Wedding at The Park Savoy-New Jersey

by Joey Curry | Jun 16, 2022 | Uncategorized

Hannah & Nolan at The Park Savoy-New Jersey Wedding

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When I met Hannah and Nolan on Zoom I could tell I had a good couple. Nothing major stood out or anything, they just seemed super chill, confident in what they wanted and open to ideas and suggestions. I have a few pre-wedding things I like for my couples to do for me, these things aren’t obligatory but helpful, and these two were happy to oblige.

Wedding Venue-The Park Savoy-New Jersey

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The venue, The Park Savoy, is only 20 minutes from my house, WHAAAT! Such a change from the hour plus I typically drive AND it was an early wedding. Wow, will I get to go be home with my Wife, Cate and 4 yo Henry, at a normal time? Yes! (and I got to do some of my post wedding work) Woah!

The Park Savoy is a beautiful spot. Its on a Golf Course and is shootable from front to back. Big ionic columns out front with a huge beautiful, lush, colorful garden in the back complete with staircases, paths and a pond. Reflection photo? Yes, please. The inside is equally picturesque. I didn’t have time to shoot the coulpe inside but I saw about a thousand places I would have! Next time, I guess.

Wedding Prep at the Park Savoy

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The girls were getting ready in the Park Savoy Bridal Suite. And what a Suite it was. Giant, open, white with big windows. A huge old armoire for the dress, a few couches and chairs & lots of mirrors. The staff was there immediately. Jessica, the manager, came in and got us updated on our timeline and then Hannah’s Bridal Attendants came up and were super helpful! We got the unfortunate news that Tobi, Hannahs’ sister and MOH was finishing up a quarantine for covid exposure and would be wearing a mask. Lisa, Hannahs mom was fairly distraught. I did my best to make her feel better, including agreeing to attempt a photoshop mask removal if needed (Nooooo) Luckily we found a different option. Close call. My fave thing about this wedding party is the majority of them are engineers and such, basically nerds, and I say that with nothing but love and respect. I grew up thinking I had to be so cool and now realize the nerds were always the coolest and always will be!!! Embrace your Nerdiness! I also married into a family of nerds and my wife is teaching me the ways.

A 1st Look, Some Formals & a Ketubah Signing at the Park Savoy-New Jersey

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We set up a perfect 1st look, which is easy with such an amazing venue full of good spots and a couple pretty much down for anything. They very much wanted a piggyback photo, which can turn out sloppy. They have a few of these already so they had the practice and these photos actually turned out some of my faves. I think it’s a perfect photo for these two. I dont’ do a lot of posing, except for during couples photos, but I always let me couples know that I want the day to be collaborative. There are no bad ideas and as a team we can get great photos! They nailed it. We got wedding party photos done and it started to rain so we called a last minute change up to family photos in the chapel. We got it done just in time and went back inside to sign the Ketubah!

Wedding Ceremony at The Park Savoy-New Jersey

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Back to the Chapel for ceremony. Jewish ceremonies are a bit longer than non religious ones, obviously, but are steeped in culture, history and tradition! This one was no different. This chapel is was also great to shoot in, full of natural light due to the windows wrapping the entire building!

Wedding Reception at The Park Savoy-New Jersey

…..and then there was an epic party!!!

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Thank You Hanna & Nolan, It was a real pleasure being a part of this day!

This New Jersey Wedding was brought to you by:

@theblacktux⁠

@theparksavoy⁠

@lauraandleighbridal⁠

@enaurabridal⁠

@cathydshairdesign_

@florealblooms

@theweddingcrashers_

Wedding at the Society Room-Hartford, Connecticut

by Joey Curry | Jun 11, 2022 | Uncategorized

Wedding Prep at The Goodwin Hotel-Hartford, Connecticut

Another Wedding, another Adventure!! This was quite a haul for me, driving from NJ to CT, but hey, that’s what I do for my people! I don’t mind the drives. I leave super early and I take my time so that I can explore new places and meet new people. I got to Hartford nice and early and found a friendly place to have breakfast,Sunberry Cafe on Pratt street Met my team, right behind our venue and had a delicious breakfast wrap and veggie juice.

We found our way back to The Goodwin Hotel for Wedding Prep. I like this hotel. Super helpful staff and the rooms were well lit plus a cool library which we used for our ring shots!

First person I met in the room was Lucia, a flower girl. We got to chatting and finished our chat with a promised foot race challenge for later in the day. I was fairly certain I would beat her….fairly certain. (The cheetah print should have been a warning)

Meeting the other girls and the hair & makeup team was a ton of fun and I knew right away I had a pretty good group. Chris, my 2nd, got the same vibes from the guys.

1st Look and Formals-Elizabeth Park, Hartford, Connecticut

Oh man, my favorite, Family Formals, a 1st Look and Couples Portraits RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY WITH NO CLOUD COVER!!!! I made it work, because I am a goddamn professional!! I think next time I’ll use some lights in addition to using the shade. Always gotta be learning right?? I think we killed it, it was hot and we had a LOT to do. It all got done and I was happy with the outcome. We also shot the majority of the portraits at the Society Room.

Wedding Ceremony at The Society Room-Hartford, Connecticut

Wow, this venue was just so huge and beautiful. It looks like a place Sinatra would have smoked cigars at or Capone would have robbed! Prohibition and flappers and old school elegance and class. A giant balcony looks down on the main ballroom complete with a massive curved staircase. Each room is just awesome and grand and of course you have to check out the old bank vault. The Ceremony was set in the old ballroom and was perfect. Desmond, my contact for the night was flawless, as was the rest of the staff.

Wedding Reception at the Society Room-Hartford, Connecticut

Yes, and then there was an epic party, with a birthday included! Oh, and Lucia & I raced. She whooped my ass…twice.

I had a blast with this couple, their friends, and family. Everyone was so awesome and genuine. I met another fellow in recovery, which is always good for me. Lucia and I will def have a rematch one day. I’ll train.

Thanks Jenna & Steve!!!

Thanks to these folks for making it happen:

Makeup- @cakebyalexa @christinecouturecormier

Hair-@lunastudioandsalon

Dress-@mariellacreations

Shoes-@katespadeny

Flowers-@petalsplates

Venue-@thesocietyroomofhartford

DJ- @localmotionent

Favors- @alenaksoycandles

Stationary- @hartfordprints

Video- @maxbovin

Photography- @joecurryphotography

Alternative Wedding-New York Botanical Garden

by Joey Curry | Jun 2, 2022 | Uncategorized

Pre-Wedding at City Island, New York

I really look forward to Wedding Days, they are little mini-adventures for me. New towns, venues and people! I started my day very early as usual. I always leave plenty of time on wedding days because of my super fear of being late. When I arrive super early I eat at some cute new spot or go fishing, hoping for the big one! Today I found myself near City Island. If you haven’t been to City Island, GO! NOW!! It’s a little fishing community you would never believe is part of NYC. I found a coffee shop called Clipper Coffee and was immediately greeted by Jerry. He dug my camera shirt and it turned out he is a retired wedding photographer currently making movies. Great dude! He made me a perfect Avocado toast, and an Egglander (Highly recommended). A perfect place toi mentally prep for a big Wedding day at The New York Botanical Garden.

Wedding Prep in the Bronx

I met Kim & Kenny awhile back when we shot their engagement photos out in Dumbo, Brooklyn. They brought Penny, their adorable dog, Kim’s sister Jasmine and another friend and we cruised around Brooklyn Bridge Park getting some great shots.I always love an engagement shoot prior to a wedding because it’s a great way to get to know the couple and for them to get an idea of how I shoot!! Check out the Engagement HERE!

Todays Wedding prep was at a Marriot. Normal hotels (as opposed to boutique hotels or wedding venues) always pose a bit of a problem for photography. We had a few challenges, but made them work to our advantage, because thats what we do!! I loved that they had a lot of rad tattoos. Kim told me they have a matching one of two skeleton hands in a pinky swear. So cool! Penny the Dog helped Kenny write his vows. Ha! The girls were essentially in a conference room which we made the best of, our lobby was nice and we had an attached mall sort of space for 1st look. All in all, between (the awesome) Max Bovin (videography), his 2nd, my 2nd and I, I think we nailed prep and 1st look.

Wedding Formals at The New York Botanical Garden

We moved over to The New York Botanical Garden for the remainder of the day. Starting with formals, we found a nice set of stairs (in hindsight I feel like a real dummy for not using the damn gardens,DUH!). The Gardens assistants brought over a limo of a golf cart to transport us to my spot, and this gave me a great idea of putting the whole Wedding Party on it for an epic photo. We banged these photos out due to Kims amazing list she put together (I ask all my couples to do this, it makes this section of the day MUCH smoother). I was able to spend some time with Kim & Kenny for some portraiture. I could have done this all day given how perfect the New York Botanical Garden is for Wedding Photography. Kim kept asking me “ Is that me?” Yes, Kim, thats you!!!

Wedding Ceremony at The New York Botanical Garden

During prep we got word that there was some heavy rain coming in. Of course it was meant to start right when the Wedding Ceremony was supposed to start. This did not make Kim happy. She told me she picked this venue specifically to have her ceremony outside. The venue, florist and DJ were worried about this storm, understandably. I told Kim that between my team, the venue and our phenomenal planners at Runway, that we would do everything in our power to continue the ceremony outside, even if it rained. IT RAINED. A LOT!! Man, did Kim have a legendary group of people! Umbrellas were busted out, even the botanical gardens were handing them out, jackets were used, some troopers just said fuck it and took the rain like champs. It was awesome to see their wedding party stand by their side through that storm, as I am sure they have for years past, which is why they were up there in the first place! Again, LEGENDARY!

P.S. If you want to change up the whole flower girl thing, get an amazing gay couple and then tell them to be as gay as possible. Yes, this happened. I love my job.