Eli Manning Cover Shot by Ron Antonelli

See… that’s why our weddings aren’t just “photojournalistic style”.

First, our highlights:

And The Knot spread (I know I’m an issue behind…):

And no, we haven’t been asked to join yet and are therefore considering building our own club on 5th Avenue too.

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.”

Since each of our Folio Fine Art Books is custom designed as a personal presentation space for your fine art wedding prints each is one of a kind.

We are really proud to add these to our lineup of image presentation options.

we will share more details of this stunner of an event shortly.

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.

Meghan’s dress is by Oscar de la Renta.

Flowers and event design is by the wonderful Matthew Robbins Design.

But the best part was getting a chance to see old friends in such a great space.

Randy Fenoli, fashion director of Kleinfeld Bridal and star of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress,” was there and he always amps things up to a new level – even getting Carley Roney who runs The Knot to jump for Chris’s camera – while she’s wearing those heels!  Carley and I worked together on the TV show “My Celebrity Wedding” but I’m not not so much the red carpet jumping type so I opted to keep my feet on the ground.

but by the end of the night, it looked like Randy, Chris and I were old friends.

Many thanks to the BDS team who were there making the magic – Kim, Chris, Katie, as well as Angel and Celeste (both not pictured).

Lauren arrived at the church in a perfectly restored Model A Ford.

Lauren awaiting her big moment… the cue to walk down the aisle.

Ron’s alternative take on the recession.

Chris and Lauren wave goodbye as they depart the church in the Model A.
(What I thought was amazing was that the gas gauge is actually a small glass window through which you actually see the gasoline sloshing around. – scary!)

Ron had to address the issue, “What do you do when you’re shooting outside on the streets with fifteen (15!) groomsmen and it starts to rain”?

I think funniest shot of the day goes to Ron – who got this great one of Chris (who is a banker).

Many many thanks go to the fabulous Claire Bean who planned this event.  There are some people that do a great job at event planning and design and are really FUN to work with and we put Claire at the top of that category. We just love her.

You can see the new portfolio here.