brian dorsey studios – new york wedding photographer – top 10 in the world – destination weddings

Diane and Scott were such a fun couple – really into making their portraits in their neighborhood.  And a good neighborhood it was – the Bowery/East Village which provided lots of local color!

on their wedding day – we got to work the Bowery looking for fun spots

Scott’s son, Eli was the best at acting cool.

Not bad attitude for a 6 year old.  After I showed him that shot, he started to actually enjoy it.

Meanwhile back at the Bowery Hotel – florist Shelly Bello of Shelly Bello Designs did a great job on the room turning it into a forest of calla lilies.

i think the long tables are great.  they really make conversation manageable at events like this.

I met Julie and Ian at a wedding that we shot in Anguilla in the spring and fortunately Matt and Ron were both still available for their wedding day.

They had such a great time working with Julie and Ian – they were all smiles telling us about the fun that everyone had that day.  Julie looked absolutely radiant.

In this shot, she awaits the moment for her father to walk her down the aisle.

And a tour of the meatpacking district turned up lots of great spaces.

See what i mean by radiant.

The reception space – Studio 450 – such a great place at sunset.  Now with a view of the Highline.

A great event design by Elizabeth Ryan.  And food by Creative Edge Caterers.  They are one of the best.

Please sign our Dunny!

Now this is what I’m talking about… take a close look at this party shot Ron took.  Now that’s a great image!  I smile every time i look at it.  That’s how I want to remember my parties.

Julie and Ian  – classic photobooth moment.

Many thanks to Peggy Calabrese for doing such a great job planning and coordinating the event.

i was so looking forward to ranee and nir’s wedding at the plaza  – not only because I love them, and I love the plaza, but also because they had Kool and the Gang as their band!  here’s a few highlights and the whole story can be seen below.

as the day begins in the presidential suite….

ranee’s custom catherine malandrino dress made her look like a greek goddess.

The event’s romantic design were done by Ed Libby.

Ed and his team really made it feel like dining with royalty.

Kool and the Gang really rocked it – and they had a good time doing so.

and the classic Sylvia Weinstock cake.

what a great evening!  and an extra special thanks to Tammy Meltzer of CPS Events for taking such good care of everybody and coordinating the day.

I don’t know what’s going on of late.  When I was a kid going to Bar Mitzvah’s and such there were never hora accidents.  People went up in a chair, they were bandied around a bit and then they came back down.  Simple tradition.  And with the exception of getting your toes stepped on pretty regularly – it was fun.

Recently, I’ve seen a number of hora accidents – including one bride getting tipped over and dumped head first right out of her chair from 7 feet up.  And we’re talking landing on her head.  Nothing kills a good hora like dumping a bride.  She was a real trooper and got right back in that chair and went up again.  But it had the possibility of being really ugly.

So in an effort to save everyone from the pain and embarrassment of dumping their honoree – here are the rules of lifting someone in a chair during the hora.

1.  Lend a hand.  Guys, it’s your responsibility.  You don’t have to be Jewish to pick up the chair.  And you don’t have to be a bodybuilder.   Don’t stand around  wondering if you’re going to get called on to participate – help.  You need at least six or eight guys of average strength per chair.  Preferably two per leg.

2.  Get a decent chair.  Never use a folding chair.  It really should be a chair with with arms.  If there are no arms, consider having your honoree straddling the chair and hold the back.  Note:  Moms don’t want to straddle chairs nor do most brides.  Go look harder for an arm chair.  Hopefully someone thought this through before the music started…

3.  Keep the chair tilted back slightly at all times.  Never let the chair tip forward or to the side.  This means that the people holding the rear legs can’t lift the chair as high as the guys in the front.  Pretty simple concept but pay attention to it.

4. Don’t overbounce.  It’s a celebration, not a mosh pit.  This is not an opportunity to show off your strength.  Don’t let a couple of cocktails make you an overeager bouncer.

5. Watch out for overhead items.  Don’t put the chair in the center of the dance floor if there’s a low hanging chandelier there.  Ouch.

6.  Slowly put down the back legs of the chair first keeping the same level of tilt that you had above.  Guys, be sure you don’t let the chair leg snag your jacket or pants pocket on the way down.

7.  Jew or gentile, if you’re not helping with the chair then you must sing.  It doesn’t matter that you don’t really know the words.  Few do in this country.  But there’s only 14 words in the entire song.   Learn to fake them with confidence.  They are:

hava nagila

The digraph ch is pronounced like the German ch after a back vowel, as in Bach.

OK, now let’s rejoice!

i like to think of the work my photographers and I do as capturing the feeling and spirit of an event more than anything else.        feelings are so ephemeral – like smells – you can’t really describe them, you can’t really preserve them, yet every once in a while something hits you and voila you’re instantly transported right back to that moment.

i like to think these images will do that for our bride when she looks back on them years from now.