new york wedding photography ~ deirdre and leo, part I

Last Saturday, it was Deirdre and Leo’s turn for some goodness. Their wedding was at Captain Bill’s in Bay Shore, Long Island. They had a gorgeous day, bright blue skies, and low humidity, but hot! We met Deirdre and her sisters at her childhood home.

Her gorgeous gown was hanging in what used to be Deirdre’s old bedroom, not a guest room.

Once she was all dressed, we took her and the girls, and all the little girls, which were all her nieces outside on the front porch to get a few shots. How cute are these little ones?

Then it was in the limo for our ride to her sister’s house in Lido Beach, where the ceremony was going to be held right in the sand. Before the guests walked up the boardwalk that led to the ceremony location, they got the option of taking a fan, a parasol, some flip flops and a cooling bottle of water. In order to park, you had better pick up one of Deirdre and Leo’s parking permits, or you were going to be slapped with a parking ticket, oh my! We were sure to display ours!

A handmade sign marked the way………….

Here is our happy bride on her way to the beach to meet a very proud and ecstatic Leo, who was waiting in the wings…

Here is our guests waiting anxiously for a glimpse of our beautiful bride and her parents who, at this point, were hidden out of view.

The girl’s moms, finally gave our flowergirls their pails in which they put blue flowers for them to lay in the sand. Seems the girls had better ideas for those pails, LOL, as they made wonderful sand castles with them!

Here is the crew right before they embarked on the beach and took their walk down the aisle.

Deirdre and her mom and dad. Deirdre’s mom had to pulled away from the bows that lined the railing leading down to the beach, to which her daughters all laughed hysterically. “There is mom fixing things right to the bitter end!” But they looked great!

Sometimes, our little ones need a little “coaxing” down the aisle. Hey it can be a very scary experience when you are only little….

And, then came the beautiful Deirdre, so happy to finally get it under way and marry her prince charming.

Along the rows of chairs, Deirdre had pails filled with white hydrangeas and white ribbons, so pretty.

Leo, beaming, to finally be with his “other half”.

The adorable sand ceremony containers, complete with a starfish and shells! In a beach ceremony, this is so much better than fighting with some candles to stay lit….

The roaring surf and tons of onlookers provided just the right setting in which to say their vows.

Rings, in the heat of the day, can cause a little anxiety, as everyone’s fingers swell just a little to make the actual putting on of the rings a tad difficult. But Deirdre coaxed Leo along, never losing faith that it would fit eventually, LOL!

Come on Leo, you can do it….

Then it came time to do some wedding party portraits. Just check out that sky, were they not blessed or what? Have you ever seen such a perfectly blue sky?

Leo, in his shades, was “the” man….

Come on Leo, JUMP! And, JUMP he did, LOL!

Now these guys, OMG, what characters…….and just check out Leo’s son, Alex, who was our best man. Way to go Alex!

I got this idea to borrow some of the ladies parasols. They were not easily persuaded to give them up to me. I promised, and I promised. “Yes, I will return them, just look for me at the reception, I will bring them there……”. Well seems that didn’t happen and put me in some hot water with a few of the guests, who I gently persuaded to talk to Rich as he said he would talk to them. I tried, really I did, but our family wanted to keep some of them, sorreeeee……. But, hey look what a nice photo they made, that’s worth giving up a parasol for, right?

All the while I am editing this photo, I hear the theme song from Hawaii-5-O in my head…..dadadada……….da……..da…………

and then some of the happy couple alone……

Couldn’t resist doing an iphone photo, to which Leo exclaimed “what on earth are we doing?” “How is this going to come out?” See Leo I said to have a little faith, cute right?

Then a few homes down from her sister’s house, I saw this old car being restored in somebody’s driveway. I love vintage anything, and persuaded our couple, who again, must have thought I lost my mind. But see, nice again, right? One of my fav’s…….

Then it was time to go to Captain Bill’s and get a few of the details which I know all you blog readers just can’t get enough of. So here without further adieu, is their beautiful table arrangements, complete with high and short flower arrangements of calla lillies, and sand dollar table markers, rattan chargers, blue champagne glasses and more sand dollars napkin rings! Viola, gorgeous…..

Deirdre used an old lantern for her card holder. In the bottom, she filled it with blue and green beach glass….

Her placecards were none other than drink umbrellas set in sand!

Instead of a normal sign in book, Leo and Deirdre opted for a sign in plate, too cute.

Their cake which smelled yummy by the way, had white chocolate starfish, shells and sand dollars as it’s theme.

The cake topper, a groom complete with rolled up pants, holding his bride had written at the base, “Just Married”!

Steel drums played at both the ceremony and cocktail hour….

Even the passed hors d’ouevres platters, had festive drink umbrellas on them.

And, as sunset approached and the sky turned golden, Deirdre asked if we could go outside on the boat docks and snap a few photos. The color and light was magnificent!

The announcement of “here comes the new Mr. and Mrs.” brought our happy couple to the dance floor.

Two toasts were given, both equally wonderful. But, I think Alex’ toast to his dad, stole everyone’s hearts. When he spoke, he blew the crowd away, not the least was Deirdre and Leo. Alex spoke of how Leo was the best father anyone could ask for and how much he appreciated having Deirdre as his new stepmom. OMG, even I had tears, it was so touching and cute coming from such a young guy. Good job, Alex! Your toast was a lot better than a heck of a lot of other best men, that is for sure. Can’t go wrong with speaking from your heart, guys!

Check out Leo trying to keep it together………..

and then the both of them, realizing, just let those tears fall……………go on, you know I will be there with the camera to document it all, LOL. I just adore a good cry in photos………..probably because I am such a softie myself and cry at least once a week, hahaha! What is that they say about misery loving company?

Okay, and then what is it with some crowds feeling the need to dress up in the table decorations???? They are too funny………let me present our pirate…………..

and our cross dresser, Mr. Mai Tai………….who Deirdre, just adored those new earrings he had to wear…..

and lastly, Mr. Cymbals…………you guys are too funny……….and I wish I was coming on that cruise of yours, I am sure you will come up with some great table decorations on there!!!!

Our happy couple were spending some days out in Montauk, soaking up the sun. Guys, don’t forget to leave them and us a few comments, we love to hear how you like the pics and I’m sure they will as well.

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Karen: Great photos! I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. August 14, 2010 2:25 pm

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new york wedding photography ~ deirdre and leo, part I