The Dulhan Expo—Big Party

I don't usually post about bridal expos (showcases), since they're mainly forums for meeting new prospective brides, and once they're over they're over. And there are so many of them. But I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised by the scope and the fun of the Dulhan Expo yesterday (December 6) at the Garden State Exhibition Center in Somerville.

I went prepared for a wedding showcase, but it was much more than that. It was a 6-hour-long extravaganza of South Asian culture, with great emphasis on food (supplied by master caterers like Rosewood, out of Edison, and Jashn out of New York), amazingly filigreed wedding garments, makeup artists who created beautiful henna patterns on hands, as well as doll-like face makeup, and yes, photographers and videographers. There was also a large entertainment component on a stage that was (thankfully) on the other side of the hall from our booth—255 booths in 48 categories in all.

I shared a booth with a wonderful videographer, Xiao Fen, of Fen Video Production.

Here's our booth, with Fen's video screen on the right:

As you can see, it's fairly modest, in fact, I deliberately include my 5-foot ladder, a low-tech piece of equipment, to demonstrate that I like to perch up high to get photos of everyone at the wedding—sending all that love to the couple at once. There are no back-lit still images, no large panels, other than my vertical banner on the right.

But once I bring shoppers into the booth with one of my novelty attractions, I show them my Storybook Albums, and the ones with a strong visual sense want to know more.

To my surprise, I met more parents shopping for their children's wedding than I did actual brides. And miracle of miracles, they actually answered the phone when I called to follow up!
There were also parents looking for photographers for Sweet 16 and child birthday parties.

To round out the celebration of South Asian culture, there were gorgeous women modeling garments, makeup services and a walking table by Amel "Queen of Havana."

Some of the other sources of beauty were Della of Dinesh Ramsay

and Rooma Noreen of Magnifique Brides makeup and hair artist:

The henna hand designs were made by Ash Kumar, who works with Rooma.

I also ran into the versatile and charming actor, comedian Jagdish Patel and his lovely wife Daksha

whose striking black and white outfits caught my eye.

Towards the end four beautiful women walked by in front of my booth. I couldn't let them go without offering to photograph them, and they kindly permitted me to arrange them in a "face mosaic."

I traveled to India last year, and this taste of the country so close to home only increased my desire to return. We're very lucky in New Jersey to have such a robust representation of this beautiful, historic and spiritual culture right here in our midst.

Rebecca & Josh's September Wedding

It's always a pleasure when I can photograph a wedding of the daughter or son of a dear friend. That was the case with Rebecca Levy and Josh Grossman last September. They came up from Florida to get married at the Doubletree in Tarrytown, New York, near where Rebecca's mom & dad Judith & Bruce live. I've known Judith and Bruce for over a year and had been hearing about Rebecca all along, so it was wonderful finally to meet her when she came up a few months before the wedding. She's a very solid, sensible young woman, and Josh is a warm highly competent young man. It was really a pleasure to work with them.
Of course, I usually end up feeling like a member of the family for all the couples I work with, but in this case, I had felt that long before the wedding. I even knew some of the other family members.
The dark blue dresses of Rebecca's bridesmaids were striking, as was their collective humor. I didn't have to coach them much to get into fun configurations.
Here are the best images from the day:

 I love that navy blue of the bridesmaids' dresses.

 Dad Bruce, Rebecca, and mom Judith.

 Mom Judith, Rebecca, and her grandmother, who celebrated her 100th birthday this year.

 Rebecca dances with her brother, Matthew.

 I get in on the act.

 From my 5-foot ladder.

Quinn & Brian, High School Sweethearts, Get Engaged

Two of the sweetest people I've met—it's really such a deep pleasure to meet such bright and clear-sighted young people, who are clearly deeply in love. They had both attended the Pingry School in Basking Ridge, a beautiful campus, so that's where we went. I photographed them in front of the school, in the gazebo they have on the grounds, in front of the sports banner, on a rock that's part of the stone wall that separates the woods from the sports fields, and down a woodland path that's also part of the cross-country route. Then we went inside the building for a few shots overlooking the lobby. The fall colors cooperated with us, and we had a grand time.

 In the gazebo.

 On the stone wall.

 On the woodland path.

 Inside the main building.

Sonia & Earl's Wedding

One of the best benefits of this job is that I get to know people I ordinarily might never meet much less get to be friends with them. Sonia Ingram and Earl Monroe are two of the sweetest people I know, and Sonia has a very colorful sense of humor. I felt like a member of their family by the time the wedding came around, October 16, two weeks ago. And that feeling always prompts me to work a little harder—which is how I have fun anyway.

It was a beautiful wedding, all of which took place right here in Union at Galloping Hill Catering. Venus Amor did the planning, and my friend Dawn Hutcheson also mistress of ceremonies. Everything went extremely smoothly. They wanted lots of family photos, which was great, and of course, I brought my 5-foot ladder for the big group photo of everyone at the wedding (waving)—a image of the outpouring of love.

My projection of the images of the first half of the day was very well received.

Here are some photos from the wedding.

 Sonia checks her makeup before heading out.

 from the passenger seat of the limo

 Sonia's mom Judith (pink dress) could not hold back tears.

 Black and white reveals more emotion than color...

 Sonia dances with her mom, who seems to have recovered...

 ...and with her dad.

 Sonia's mom Judith offers a humorous toast.

 Earl gets lost looking for the garter.

 I'm on my 5-foot ladder to take this photo.