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

i’m going to quote from our own website here – our little writeup on using a wedding self-portrait studio:

“Ok. You finally get all of your family and friends together – dressed up and looking sharp. Everybody brings along a camera to take a group shot.  Oh, just let me get one picture… wait, let’s get her in this too… wait one sec…. look this way…. wait, put down your drink…. wait…look this way…. smile… wait, which button is it? Did the flash go off? Oh, you blinked… wait let’s do one more. Oh wait, do one with my camera too. And you never see them anyway. Not that that’s such a bad thing because they looked like crap. Our self-portrait studio is manned by a photographer, real equipment, real lighting, real fun. Guests take their own pictures with a remote and see the results instantly on screen. They keep going until they get what they love. They want a nice family formal – we’ll make sure they get it. Want a group shot of school friends – have at it. And after a few drinks…. they get kinda fun. High resolution files can be used to make great big images – not some little rinky dink strip that one person runs off with. No better way to memorialize your friends.”

And here’s what you get (I’ll skip past the nice family pictures to the, “sure we’ve had a few drinks” fun stuff) :

And then it starts to get out of control….

Early this morning, I met with Capitale’s Director of Catering, Larry Goldfarb and Amanda Len to chat about the upcoming year.  For those of you who may not know, Capitale is a wonderful event space in the old Bowery Savings Bank building on… you guessed it… Bowery Street on the Lower East Side.  If you want a grand Beaux Arts space that’ll fit between 200 and 400 people or so you can’t do much better than Stanford White’s stunning 1895 space.

I thought I would share some images from a wedding we photographed at Capitale in the fall.

They’ve got this great old mirrored brass elevator.

And there’s so much great culture to work with in the neighborhood!

Mike’s wonderful sense of humor…

from the files of – you never know what you’re going to get to work with while shooting in central park – comes Mr. Bubble.

It seems there’s someone trying to give The Naked Cowboy a run for his money….  he blows bubbles all day long at Bethesda Fountain.

check out the upside down reflection of the fountain in the left hand side of the bubble

and the right side up reflection in the right side….

Can’t wait to photograph their wedding at the Essex House this spring…

i wanted to share another fantastic wedding photographed by Ron and Chris.

erica and danny’s beautiful wedding at capitale.

you’ve got to love a bride in a wedding dress willing to get into a trash filled grafitti covered truck in chinatown -now  that’s heart!

my favorite part of the following overview shot are danny and erica’s new york mets jerseys hanging over their chairs.

and off the newlywed’s walk into the sunset…

on the bowery.

brie and aaron had a stunning wedding at the metropolitan club in manhattan.

and i thought the raw silk runner was a great match for the room…

such a cute couple.

decor was done by the wonderful and fun to work with David Beahm.  Check out the copper mirrored tabletops.

that image you see in the table above is the reflection from the ceiling’s trompe l’oil

clear glass chargers… brilliant.

the grand entrance

the first dance… soul street bringing everyone to the dance floor.

and then this amazing duo came out – Black Violin – wandering with wireless violins – cranking out some classical tunes until the hiphop dj joined in and the 3 of them rocked the house.  awesome!

and the self portrait studio once again was a huge hit with everyone.

If you’re looking to have an old school new york city wedding you can’t do much better than The Plaza Hotel.  Debra however wanted it to reflect a bit of her personality as well so she meticulously planned out some amazing details.

like leopard print and purple table linens…

and these amazing flower filled birdcages…

and a cake to match.

making for a completely new spin on on school.

new york city wedding photography always has to push an envelope in some way – in a city filled with unique people you need to provide unique wedding images in unique locations – like the Ghostbusters’ firehouse.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Dorothy’s ruby red slippers ain’t got nuthin’ on Francine’s tourquoise Loubatins.

below – a great shot of the guys by Ron

and Francine was radiant

as francine and peter see each other for the first time…

mail order bride?

in my photography lectures, I always stress how unique shots are everywhere around us – you just need to have your eyes open, think outside the box and be willing to ask for crazy things with a straight face.

excuse me, Mr. UPS Man, would you mind if we climbed in the back of your truck for a sec?  In the case of the Ghostbusters’ Firehouse shot (top and below), I actually had the Fire Chief move the ladder truck forward to even out the light across the face of the truck and the firehouse.

Below: “The Spectacle” by Ron.

The 18 person bridal party on our way to Tribeca Rooftop.  Keeping the ladies having a good time while avoiding breaking their ankles on cobblestones while in high heels is a neat trick.

on the Tribeca Rooftop

lillian and richie really enjoyed central park the day we went to take their engagement portraits.

it was one of those magical days that made it seem like all the world was in love…

and even the gondola dude was singing…

an idyllic world in the middle of manhattan…

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 was fortunate enough to shoot Angela’s sister Gena’s beautiful wedding at The St. Regis a couple of years ago so I was thrilled when I got the call that Angela was engaged as well.

You might recall Angela + Marc’s engagement sesion from a couple of months back – she wore that stunning white feathered cocktail dress.  Well she really outdid herself for her wedding day with this little number by Monique Lhuillier.

And her sweet metallic fuschia Loubs.

Angela LOVES fushcia.  And anything that sparkles.  And she used both to their best advantage for her wedding theme.

When I showed up at Angela’s suite I had brought along the Signing Guest Book that we had made from the engagement portraits.  Their reaction just made my day.

We did our family formals outside The Plaza (gotta love those shoes!) And at one point while waiting for a missing family member, Angela decided to give her feet a rest and sit on the stairs.

These are the moments that I live for.   They’re just perfect and they happen by themselves and they only last a moment.  It’s like magic but you do need to be continuously looking for them and pray that you’re ready when they occur.

Downtown at Grace Church…

Apparently the ringbearer was under the impression that Angela might not make it down the aisle – so he decided he would give her some incentive.

There was another ceremony that day as well – a Korean Paebak.  Since this is Angela’s mother’s second paebak, she is exceptionally good at tossing those dates and nuts into the ceremonial cloth.

Apparently, her aim is so good that Angela and Marc will be having 16 children.

Guests were transported back to The Plaza by double decker tour buses.  With pink parasols for the ladies.

And of course, then there’s The Plaza’s Ballroom.

Bentley Meeker does the lighting.  And in the newly refurbished ballroom it’s so well integrated that it’s almost invisible.

And the cake by Sylvia Weinstock.

Marc is the nicest guy.  You could tell he really adored Angela.

After awhile the waiters served flipflops on silver trays for the ladies to change into.

That really helped everyone get their groove on.

Angela and Marc took a moment later in the evening to enjoy the pictures we had taken that day.  Such a great way for the guests to experience all that happened that day that they weren’t privy too.  They go home feeling as if they were there all along.

And as the night progresses, the guestbook begins to fill up.

The ringbearer swinging…

I really love the space.  If you’re into old world grandeur – it’s hard to beat it.