OK! We’re back! I decided to take last week off from the blog. Thanksgiving week is usually light on blog traffic so I thought why not? Plus, I wanted to save this blog post for a week when everyone’s back at work because thats where you blog stalk from right? I’m excited to share one of the area’s newest venues in this blog post. Key Hall at Proctors is pretty awesome. It’s an old bank turned into a reception hall. The best thing about it is the folks at Mansion Catering are attached to it. What more could you ask for?

When Ashley contacted us to shoot her wedding she basically took what little availability we had in November and picked a date. I must say I was flattered! Little did we know Schenectady was having their Christmas parade that day!! I mean seriously who throws a Christmas parade the Saturday before Thanksgiving?? Anyway the streets were packed! It was all good because there was a great energy in the air. I decided we just use the streets of Schenectady for first look and all the other photos. I’m stoked with the results. After all, I love me some city shots! Did I mention it was pretty cold too? Word. It was frosty out there. No worries though, Brian would give Ashley his coat in between shots. My favorite part of the whole bride and groom portrait session was when we went out into the middle of the parade route. There was no way I was going to pass that up! Anyway after that we headed to the beautiful St Johns Church for a wedding! After the knot was tied we headed to Key Hall at Proctors. What a venue! I can’t wait to shoot here again. DJ Mike Garrasi of Music Man Entertainment was in the house which means the party was hopping! We also worked with Al Woodard for like the hundredth time this season but I’m not complaining! I must say this was a great one! Ashley and Brian, thank you both SO MUCH for choosing us before you chose your date. Again, its flattering and means a lot to us. We really enjoyed spending November 19, 2011 with you both! Congrats!

Peace,
JP

Fun shoes..

getting her pretty on..

A little emotional here as she got dressed..

Out on State St..

Don’t we get lucky with all these beautiful brides??

One more..

Brian, looking sharp. Nice job on the hand tied bow tie.

The guys.. Key Hall is the building with the columns behind them..

First look!

The bridal party.. one of my favorite bridal party shots this year.

I loved shooting on this street!

A nice little spot..

:)

An Elario configuration.

Love it.

My favorite image of the whole day.. I love it.

All these people were actually here for Ashely and Brian!

St Johns..

Mr & Mrs..

Key Hall at Proctors..

The space is so cool.

Inside the vault I found their wedding date.. ;)

This is how they enter the room for introductions.. Pretty cool huh?

Nothing like a great first dance with a dip.

We took them back outside for a couple more..

fun!

Brian is a Starbucks nut and got the Stuyvesant Plaza store to donate all their coffee for the wedding, plus that awesome sign!

Did I mention they partied?

Ok, one more in the vault.. Congrats you guys!!!

I can’t believe the wedding season is winding down! Actually, I can. Haha. Its cold out and the light is dropping with the quickness which means we’re coming to an end for 2011. Now this is not the last wedding of 2011. We actually have 3 more to go until our cameras hit the shelves and we recharge. I will say we’re still getting lucky with these November weddings though, aside from the shorter daylight the temperatures been somewhat tolerable. I’m pretty excited to share Chelsea and Shawns wedding with you all today so sit back and relax because its time for a pretty wedding!

November 12th 2011 was great. Like I said, we had a nice day to take pics. It was a little chilly but it could have been colder! When I arrived at Chelsea’s sister and brothers home where she was getting ready all I could do was laugh. She was sitting there in the Flawless By Tina chair with headphones in. She was completely in her own world relaxing and enjoying some tunes while the madness of bridesmaids, children and lots of perfume in the air was happening. I think I was in the room shooting for like 5 minutes before she even realized I was there. Talk about zoning out! Anyway after all that we headed outside for some pics! Then it was off to downtown Albany to meet up with Shawn and his peeps. Minutes later Chelsea arrived and we had ourselves a first look! We battled the daylight and managed to do our thing down there and capture some really beautiful images of these two, their bridal party and families. After that we all headed to The Glen Sanders Mansion where Chelsea’s grandfather was waiting to marry them. I remember one of the first things she said to me is that her 92 year old grandfather was bound and determined to marry them. He did and it was awesome. Another thing Chelsea said to me during the planning process was “who was that videographer who shot Natalie’s wedding? Because we want him. In fact, we want the Natalie package.” That videographer was of course who other than Al Woodard. There was one other vendor that made this wedding a fun time and that was DJ Vinny Commisso of Non Stop Music. The party was a jump off from the moment they entered the ballroom. I mean who enters their wedding to Method Man and Mary J’s All I Need? Chelsea and Shawn, thats who. I had a blast with these guys from the start. Shooting their engagement session was a blast and their wedding lived up to the hype. We can’t thank you both enough for the love and having us on your bomb roster for 11.12.11. I hope you’re enjoying honeymoon #1 in Key West! As I always say we got nothing but love for you, baby.

Peace,
JP

You remember their engagement session with the sick light right?

Now we’re onto 11.12.11… I’m digging this weeks shoe shot..

I told you she was straight up listening to her own music. Too funny..  Do I have to mention who’s there doing her makeup? You make it easy for me not to have to write the business name in my blog posts, Tina.

Too many pretty girls in one room..

All the girls signed her shoes.. thought this was cool.

I love this one especially with the pic of a young Chelsea and her late Mother, Pamela.

Hair by Joel Averill (like Averill Park ;) from Ania Hair Studio & Spa..

A proud father…

Chelsea, you be killin em.

Flowers by Anthology Studio.

Too photogenic..

Hey ladies!

love this one..

Shawn and the boys..

First look..

He loves what he see’s (duh)

After their first look I quickly brought them across the street and capitalized on the quickly dropping daylight.

Ah yeah!

If you even need a pointer on how to nail the Elario configuration its here…

and their engagement session

Who would have thought there still would be color on November 12??

cute..

I love this too!

Watch out now..

Ok this bridal party shot was fun. It was pretty cold but we managed to knock it out.. Love all those cute kids!

How awesome is this car?!?!? This image was my facebook teaser.

a little bit of a wider view.. how awesome?

:)

So pretty..

Ok one more.. now its time to get them married.

Moments before Dad walked Chelsea down the aisle.

As I mentioned in my writeup Chelsea’s 92 year old grandfather Joe married them. He was awesome!

An emotional candle lighting in honor of Chelsea’s Mother, Pamela.

Mr & Mrs..

The Glen Sanders Ballroom by Anthology Studio

Love this somewhat behind the scenes shot of their entrance. Right now all I can hear is Mary J “Like sweet morning dew…”

this is how you make a damn entrance!

still their entrance!

Its only fair I give props to their best man Josh for his funny toast. I hear a lot of toasts and Josh freaking nailed it.

After dinner Chelsea had a hair change and they danced all damn night! What a party!

Oh and the Elario Photo Booth was in full swing too. Thanks for holding it down Hayden!

haha.

That best man Josh sure is fresh though.. ;)

Cute..

Congrats you two!!!!!!!!

Oh boy! Let’s all take our seats. I got a little crazy selecting images for Marisa and Chris’ blog post! There was just a lot of photogenic goodness happening on November 4th 2011. I must say I’ve been looking forward to getting these two back in front of the camera since they smoked it on their engagement session this past summer. I know you remember that! It was only one of my top posts this year in terms of views and comments oh and the shoot was the bomb! Let’s see how that wedding was..

The day started on a super high! It was chilly but it was sunny and I was ready to knock this one out the park. I had no worries on timelines or none of that stuff because Christine Wheat was on the scene. I have to tell you brides and grooms, its much easier when we don’t have to play wedding planner for the day and can just do our creative thang! You all should have coordination! Its worth it and I’ll bet my 200mm 1.8L every couple who has hired a wedding coordinator would agree its money well spent! Ok I’m done. Getting back to the day, Marisa and her girls had the tunes bumping in suite 627 in the Hampton Inn. I looked at Big Joe before I knocked on the door and said “do I hear bass? like actual bass bumping?”. Word, there was no hotel alarm clock but a Bose sound dock (I meant for that to rhyme! Actually I really didn’t). The tunes made for some great getting ready music and the energy was there! Down the hall in 620 was Chris and the fella’s because of his proximity to Marisa we were able to bounce back and forth to both rooms. After Marisa was dressed Big Joe and I headed to Congress Park to meet up with their surprise videographer non other than Al Woodard. Al dubs was a gift for Marisa and Chris at their bridal shower, seriously he popped out the box and all! Nah I’m playing! Chris and the guys were in the park as well. Then the star of the show arrived for her first look! It was wonderful. After fighting off the hungry ducks, who should migrate already (do ducks migrate?) we breezed thru the group photos and had mad time with our bride and groom. The park had a lot of color still hanging around and that was kind of surprising for early November but I’ll take it! After we knocked it out the Congress Park with Marisa and Chris it was off to St Mary’s in Ballston Spa for their ceremony. Then back at the Canfield Casino the staff from Mansion Catering was ready and waiting for the arrival of the newlyweds. The decor was popping thanks to Jolene K Design. The New York Players were in the house as well which means you know its going to be a jump off! Last but not least was the Elario Photo Booth which was a late addition by Marisa and Chris! I’m sure they’re super happy that they have an additional 670 images of their friends and family living it up! Thanks to Hayden for holding it DOWN and capturing all the funny people!

Marisa and Chris, I can’t thank you both enough for trusting us at Elario Photography Inc. I had truly had a wonderful time getting to know you over the past year. The engagement session was off the chain. You’re both off the chain and awesome people. That ish cray! TM! Lock it down and keep smiling at each other. Mad love.

Peace,
JP

Before you jump into the wedding post be sure to peep their engagement session because its one of my favorites and the location is sick!

ok lets set it off with some details..

digging the heels!

Peacock what? Word. Minutes before I took this shot Marisa thought she was only getting one wedding ring but Chris surprised her with another. Why not?

Marisa’s hair was done by her cousin and bridesmaid Amber from Karizma in Schenectady.

The makeup by Kelsey from Panache in Clifton Park.

meanwhile over in suite 620..

All the bridesmaids and Mom enjoying a laugh..

She’s so pretty but we’ll get back to her in a minute..

I like the suits and ties fellas.. nice touch.

fun

Looking good, Chris.

When I was in this position at my first look all I could think was “I wonder what the dress looks like?”

stunning!

A fun little series from their first look.

It was colder than it looks.. thanks to everyone for being awesome and hanging outside!

Some pretty flowers by Jolene K Design

The beautiful ladies..

working it..

Marisa is a master at the lookaway

One more..

I’ll remind you this is the girl who claims she doesn’t take a good picture…. whatever!

one more ;)

Yellow is my favorite color!

seriously the color for November was popping!

I put this one in because its a typical Marisa smirk..

A little Elario configuration..

Nice light, check. Awesome color, check.

love it.

What are the odds we get the same car two weeks in a row considering the owner was a guest at both weddings? Thanks Nick!

hotness.

Again, the color was freaking awesome.

My facebook teaser.. loving it..

One more of our beautiful bride.

Loving these b&ws…

whats so funny?

Ok one more. I think I was stressing out Christine Wheat’s girl Erin here because she was like “we have to get to the church” but I couldn’t stop shooting!!

Sy Mary’s Ballston Spa..

Chris, on deck.

Marisa and Dad, on deck..

Instead of showing their first kiss I thought the moment just after was more interesting to me.. I just like it.

Mr & Mrs…

Back at the Canfield Casino.. I grabbed one on their way in..

Cocktail hour..

The ballroom..

Loving the peacock feathers..

Their entrance was great!

I love when during the first dance all the guests are standing around watching…

Cheers!

The New York Players were on level 10 all night long!

The lookaway… I was happy to see this backdrop gypsy out again. I think its awesome!

Ladies..

hahaha

What a cute couple.. they were having a blast in their pics..

Blog stalkers!

Just about to rock the limbo..

Who could forget the star of the photo booth?

But these two were definitely prom king and queen of the Elario Photo Booth! BOOM! That ish cray! Congrats you two!!!!!!!!

As I mentioned in Tanya & Dylan’s blog post we shot a behind the scenes video. Mad props to my boy Jason Valentine for putting this together. Stay tuned and check back for the full piece in the days ahead! For now enjoy this teaser..

Peace,
JP