i thought i’d share a couple of examples of these over the next few days.

case in point:

“I can tie my shoes all by myself.”

PDN has just released the results of their annual Top Knots contest. This image from David and Vanessa’s wedding snagged a place in the receptions category!

The image, titled “Fin”, was used to end the article. Clever, PDN… very clever!

Twas a bitterly cold winter day so we were lucky to have a place like the Chateau since there are so many great rooms to work with inside.  Fountain rooms, garden rooms, a pool /solarium, billiard rooms to name a few (this place goes on forever).

We did venture out for a brief brisk walk…

kim got this wonderful shot of the ketubah – she managed to get the entire line of gold ink to perfectly reflect the light so it makes a really strong focal point

under the chuppah…

and immediately following the ceremony…

Venue:  Pleasantdale Chateau

Event Design:  Marc Elliot

Hair Stylist: Rosalie Kahle

Makeup Artist: Nam Vo

Dress:  Vera Wang

if we’ve got you wanting more, you can see their wedding on the blog:

classic new york city hotel wedding

wedding at the st. regis, part 2

or visit the press section of the website to download a full size pdf.

Below, Ranee gets ready in the Presidential Suite of The Plaza Hotel.

And the best part for you 80s disco/funk  junkies – their band was Kool And The Gang.

Cake by Sylvia Weinstock.

We’ve won an award in this quarter’s WPJA Photo Competition for a shot from Vanessa Britting and David Krumholtz’s celebrity packed wedding at The Plaza Hotel.

I’m a fan of the WPJA since the way they run their competition puts every Wedding Photojournalist on even footing.  Every member get’s the same limited number of entries so you can’t buy yourself an advantage like many photographers do in other competitions.  You also don’t name your photos or provide any additional information about the backstory.  If the photo doesn’t say it – it doesn’t factor into the judging.   You also can’t photoshop your image – so there’s none of that crazyness.  Get it right in the camera or go home.  Lastly, it is a true worldwide competition with thousands of photographers competing (it’s amazing how many great pj wedding images come from Eastern Europe!) so even a sixth place is pretty cool.  This is our 5th winner in WPJA contests.

p.s.  Can you spot the 3 videographers?

See more of this wedding in the forthcoming New York Magazine special Weddings issue.

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…

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.

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!