Carlen’s friend, Piper, showed up on Sunday with all kinds of entertainment including this corn snake, which was passed around all afternoon.

Another one of Piper’s pets, Quackers the duck and Jim, THE Man.

Their Awesome with a capitol A house.

Fletcher is 2 months old and is Jim and Carlen’s newest grandson. When he talks, everyone listens.

Lulu is a Mammoth donkey. She’s very cool and very loved. She also has laminitis, which her vet Andy is taking good care of. Poor baby. She’s getting better though.  When she talks, people listen to her too.

Jill is a Aussie and I was told that Austrailians hate snakes because all of theirs are poisonous. This one is nice so Jill liked it. A lot.

Fletcher and his adoring, head over heels in love mom, Erin.

Hanging out with his dad, Alec before a big meeting.

Agapanthis. aka purple fireworks.

I really feel very fortunate to have such wonderful friends in my life. It hurts that we live so far apart. I went and saw the movie Charlie St. Cloud tonight with Madison and little Sam tells his big brother Charlie, “You hurt because you’re alive.” He’s right and at the moment I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing. Thanks, Carlen and Jim for making the hurt feel better. I love you guys.

Her mom recently came for a visit from Equador and also her sister, Soraya and her family, from Miami. It was raining and almost dark when we finally got around to taking some picturess so I placed them just inside the garage. The natural light was perfect for them and the garage went dark with a mimimum aperature. Shot with Nikon D700 at 1600 ISO and a 70-200 lens at 1/60, 2.8

Cousins

Latino’s don’t mess around when it comes to an outdoor photo shoot!!

Can you imagine?! Some people had a good idea about it but others were totally surprised. They came in casual clothes carrying their luggage, thinking they were going to crash at the apartment somewhere and walked into a fantastically catered and flawlessly orchestrated wedding. I loved it!

They met through their work as Veterinarians, Allyson was trying to save a dog that couldn’t pee and while all other input wanted to put the dog to sleep, she wanted to try saving him with a stint. “If we can use it on people, why not animals?” she thought. She was introduced to Chick as “another doctor who had been wanting to try the same proceedure.’ He asked her to assist him and the dog made it with flying colors and the rest is history. They work on every case together, they lecture to thousands of other vets to teach them to do what they do, and they now work at the largest animal hospital in the world. They set the pace in Non-invasive surgeries at The Animal Medical Center. You can read about what they do HERE.

As we rode around New York in a limo for a few hours taking photos before the ceremony, Allyson explained how they are together for about 23 1/2 hours a day. They never argue at home, she says. They might disagree about a case they are working on but at home it just doesn’t happen. “When I met him I had admiration and respect for what he did, he was smart and he cared about the things I cared about.” It wasn’t long after that she fell in love with him for who he was outside of the hospital. They really are perfect for each other. I felt like I was in a dream.

This is my absolute favorite shot of the entire day. We walked out on the Brooklyn Bridge with a bottle of champagne and not only did Chick pop the cork and we all watched it fly our over the walkway and peg a taxi square on the windshield but then when he saw that it wasn’t going to overflow he raised it to his mouth and got a delayed, bubbly surprise.

The famous Flat Iron building that I had previously associated with the movie Spiderman but that was a pale story compared to the one I was a part of with Ally and Chick.

This was the view from the rooftop of the Ceremony on 53rd Street.

The ceremony was performed by Uncle Ray, who, the night before informed me of why I was so lucky to be a part of this event. He said, “You’ll never meet a closer, more loving family in your entire life.” He went on to explain how growing up in wartime Europe, they had to uproot and move many times and while some families grow apart over the years, theirs only grew stronger through uncertain times. He also said that his own mother had the “compassion gene” and loved and cared for animals and everyone in his family have hearts that can barely fit in their chests. (I added the last part but I’m sure it’s true)

The evening continued at The Hudson Hotel with an after party and dancing till the wee hours. The next morning everyone headed to Pier 17 to board the Clipper City for a 2 hour cruise in the East River. It was amazing. I could go on and on but you’ll just have to watch the slideshow if you want to see more.

Chick and Allyson, thank you. My life is richer because of you and your family and friends. Until we meet again…..

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Terry Saxe with the mother of the bride and groom. I can guarantee they’ll be friends for life. She exceeded every expectation they had.

Papa Sol rocked the house! They are such an awesome band and this is the grandfather of the groom belting out a Ziggy Marley song word for word. WORD!

I think there were at least 4 different songs that were played by friends of the bride and groom as if it were somehow a wedding of rockstars. It was such great fun that even the band played 30 minutes extra.

The father of the bride is a Doctor and these are all his frat brothers from college. How cool to be able to stay in touch and have them all attend your daughters wedding, right? I would guess that over 50% of the guests flew in from out of town. I love to see that age is not a deterrent to having fun.

Rockstar friends.

My friend Alecia helped to shoot the wedding. I shot with her the day before and she just might get me back for posting this photo.

Gavin’s friends too a tablecloth off of one of the tables and used it as a launch pad for their newly married friend. The actually had him going higher that the Hora chair and I think he might have been a little more freaked out by it too.

Dewitt Smith video worked HARD all night long. I stopped complaining about my equiptment being heavy after watching him carry his stuff around.

I am always so grateful when a couple trusts me with their wedding images and it’s an added bonus to gain them as friends.

It was pure joy to photograph this wedding. Incredible vendors make a huge difference.
Event Consultant/ Wedding Planner: Terry Saxe
Ceremony Music: Karla Tievsky
Decor Designer: Barbara Roos
Decorator: Event Design Group
Officiant: Rabbi Neil Sandler
Wedding Cake: Frosted Pumpkin
Hair: Yurl Jeon
Makeup: Wendy Role
Band: Papa Sol

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Coordinator: Weddings by Felissa

Venue: The Westin

Florist: Flower Designs by Joan

Videographer: Mike Henry

Band: Us Beat

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as much as I would love to say something really amazing, the plain truth is that Zandra looked AMAZING. She was calm, focused and had a determined face that was set like flint. Like a jewel.

The team that she had hired only added spark to every minute…

Flawless Coordinating by Wedding Soiree
Jewel studded boques by Floral Matters
Hair and makeup by Scoobie West
Videography by Sterling Barley

This photo is a total Cinderella shot..I wish I would have made her leave a shoe on the stairs.

Zandra was a very fashionable bride with 3 dress changes. She suprised her new husband with the sexy little number when the DJ announced that Mrs. Aoko had a surprise for him and placed him on the dance floor as she glided her way back into the ballroom.

Many of the guests wore traditional Nigerian attire to the ceremony and as the evening progressed, more people snuck away only to return transformed. I think for some it might have been their first time in such dress. Zandra and Michael compliment each other in the same patterend fabric while her mother contrasts them in this beautiful green print.

I had asked a few of the women about the head dress, what type of fabric it was and how difficult was the process and I was pleasantly surprised when a few of the woman had to be helped in the hallway to the ballroom. The process was surprisingly quick for somone who had no doubt had plenty of practice. The material was as crisp as paper.

Just when you think you have the biggest hat….

Nigerian weddings have a fabulous tradition of a “money spray” where the couple is sprayed with crisp new bills as they dance.

Guests were treated with homemade tea in adorable little jars as the night came to a close.

A friend of mine, Julie Harnage, has been second shooting with me for the last few months and I really like these shots of hers.

CONGRATULATIONS MR. AND MRS. AOKO!
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