When I first saw Amanda on her wedding day, I was blown away by her resemblance to a 1940′s movie star – maybe Rita Hayworth or Ava Gardner ?  But she was absolutely radiating glamour and elegance!  I have been to Belvedere Mansion in Rhinebeck dozens of times, but for some reason I’ve never been up on the 3rd floor.  Possible because there is already far to much to photograph on the first 2 floors, but wow is the 3rd floor great!  The whimsical bathroom with the antique clawfoot tub and bright blue walls with balloons painted on them.  Then a bride who hops into the antique bathtub in her wedding dress because she totally gets that this is a great photo moment.  The BEST.  Jesse and his groomsmen wore black chucks with red shoelaces – one of my favs.  The ceremony was beautiful, the party was fun, the shoes  and the couple were ultra cool – what a great way to start off a new wedding season!

Dress by San Patrick; Shoes by Nina; Flowers by Bella Fiori; music by Black Diamond DJ; Ceremony and Reception at Belvedere Mansion, Rhinebeck, New York

the veil moment

Tears of joy flowed throughout the day at Jessica and Peter’s October wedding.  Peter cried when he saw Jessica for the first time near the gazebo and then Jessica cried as she read her vows to Peter in a touching ceremony by the pond at the stunning Belvedere Mansion in Rhinebeck.  Belvedere has to be one of my favorite places to photograph a wedding at.  I just can’t find a bad place to take pictures – rain or shine!  Probably the hardest part of the day for me was photographing the sunset that evening as it kepy getting better and better!  The best time to do sunset photos is after the sun has dropped below the horizon, but this night, the colors of the sky seemed to get deeper and richer as the night wore on.  I could have taken sunset photos for about an hour, but we had a packed dance floor to get this fun couple back onto!

Ceremony and Reception at The Belvedere Mansion

Hair and Makeup by Setsuko Hosami

Dress by Amsale

Flowers by Stew Leonards

Music by Frank Banks of Boss Systems

Jessica and Peter

Jessica

A magnificent sunset