This blog post has been a couple days in coming because there were just SO many pictures of this beautiful venue and couple to go through that I couldn't narrow it down! More than grateful still doesn't describe the opportunity I had to photograph Pamela and John's wedding at the Metropolitan Building in New York City. Pamela contacted me back in November about being her wedding photographer after finding some of my work on Brooklyn Bride's blog. She wrote me an email telling me she loved my pictures, and was even more excited when she read about me and saw we shared a love for Chick-fil-a and Jesus. Pamela really wanted a photographer to capture the beauty of the venue but even more so who understood the significance of what was taking place, i.e. two people entering into a covenant of marriage before God and loved ones. She told me that and I couldn't have felt more connected to what she was saying. I think that's the biggest privilege of my job- I get to be a part of this really special day that is one of God's greatest gifts to us.
About a month or so later I got email from a photographer in Brooklyn, Jamie Lefkowitz. Jamie had found my name on Brooklyn Bride and contacted me about shooting together not knowing I lived in Athens, GA. We talked and I told her about this wedding in Queens, and ironically she and her husband were married at the same Metropolitan Building. Jamie also photographed the wedding with me and Carrie Jo and she did an awesome job. It was so neat to see how one blog post could connect people! Big thanks to both Jamie and Carrie Jo for some of the images here.
The Metropolitan Building is this AMAZING old building in the midst of an industrial area of Queens. It is used for events and photo shoots, and is by far the most beautiful venue I have shot at. The window light is beautiful and floods each floor of the building, and the antique furniture is awesome enough to make Anthropologie a fan. Pamela and John were able to pick out furniture and any other items they wanted to use for their wedding from the amazing inventory. Below is a picture of the room of chairs they had---- gahhhhhhhhhhh.....
John bought one his favorite books, Pilgrim's Progress, for each of his groomsmen. The best part was that he searched for old copies of it, and wrote a note to each groomsmen on the inside. The books had so much character, and I was impressed that each one was carefully searched for and picked out.
Pamela and John's ceremony was what really stuck with me about the whole wedding. A close friend and mentor from John's time at Princeton married them, and the ceremony was meaningful and beautiful. They chose two hymns for everyone to sing, and it was during the first one that my eyes just flooded with tears. It was the hymn "Come thou Fount," written in the 1700s and definitely one of my favorites. There weren't any instruments playing but just everyone's voices filling up the room. It was during the singing that I had this deep sense of God's presence and kindness in my life in a powerful way. I felt like God had given me this couple and wedding and trip to New York with one of my closest friends as a way to remind me that he loved me and that all of this was a gift. In a second there were a million thoughts in my head, including gratitude that God had given me a job that I love and that it was him that was bringing me to these places and getting to know these people. I know this is a super spiritual way of looking at photographing a wedding, but it was for real. I know the Lord had me their to remind me of his goodness towards me, especially for when I came back home to a life of diapers and dirty clothes and a seemingly endless lists of tasks to do. I stood with Pamela after the ceremony before we started family pictures and she thanked me for being here to celebrate and document this day. And I teared up again and had to tell her that this day was big for me too.
Pamela and John left the wedding in a vintage checkered taxi while guests waved goodbye with sparklers, which is a rare find in New York considering the state doesn't allow the sale of fireworks. The sparklers had to bought in another state to be used there, which I thought was especially fun considering sparklers are a huge staple down south. They rode off to start their honeymoon in Paris the next day, which seems like such a magical way to spend your honeymoon. I am so so happy for you guys, so thankful you asked me to photograph your wedding, and so so grateful to God for the gifts that he gives us. I hope this day serves as a reminder of God's kindness to both you two as a couple and to me for all the years to come...
