The Long Weekend

Just wanted to express my sadness with what has occurred especially here in the State of New Jersey and in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. Many of the affected areas are close to my heart. Family, friends, past and present brides and grooms many of which live and work in the area. I hope everyone is doing well. It’s devastating to see the Jersey Shore get hit so hard. I work there all the time, so many couples get married down there,  especially in towns like Spring Lake, Sea Bright, Long Branch and quite a few others. There are so many great venues at the shore and I hope they all managed to escape damage. Many of my clients also live in and around Hoboken and its sad to see part of that city under water.

In addition to the storm and going 4 days without power, I had a rare 3 wedding weekend ahead of me. One each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My power came back the day before the first wedding. I was in Bayonne, Jersey City, Paterson (Brownstone), Garwood, West Orange (The Manor), New Brunswick and Princeton (Nassau Inn)…all while watching the gas tank level. Luckily I filled up the day after the storm (with no lines) and that lasted me all weekend. In the end all the weddings and celebrations were a success. I must admit, by Monday I needed a well deserved rest!  These photographs are from Friday’s wedding. Above is Kelly the Bride at her house before the ceremony. There was no power at her home nor at the Church but that didn’t stop us. Lots of things were happening around us, but in the instant of the photo above we had a second where Kelly was able to relax and take it in a bit. Luckily, The Brownstone in Paterson where the reception was held did have power. Here are a few highlights from the first of three weddings I photographed the weekend of Hurricane Sandy.

Here comes the bride…

There was no power at the Church in Jersey City, just candles and 2 small video lights

Candles were the main source of light during the ceremony

Even though there was no power and the church was rather dark I was able to photograph the ceremony normally and even make it seem like the church was well lit.

Party time at the Brownstone in Paterson

Kelly & Rani leaving the Church