Nicole & Jay - Part 1 - THE CEREMONY
I think it's safe to say that Nicole & Jay's wedding is going to be one of my favorites for the year. I enjoy every single wedding, and have the best clients out there. Each wedding is unique, and I can count on one hand the amount of weddings I haven't had fun at in the last 10 years. But every now and then, there comes a couple, and a wedding, that just hits a place within you that you can't really explain. Nicole & Jay and their wedding are one of those.
The wedding week began on Tuesday. I met Nicole and her bridesmaids, who were also her sisters, at their parents house for dressing photos. This was where I first got to see a lot of the incredible details of their wedding.
First, the accessories. The jewelry Nicole wore was so beautiful and has been passed down through their family. Her sister wore it in her wedding last year, so it's become a bit of a tradition for them.
Another thing I hadn't seen before was the Evil Eye pin that Nicole and her sisters all wore. It's meant to keep evil away. If you want to read more about it, you can read what Wikipedia has to say about it. It was a cool addition to the rest of their accessories.
The wedding bands were also amazingly cool. Specifically, Jay's wedding band. They had it custom made out of two pieces of wood. One from Jay's family's yard in Georgia, where he's from, and one from Nicole's family's yard in Massachusetts, where she's from. I have seen custom rings before, but never one like this. I thought it was such a unique touch to their already incredibly personalized day.
The last of the accessories for ceremony day were their bouquets. All three of them were made of brooches. Some that they had, some that were their grandmother's, and some they found at estate sales, thrift stores, etc. They were absolutely beautiful and I saw something new every time I looked at them. I probably could have spent an hour photographing them, haha!
Nicole's mom and sisters helped her get dressed, and the girls even enjoyed a few minutes jumping on the bed together.
One other neat thing was recreating a few photos from Nicole's parents wedding album. Her parents had gotten dressed at the same house when they got married.
The ceremony was beautiful. Nicole & Jay had a Greek Orthodox ceremony attended by their immediate family and a few other close relatives.
I always love seeing the inside of different Greek Orthodox Churches. They are always spectacular. So much detail and so ornate. The traditions of the ceremony are also pretty neat. Everything is done in sets of threes. The ring exchange, the crowning ceremony and walking around the table. Not to mention it gives you a lot of time to get great photos of each event, instead of having just one shot. :o)
Once the ceremony was over, we took some family photos and then I got an uninterrupted, unhurried time with Nicole and Jay to focus on photos of the two of them. This type of set up was a photographers dream. No hurry to get done by the end of cocktail hour, just taking your time and working with the couple. Ah, the good life.
Stay tuned for Part Two of Nicole & Jay's wedding. The reception is coming soon!