Lisa & Kelly – same-sex wedding / destination wedding in Florida
Lisa and Kelly’s wedding in Florida – well, there’s a bit of a back-story here, more easily told with a view from a few years later. Lisa and Kelly live in New Jersey, but this was still in 2009 before same-sex marriages were legally recognized. (Same-sex marriage in New Jersey was legally recognized since October 2013.) The logical step then is to make it a destination wedding in Florida.
A few weeks earlier, Lisa and Kelly had a party for friends in NJ, and announced that they were going to be married in Florida. So that in a way was the wedding reception. The actual wedding ceremony in Florida was then with just their closest family members. The entire day was an emotional experience for everyone, as the photographs show.
I was particularly honored that Lisa and Kelly placed so much faith placed in me with a special event like this. Not only was this a destination wedding, this also happened to be the first time that I photographed a same-sex couple on their wedding day.
The preparation, ceremony and intimate reception were all held at the Sundy House in Delray Beach, Florida. After the ceremony we had some time for the romantic portrait sessions on the beach. Even though the late afternoon light was just perfect, the wind was gusty. But we did get some beautiful photographs of Lisa and Kelly together.
I’m particularly proud of this sequence of photographs because they clearly show the love and intimacy between this wonderful couple together in spontaneous moments. It is very much *them*, and I am sure their friends and family will instantly recognize these image as capturing the essence of who they are.
Lisa and Kelly .. thank you for having there as part of your wedding day.
A quieter moment from earlier in the day during Lisa and Kelly’s preparation.
Lisa’s mom giving her daughter a last quick kiss before the ceremony.
A very touching moment during the ceremony – Lisa reaching over to her sister, Kristin, when Kristin couldn’t hold back her tears anymore during the reading.
A big hug from Lisa’s cousin.
An emotional speech from Lisa’s dad.
You nailed it Neil. A true artist you are.
Hi Neil!
As always, another beautiful photos, really impressive!
Today, Id like to know if the first photo, the best os the best, was taken with the 70-200 f2.8 or the 85 f1.2.
Right now Im just an amateur, but thinking about being a professional in the portrait area……so, soon I hope, to buy an 5D MKII and a couple of lenses…..do you think that is possible a 70-200 f4 substitute a 70-200 f2.8 in a marriage event? My concern is that the f2.8 is REALLY HEAVY……do you really think that the extra aperture compensate the EXTRA weight?
Thanks and still really impressed with your colours!
Artur .. thank you for the kind compliment!
The photo at the top is actually a featured photograph on the Tangents blog, where I describe my approach, the technique, equipment and post-processing.
Great work. You’ve captured the emotion of the day perfectly.
Wonderful. So much emotion. You captured their day beautifully.
As someone who shot well over 100 same-sex weddings before I stopped doing weddings, and as a married lesbian who took Canada’s federal gov’t to court for the right, I wanted to say congrats to your couple. The images are beautiful, Neil.
Great photos. You have perfectly captured the day and its beautiful!