Shaina and Milton and Style Me Pretty

We woke to Shaina and Milton on Style Me Pretty! This was a very special wedding for us.

We often ask our clients to show us any “inspiration photos” they might have. Seeing what couples like helps us get a sense of their style, especially for the portraits, which we can steer in different directions—toward fun and whimsical, just plain casual, or more editorial and composed.

When we asked Shaina and Milton to see some inspiration photos, they sent us mostly all paintings—ranging from the 14th to the 19th centuries. They included John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Madame X, and Jacques-Louis David’s portrait of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and Marie-Anne-Pierrette Paulze.

We were so impressed when we received the images—so different from anything anyone had ever sent us—and excited by the challenge of recreating them, or at least using them as a reference and inspiration. The thoughtful selection also made us so respectful of what Shaina and Milton hoped to capture in the photographs of their wedding.

Attached are a few of the paintings they sent, paired with what resulted from their wedding day. Some are more exact representations than others, but overall, I think they achieve a certain timelessness, and an elegance reflected in the original art.

Shaina and Milton married at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn, one of our very favorite NYC spaces. Shot by Laura and Fiona.

Wedding Wire Award

Thanks, Wedding Wire, for honoring us for the second year in a row with a Bride’s Choice Award, based on consistency of high reviews from former brides and grooms. Click on the badge to read some testimonials! Here’s a recent favorite (thank you, Stephanie!):

I am remiss at not writing this love letter sooner, but I have been going through withdrawal since I haven’t talked to Laura and Nelson in a little while… what can we say? We are head over heels in love with the fantastic team at Weddings by Two. First and foremost, our photos are gorgeous and everyone has flipped at how natural and beautifully illuminated they are. some friends have starting crying with emotion and joy when they looked at them. They have both a vintage yet modern quality - bursting with glowing color and ethereal light. Nelson Hancock is the James Bond of wedding photography - stealth-like, cool and a true pro. His keen eye drew out the best in us and all our guests. He has boundless energy and kept clicking away until the wee hours of the night. His experience in journalistic photography was evident in his attention to the smallest details and his ability to never interfere with our enjoyment of the evening, yet he captured every kiss, secret moment, smile and tear. Our wedding was the best night ever, and thanks to Weddings by Two - we have captured the most incredible memories. Finally - i must also comment on their photo booth (We Love Photobooths). This magical set up was the HIGHLIGHT of the wedding! Our guests are still talking about how fun it was, and the quality of the pictures are truly amazing. it is the BEST party favor a bride & broom can give! We loved it so much that we are going to get the photo booth for our anniversary and have a mini-reception. We plan to do this every year! I can’t recommend the team at Weddings by Two enough. Laura has my contact info in case anyone one wants a more specific recommendation - I would be delighted to sing their praises! they will be our photographers for every important event in our lives. —Stephanie

Garrison Fish & Game Club

Sarah and Jason married at City Hall and celebrated here months later, on a snowy January day, at the unassuming Garrison Fish & Game Club. Our favorite picture here? The one of the two guys eating cupcakes below the giant moosehead. Forgive us, vegans and vegetarians among you. We would never go out and kill a deer. I take bugs outside (with a few exceptions.) We’re animal lovers, but we come running with our cameras for taxidermy and wood paneling.

Beyond that, I’d like to say that I just loved this wedding celebration, from just about a year ago, so it seemed right to show this winter. Jason is a chef at the Tavern at the Highlands Country Club in Garrison. He and Sarah created a home-style foodie party, with beer on tap and friends playing old James Brown records.

Megan and Ryan on Style Me Pretty

What a lovely post to discover on Style Me Pretty this past weekend! Shadow Lawn is one of our favorite venues. Beautiful flowers and other arrangements by Steven Bruce Design. Megan and Ryan’s wedding photographed (and enjoyed thoroughly) by Laura.

Featured this morning on Ruffled

Thanks to Ruffled for posting Maria and Oliver’s stunning wedding at The Foundry. Photographs by Nelson. Planning by Lauren Sozmen of Loli Events (we all love her!) and flowers by Poppies and Posies. 

http://ruffledblog.com/multicultural-new-york-wedding/

On the Highline

We all love this shot by Ben, on the Highline this fall with Jenn and Brian.

We Love Photobooths sets its own record!

Let it be known that we, Weddings by Two and We Love Photobooths, set our own record for most photobooth pictures taken in one night. Halloween night, we opened our doors for our second annual Free Photos For All party and shot just shy of 2500 photos. Kids and families packed our two open booths for the first few hours, and a handful of passersby closed down the night with us, dancing to our Wedding Withdrawal playlist (think JLo’s On the Floor and Stereo Love) and running relays between the two booths (this is a fun game if anyone wants to rent out two booths for one event—just ask us! We’ll give you a demo).

Here we are, some of our Wx2 and photobooth staff: Ben Fraser (1), Guy Ambrosino (2), Arielle Kramer (3), Greg Gentert (4), Chris Gifford (5), Gordon Convery (6), and Laura Miller (7), doin’ it up right that night. The muscle ladies behind Chris were the life of the party but we do not know who they are. Hopefully they’ll come back soon. 

Shannon Wows Photographer with Awesomeness

Seriously. Some days are like that—just look! Also, our often unavailable but always incredible second shooter, Guy (also known as photobooth manager for Weddings by Two and We Love Photobooths), had a whiskey during the getting ready, and we have since learned that Guy should always have a whiskey during the getting ready. He killed it with Chris and his groomsmen at The Cooper Square Hotel. FYI, that’s some nice light at the Cooper Square Hotel, for anyone looking for a swanky spot to get ready downtown-ish. I love Shannon’s shoes by Miu Miu.  

I couldn’t leave out this portrait of Shannon with the couple’s two-year-old twins. Did I mention Shannon is a mom? Which wowed me even more. 

After getting ready, we moved on to The Foundry in Long Island City. 100 Layer Cake’s very own Jillian Clark was event designer and Erica Miller of Thoughtful Day made the invites (envelope featured above). Flowers by Emily Thompson.

Outside The Foundry is fantastic industrial grit, otherwise known to us as…awesomeness. Do I need a new word? Do people still say that? 

Basilica Hudson

Following up on our welcome post, here we show off a few more images from Farihah and Jeff’s wedding at Basilica Hudson in Hudson, NY. Farihah and Jeff are film-industry professionals and the first couple to host their wedding here. It’s raw, industrial, and absolutely stunning. Farihah and Jeff, also…absolutely stunning. Thank you, guys. Event design by Rock Paper Scissors Events. 

From Wikipedia: “The [Bengali] wedding ceremony follows the gaye holud ceremonies. As the wedding ceremony is arranged by the bride’s family, much of the traditions revolve around embarrassing the groom. The groom, along with his friends and family, traditionally arrive later than the bride’s side. As they arrive, the younger members of the bride’s family barricade the entrance to the venue, demanding money from the groom in return for allowing him to enter. There is a bargaining between groom and the bride’s family members on the amount of money of the admission. There is typically much good-natured pushing and shoving involved.

Following, the official, legal ceremony, in an amphitheater filled with vintage chairs.

Some of my favorite portraits ever.

The reception included a Kulfi dessert cart, Bengali dancing and a mirror ceremony, again, from Wikipedia: “At this time, for Muslim weddings, the amount of the dowry is verified, and if all is well, the formal papers are signed, and the couple are seated side by side on a dais. The bride’s veil is draped over both the bride and groom, and a mirror is placed in front of them. The groom is then supposed to say something romantic on what he sees in the mirror—notionally the first time he has laid eyes on his bride. A traditional answer is to say that he has seen the moon. The bride and groom then feed each other sweets, while the bride’s family members try to push the groom’s face into the food. All the guests then celebrate the union with a feast.”

I’ll end this post with a few highlights from the photobooth:

Welcome

Welcome, folks, to our new blog, launched today with little content but much to come!

We thought to kick things off with this photo, mainly because it absolutely blows our minds over here at Weddings by Two.

We love the aesthetics driving people today—the small details, the personalization. And we love vintage—the Twenties, the Thirties, Forties, pick a decade! But even better is this: Who knows what decade. Who knows when. Could be 100 years ago or could be today. 

Below are Farihah and Jeff, who married September 3rd at, to date, my favorite venue ever: Basilica Hudson in Hudson, NY.