they celebrated that love and their commitment fervently and wildly, surrounded by friends and family, dancing and laughing and sweating and dipping each other deeply to the amazing music of The Hook Club in the regal beauty of Yale Club.

We think that it’s so important to be able to do this that we’ve dedicated our lives to telling these sorts of stories, and it hurts to have so much uncertainty about when we can all safely crowd together on a dance floor again, singing and yelling and smiling until our cheeks ache.

But seeing amazing celebrations like theirs still brings us an incredible amount of joy, because we know that we will get back there again. This, too, shall pass. And no celebration will ever feel sweeter than when we can all come back together.

And Melissa has a heck of a party dress for just such an occasion.

We want to reward people willing to take a chance on hope as well as help people through challenging times, so we have extended our 2020 Sales to weddings as well. We cannot wait to tell stories of celebration again, and we are well-practiced at helping couples work through related details and uncertainty.

Central Park Boathouse wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

Everything about Lauren and Doug’s Central Park wedding was gorgeous, including the weather. We specialize in making things work well when everything goes wrong, but it’s sure nice when it doesn’t! They started the day at the 1 Hotel Central Park with close family and friends, giving us the opportunity for a first look on a balcony overlooking midtown.

The ceremony and reception were at the Central Park Boathouse, which is not just beautiful inside but surrounded by some of New York’s most well-known pastoral landmarks. Of course, this can make navigating around hordes of tourists a challenge, but it helps that we have every nook and cranny around there memorized, including paths much less travelled.

FEAST at Round Hill wedding /  by Ryan Brenizer

We have had many different sorts of connections and ongoing relationships with our clients, but Gina’s is unique: She is the only person whose wedding we photographed who was also a vendor at our wedding. And appropriately for a venue officially named “FEAST,” she was in charge of our fantastic catering team from CxRA.

We knew Gina was a powerhouse, but we had also been won over by Pat’s easygoing nature and broad smile during their engagement shoot. But the wedding exceeded even our high expectations, from its beauty to the raucous fun of the reception to, yes, the food.

The fantastic Jashim Jalal gave us invaluable assistance at this wedding.

Newport Vineyard wedding -- Brenizer Method panorama /  by Ryan Brenizer

One awesome couple, one amazing vineyard after the rain, and a whole lotta frames with an 85mm f/1.4.

I've been playing around with some of the new smartphone tech because I'm still just a photo nerd at heart, and I admit that as artificial depth of field gets better and better through computational photography, I stopped and said "Hm, moving this slider is a lot easier than taking a hundred images and feeding them through a computer." But of course, that's only because of an upshot of the less talked-about side of the smartphone photography revolution: not that most photos are taken on phones, but also that most are viewed on them as well.

I've never truly seen most of the Brenizer Method photos I've delivered. This photo could be printed at 300 dpi at five feet across. I've made those prints and each time I've been surprised: "Oh, *that's* what this photo really looks like!" It's part of the point of also taking the long way around and making things specifically so that they last and go a step beyond what is easy. (Even though I still often use DoF-faking apps for fun and personal creativity. I'd rather play on the lawn than tell the kids to get off it.)