So this July we had the pleasure of traveling to St. Barthelemy, in the French West Indies, for an intimate Caribbean wedding at Le Sereno. We last left off with Julie and Steven a month ago at their Cambridge City Hall civil ceremony. Our travels with them took us to the absolutely breathtaking island of St. Barths! This is NOT your typical Caribbean island. Just different. An all French island, including the culture, cuisine, locals, tourists, infrastructure, etc.. just so unique from what I have experienced before in the Caribbean.

The day before the wedding we checked out the resort to get a good feeling of where we would ideally photograph the bride and groom. An obvious but important step for any photographer working in an unfamiliar venue. Also, shooting with Julie a month prior I learned of her modest shyness in front of the camera. I then knew that come wedding day, these nerves would surely be heightened. But let’s face it, 99% of us out there are not Hollywood camera ready. So as a photographer you need to be prepared, ready for the unexpected, and most of all, Quick, and this day was no exception. We had budgeted an hour and a half to shoot with Julie and Steve prior to their ceremony, but like any well respected wedding, as I looked at my watch, our time to shoot dwindled down to 30 minutes. Hey, you gotta roll with the punches.

And so away we went. I knew the exact places to go, quick angles to shoot etc. ahead of time. And true to my style I offered up very little direction even with the short timeframe we had now been allotted. I don’t like to force pictures, my goal is to capture the bride and grooms personality as it unfolds in front of me. And in a really short amount of time I was happy to walk away with these shots given the circumstances. Here are some of my favorites from our 30 minute shoot.

The Details:

Venue: Le Sereno
Gown: Vera Wang
Shoes: Badgely Mischka & J Crew
Suit: Hugo Boss

I must mention this resort, Le Sereno, truly had 5 star service like I have never seen before. Anywhere! Not only were each guest treated like they owned the resort, but the same treatment was provided to Maria and I. Really fantastic and made my day of shooting there that much more spectacular.

The Full Day of Pictures:

Reception Venue: Chatham Bars Inn
Dress: Vera Wang
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Makeup: Katrina Hess
Linens: Rentals Unlimited
Invitations: The Green Kangaroo
Florist: Patrice R. Milley Floral Designs
Entertainment: Manhattan Touch

Want to see another Chatham Bars Inn Wedding? Check out Liz and Dan’s colorful May 2009 CBI Wedding!

Last July Maria and I headed out to fabulous Las Vegas to shoot this uber cool affair and we can’t contain our excitement that it is now a nationally featured wedding. So much thought and effort went into even the smallest of details like lucky rabbits feet and casino chips for the guests to help celebrate and win at some table games! For me, the cherry red cadillac and cherub covered ceiling at The Little White Wedding Chapel (think Britney Spears circa 2004)  tied all the pictures together. Everything was just straight up fun: the cake, the mini gift suitcases, the sunglasses, Las Vegas of course…but the photos of the Bride and Groom sitting atop the cadillac alter just put the final stamp of pure coolness on this wedding!

Here are some of their Ingredients…

Dress: Stephanie James Couture
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Ceremony: The Little White Wedding Chapel
Venue: The Bellagio
Flowers: Flowers by Semia | Providence, R.I. (yup! packed in dry ice and shipped)
Cake: Freed’s Bakery | Las Vegas
Entertainment: Rhythm Productions | John Bellagamba | Newport, R.I.
Invitations: The Perfect Details | Donna Kim

Of courses only a handful of the photos could make the pages of the magazine, so here are a few more so you can get a better idea of the day! The vintage dresses by Stephanie James Couture (both bride and maid of honor) was definitely Maria’s highlight detail, and mine, well I think it had to be the patent leather Blue shoes! Just how cool was that?!!!

Click here to view our original blog post from last July