I've admired Offbeat Bride and it's founder, Ariel Meadow Stallings, for quite some time--the weddings and couples on that site are always so unique and awesome, and in many ways they represent the core of what weddings are about for me--substance and individuality. So I was super excited to hear that I got accepted to be featured on the site!
In addition to talking about me and showing some of my favorite pictures from Lydia and Mike, Nicole and Steve, and Karen and David's offbeat weddings, OBB also talked about my one-of-a-kind Couture Book albums. This is exactly the audience I had in mind when I created them.
I can't wait to meet all the cool clients who will find me through this resource. If you're looking for some inspiration on how to make your wedding your own, check out offbeat bride!
See the whole feature here.
Featured on Offbeat Bride!
Presidio Interfaith Chapel and Presidio Log Cabin Wedding
Viani and Aldrich
November 21, 2009
Slideshow
Full set of images
Viani and Aldrich's wedding had a lot of unique style. The feel of the wedding was rustic, earthy, warm, and fun, with details inspired by from the couple's passions-- like the bride's love of coffee, or the groom's motorcycle club vest and prized Harley. You can see some of the ways they incorporated those themes into their decor in this collage, and the images below. I loved all the nature/tree/bark motifs, and the use of textures and items not normally associated with weddings, like burlap, clothespins, twine, twigs. It was clear the designers really thought outside the box on this one, and the coolest part was that even with all the quirky variety everything totally came together into one cohesive design.
Christal Seville working on Viani's makeup. She not only has her own stylist business but her own line of products as well.
mmm...sparkly. I never wear pumps myself but I've developed kind of a love affair with shooting them.
I love "too many cooks" shots like these at weddings.
this was actually a request by the bride, to do a remake of a shot from the chapel's display book. I wanted to do a more candid, natural looking version than the one in the book; I like how this one looks like she might actually be looking out the window on her own accord.
Sometimes the ring can get stuck going on or coming off; usually because of nerves and/or lack of sleep causing swelling in the hands and feet.
beautiful, simple bouquet by Orchid Floral.
such a cool cake! It was a gift from a friend of the family, who is not even a professional cake designer. The topper is not edible, but I think the leaves are.
Neapolitan, vanilla w chocolate, and chocolate with chocolate cupcakes by That Takes the Cake. I actually think people were supposed to wait until the cake cutting to eat the cupcakes, but they were sitting out from the end of dinner onward, and it only took a couple of brave souls quietly stealing a cupcake or two for the whole crowd, and perhaps one sugar-deprived photographer, to jump right in.
Its funny how different couples react to the garter tradition in so many different ways; whether it be embarassment, enthusiasm, exhibitionism...I'm sure I could find another e-word if I had my rhyming dictionary. ; )
I love the little clothespins and the whole setup of the placecards.
That bike is gorgeous, by the way...we played with it a lot during the couple's E session. I ended up taking so many pictures with it I feel like I should have charged Viani and Aldrich for a family shoot instead. ;) Of course it was a guest at the wedding, too--it sat outside during the reception for guests to pose for pictures on it.
Vendors:
ceremony venue: Presidio Interfaith Chapel
reception venue: Presidio Log Cabin
coordinator, caterer: Thomas John Events Dana Miller
linens/rentals: Presidio Trust
florist: Orchid Floral Ellen Wahyuni
dj: DJ Known II Rock, c0n8n@hotmail.com
officiant Jacqueline Eigen, Wine Country Minister
cake: Cupcakes from That Takes the Cake
dress: Mary Me Bridal, James Clifford design
makeup/hair (name / website/ email) Christal Saville Artistry By Christal
Stationary Design (programs, table/escort cards, menus): Papercake Designs Larissa Linn
Winner: Bride's Choice Award for 2010
WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Cohn Frankel Photography has been selected to receive the WeddingWire 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Photography!
The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.
The award signifies that Cohn Frankel Photography is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, including wedding planners, venues, djs, and of course photographers.
“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”
I would like to thank all my clients for nominating me for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards. I'm so happy to get this award for the 2nd year in a row!
For more info about this award and website, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront here.
Mayacamas Ranch and Spa
Deborah and Bradley
October 24 2009
Slideshow
Full set of pics
I had been looking forward to this wedding for months; not only because Deborah and Bradley are themselves connected to the event service industry, but because their wedding was being coordinated by Jenne Hohn, wedding coordinator extraordinaire and director of the International Special Events Society (ISES). I'd shot an ISES event for her last year as a favor, to reach out to her and familiarize her with my work and myself, but this was the first real wedding I'd ever worked with her on and I really wanted to knock it out of the park. Not like it would be too difficult to do a great job with such a creative, obviously in-love couple and everything planned as it was to be he best of the best.
But I think Deb and Bradley are a good example of one of my favorite types of clients; their taste is impeccable and they don't want to cut corners on anything important, but at the same time the material aspects of the wedding are a means to an end, not an end in itself. They want everything to be awesome because doing so brings more fun, more personality, more heart to the wedding and because it provides them a chance to share some of the best things in life with the ones they love.
Mayacamas Ranch is a spa and yoga retreat center located in the middle of a private valley in the mountains of Calistoga that is teeming with natural beauty. It was the perfect place to capture the feel of the wedding that Deborah and Bradley were going for: natural, organic, comfortable, and fun.
I love unique and different flowers, and florists who can take a bunch of incongruous blooms and make them work. By Bonnie Z of Dragonfly Floral.
this dress looks like it was just made for Deborah.
I like it when the guys put their own little personality touches in their clothing too
one of my most satisfying moments was watching people watching my slideshow at the wedding, and hearing 3 seperate groups of people have the exact same reaction to this photo when they saw it for the first time:
"[gasp!] awww...."
Best. Rabbi. Evah. I believe this shot was the reaction to her joke about it being an honor to marry "the two tallest Jews in the world." She was warm and hilarious, and a genius on the dance floor.
because we'd done an engagement session a couple months back, the fact that we were only allotted 10 mins to shoot with the couple alone didn't stop us from getting amazing images. The couple's easy chemistry and the beauty of the location definitely helped...and I guess maybe my skill had something to do with it too. ; )
Deborah's brother greeting her as they entered at the start of the reception.
Deborah's maid of honor needed some hugs to finish her speech.
no shortage of dessert at this wedding!
mmm...sundae bar. They had to beat guests off with a stick to keep them from attacking the ice cream before it was time. I'm now totally addicted to Three Twins cookies and cream and its 100% these guys' fault.
When it comes to Neil Diamond, resistance is futile. You will dance, and you will love it.
the rings, on one of the bottles of limoncello that the couple gave as favors.
Vendors:
coordinator: Jenne Hohn Events Jenne Hohn, Michelle Dillon, and Jill Sandy jenne@hohnevents.com
Mayacamas Ranch info@mayacamasranch.com
caterer: Olive Green Catering tdeserio@earthlink.net
officiant: Rabbi Sydney Mintz 415.751.2535 smintz@emanuelsf.org
flowers: Dragonfly Floral bonniez@dragonflyfloral.com
cake: teenycake
ice cream sundae bar: Three Twins Ice Cream
dj: Rob Doughty 707.253.0868 djrjd@mac.com
ceremony music: Daniel Maya & Mano a
Mano 415.297.9149 dmaya44@aol.com
videographer: Thomas Hughes Films info@thomashughesvideo.com
hair: Francisco Giron 415.346.3939 fgiron@gmail.com
makeup: Glowing Bridal Audrey Crandell glowingbridal@yahoo.com
tent: Zephyr Tents 510.559.8694 jenowsley@zephyrtents.com
lighting and event design: Hartmann Studios
transportation: Pure Luxury
Chaminade Resort and Spa, Santa Cruz
Olivia and Josh
August 22 2009
Slideshow
Full set of pics
By far one of my coolest couples of the year. Olivia and Josh planned a destination wedding in the Santa Cruz mountains, hired me over the phone, and then flew to SF for our first meeting and engagment session in Golden Gate park. Josh is freaking hilarious, and Olivia is beautiful, and they are both of an artistic mind--I knew their wedding would be not only stunning to photograph but fun and refreshing and different.
Oscar de la Renta dress = d r a m a. Look at those ruffles! It was so perfect.
can't have a hot dress without hot strappy heels.
Speaking of shoes, Josh's gift to each of his groomsmen was a pair of custom designed running shoes--each one designed especially for each groomsman in his own color scheme. You can see some of the colors in this shot and Josh's pair in the one below. More shoe shots in the slideshow and online, of course.
I really liked their bridesmaid dresses too- the way the deep purple bleeding into lilac color was pretty and flattering. And Olivia's giant bouquet of baby's breath went well with her dress.
I found out later that Olivia refers to Josh's little chin cleft thingie as his "Flux Capacitator" Did you know they actually sell a replica of the flux capacitator, complete with working lights, for $250 at thinkgeek.com? I want everything on that site btw.
I thought Olivia's dress and veil were particularly pretty in backlit shots like this one
My 2nd shooter Gustavo and I both had the idea to shoot her mimicking the pose in this painting, but I liked his version better. That's one of the signs of a great 2nd shooter for me; when I find myself saying "why didn't I think of that?!" every time I edit their pictures.
I love the drama of this image; the dress, the staircase, the half turn and sway of her skirt and veil, and the body language of the event coordinator handing off her veil and her dad waiting for her at the bottom.
getting giant veil over the head of the bride in one flip: it's all in the wrist.
when presented with a balcony at a wedding, you must take advantage of it.
adorable place cards saying "eat, drink, and be merry"
the lighting and staging of the room was top notch! I could tell even the staff at Chaminade were impressed as I wasn't the only one taking pictures.
and yes, she's an easy crier. What more could I ask for in a bride? : )
the dress was great on the dance floor. The bride and groom weren't so bad either. ; )
the live band, Steve Ezzo Entertainment, was great and everyone stayed on the dance floor all night long.
Vendors:
Chaminade coordinator Shannon Norfleet snorfleet@benchmarkmanagement.com
(Chaminade's packages are all inclusive so they also handled the catering, cake, flowers, linens, etc.)
band: Steve Ezzo Entertainement ezzoentertainment@comcast.net
bridal boutique: Ultimate Bride (Chicago)
and a big thank you to Gustavo Fernandez for second shooting with me.
