Love, Love, Love Kerry’s hot pink wedding shoes!  You couldn’t even see them until she lifted her dress – then POW – what a great pop of color!  Kerry and Keith had a gorgeous warm 4th of July day to celebrate their wedding.  Following a traditional Catholic ceremony at St Dennis Church in Beekman, an entire bus of wedding party and families headed over to Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie for photos. I can’t forget to mention, Bryce, who was one of the most awesome ring bearers ever – he was just a natural for the camera.  Then on to The Grandview for a reception topped by fireworks over the Mid Hudson Bridge later that evening – a beautiful 4th of July weekend for me!

Dress by Private Label by G; Shoes by Nina; Flowers by Heavens Scent; Ceremony at St Dennis Church in Beekman, Reception at The Grandview; Music by Joseph Carbone

Breathe In, Breathe Out.... Coming down the Aisle

4th of July Fireworks over the Hudson River

All the details and soft romantic colors that Lauren worked so hard on transformed the ballroom at The Grandview from everyday already beautiful to stunningly spectacular.  The soft dusky rose colors perfectly complimented pale champagne accents and white peonies.  The uplighting in the ballroom highlighted all the details and brought oohh’s and ahh’s from the guests as they entered the reception.  I LOVE uplighting!  Lauren and Bill perfectly compliment each other – they are just plain old crazy in love with each other.  A very touching ceremony on the outdoor patio at The Grandview brought tears to Bill as he choked up several times during his vows.  Oh and did I mention the steel drum band that played during the cocktail hour?  I am now firm believer that every wedding should have a steel drum band – they were fantastic!

Ceremony and Reception at The Grandview;  Flowers by Ranita Productions; Dress by Watters & Watters; Shoes by Liz Rene Couture;  Music by Next Generation

Steel Drum band

Diamonds were the word of the day!  From all the heavy jewels on Brianne’s gorgeous cathedral length veil, to the 15 carat diamond necklace she wore, the sparkle of jewels were everywhere.  A beautiful ceremony at Marist College Chapel was followed by photos on the Marist campus and then an evening of dining and dancing in the tent at The Grandview.

I was so delighted that Brianne and Ed selected me to be their wedding photographer!  Brianne had been a bridesmaid  at Kelly & Jaime’s wedding several years ago, so I knew I would be among old friends again that day.  Brianne had described their taste as classic and timeless, and that is exactly what their wedding was.  Classic, elegant, timeless and beautiful.  Brianne and Ed are wonderful couple who perfectly compliment each other.

Dress by Platinum Priscilla of Boston; shoes by Grazia;  Jewelry from Kingston Fine Jewelers; Flowers by Sara of Floral Fantasies; Music by MC Fish; Reception at The Grandview

The 2010 wedding season has begun!  Jennifer and Brett had a beautiful warm sunny day in April for their wedding at The Grandview in Poughkeepsie.  This was the perfect start of spring for me.  A very touching service was performed by the Rabbi Jonathan Kligler of Woodstock under a chuppah that Brett had made himself.  I heard that Brett was at The Grandview very early on the morning of his wedding assembling the chuppah made of antique doors.  It was beautiful!  One of the most complex and yet simple chuppahs I have ever seen.  This couple had put alot of thoughtful and meaningful touches onto their wedding, from the beautifully printed ceremony and menu cards, to the custom engraving saying ‘TEAM AWESOME’ inside of Brett’s wedding band.  A perfect start to their marriage and my year!

Ceremony and Reception at The Grandview, Poughkeepsie, New York

Dress by Allure Bridals, Shoes by Steve Madden, Flowers by Sara Gast

Music by The DJ Solution

Brent handmade the chuppah

Dress by Anne Barge

Flowers by Events by Ranita

Ceremony at Marist College Chapel

Reception at The Grandview, Poughkeepsie, NY

Music by Blazing Beats

All that color!

photos by Lori O’Toole

Well this is the first time I have ever photographed guinea hens at a wedding and I really don’t think that this is a photo I’ll ever be able to duplicate. (so no requests for guinea hen photos please!)  Rory and Regina are very cool people who I immediately bonded with over exchanging photos of our pit bull puppies.  Regina told me they wanted to take most of their photos at a farm and environmental center down the street from their church and I thought that sounds different – should be fun!  The farm was beautiful – tons of amazing barns and fields.  We also had some very curious guinea hens who really seemed to enjoy the extra attention.  They got a big thrill out of looking at their reflections in the sides of the limo, it seems that guinea hens are very vain…I don’t think they really cared about Regina and Rory at all.  They just wanted their picture taken.

Dress by Casablanca

Flowers by Forever Yours Flowers

Ceremony at Old Stone St Patrick’s Church, Yorktown Heights

Photos at Hilltop Hanover Farm, Yorktown Heights

Video and Music by United DJ’s

Reception at The Grandview

Margaret and Nick’s wedding was one I have been eagerly waiting for all year.  As the banquet manager at The Grandview, Margaret has seen hundreds, maybe even thousands of weddings.  So when you’ve seen it all, how do you top everything for your own wedding?  And as Nick is an executive chef, I was definitely looking forward to the food!  I knew they had been up til 3am Friday making homemade raviolis – I couldn’t wait.  The Grandview looks amazing on any day, but the stunning decor at this wedding just blew the roof off.  Black and white flock patterned napkins and tablecloths, black magic roses, red charger plates – the touches and color scheme was amazing.  The staff at The Grandview is always wonderful, but everyone really outdid themselves on this special day.

During the photo shoot, we almost had a snafu as my ladder wasn’t tall enough to get Margaret up on the old piano loading dock where I wanted her to be.  Nick stepped in and just swooped Margaret up 6 feet.  Then he just seemed to bounce up himself.  Thank you so much Nick!

Dress by Maggie Sottero

Flowers by David Anthony

Ceremony at Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, Poughkeepsie

Video by Best of Times

Music by MC Fish

Reception at The Grandview

1 of 5 Ringbearers!

The Ringbearers ate the rice instead of throwing it

Dress by Mori Lee

Flowers by Marianne’s Floral Garden

Ceremony and Reception at The Grandview

Music by Third Stone Blues Band

Meghan and Ryan wrote me a little note just after booking me telling me how they had met and how excited they were about their upcoming wedding.  It was so sweet and I loved how I had a little more info about who they were, you just can’t totally get to know someone in your initial meeting.  Meghan and Ryan’s wedding day was a hot August summer day – one of the few warm sunny days we’ve had this year!  We took a very cool mini-party bus ride thru the City of Poughkeepsie, stopping for photos at the historic Poughkeepsie Journal building and the Soldier’s Fountain.  The Third Stone Blues Band, who were friends of Meghan and Ryan, got everyone up and out on the dance floor for the entire afternoon.  And as for the sneaker photos, well those are the father’s of both the bride and groom – decked out in Chuck’s!

Sherida told me she almost flew off a four-wheeler the night before her wedding.  So how perfect was it that the path thru the woods at Vassar was muddy and torn up with atv tracks.   Some brides would have said, nope, I’m not going down there.  But Sherida was fine with going on and Luke was cool with getting her there dry and mud free – one of my favorite photos this year!

I really do think that Vassar Chapel is one of the most fabulous churches for wedding ceremonies.  It’s enormous size and the beautiful light that just streams in from the windows makes for stunning ceremony photos.  There’s just a beautiful peacefulness and aura that surrounds everything there.

Dress by Sottero & Midgeley

Flowers by Heaven Scent of Newburgh

Ceremony at Vassar College Chapel, Poughkeepsie, NY

Photos at the Shakespeare Gardens, Vassar College

Music by Brett Lobdell

Reception at The Grandview, Poughkeepsie

Vassar College Chapel

The Shakespeare Gardens at Vassar College

The Poughkeepsie Train Station

It didn’t just rain on Lauren and David’s wedding day.  It POURED.  There was thunder, there was lightning, it rained sideways, and at one point, I even think it was raining upwards from the pavement.  Photo plan A was scrapped, Plan B was scrapped, we went with Photo plan Q I think.  I have always wanted to shoot inside the Poughkeepsie Train Station, and this proved to be the perfect opportunity!  We only had about 15 minutes inside, but every minute was magic.

And then more magic that evening, as the rain subsided and the most beautiful deep blue skies appeared along with a crescent moon.

Ceremony at the Church of the Resurrection, Hopewell Jct, NY

Photos at the Poughkeepsie Train Station and The Grandview, Poughkeepsie, New York

Dress by Juhko Yoshiba

Flowers by Lucille

Music by Livewire Entertainment

Reception at The Grandview in Poughkeepsie, NY

orchids and hydrangeas

Bridemaid gifts

Poughkeepsie Train Station

Crescent moon at The Grandview