 |
| Maritime Aquarium: Liz & Jayson's Wedding Story |
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 |
|

As a writer, words have always been her outlet - her go-to when she was having trouble expressing herself. And that's definitely the place she found herself that morning, unable to fully say what she was feeling at any given moment. You could tell what she was feeling most of the time anyway, it was written all over her face. Like when she put her dress on - she teared up and looked around the room to her family and friends, unable to say a word. She knew in advance that's probably exactly how'd she feel when it came time to say her vows to him during the ceremony, which is precisely why she wrote down what she wanted to say. She fell back to what she had used every other time she couldn't seem to speak the words to describe what she was feeling. Under the huppah, staring into his eyes she reached for that piece of paper and was so grateful to see the words written there - they helped her to speak out loud what she had been feeling in her heart since the moment they had met.
Art has always been his outlet. He had found that painting, drawing or singing was usually the best way for him to express himself when he couldn't seem to get the words out. From the time they got together, he has filled their apartment with paintings - of places they have been together, special moments they've shared. His feelings for her are the ones he wished he could say the most, but could never really seem to sum it up in a way to do it justice. So when it came time to figure out his vows for the wedding, he immediately went to the place where he had found the best way to express himself - through music. He decided that words alone would not be enough to tell her how much he loved her, he would sing it to her. And he did. Under the huppah, staring into her eyes, he reached for a microphone and, in front of all of their family and friends, bared his soul to her in the best way he knew how, and finally he was able to fully let her know just how much he adores her.
LIZ & JAYSON
With our arrival at Liz & Jayson's apartment last weekend, it really hit Liz that her wedding day had finally arrived. "It's all so real now," she said as she gave us a hug hello. She may have wearing a tank top that said "Bridezilla," but she was far from one. She had a perpetual smile on her face and was always willing to help everyone else all morning. Once her hair and make-up was complete, she couldn't wait to get her dress on and see Jayson for the first time down in their apartment courtyard. Luckily for us, Liz had scheduled plenty of time for pictures, so we were able to spend quite a bit of time and get tons of great bridals of her - she may just have a back-up career as a model. When we told her it was time for her to see Jayson, she started to get a bit emotional, she was so excited. She was on the verge of tears even before he walked up behind her and touched her shoulder and as soon as she turned and saw him, the tears started to flow. He smiled sweetly at her and pulled her in for a hug.
From there we headed over to the The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, where their ceremony and reception would take place. The ceremony location was an enormous room filled with tons of texture and stunning details courtesy of Candice from Jubilee Events who planned Liz & Jayson's fabulous day. The centerpiece of the room was the huppah, filled with white flowers done by Elisabeth of Blush Floral Designs. It was an emotional ceremony, with Liz, Jayson and their parents all getting choked up - especially when Jayson sang "Grow Old Along with Me" to Liz as his vows to her. It wasn't the only time he would sing to her that night, though. Right after cake cutting at their reception, he sang to her once more. This time it was the Ben Fold's song, "The Luckiest" and it's safe to say that there was hardly a dry eye in the room this time as well. (Seriously, Jayson is an amazing singer - he totally has a back-up career too.) When he was done with the song, both Liz and Jayson rushed over to us to thank us for introducing them to that song. They had heard of it for the first time when they read about Gillian & Eric's wedding this past April. We were blown away that our blog was able to provide a small contribution to their wedding day. Such a great reminder that we’re so lucky to do what we do. |
| When we arrived at Liz & Jayson's apartment building Liz told us that she LOVES dress shots and to take it anywhere we would like and take lots of photos of it. Kathleen and I (and Sue) were incredibly excited. We started with it hanging in a tree in the middle of one of the building's courtyards... |
| ...then we brought it in for a couple of shots hanging from a balcony with HUGE windows behind it. |
| The balcony provided such a fun perspective to show of the detail of her dress. |
| We really love the architecture of their apartment building so we thought it would be fun to also use one of the big factory windows as a backdrop for this shoe shot. |
| The apartments in the building are all lofts and have a balcony overlooking the living space where Liz just so happened to be getting her make-up done. |
| After her hair and make-up were done, and her dress was on she had her veil put on. |
| Liz (along with Candice) did such an amazing job scheduling a lot of time before the ceremony. Kathleen and I spent a bunch of time taking advantage of the incredible buildings and courtyards for some bridal portraits of Liz. Kathleen captured this amazing photo next to one of the many white birch trees in the courtyard. It is one of my personal favorites. |
| Liz really loved these archways so of course we had to take a photo of her underneath one of them. |
| We love how the trees and the building work together so nicely, it is such a beautiful spot to photograph! |
| In between the two courtyards there is this room that had bright white walls and just the right amount of light coming through the windows to create this photo. |
| Liz and Jayson opted to have a "First Look" when they were both ready. We really love "First Looks" because it is such an amazingly emotional moment, Liz could barely contain her self as she saw and embraced her soon-to-be husband. |
| Once the wedding party was all ready we had them join Liz & Jayson for few fun photos. |
| Right before we headed over to the Maritime Aquarium, I just had to take one of our relaxed portraits of Liz. Doesn't she look amazing?! |
| When we arrived at the The Maritime Aquarium we were in a sensory overload with all of the amazing details there were to shoot. We walked through all of the exhibits with Liz & Jayson where we took a bunch of photos of all of the ocean dwellers. Isn't that Jellyfish in the middle incredible!? |
| Kathleen and I absolutely loved this turtle. He was very hard to photograph because as soon as he saw you he would swim away. But we remained patient and let him know we weren't going to give up that easy. :) |
| The lighting in one of the exhibits was perfect. We shot this photo with only available lighting. The moodiness of it is so wonderful. |
| A quick kiss by the shark tank. |
| Liz & Jayson played at one of the exhibits and even gave each other a kiss while holding a horseshoe crab. |
| This is one of my personal favorites, a sweet silhouette in front of one of the jellyfish tanks. |
| We went outside behind the aquarium where Kathleen took this photo... |
| ...and I captured this one a moment later. |
| After we spent a while with Liz & Jayson it was now time for the Ketubah Ceremony. This is such an emotional time. Kathleen captured this photo (that I absolutely love) of Liz & Jayson reading from the Rabbi's Manual. |
| Here is my wider view with their closest family and friends surrounding. |
| Their ceremony was in this incredible room filled with so many cool textures that worked so well together. We were very inspired and think something simple like the textures of a place is a detail that will help you remember your day that much better. |
| The flower girl was a little nervous coming down the aisle but we were manage to capture a shot or two before she went running! :) |
| Both Jayson and Liz were escorted down the aisle by their parents. We love how Liz's dad sweetly looked over at her. Such a wonderful moment. |
| Isn't this room an amazing place to get married, the exposed wooden beams and soft light coming through the windows made such a romantic setting. |
| Kathleen captured this shot as Liz recited her vows to Jayson... |
| ...and then Jayson sang "Grow Old Along with Me" as part of his vows to Liz. |
| He did a perfect job breaking the glass. |
| Their first kiss as husband and wife! |
| Right after their ceremony we all headed to the room where their reception was being held in to capture some of the amazing details that Candice from Jubilee Events put together perfectly. Candice actually made by hand all of the paper details at their wedding, so incredible!! |
| Of course we had to capture a tablescape! :) |
| Liz and Jayson were introduced into the room by coming down this huge staircase which lead right into the middle of all of their family and friends. This is my view... |
| ...and this is Kathleen's view from below as Liz & Jayson enterd the dance floor. |
| They couldn't be any sweeter as they danced their first dance together. |
| The hora is always something really fun for us to photograph. Kathleen took the photo on top of Liz and I took the photo on the bottom of Jayson. |
| After cake cutting Jayson sang the Ben Fold's song, "The Luckiest" to Liz and was really REALLY good, there was not a dry eye in the room. |
| Speaking of no dry eyes in the room, Liz could not contain her emotion as she danced with her dad... |
| ...and neither could her mom. So many sweet moments! |
| Jayson also danced with his mom and did not stop smiling once. |
| Liz & Jayson - You wedding was truly amazing and the three of us had such a great time capturing it. We hope to catch up with you really soon. Congratulations again!! ~Rob & Kathleen~ |

|
 |