They only lived about 200 miles apart but they had to travel over 1,000 miles away from home to actually meet one another. Ashley traveled from New York City, Alex made the journey from Boston and they both ended up in Kansas City that weekend to attend the same event - a wedding. They each knew one half of the happy couple but had never happened to cross paths before that weekend. They met at the rehearsal dinner, Ashley's bright smile catching Alex's eye across the room. They started up a conversation and it didn't take long before Alex had Ashley laughing. The next day they picked up right where they had left off - talking through dinner and even dancing together during the reception. They left that weekend with more than just each other's phone numbers and plans to see each other again. They also had the undeniable feeling that this one was different.
And that was all the more confirmed on the first date. Alex made the trip down from Boston to NYC, taking Ashley out to the 79th Street Boat Basin overlooking the Hudson River. After dinner and drinks they walked along the Hudson River and talked - getting to know one another. There was lots of talking, that night and the many nights that followed over the phone as their long distance relationship flourished. Soon they were taking turns exploring each other's cities in the dates that followed. Years passed and the distance proved too much. Not wanting to be so far apart, Alex moved to New York and soon her city became their city.
Within a few short weeks of the move, Alex took Ashley back to the park they had walked along after their first date. They strolled along the park and talked again. This time it wasn't about getting to know one another, it was about recognizing how far they had come and realizing how much they had fallen in love with each other over the years. With that in mind, Alex looked toward their future together. They sat down on a bench and he pulled a box out of his pocket and asked Ashley to be his wife.
In just a few weeks, it'll be Ashley & Alex's wedding that brings together their friends from all over the country. And who knows? Maybe two of their friends will hit it off just like they did. After all, when everyone sees how happy these two make each other it just might make every single person in the room take a look around to see if maybe they could have the same outcome as Ashley & Alex.
* * *
There wasn't much doubt that Ashley & Alex's engagement session would take place in New York. It's where they had their first date, it's their new home, it's significant to them as a couple. And since Ashley happens to work in one of the most iconic parks of the city, Central Park, that seemed like the most logical place to start. Ashley is a figure skating instructor at the Wollman Rink so we started over there since it also happens to have a great view of some of the many beautiful buildings that line Fifth Avenue. From there we wandered to some more great spots in the park, laughing with Ashley and Alex and getting even more excited for their wedding as they told us about everything they have planned.
We headed out of the park and to the Upper West Side for a change of scenery. After a quick outfit change, we walked to Riverside Park. It happens to be the same place that not only leads to the Boat Basin where Ashley & Alex had their first date but also home to the bench where Alex popped the question. It was the perfect place to finish their session.
You can see why Ashley wanted to start at the rink, that view alone is worth braving the cold on the ice every morning. Of course, she also loves skating too, which helps! :)
Like most couples, Ashley and Alex were a bit nervous when we first met at the beginning of their session. When we told them all they had to do is relax and be themselves, their natural chemistry came out and the day was filled with sweet moments like this one.
Rob and I were both in love with Ashley's coat. The bright pop of color totally stood out against the not-in-bloom-yet park and showed off her unique sense of style.
I grabbed this wide shot from a couple steps back, taking in the city landscape behind them...
a few seconds later Rob snuck in close to grab this shot.
We left the busy area around the rink for the more secluded Chess and Checkers House. Since we incorporated Ashley's love of skating, it seemed fitting to also tie in something Alex likes, chess.
Central Park is filled with tunnels like these. And they're all a bit different. Just when we think we have seen them all, we stumble upon one that we have never happened to visit before. This one was completely new to us and we couldn't resist playing up the right ceiling - and taking refuge from the wind for a few minutes.
I absolutely love the look on Ashley's face in this one. You can tell she's just absolutely crazy about Alex.
One of the benefits of being at the park in the middle of the afternoon is that it's not too hard to find areas that aren't too crowded. Because it's one of the rare times you can get great shots like this.
Totally crazy about the leading lines of the fences and the streets. It's so pretty it almost looks like it's not real. Probably why they film so many movies in Central Park. Why build a set when reality is even more beautiful?
In the middle of the mall, we decided it was the perfect time for Ashley & Alex to snuggle a bit on one of the benches. They were more than happy to oblige.
One of my favorites things to look for is the big smile that comes out when a girl gets a kiss on the cheek. Especially when that kiss comes from her fiancé.
We have no idea what Alex was saying to Ashley but it was making her laugh like crazy and bringing out that great smile that caught Alex's eye in the first place.
There is something undisputedly classic about the combination of the American Oaks in the Central Park mall and a black and white picture.
A different angle of the Bethesda Fountain. And yet another reason why it's nice to get a rare day in the park that's a little less packed than normal.
Before heading over to the Bow Bridge, we spent a few more minutes at the steps of the terrace. This is my shot...
and this is Rob's of the same moment.
Ashley embraced her inner model while we spent our last few minutes in the park on the Bow Bridge.
Of course, it gave us the chance to play up her coat a bit more. :)
Another classic moment we love - the forehead kiss. Always sweet.
After a quick stop by their apartment for an outfit change, we headed down to Riverside Park for the rest of the session.
Down here called for even more snuggling of course, since the wind off the river made it a bit chillier than Central Park.
It was just a short walk up to the 79th Street Boat Basin, where Ashley & Alex had their first date, so we had to go in. It wasn't open yet for the season, but we were still able to go inside for a bit.
Ashley & Alex, thank you for a wonderful afternoon in the park. We can't wait for your wedding, it'll be here before you know it!
As promised, here's our second installment in our Planning FAQ series: All About Timing. It's one of the things we personally struggled with quite a bit when planning our wedding, trying to figure out the perfect timetable to ensure that we could do everything we had dreamed of and still actually have time to enjoy ourselves. Believe it or not, it's actually possible. But there are some common areas that trip up many brides and grooms. Don't worry though, we know them and we're going to share them with you. As photographers (and married people ourselves) we have been through this many, many times. Of course, we want to stress timing since too often lack of time usually means that time for pictures gets cut short - not exactly what we (or you) probably had in mind. So, how do you juggle that timetable and make it all work? First off, make a schedule and talk to your vendors, especially your photographer. And, most importantly, read through this list of the 10Common Timing Mistakes we have seen and learn how you can avoid from making them yourselves.
Believe it or not, you don't have to spend your whole day watching the clock - your wedding day can be relaxing and fun! We promise!
1) HAIR & MAKE-UP TIMING It probably seems crazy to schedule your hair and make-up team to arrive so early on the morning of your wedding day but trust them when they say how much time they will need - and, if possible, have them come even earlier. Believe us, you would much rather have too much time with them then not enough. And, if possible, have them come to you. We can't stress enough how totally worth it it is to have a hair & make-up team come to your house or hotel room the morning of the wedding. It takes away the stress of traveling too or from the salon and allows your bridesmaids to immediately get into the dresses when their hair/make-up is done if need be.
Your first instinct is to think you should go last with hair & make-up. Ignore this instinct. Your hair and make-up might take the longest and (lets be honest) it is the most important. So be sure to go first or second (especially if you have a larger bridal party). Don't worry, the hair & make-up team will stick around to do your finishing touches after you have your dress on. Plus, this way you can actually drink that mimosa and relax with your girls instead of stressing about whether or not there is enough time for them to do your up-do.
Also, be sure to tell all of your bridesmaids exactly how much they will be responsible for in regards to their own hair and make-up costs. You'd be surprised how much time can be wasted with bridesmaids scrambling around looking for extra cash or their checkbooks. More than likely, they're expecting to pay for this themselves, just be up front with them about what to expect and you'll definitely save yourself time and stress.
2) NOT HAVING YOUR BRIDESMAIDS/MOTHER ATTEND YOUR FINAL DRESS FITTING This may seem like a small detail, but you'd be surprised how much time it can take up. Wedding dresses can be complicated sometimes - buttons, lace-up backs, etc., and your Mom and/or bridesmaids will probably need some insight from your seamstress or shop owner about how exactly to get you into it. If you go by yourself, even if you take notes and remember exactly what you were told at the shop, it's still going to be difficult to explain to your girls since you won't be able to see what they're doing behind you. So, bring along your mother, your sister, your maid of honor, all your bridesmaids if you want to. Make sure they know how to get you into your dress and how to bustle it if there is a train. And, if your dress has buttons all the way down, head over to the craft store on your way home and get a crochet hook to help with those notoriously small button holes that can be a challenge for newly-manicured fingers to close-up alone.
3) TOO MUCH DISTANCE a) between where you want to get ready and the ceremony location You have probably dreamed of getting ready for your wedding in childhood bedroom since you were a little girl. We totally get it. And most of the time, it's totally possible since the church or ceremony location is pretty close to your parent's house. But if it's a long distance (an hour or more), it's not always worth the time and stress to travel on the morning of your wedding day. Between traffic, added time and expense to transport you and your girls you'll probably be wishing you had decided to get ready at the hotel by the church. Save yourself the stress, get ready in a place near the ceremony.
b) between the ceremony location and the reception location This stresses everyone out - you as the couple, the guests and your vendors. There's no doubt that you have found the most beautiful places for both of the events of your day, but do your best to make sure they are not over an hour's drive away from one another. It can really bring down everyone's energy level and make the day seem too long.
4) NOT HAVING EVERYONE DRESSED SOON ENOUGH When should your bridesmaids get dressed? Before you do. What about your mother and father? Same answer. Ideally, at least half an hour before you do. Why? So that when they are gathered around while you're getting your dress buttoned/zippered, they're not in their jeans and tank tops. So that when you father sees you for the first time in your dress we can capture that reaction while he's looking his best. And, most importantly, so that once your ready everyone else is too and we can jump right into picture time.
5) FAMILY PICTURE TIME You know from many a family party that it can be quite difficult to gather together a whole side of your family for a just one photograph. Someone wanders off, someone else is in the kitchen, - you know the drill. And while it may seem like a daunting task to do at your wedding day, family pictures are important. It's probably one of the few times in your life this group of family will be in the same place at the same time and if you don't get a photo of them you will probably regret it some day.
So, how do you avoid the chaos? You set a time during the day that you will be doing the family photos and you enlist help. First, decide how large you want the group to be. (Just immediate family? aunts and uncles? all of the cousins?) Then, let them know. At the rehearsal dinner or the week before the wedding, reach out to your family members, tell them that you would like them to be in the group photo and when it will be taken. (We usually recommend taking family photos immediately following the ceremony if you're not doing a "First Look" and about an hour before the ceremony begins if you are. This way, family members look their best [pre-partying] and saves everyone the trouble of having to round them up once the reception begins which is an incredibly difficult task). Then, select a few close family members (preferably ones that are not also in the wedding party), to help round up the family on the day off so that you and your groom don't have to. As photographers, we would love to help but we usually have no idea what "Uncle John" looks like.
If you have a particularly large or diverse family, don't be afraid to make a list and give it to your photographer. This way they can even rattle of the names to make the time go that much more quickly and efficiently and you can make sure you don't forget that important picture you wanted with your godmother.
6) NOT SCHEDULING TIME TO MINGLE WITH YOUR GUESTS I have seen this too often at weddings where we have been guests: a bride starring longingly at the dance floor knowing she won't have much time for dancing because she has to go table-to-table all night long. This is almost always because she didn't schedule enough time to do a receiving line and/or join her guests for cocktail hour. Instead, her first chance to talk with her guests is during dinner (which can be awkward cause they're all eating, or not possible if the couple didn't get to eat yet that day) or once the dance floor opens up, leaving her with little to no time to get out and dance with her new husband beyond their first dance. Of course, you want to see your guests and you'll no doubt visit their tables as the night goes on but if you make sure that the reception is not the first time they get to talk to you, you'll save yourself the frustration hearing your favorite song and not getting to show off your moves.
7) CUTTING IT TOO CLOSE WITH THE LIMOS Limos can be expensive, especially when you're probably paying by the hour. So you might try to cut back and avoid paying an extra hour and pray that it will work out. Let me tell you, it's not worth it. You don't want to be in the back of your limo starring at the clock and wondering if you're going to have to find cash to give them limo driver if you end up going 10 minutes over time. We know this from experience because it's exactly what happened to us on our own wedding day. We cut it too close and sweated it out the whole drive from the ceremony to the reception. In retrospect, I totally wish we had just done the extra hour in advance cause in the long run it wasn't worth the savings.
and here are the biggies....
8) NOT SCHEDULING ENOUGH TIME BETWEEN THE CEREMONY AND THE RECEPTION This is probably the biggest and, unfortunately, most common mistake brides and grooms make. I know, what you're probably thinking, "I can't do that to my guests! What are they going to do during that three hours between?" Two things: first, you're probably overestimating how much time is between. The average ceremony is about an hour long and if you're doing a receiving line*, that usually takes up at least another 20-30 minutes. Then you factor to in the time it takes to travel, whether or not your guests have to check in to a hotel, etc. and you'd probably be surprised that the amount of time they'll have in between is probably far less than you originally thought. Secondly, most guests don't really mind. If they have attended a lot of weddings in the last few years, they've probably gotten used to having time to kill. Plus, a lot of the women will use the chance to wear something less dressy for the ceremony and then glam up a bit for the reception.
Most importantly, having ample time between gives you the opportunity to get tons of pictures and even select an additional location (beside the church or reception venue) to go for pictures if you would like. It's a great way to have fun with your wedding party and even have some quiet moments for just the two of you before the party gets started.
* A small side-note about receiving lines. We know a lot of photographers are against them. We're actually not. They can be a great way for you to get to greet your guests and give them a chance to congratulate and hug you both (leaving you with more time to dance at the reception rather than having to spend so much time at each table of guests.) So then why is a sore spot for photographers? Because they make our jobs incredibly difficult when there isn't enough time scheduled for taking pictures. When a bride and groom have only scheduled an hour between the ceremony and reception and the receiving line has taken up 30 minutes of that time, the photographer is still expected to create just as many amazing pictures, but now in half the time. So if you want to do one, go for it. Just make sure you have plenty of time between to ensure that you won't have to be rushed, and neither will your photographer. And if you don't want to do one, that's fine too. Just be sure to include a note in your ceremony program or have your officiant announce it. Otherwise your guests will be waiting outside the church for you and end up stopping you to chat anyway. *
9) NOT DOING A "FIRST LOOK" They're become more popular, but there are still a lot of couples that shy away from seeing one another before the ceremony. We totally understand the apprehension. You're thinking that if you see one another before the ceremony it will be less emotional when you walk down the aisle. Not true. We have done a lot of "First Looks" with our couples and I can with completely certainty that I have never seen the couple less emotional when they see each other walking down the aisle. It's usually exactly the opposite. When they see each other during the "First Look" it's usually teary-eyed about how amazing they both look, how amazed they are that the day has finally arrived. And then when they see each other during the ceremony, the tears start to flow, each of them realizing that the walk down the aisle means that this is all actually happening: they are about to be married. How could you not get emotional?
"First Looks" should especially be considered if you're in any of the following situations:
a) your ceremony and reception are at the same location Why? You've probably picked a gorgeous location that is perfect for both events of your day. You want to be able to enjoy your time with your guests walking the grounds during cocktail hour and soaking in the views. That's why it is key to do a "First Look" in this situation. When the ceremony and reception are in the same place, you are enviably going to flow from the end of the ceremony directly to cocktail hour. Your guests have no where else to go. The idea of leaving them to head off for pictures will probably seem incredibly difficult. Even more, leaving yourself with only an hour to do all the pictures of the two of you, your family and your wedding party is WAY too tight. So, if you see each other before the ceremony, you can take the majority of your pictures (possibly even all of your wedding party and family pictures) ahead of time, leaving you will plenty of time to greet your guests and actually eat some of your delicious cocktail hour food. Of course, if you want to grab a few shots directly after the ceremony, you can do that too. But getting most of the pictures done is a great way to ensure that you have the same relaxing experience as your guests.
b) your getting married before daylight savings time begins or after it ends and you would like pictures outside Why? One word: light. It's the photographers best friend. Let's say you're getting married November 12, one week after daylight savings time ends. Sunset for that day is scheduled to be about 4:45pm. Let's say your ceremony is supposed to start at 3pm and end at 4pm. That leaves you with about 45 minutes of daylight for pictures, assuming you don't do a receiving line and jump right into taking pictures the minute the ceremony ends. Again, WAY too tight. If you do a "First Look," you can select a location for your pictures, gather together your wedding party (and even family if you would like) and ensure that your Fall wedding still has plenty of pictures with the foliage even if the sun sets a bit earlier than it did a few weeks before.
c) you just can't bear the thought of having a large gap of time between the ceremony and reception If the idea of having two or three hours between the end of your ceremony and the start of cocktail hour is way too much for you, you don't have to do it. But you're probably still going to want amazing pictures and the best way to make the possible to give your photographer the time he/she/they need to make that happen. Most photographers will say they need about an hour minimum for the bride and groom and wedding party and then about 30 minutes for family photos (depending on the size of the family). If you do the first look, you can schedule all the time before your guests even arrive at the church making sure the time in between the end of the ceremony and cocktail can be much shorter without jeopardizing any time for photos.
10) FAILING TO GIVE YOURSELF A "CUSHION" Ask just about any wedding vendor out there and they'll almost all agree - weddings hardly ever start on time. Which doesn't have to be the end of the world, if you make sure to have some extra time scheduled throughout your day. That way you won't stress that your ceremony starts 10 minutes late or that your priests homily goes on way longer than you anticipated, you won't have to cut short your conversation with your favorite cousin because you jump in the limo you only have for 20 more minutes.
This is your wedding day, you'll only get to live this day once and you're definitely want to savor each and every moment. So why not schedule time to ensure that you will have extra moments - time when you can just sit back, relax and soak it all in.
And since every post is better with a picture, here's what we've been up to - pouring over the incredible images from our "Taking Off {New York} Workshop." Unfortunately we won't be able to share all of these with you for a while, but hopefully this little preview whets your appetite for more!
So tell us, recently married couples and fellow wedding vendors, are there any other timing mistakes you have experienced? Please share to help all the couples out there working on the schedule of their day!
