but let’s back up a bit.

this summer when we had the pleasure of working again with a very special family that truly knows how to enjoy life.  They flew us to Florence to join them and photograph three days of non-stop events and well planned fab experiences for all their guests.  (caveat – to protect our client’s privacy we won’t be showing too much detail from the event)

Florence has always been toward the top my list as places I’d be willing to live for many reasons – the people, the art, the architecture, the food and the light.

florence’s famed “duomo”

  and Ponte Vecchio

It’s just a fantastic place to be.  And an inspired place to get married.  Now in this case, in addition to the big day itself, the partying included 3 days of hot air balloon rides, cooking classes, museum and art tours, as well as a wonderful welcome dinner and a white party which started in the tiny ancient town of Fiesole and ended after a champagne tour on double-decker buses on the banks of the river arno with the historic Ponte Vecchio nearby.

It was a very private area on the river bank – belonging to the country’s oldest rowing club, Canottieri Firenze.   everyone was in white and the tent and all the decor were white as well. the drinks were flowing (esp. the aperol spritzes) the food was outstanding, and as the sunset turned to night the dj began spinning and the groove got going.

And for the late night sugar boost, a bicycle based – gelateria cart arrived plying everyone with more energy to move.  (For those interested mixologists: aperol spritzes – one part of the bitter italian apertif aperol mixed with one part prosecco and one part club soda served on rocks and garnished with an orange – giving you a beautiful practically glow-in-the-dark orange cocktail)

THIRD DAY

now of all the villas in tuscany, there is one that is generally considered to be the superlative example – the one that ends up on the cover of all the ‘italian villa’ books – villa gamberaia.  and this is but a small taste of why:

 the garden ceremony at Villa Gamberaia

sunset over the olive grove at Villa Gamberaia

of course, if you’re going to have a 4 day wedding blowout in the hills of tuscany – you had better get yourself a good wedding band.

the groom surprised his bride after dinner with Sting and his full entourage in the formal gardens at villa gamberaia

and i have to say it was awesome!  not only because it was the closest I had ever heard Sting play (and things sound soooooooooo much more amazing on an intimate scale), but we also were there for the sound check and rehearsal and got to see how Sting works with his band to develop just the sound he’s looking for.  Later, during the show, I actually was able to get up on stage and shoot the bride dancing with Sting and the groom singing along with him.

now while all that was fantastic, here’s what I think makes this family super special people.  when they heard that Celeste and I might be heading over to Italy early to take our kids to Rome and Florence on their school break – they insisted that the boys also join in on some of the festivities.  the boys made friends and hung out with the other kids at the white party, which when it got into full dance mode, the bride said to me, “will you put down your f*ing camera and dance with your sons?”  Coolest people ever, right?

and the night of the wedding, the groom wanted to ensure that my boys were there before the surprise band was revealed.  this had special meaning for me because Sting’s opening number was “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” which was the first song my youngest son Cole ever sang along to.  To him, it was affectionately known as “The Magic Song”.

Cole enjoys the show from the best rock in the house.

after the show, I got to hang backstage with sting and his wife trudie styler who are a really sweet couple truly in love with each other. They are also in love with their “side jobs” as vintners – growing their own grapes biodynamically and bottling their own brand of wine, Sister Moon which they brought along as a gift.

as i was getting onstage to shoot,  i grabbed this shot of trudie admiring her man performing .  isn’t she radiant? – beautiful both inside and out and madly in love with her man – you can see it in her eyes.

and lastly, Cole wanted to make sure I included this shot of him helping his daddy take pictures at the white party.

last week we had a chance to hang with a bunch of our good friends at the new york magazine weddings showcase.   new york magazine hosts the event every year and it’s the perfect opportunity to have a glass of wine, catch up with colleagues and keep our fingers on the pulse of all things wedding!  this year, we hung with some old friends and made some new ones.  Here’s just a few of our faves you should definitely check out if you’re planning your wedding:

ron ben-israel - the most amazing cakes, of course!  Ron was off in some warm clime teaching the world how to do what he does but the lovely Rebecca was there to hold do the fort.

mark ingram – the bridal atelier – mr. couture – and  t h e  place to get your wedding dress

the registry at bloomingdales – if you haven’t had a chance to check out the exhibition of wedding images in the gallery at bloomingdales’ registry department, you should.  we are the featured artist on display.

judy paulen designs – planning and invitations also in bloomingdales – we love Jessica Paulen!

hart pictures – Jessie Hart is a videographer that we worked with on St. Barts.  Great seeing him and his wife again!

generation events – We’ve worked with DJ Jason Fioto many times and it’s always fun to hang with him as he gets the crowd grooving.

hatch creative studio – Barb Hatch does wonderful event design

we even caught up with a few of our 2011 brides.  it was great to see what everyone is bringing to the table this year and what we have to look forward to.

Recently our studio was featured in The Bund and had an entire section dedicated to an interview with me.  But I have to say, I can’t for the life of me figure out what it says….  I hear it’s all good…

Can’t wait to photograph weddings in Shanghai!!

this is how all good destination wedding receptions end.

recently, we had the pleasure of working with jung lee and josh brooks and their wonderful team from Fete who were planning a wedding at the stunning and ultra-hip Eden Rock at St. Barths in the French West Indies.  Party central for the rich, beautiful and famous.

first, a little background on St. Barths – it’s a tiny little island off the coast of St. Martin with a postage stamp of an airstrip wedged tightly between a mountain and the ocean.  to get there you need to take a small plane that fills up at the local self-serve gas station.

and despite the fact that the planes are very small, they often end up in the ocean anyway (just check out YouTube).  which was underscored for me when I noticed this painted on the side of the plane.

i felt like i was in the cockpit myself.

excuse me, brian, would you mind helping me put the flaps down and giving me a little more friction?  sure captain, no problem…

it’s a really stunning way to arrive – unlike most Caribbean islands, St. Barts is basically a big rock – as are its many outlying smaller islands.

depending on how the winds are blowing, you can either approach the runway the hard way or the easy way.   the easy way approach gives you a great view of eden rock.

here’s a shot of the infamous airstrip and a plane taking off the easy way.  i think landing the hard way (coming in over this hill and dropping fast) results in some pretty bumpy landings as evidenced by the tire marks.

see?  postage stamp.

once we landed, we did a little recon…

the next day featured the rehearsal dinner…. and keeping with the little airplane theme, the brilliant placecards for that evening were balsawood gliders with the guests names and table on them suspended from the ceiling.

So here’s a funny little story about the value of being prepared for everything.  At this point for this event, my team and I have traveled hundreds of miles on multiple planes and boats – carrying our gear all the way since we can’t trust checking it or even letting someone else handle it.  We just can’t take the risk that something will get lost or damaged.   So I’m about 5 minutes into shooting cocktails at the villa and I hear this thud and crash of glass on concrete at the poolside.

Turns out the little clip do-dad that holds my camera to my rapid strap came unclipped and that thud sound was my Canon 1Ds Mark III hitting the ground and the smashing glass was my 24-70 lens.  Funny how $7500 of gear can be smashed because of the poor design of a $3 clip.  Fortunately, I travel with plenty of cameras and lenses so we didn’t miss a beat.   A special thanks to my amazingly patient associate, Chris whose flight arrived later that evening spent a half hour tweezering glass out of my lens.

After dark, the guests slipped into some flipflops to walk down the candlelit beach from the villa to the famed La Plage.

and the view of Eden Rock from La Plage…

beautiful people, beautiful places and of course, beautiful weddings.

Here’s a taste of what’s to come…

i love it when dads get misty eyed…

It seemed only fitting that we do their engagement portraits at their alma mater…

wait until you see the wedding !

Hi Brian-

It has been just two years since you shot our wedding and I just wanted to thank you again for the job that you and your team did. Aaron and I were just flipping through our album, reminiscing about the day, and it is amazing how much emotion you were able to capture in all of the pictures. The images bring back all of the memories and the excitement of the day, which can be felt looking through the album.  There are a few in particular that bring me back to the exact moment when Aaron and I saw each other for the first time before the ceremony and it’s like being there all over again.

Our wedding really was one big party- exactly what we were hoping for- and that is the exact feeling we get looking through our album. It was such a special day, one that we and our families love to remember and talk about and we are lucky to have such amazing pictures to look back on.

Thanks again for everything.

All the best,

Kim and Aaron

and a party it was…

Here’s a shot Ron took of Soyeon and the girls…

me pulling out the old trustee tilt/shift lens

We got into the fact that Tim works for a large aerospace manufacturer and could name for us every plane as it went overhead.

Ron got this cool ceremony shot as Soyeon was walking down the aisle.

Then during cocktails, it was time for the Paebak.

Apparently, since Soyeon and Tim caught so many dates and nuts in their silk as their parents threw them they are going to have 23 children.

If it’s true, I’m wishing you both lots of luck with that…