What I love most about each wedding his how unique one is from another. Eileen and Bill chose to have a casual sit down dinner wedding, no dancing or traditional events rather a casual wedding concentrating on good food, friends and most importantly great photos.

Allow your photographer time to do what you hired them for, creating amazing photos.

Great photos require time and great light and we had both for the photos. It rained on and off throughout the day, but we had plenty of time to concentrate on photos as Eileen and Bill chose to have a first look prior to the ceremony. Traditions have changed and I find that the best first looks don’t have to be in the church or at the ceremony as sometimes the best emotion is captured in a more relaxed environment. Eileen and Bill met at the hotel prior to the ceremony allowing me plenty of time for great portraits and best of all they enjoyed their cocktail hour and allowed time for formals.

As I mention in all my meetings I need at least an hour for photos, although I work very fast, great lighting and great photos do take some time.  Even if you are going a more traditional route and waiting to see the groom or bride until after the ceremony, please allow enough time for photos, if you are having a receiving line after the ceremony, take into consideration this time as well. We generally find that after the ceremony, guests want to say hi to the Bride and Groom and the  bridal party and family want to enjoy cocktail hour and we rarely have the time we would like for pictures or we spend that time trying to gather people for formals. If you want great pictures allow us the time needed for photos, after the portraits are taken we will document the rest of the day in a totally photojournalistic manner.  Group or family formals can be done fairly fast as long as lists are kept to a minimum. The more time we have with just the Bride and Groom  the more amazing your photos will be.  As Fall is here, keep in mind lighting and sunset times, we need light and time both of which we had for Eileen and Bill’s amazing wedding.

Eileen and Bill’s ceremony was held at the Union Church in Pocantico Hills, NY. The reception dinner took place at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, amazing food and amazing service equals a great dinner reception. Ai Love Hair did a great job with Eileen’s hair and makeup as she looked stunning all day.

Too many great images too choose from so here are just some of my favorites from the day.

Had a great weekend covering Marissa and Garrett's wedding at The Imperia in Somerset NJ. The ceremony took place at St. Mary of Mount Virgin Church in New Brunswick. Once again the weatherman was 100% wrong with his 100% chance of rain prediction, as the day turned out to be great for shooting, maybe I should become a weatherman. The staff and food at The Imperia were amazing, everything from ice louge shots to a dessert room, yes a room of desserts. The cocktail hour took place on the outside patio and then the guests moved inside for the night. If anyone is looking for a great venue to have a wedding, The Imperia may be my new favorite place, great staff and service and most importantly great food. Here are just a few images from the day. Thank you to Marissa and Garrett for treating us like family and letting us capture your day for you.

This week we headed down to the Jersey shore for Dayna and Kevin's wedding in Red Bank. The ceremony took place at St. James Curch in Red Bank and then we took a stroll through downtown Red Bank for a few shots. Before the reception we hit the beach in Sea Bright for some beach formals, Fall is really here as it was cold and windy but the wedding party braved it out for some great shots. The reception took place at Raven and the Peach in Fair Haven NJ.

Last weeks wedding took us up to Lake Placid to cover Emily & Neil's wedding. The wedding took place at the Crowne Plaza Resort and Golf club in Lake Placid. Thank you for having me up to cover the wedding and for the amazing fireworks display at your wedding.

As most of my friends and clients know I am a very straightforward tell it like it is person. This blog post is to inform not just my future clients or existing clients to something that has become more and more commonplace in the wedding industry but all couples planning weddings. What you may ask? " Vendor Kick Backs". This is something that has taken place not once,  but many times over the last year to me and I am sure many other vendors. Instead of explaining in detail I will direct you to a photographer in Los Angeles who I have had the privilege of meeting and I respect his work and business morals. You can read exactly what this post is about here. "Kick backs" as he does a great job of explaining exactly what is taking place in our industry.

For me personally I have lost numerous jobs this year, from venues that no longer refer me because I refuse to give the managers kickbacks. These managers are on salary and should be referring brides to the best vendors they know, not the vendors giving them cash for every wedding they send to them. Also recently I had a wedding planner contact me for a wedding in Lake Placid, the planner will remain nameless as I feel that everything happens for a reason and eventually enough of her clients will realize that after seeing their wedding photos and wondering why they hired the photographer they did it will eventually come back to her. She not only wanted a kick back from me, but also actually revised my contract without my permission and put her kick back in my contract as a travel fee for $500 and sent my contract to the bride, then called me to inform me that her kick back should come from the travel fee she included on my contract, funny thing is I was not charging a travel fee for this wedding and when I do charge travel fees, they are for travel, not kick backs. Needless to say I won't be working with her or ever referring her for any weddings.

This post I am sure will not be  popular to the vendors asking for kickbacks, but I wouldn't want to work with them in the first place. So remember ask for referrals from friends and make your decision on vendors yourself, look at websites and hire the vendor that you feel will be the best fit for your wedding day. Any vendors I refer are being referred because they are the best in the industry and I feel like every Bride and Groom deserve the best possible service and honesty from all their vendors. I have never received a kick back in all my years in business and I do not intend to now. If I am already booked for your date I will gladly refer you to another photographer who I know will shoot your wedding and deliver amazing images and I do not ask them for kickbacks. The same goes for planners who I have worked with in the past or any other vendor for your wedding day, I am referring them because they are the best in the industry.

This does not mean that all vendors or locations are doing this, just the ones that feel like referring vendors for kickbacks is more important then providing quality vendors to their clients.