Saturday Night Fever!

September 14, 2008 at 12:16 pm (Masterpiece Postings)

I normally don’t comment on a wedding the morning after….It usually takes a few days for everything that happened to sink in and actually make it from my brain to the page. But I feel that I owe it to my MOST EXCITED GROOM EVER to comment immediately about his wedding to his beautiful Kristy.

As I write this, I’ve had 6 hours of sleep since Ron and Kristy’s reception ended and am off to the home opener of the New York Jets.  I may add more later but I KNOW that he’ll be checking this morning so I thought that I’d give a few quick highlights of the day.

First of all, Kristy was absolute perfection in her gown.  Calm, happy, excited, prepared, and ready to go and marry her guy.  Ron, on the other hand, was anything but calm.  There was a huge mix-up at his tuxedo shop and they forgot to give the groom a jacket! So while he was supposed to be riding to the church in his limo, he was off to the shop to try to get a tuxedo to get married in!  Something that they’ll laugh about later, I’m sure, but just enough of a mishap to rattle any nervous groom.

He calmed down as soon as he saw his bride coming down the aisle , though, and the rest of the day was a sheer joy to watch unfold.  A beautiful Catholic Mass was followed by a trip to Mt. Alvernia for some fun bridal party photos where both the bride and groom were reluctantly lifted in the air by their friends (and nobody got dropped!)

We were then off to Arbor Ridge for a party that will be talked about for a long time.

Each couple in the bridal party was introduced to a different song and boy did they work it!  Then came Ron and Kristy who took a jubilant walk around the dance floor before settling in for their touching first dance.  There were many highlights of the evening………

 - The absolutely touching parent dances, 4 in all, and Kristy’s surprise dance with her mom to “Wind Beneath My Wings”.

 - My first ever “GROOM-CAM”, where Ron says to me…I’m ready to take that camera and shoot!  OK!

Can’t wait to see that footage!

 - BIG HEAD JOHN TRAVOLTA! Absolutely hilarious! Every Italian lady in the place hit the dance floor to take a spin with Travolta.  It really got the party started.

 -BLOOPERS! Ron had so many great bloopers that I might need to do a separate DVD because they may not all fit into the finished production.  As I mentioned before, he was just so excited, and when he gets excited, Kristy tells him that he talks….a lot!  Kristy had a few funny moments of her own and I absolutely love all of the shots that I got with hands on her hips…a signature move!

All in all, I think that the day turned out to be exactly what they wanted; FUN FUN FUN, sprinkled with pure joy, a loving family, and friends WHO CAN DANCE!

All my love to my Most Excited Couple Ever – Mr. and Mrs. Ron Ferrante. GO JETS!

-Jen

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Rosanna and Kevin….finally!

September 3, 2008 at 2:52 pm (Masterpiece)

This day was many years in the making as my most excited bride Rosanna finally married her sweetheart Kevin. I have to say, though, that as excited as Rosanna was leading up to the wedding….Kevin had to be the most excited on the actual day.  I arrived at Kevin’s house to drop off Alyssa to film the boys getting ready, and out of the front door comes Kevin, already dressed!  I said to him, “You’re not supposed to be dressed yet!” and said, “I know, I was just too excited, I can get dressed again so Alyssa can film it.”  TOO FUNNY!

So I left Alyssa with the boys as I drove to the bride’s house to film the girls.  Rosanna was just finishing getting her hair done as I made my way past all of the fabulous pastries in the kitchen to greet the bride. (Did I mention that the family is in the bakery business? More on that later)

She was her usual self-bubbly and relaxed and oh did I mention….excited!!!? My good friends Jenni and Ulysses soon arrived to photograph this momentus day with their usual easy manner and eye for detail.

After the HUGE party bus arrived to pick up the girls, we trekked over 2 counties to Hopewell Junction for the ceremony. Kevin held back the tears as he watched his radiant bride enter the church.  He told me later that the only reason he didn’t cry is because she was smiling and laughing all the way down the aisle – typical Rosanna!

What can I say about their reception at the Villa Barone? No one could possibly eat that much food. Lovely, personalized service from start to finish was the order of the day for their 350 guests.  Everyone was well taken care of; even all of us vendors, who were treated like guests at our own table in the room.  Nice touch Rosanna and Kevin!

I don’t think that Alyssa and I stopped filming at all during the reception – it was a true party!

The fabulous Carozza Brothers band was incredible and the MC even remembered the bridal party’s names as he called them all up to dance on the speakers.  Even the bride and groom’s parents got up and boogied!  One of the highlights of the evening was the “dance-off”.  The younger generation on one side and the “over-30″ set on the other.  It was hilarious to watch each side try to out-dance the other.  What the over-30 set lacked in rhythm, they made up for with enthusiasm as the band declared them the winners!

The other highlight of the evening had to be the viennese table.  Being in the bakery business, the bride’s family made sure that the desserts and pastries were top-notch and plentiful.  The lights went out and bang!….table upon table of fountains, ice sculptures, chocolate swans, italian pastries, fresh fruit etc. etc…..

In the middle of it all was Kevin and Rosanna, who dug right in to some chocolate-covered strawberries. For a tiny thing, this girl can eat…I love it!  For them, the day was all about family, good friends, great food and lots and lots of love!  I know that she’ll be calling me soon to come in and watch her raw footage so now I just have to figure out where I have a free 10 hours…..ughhh!  Somebody remind me next time to shut off the camera once and a while!

Love ya Mr. and Mrs. O’Connell!

Jen

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I’m Just Wild About Harry!

September 3, 2008 at 2:04 pm (Masterpiece)

Saturday morning came early as we arrived at Patriot Hills for the morning wedding of Kimberly and Harry.  There to greet us when we arrived was photographer Nick Carter and Matre’d extraordinairre Yolanda, who immediately hooked me up with some hot coffee to start the day!

The bride and groom arrived separately but once they were both “wedding ready”, Nick and I were able to capture the touching moment when they saw each other for the first time.  Harry was so excited that he turned around early to sneak a peek before we were all ready, so we did take 2, and he was just as excited as the first peek!

We were able to get all of their photos done before the ceremony and what a spectacular backdrop we had!  Nothing but blue skies and a pristine golf course in the background for some stunning photos!  I had a blast working with Nick Carter for the first time; it felt like we were old friends and really got some inspiring shots!  Harry did not stop smiling all day at his beautiful bride.  They were both totally relaxed and really just enjoyed their day to the fullest- which is how it should be……no stress!!

I had done Kimberly’ sister’s wedding 5 years ago and it was so great to see the family again, plus one- Kimberly’s adorable nephew Zach! The indoor ceremony went perfectly, followed by an incredible cocktail hour with tons of food and signature drinks galore! 

Afternoon receptions are not really known being wild and crazy but this one was certainly the exception!  DJ Ed of DJ Angel Productions really had the crowd pumped up for a party.  Kim and Harry started it all of by entering the room to “I’m Just Wild About Harry”, and had everyone laughing and clapping along.  Their cool musical tastes were sprinkled throughout the day and made the party really personalized to them and their crazy personalities.

All in all, it was a heartfelt, fabulous love fest and Alyssa and I were priviledged to be there to capture it all! Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Sudwischer for a wonderful day! (I even had time to buy a new golf bag in the pro shop-on sale!)

-Jen

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