**Side note:  This couple was chosen to be featured in the New York Times Sunday Wedding Announcements and they submitted a picture from our engagement session! It was an honor to see my picture on such a prestigious site…Thanks Mia and Michael!

I had such a fun day with Jane, Chris and their friends and family. Jane told me she was going to surprise Chris with a white dress instead of the black one she intended to wear. Chris was definitely surprised and his reaction was priceless when he saw her walk into city hall. They are such a fun couple and looked fabulous together.

We all pilled into the van they rented and off we went to the Highline and around the West Village for some pictures. Thank goodness the weather has been cooperating!

Shelley and Mike came out from LA  to have a winter wedding in NYC. They had a great attitude about the whole day even though it rained ALL day. The weather didn’t stop them from having a really lovely, intimate and fun wedding with their loved ones from different parts of the country.  I think the rain added for some cool moody evening shots during the ceremony at the sleek and modern Shoreham Hotel.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to shoot this wedding. Not only was it very unique but it incorporated one of my favorite childhood activities, ROLLER SKATING and my adult passion, PHOTOGRAPHY! That’s right, this wedding was a roller skating wedding held inside a roller rink that wasn’t touched by time since 1985. It was awesome.

When Liz and Dave told me about their plans to get married inside a roller rink while on skates I couldn’t believe it. You see, I did a little competitive skating back in the day. Yes, I actually could do sow-cow and axel jumps while wearing a fully sequined skating dress. This wedding was right up my alley. I jumped at the chance to meet them at The Golden Skate, the wedding venue, and as soon as I stepped inside that building untouched by time I knew I wanted to document this special wedding. I was just going to chat with them but after about 10 minutes of watching them on the rink like a kid who had to sit out a game I finally couldn’t take it anymore and had to put on some skates. It’s amazing what happens when you do something as an adult that you thoroughly loved as a kid. It’s freeing actually. My mind went blank and I could have skated around and around for hours completely carefree. Luckily I didn’t, because the next day my adult body reminded me that I wasn’t a kid anymore.

So their wedding day FINALLY came and it was just as cool as I imagined it to be with button bouquets, vintage roller skate cases, and one adorable Betsy Johnson dress. Liz and Dave really did get married on skates and had a pretty fun party for their guests with a lot of skating in between. I didn’t shoot the wedding while on skates, for fear of falling and breaking my equipment and ruining the wedding, but at the last 45 minutes of the day I laced up my rental skates and went around that rink like a fool until I was sweaty, out of breath and 12 years old again.

…and then two days later I celebrated my best friends birthday back at the very same rink. No, this wasn’t a coincidence. After my first meeting with Liz and Dave I told my friend about the only rink left in the East Bay and she insisted on a roller skating birthday party. After weeks of anticipation (after the months of wedding anticipation) we  finally got to the rink and went straight to the DJ booth to request all the 80’s freestyle music they had. It didn’t take long for use to find our balance and instantly we were a couple of 12 year old girls having the most pure-carefree-fun we’ve had in a long time. But, a las the last Debbie Deb song was played and while we caught our breaths we reluctantly tucked away our wild attempt to re-claim our youth. I think we came pretty close, just look at our faces in the pic below. JOY!

Thanks Liz and Dave for letting me document your wedding while combing my childhood and adult passions of roller skating and photography! I’ll never forget it.

It always surprises me when people get surprised about their own emotions at city hall ceremonies. Yes, it is generally a small and incredibly quick ceremony, but when you are standing in front of the person you love and repeating those words of commitment and honor the feelings are just the same as any large and lavish wedding. That’s what happened to the lovely family of Amie and Adam during their civil ceremony in NYC. We waited a few moments for the jackhammers to stop above our heads in the little reserved room and then in a blink of any eye they were sealing their union with a kiss. There were unexpected tears steaming down faces of their loved ones and a whirlwind of emotions filled the room as the judge fled off to the next ceremony. It was quick, but it was powerful.

We dried our eyes, the Bride hailed us some cabs, and off we went to Washington Square Park for a photo session. Amie and Adam picked this particular area because they both went to NYU. Although, they didn’t meet there. They met while studying in Spain. Which is where they flew off to the next morning for a two week honeymoon.