Ceremony » Connor Studios Blog

Hillary + James | Wedding Photographs | Belle Haven Country Club, Alexandria, Va.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 10:51am

I have known Hillary for a while now. She is the coordinator for weddings held at Union Station. We were very excited that when she started planning her wedding, she chose us to photograph it. It’s always a huge compliment when someone in the wedding industry trusts you to do their wedding.

The ladies were a ton of fun getting ready. Of course they were watching The Wedding Planner and Father of the Bride and other wedding themed movies. With Hillary’s job, The Wedding Planner seemed quite appropriate. Hillary’s dress was gorgeous and the red shoes were so much fun. The ceremony and reception turned out beautifully. Belle Haven Country Club is an amazing location just south of Old Town Alexandria.

There were a lot of little personal details that made the day. One of the best was the popcorn and ring pop bar for dessert. When James proposed to Hillary, there was almost a mishap involving the engagement ring, a microwave and popcorn so it was perfect to bring it in to the reception.

Of course one of the most grand details was the fireworks show that James planned to surprise Hillary and the guests with. We have seen fireworks at weddings before but not 20 minutes of fireworks! Eat your heart out 4th of July!!

In the end, it was a beautiful wedding and we couldn’t be happier for both of them.

Posted in Ceremony, Details, Portrait, Preparation, Reception, Wedding | Tags: alexandria, andrew harnik, belle haven country club, berryfine bakery, blue sky films, connor studios, devers design group, fireworks, Hillary and James, innerbeauty, main event pro sound and lighting, michael connor, neil benjers, nicole duncan, outdoor ceremony, outdoor wedding, PR at Partnres, virginia, wedding photographs, wedding photojournalism

Jill + Todd | Wedding Photographs | Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Stevensville, Md.

Friday, August 13, 2010 at 11:42am

When the Saturday one week before Jill and Todd’s wedding registered over 100 degrees, I was a bit worried about the next weekend’s outdoor wedding. Luckily, Jill and/or Todd have it in good with some higher power and they got an 83 degree day with low humidity at the end of July. Near D.C.!

The day started off at the Loews Annapolis Hotel where they got ready and then everyone headed over the Chesapeake Bay to the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club for the ceremony and reception. It’s hard to go wrong at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club. It’s so beautiful, so easy to get to and so relaxing for weddings.

The bridesmaids were a lot of fun and wore awesome green dresses and yellow wedge shoes that were so summery. Todd spared his guys having to bake in black suits in the sun and everyone wore light colored suits from J.Crew which looked great on the beach. I absolutely loved Jill’s dress – very simple and gorgeous and it even had pockets! Of course, the ring bearer kind of stole the show. He was so cute and had such a good time.

A tip to brides: If you want to use green and yellow as your wedding colors, look at how Jill used it. Bold greens and yellows are absolutely beautiful! ”Generally” stay away from pale yellows and greens as they tend to wash out your skin.

The ceremony was beautiful on the Bay and the Reception was held in the Beach House. Sunsets are always beautiful out there. We just finished up sunset portraits on the beach and they were able to make it inside and have their first dance as the sun made its final hoorah.

The dance floor started off a little slow but once everyone got warmed up, it never emptied. They even pushed it into extra innings at the end of the night with an encore set and then the guys sang “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” a la Top Gun to Jill at the end of the night before they left to a sparkler sendoff.

Posted in Ceremony, Details, Portrait, Preparation, Reception, Wedding | Tags: chesapeake bay, chesapeake bay beach club, connor studios, erin janes, great expectations flowers, green dress, inka browne, jangling reinharts, jill, jill and todd, michael connor, michael feehley, outdoor wedding, todd, wedding photography, wedding photojournalism

Kim + Beran | Wedding Photographs | Whitehall Manor, Bluemont, Virginia

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 11:36am

My favorite memory of Kim and Beran’s wedding was how excited she was while waiting to walk down the aisle. Excited is kind of an understatement! She actually apologized to me in case I thought she was being corny. What!?!

Watching her excitement was just awesome! There are a times we see brides getting ready to go down the aisle and all they can think about is the one detail that wasn’t perfect or a bridesmaid that said the wrong thing… Those are the times where they need to take a Kim pill so they can remind themselves about what they should be feeling at that moment.

It was a warm day. Ok, saying it was a warm day is kind of like saying Kim was ambivalent about walking down the aisle. It was a hot day! Thankfully Whitehall is in the midst of huge shade trees.

The ceremony was beautiful. Kim and Beran laughed a lot which always makes for a great ceremony. Kim’s niece and nephew were the Flower Girl and Ring Bearer and were so cute. The Ring Bearer should turn pro in ring bearing!

Whitehall is a great place to walk around for portraits. I absolutely love the old barns there. We were trying to make sure the portraits were different from the last time we were there and they turned out beautifully! And departing in a 1952 Bentley is a pretty classy way to make an exit!

All in all, it was well worth a little sweat on the brow!

Posted in Ceremony, Portrait, Preparation, Reception, Wedding | Tags: 1952 bentley, blossoms n bows, cameo video productions, connie's cake creations, connor studios, jonathan newton, kim and beran, michael connor, nace lanier, nate dougan, outdoor ceremony, perfect harmony, priscilla trimble, regal limousines, sparkler sendoff, summer wedding, the finer points, wedding photography, wedding photojournalism, whitehall manor

Sonya + Vivek | Wedding Photographs | Willard Hotel + Mellon Auditorium, Washington, DC

Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 5:08pm

The hardest part of writing about Sonya and Vivek’s wedding is just trying to do it justice. It was very much like a normal wedding if by normal you mean 600 guests, the Willard, the Mellon Auditorium, a 10-foot wedding cake, 2 dance troupes and a horse. You know, normal! :-)

You should check out the story that The Washington Post did on the wedding. The wedding was unbelievable! I have been to shows in Las Vegas that weren’t half as beautiful or entertaining.

We were asked to cover the rehearsal dinner on Friday and then started with them at 7am on Saturday until 1am on Sunday. It was a long two (three??) days but it was certainly never boring! The colors, the grandeur, the guests and our awesome bride and groom made for such a beautiful weekend.

Sonya and Vivek were both so much fun to work with. Vivek was always doing something to make us, himself or others laugh — like his three takes at a first look (made me laugh!). When we first met, Sonya was so concerned about the photography and how she would look. I couldn’t believe it — look at her – she is gorgeous and was constantly smiling!! In the end, I think it was just an unforgettable evening for both of them, their guests and our team of photographers.

Like I said, I am at a loss for words to describe the wedding so let me describe it in the best way I know how:

For even more, check out the slideshow:

Posted in Ceremony, Details, Engagement, Preparation, Reception, Slide Show, Uncategorized, Wedding | Tags: andrew harnik, blythe swift, Ceremony, connor studios, events by design, gmu bhangra, hindu wedding, indian wedding, jonathan newton, mellon auditorium, nivanjoli, prabha bhambri, rhythmology, ridgewells, sonya and vivek, sonya chawla, vinnu kudva, vivek patil, wedding photojournalism, willard hotel

Liz + Matt | Wedding Photographs | Lansdowne Resort, Leesburg, VA

Monday, June 28, 2010 at 5:42pm

Liz and Matt had a beautiful day for a wedding (a HOT day for a wedding but it was beautiful!). It was our first time out to the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va. and it is such a great location! There were parts of the ceremony that brought tears but it was hard to tell with poor Matt and the rest of the guys who got the side in full sunshine with their black tuxedos. Of course the girls in their dresses got the full shade — sometimes life isn’t fair for us guys!!

It was Memorial Day weekend so everyone was in the mood to have a great time and party all night long. The dance floor never emptied out. We had an absolute blast!

Posted in Ceremony, Portrait, Preparation, Reception, Wedding | Tags: andrew harnik, bialek's music, blooms florist, connor studios, dan goldman, lance orndorff, lansdowne resort, lindsay forseth, liz and matt, michael connor, virginia, Wedding, wedding photography, wedding photojournalism

Amy + Aleck | Wedding Photographs | Whitehall Manor, Bluemont, Va.

Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 5:43pm

In 9 years of weddings, Amy and Aleck’s wedding holds a huge honor in our book. It was the first outdoor wedding we ever photographed without sweating an ounce! The weekend before was hot, hot, hot but Amy and Aleck’s day was cool and sunny with a breeze. I’m not sure the ladies were as comfortable as me but I LOVED it! In the end, it was an absolutely gorgeous day and that’s really all that matters.

The wedding and reception were held at Whitehall Manor in Bluemont, Va. and was a blend of traditional and Chinese ceremonies. Because it was held on Mother’s Day, all the moms were given a special treat which was nice.

It was a very emotional wedding which we love. For some reason, every bride and groom that cries always apologizes to us afterward. Your wedding day is emotional — IT’S OK!!

I really loved their officiant, Bill Cochran. He pulled Andrew and me aside before the wedding and wanted to tell us his “rules” for photography. Let’s just say that after the church lady we dealt with the day before, we just about lost it. Then he said something that made my day. ”You take beautiful pictures and I’ll get them married!” Simple and well put.

He did his job and I think we did ours…