Yeeeaaah! (lil john style) It’s time for Melissa and Andrews blog!! I must admit I’ve been looking forward to their wedding since they first signed up! I just love shooting weddings at the Historic Canfield Casino! I mean, who doesn’t? I’m quite positive you blog stalkers remember these two from their engagement session. It was the most viewed engagement session I blogged from 2010! I must say it was one of my favorites as well. Let’s cut to September 9, 2011. It was the beginning of what turned out to be the nicest weekend of the year. In Melissa’s parents home was Tina as in “Flawless by Tina” with her side kick Madeline. The ladies, obviously all were looking good. The house just had a great vibe and good energy! The music was bumping which set the tone that it was going to be a good day. After we smoked it at the house it was time to head to the church and catch up with Andrew and his crew. I gotta give props to Andrew and his boys for purchasing some nice grey suits, I loved it with the ladies pink dresses. Well done! So after the mass we headed to Congress Park for a hot little photo session! The light was at its best right then as you’ll see in the images below. Also I urge you to check out their video on my good friend videographer Al Woodard’s website. It’s awesome!! Back to that energy I talked about earlier, it seriously carried through the rest of the day and into the evening when DJ Paul Malo took the stage. Also the Elario Photo Booth was at level 10 all night long, thanks to Hayden for killing it as usual. All and all, a really wonderful day for some great people! Melissa and Andrew, you both are awesome and we can’t thank you enough for choosing the Elario men to be part of it all. Wherever you’re honeymooning right now best have some wifi so you can peep this blog! Much love!

Peace,
JP

Their engagement session from last November.

September 9th, 2011..

It’s like Melissa went to the school on “how to prepare for the wedding photographer.” I love when all the details are all out and ready.

Bling bling..

More details..

Tina doing her “Flawless” thing..

Word, how could she not smile?

I love this shot with Mom and her MOH..

I love all the heavy backlight… Stunning Melissa..

I love the colors in the flowers..

Birdcage veils rock! Nuff said.

Can you handle all that beauty?

Meanwhile in Saratoga Springs..

More grey suits please..

Oh hey Melissa, you ready to get married and stuff?

On deck..

Andrew, taking it all in.

Mr & Mrs..

Good looking crew in Congress Park.

We’re going to jump right into the configuration..

Ooooh that light!!

Stop right there. Favorite shot of the day alert!

It was too easy.

I love the soft tones in this one..

I would say this is a quintessential Congress Park image right here.

Of course this was my facebook teaser.

The Historic Canfield Casino.

Props to Melissa for designing all her paper goods.

Ready?

First dance..

My favorite image to capture in this room is a bride and groom enjoying a dance!

yup. the photo booth was crazy all night..

Meet Melissa and Matt. You’ll be seeing more of them on the blog as they’re part of the Elario class of 2012 and have an engagement session scheduled soon.

haha

Greydient was a perfect backdrop choice for this wedding.

aww congrats guys!

Team Elario + Woodard.

Today we’ll be sharing our labor day weekend wedding. This was Amanda and Kevin’s big day! You probably remember them as I blogged their engagement session back in early July. It started out at Amanda’s parents home where the energy was at level 10! The music was bumping as it should be while Flawless by Tina was wrapping up with Amanda. Cheryl from CASL Productions was in the house too! Before we knew it we headed to the church for the ceremony. After that it was off to the Sage Campus in downtown Troy for all our portrait photos. We always get good stuff there! The ballroom at Mallozzi’s looked awesome thanks to the talented peeps at Fleurtacious Designs. They smoked this wedding as they do for all their brides and grooms! Once Music Man Mike Garrasi began playing tunes the floor was packed! Seriously if they weren’t on the floor they were over with Hayden in the Elario Photo Booth just bugging out. Amanda and Kevin, thanks for choosing us to capture the big day! We all had a blast! I wish you guys nothing but years of happiness. Have fun blog stalking from Hawaii!

Peace,
JP

One from there engagement session..

Shoe shot..

Do I have to tell you who did the makeup?

Tina and Amanda having a good laugh.

I love this getting ready shot.

Once that gown was on all she did was smile..

How about that awesome bouquet from Fleurtacious Designs?

One more of the beautiful bride.

Church time..

Kevin gets to finally see his bride..

I really loved this church.

I wonder what she’s saying?

Mr and Mrs..

The ladies..

another one.

I especially like the little man, he’s got some swagger.

Newlyweds..

Gotta love Troy.

My facebook teaser.

So cute..

Let’s get configured.

I love this one..

Mallozzi’s Ballroom by Fleurtacious Designs

Time to set off the party!

Meanwhile over at the Elario Photo Booth..

Another hot drop from drop it MODERN this ones called “black keys” for your b&w needs!

I love this.

Here’s our photo booth all star Mel (and Chris).. you probably remember them.

Blog Stalkers!

Congrats to you both!!!

Sunday August 28th 2011 around here will be remembered as the day we met Irene who was a hurricane/tropical storm. It will also be remembered as Laura and Edward’s wedding day. I woke up that morning and knew it was going to be a complete wash out but I had one image come to mind that I wanted to get. Lets be honest, there is nothing easy or fun about working in the rain. Now you throw a tropical storm into the mix and it really gets interesting. For starters Glen Sanders Mansion didn’t have power, no biggie though. Mazzone and his peeps are so awesome they were prepared and had a generator. Thats how they roll. The day before this wedding Kris Ann of Fleurtacious Designs (their florist and my wife) told me she was going to bring everything but the bouquets to Glen Sanders that night incase the roads were bad or whatever. Thats right folks she ventured to Glen Sanders around 12am on Saturday night (or Sunday morning) while I was just getting home from my wedding that day. Laura and Edward (aka Trey) were lucky to already have both Kris Ann and Glen Sanders on their side, these guys don’t mess around when it comes to weddings. Back to their day. To save power on the generator for the reception GSM had limited light. Alayne from Make Me Fabulous had to work in the main ball room which was half lit for all their hair and makeup. When we showed up it was a interesting scene to see Alayne setup in the ballroom. Using the light on my iPhone I ventured upstairs to the real bridal suite and determined there was enough window light coming in to shoot the getting ready stuff in there. It was actually fun. Laura had the best attitude about the whole situation. The storm didn’t matter, I called her the day before and she said “Come hell or high water, Trey and I will get married tomorrow!”. Before heading to Union College Chapel we made a spontaneous pit stop at the Stockade Inn. On my facebook status that day Trey mentioned they had a billiards room he thought looked good so ask and you shall receive. Then over at Union College it was time to do the first look. I love their first look, so much excitement and emotion. I also love the fact that we had this beautiful setting to work in. Why don’t more of you guys use this chapel? Its incredible! So they got married, it happened and it was time to head back to GSM. I however had one more shot in mind. Like I said, I woke up thinking about this image. Listen you don’t get married at Union and not get your photo in front of the iconic “Nott” building! All we needed was an umbrella ella ella and boom! Now its party time and the joint was jumping. DJ Jeff Scott proved again he knows how to pack the dance floor. Its not hard with Union College peeps because they know how to party. Laura and Trey, we can’t thank you enough for having us. You were both just so fun as were your families and friends. This is one for the books right? Much love to you!

Peace,
JP

Yup..

Literately the only light was about a 5′ opening behind me.. No flash because thats not how I roll.

You gotta have fun right? Alayne was so funny with this little head light…

I love these b&w’s..

Flowers by Fleurtacious Designs

Once that veil gets put on it’s like you’re officially a bride and thats what Alayne must be expressing here.

A father see’s his daughter for the first time as a bride..

Ok stop right there. Wow. You’re doing it Laura

Over at the Stockade Inn Trey and the fellas..

First look time at the Union College Chapel

A cute little series.. A little fact about these.. Nor myself or my father shot this. Our friend Amanda was working with Kris Ann and I said ok, I’m going to set the tripod up with the 200mm 1.8L, compose the image,  and you shoot the hell out of this first look. Thanks Amanda!!

They were so happy to see each other..

I love the classic look here in b&w..

We had a little overhang… It was raining pretty good behind them.

The yellow flowers look sick (that means awesome) against those bridesmaids gowns.

Laura bought all these crazy umbrellas so we had to use them for one shot..

More stunning bride images..

The Elario Configuration…

We then headed upstairs away from the rain..

This place is gorgeous..

I love this image…

Ok.. its wedding time!!

Trey and the boys on deck..

Laura and dad on deck..

Such a great moment..

Again, I don’t think this place gets used enough. I’d love to shoot more ceremonies here.

This is Laura’s “we did it!” expression.

Mr and Mrs..

OK. While Laura was standing there in this doorway her and Trey were the last people to leave the building. I said, we have to go to the Nott building and take a couple shots. Laura said something like “but its still raining”. I just gave her a look and said “this is why you got married on this campus”. There was a moment of hesitation that was probably 2 seconds but felt like 2 minutes to me and then they went for it. Just so you know, I wouldn’t have let you get on that bus until I got you both in front of that building holing my b&w umbrella.

Not only was this my facebook teaser it was the image I thought of when I woke up that morning. Thank you for trusting me.

A little wind cameo from Irene..

A behind the scenes.. This is special to me because I was so freaking happy I got them outside.

Back at the Mansion the sun actually made a brief cameo.

I’ll end here because I love this image. Congrats you two!

Ok! I’m just a bit behind on blogs but I have all types of fun stuff to share with you all. First up its Billie Jo and Sean. These two are no strangers to the blog as I posted their engagement session just over a month ago. They were the wedding before Irene! The calm before the storm if you will. Thats right Miss Irene decided she’d wait a day just for Billie Jo and Sean. It was a wonderful day. At Billie Jo’s Mothers house was Alayne of Make Me Fabulous finishing up with our bride. We then headed up to Saratoga. We chose to do the first look and all that on the Spa grounds. It’s really a wonderful place to take pictures! They had this insanely awesome b&w car from Advantage Limo in Albany, it’s one of my new favorite classic cars out there. Once the session was over we headed to St Mary’s in Ballston Spa for like the 3rd or 4th time this season. I love that church! Then it was to my favorite place of all places, The Canfield Casino. Hey, I’m partial to this venue ;) The party was now in Vinny’s hands from Cool Cat Entertainment and Tony from Mansion Catering. Billie Jo and Sean treated their guests to a sweet surprise later in the night too. You’ll have to scroll down to see. Billie Jo & Sean, its been a pleasure getting to know you! I had a blast shooting your engagement session and even more fun at your wedding. You got married in Saratoga on the biggest racing day of the year but you two were both “winning” on August 27th 2011!

Peace,
JP

Here’s one from their engagement session..

The fabulous Alayne making Billie Jo fabulous.

Isn’t she so cute?

One quick snap of Billie Jo before we bounced up to Saratoga Springs..

Ladies..

I just caught her relaxing while waiting for Sean to show up for the first look..

Now Sean waits for Billie Jo..

love it.

I love all the green..

Another smart groom, Sean rocking a Hugo Boss tux and looking classic.

I like this one..

Look at her getting the sass on..

My facebook teaser

I love that car!

A little Elario Configuration..

St Marys Church..

Mr and Mrs..

A couple “we’re married!” shots..

The Historic Canfield Casino..

Always love when the couple is announced into this room..

1st dance..

the casino is one of my favorite rooms to shoot toasts in..

and  love when they bring the cake to the center of the dance floor.

We’ll end with the sweet surprise. A cupcake truck from Coccadotts Cake Shop!