Holly and Matt had recently moved to Manhattan to take on new job opportunities, but these Seattle natives came home to be married at the fabulous Arctic Club Hotel in downtown Seattle surrounded by all of their family and friends. When we first met Holly over coffee in Queen Anne, she mentioned her desire to have photos outdoors around the hotel.

As the day approached, we noticed that the Seattle forecast was showing rain (go figure!) so we scouted out locations in nearby Pioneer Square looking for some sort of cover. We found such great spots including the Downtown Waterfall Park, the iron and glass pergola at the heart of old town, the fire station with its classic red doors and the amazing architecture of the Seattle Library.

On the day of the wedding, after giving Holly and Matt an opportunity to see each other at the hotel’s stone entrance, we were excited to see the clouds part and reveal the sun. We took advantage of this break in the weather by walking through Firefighter Park. Holly’s dress was so long it required each groomsman and groom to keep it off the ground as she lead the pack. At the pergola, we broke out the rented umbrellas and shot into the sun just passing over the historic buildings behind the group.

Back at the hotel, guests took their seats and Holly entered the amazing dome room with her father. Holly and Matt exchanged personal vows and a kiss, then recessed while the guests moved downstairs for drinks and appetizers as the dome room was turned over. When we re-entered the dome room, it was a totally different space. The cake was placed in the center of the room with the head table just about in the same spot as the bridal party stood for the ceremony. After toasts, dinner and dancing, Holly and Matt departed the hotel past their sparkler-waving guests.

Holly/Matt: We had a fantastic time with you guys! Enjoy the short feature I made from your photos and short clips I took between. Thanks for having us as part of your day! -Sean, Leah and Candice

Vendor List
VENUE // Arctic Club Hotel
COORDINATOR // Simply by Tamara Nicole
PHOTOGRAPHERS // Affinity Photography 
VIDEOGRAPHER // D.E. Films (not the film in this blog)
RENTALS // M Glam Designs 
RENTALS // A Tailored Affair
FLORIST // Delaurenti’s
DJ // Bradon Landon
CAKE // Lake Union Cafe Bakery
OFFICIANT // Becki Barrett
MAKEUP // Sequoia Leopold
HAIR // Angalina Sandoval
PHOTOBOOTH // Act 1 Photobooth

It was so great to be a part of Sara and Kevin’s summer wedding on the waterfront in Seattle, My wife and I have been friends with Sara’s mother for many years and I’ve done family photography for them previously. It was great to be Sara’s photographer and get to know her and fiancé Kevin more during their engagement shoot and now on their wedding day. They couldn’t have been more laid back and happy, a perfect combination for enjoying your wedding day.

The girls started their day with mimosas at the waterfront Marriott pool then moved upstairs to meet with makeup and hair stylists. The guys, always the quick dressers, were ready and waiting at the top of the glass elevator just south of the hotel. The bridesmaids joined them and waited for Sara to ascend and meet her groom for the first time that day. We did a few group photos up top there then headed to the hotel bar for more fun photos of the bridal party. Some of my favorite shots of them was out on the Seattle Trolly tracks in front of the hotel. We did family photos over at Pier 66 with the Seattle cityscape in the background then let them all relax to prepare for the ceremony.

Guests arrived at the rooftop ceremony above Bell Harbor and Sara walked down the isle with her mother and father. The sky was clear and the sun was setting as the ceremony progressed. To make it even more dramatic, to the West in the Olympic National Park, a forest fire filtered the waning sunlight to cast an amazing red glow on the city buildings including the ceremony.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, guests walked downstairs to the Maritime Event Center which doubles as a marine museum. Many of the details in the large event center were nautical, but the pink uplights and zebra-striped rented couch were Sara’s touches. They had a photobooth that allowed guest to clip and mount images to a scrapbook with a little blurb plus Dante’s Inferno Dogs was onsite towards the end of the evening serving delicious gourmet hot dogs. Sara and Kevin ended their night as they walked across the street back to their hotel.

Sanders Mansion, in Auburn, WA, is a charming wedding venue replete with photography opportunities such as the large craftsman mansion itself, a small pond with dock and a ceremony location overlooking an expansive field. We had the opportunity to photograph Allison and Ryan sharing vows and a kiss along with many of their friends and families. Their reception included a cool chocolate fountain and 4-tier cake, a bit of dancing and a bouquet toss from the mansion’s deck.

Wow! 2011 was so much fun and memorable! And what great experiences we had with Jason and Cynthia’s at their wedding. They planned a full day of events starting with a Chinese tea ceremony in the morning then moving onto a larger ceremony at All Pilgrim’s Church on Broadway in Seattle’s Capital Hill district. It was fun to see how their dog kept so close to Cynthia even laying in her dress train during the vows.

After a receiving line at the conclusion of the ceremony, a limo waiting street-side carted the wedding party off to Pike Place Market for fun photos at the gum wall in Post Alley. In the main market area, Cynthia was handed a salmon at the famous fish market then they all walked the Harbor Steps down to catch the limo to their Georgetown Ballroom reception.

Jason and Cynthia chose a coffee theme for their reception: burlap coffee bags at the entrance with guest table info, coffee deserts, centerpieces with beans and, out back, a manned coffee cart serving the guests.  Jason rode in piggybacked on Cynthia to the delight and laughter of the guests, they gave a quick thanks and started dinner. There was a ton of entertainment around the venue including an Xbox station, poker tables and a jumpy house in the back. After dinner, they projected a cute video recording of their skydiving engagement along with a slideshow of memories. Later, they did an extensively choreographed dance and, lastly, ending the night with sparklers.

Vendors:

VENUE // Georgetown Ballroom, All Pilgrims Church
WEDDING DJ // Alan Chitlik, Puget Sound DJ
FLOWERS // Seattle Floral Design
CAKE // Flour Power
COFFEE CART // Magna Cum Latte

It doesn’t get more Pacific Northwest than Orcas Island which is accessible only by airplane or ferry boat ride. And, the ferry trip up there is amazingly relaxing. We arrived the night prior to the wedding so we would be close by for the next morning’s preparations at the Inn at Ship Bay. When Raina was fully dressed in her colors, Nick was signaled to begin the ceremony with his entourage as they walked the path towards the guests to the drumbeats of the Anjuman crew. After Nick and Raina exchanged necklaces, Nick moved to the ceremony tent near the edge of the cliff overlooking the Puget Sound.

As eagles looked on, Raina joined Nick and both partook in the various Indian wedding practices. I always love to see how much family becomes involved in these ceremonies: flicking water at the wedding couple, tossing rice and other fun activities.

The guests moved to the main house after the ceremony concluded and I took the newlyweds to the fields nearby to get a few shots of them as the sun went down. Nick and Raina enjoyed dancing with their friends and family to finish the wonderful day.

Between the shots, we recorded film clips and made this movie:

With a bit of sunshine, Dani and Michael had a wonderful ceremony lakeside up the street from where Dani grew up. Both prepared that morning at her parent’s home and met up on their private dock to see each other’s attire. A friend’s classic red car arrived and whisked them off to the ceremony site where they had just enough time for some poker at the on-site saloon and group portraits down near the water.

A reception followed at the Overlook Golf Course directly across the street. Dani even took a few swings of the club at the cheers of her guests as she nailed the drive. The rest of the night was full of dancing, cupcakes, tacos from a taco truck and a confetti farewell.

There are many perks that come with choosing a downtown Seattle wedding venue (full list of Seattle venues we’ve shot at). The waterfront is close by for portraits including the Olympic Mountains to the West (on a nice day) or turn around to see the city. There are also many water features, steps and nooks sprinkled around the area such as the Harbor Steps.

The Hotel 1000 is right in the middle of all of it down on first ave. Ceremonies look great in their outdoor terrace area which has articulating louvers that open to show the surrounding skyscrapers (see photo below). Krystal and Ryan chose this venue and added several bits of personal touches.

Football was on the big screens in both rooms as the girls and guys got ready in the morning. Krystal is a Cougar and Ryan is a Duck and it just so happened that both teams were playing that day so there was a good deal of hooting and cheering. Krystal’s wedding dress was tied up and Ryan button his cufflinks, we taxied down to the Waterfront Park to give them their “first look” moment then moved North to meet up with family and the rest of the bridal party waiting at the large, wide-open Pier 62/63 for group portraits.

Back at the hotel, as the ceremony began, the guys filed in from the side and each bridesmaid walked the isle. Krystal entered dramatically to the first 30 seconds of Coldplay’s “Yellow”. After the ceremony, I had a few minutes with them around the hotel, out at the street level and nearby areas.

The reception buffet was “breakfast for dinner” and the guests loved it. This included a ton of bacon, sausage, potatoes, muffins and pastries. Tables for guests were located in the adjacent “Great Room” followed by toasts, dancing and a great slideshow.

Another great wedding!

Add Amy and Dave to the long list of great clients who also chose a great wedding venue, the Woodmark Hotel situated at the Carillon Point waterfront in Kirkland, WA. Lake Washington laps up along banks of the tent-covered ceremony location framed by the hotel and guests are treated to a lake view behind the bride and groom with downtown Seattle popping up over Capitol Hill (on a clear day).

The morning began like most weddings with makeup and dresses. We met Amy at her parent’s house up north, gathered some great shots of the action, then took a limo to the Woodmark. The limo departed and collected my second photographer (Candice) who was with groom and his men. Amy and Dave chose to do portraits prior to the ceremony so we set up a ‘first look’ at the end of the docks. Dave arrived and proceeded to the end of the dock where he waited for Amy to approach. We used the docks for additional portraits then divided up the group to do the women and then the men along the waterfront.

As soon as all of the guests arrived and were seated, Amy and her father processed down the isle to meet up with Dave. A few ceremony highlights included Amy’s brother singing, Amy and Dave tossing a wreath into the lake and the live music to bring Amy in and the newlyweds out. During the reception, the staff switched over the tent to accomodate dinner tables decorated with great flowers. Guests grabbed food from the buffet and enjoyed the remaining bit of sunlight while eating outdoors. I stole Dave and Amy away for some great sunset-over-lake photos.

After dinner, the guests migrated indoors for cake and dancing. The departure was amazing as all of the guests were given plenty of sparklers to cheer the couple coming down the main Carillon Point steps out to the Woodmark boat ready to take them for a Lake Washington tour and a bit of earned quiet time. Amazing wedding, Amy and Dave. Thanks for having us as your photographers!

Here’s a quick preview of the album we designed for Amy and Dave:

I met Mark while working at Microsoft back in 2005. We worked together for many months on the same team and I loved hearing about his background as a popular musician in the band, Mars Accelerator. I left Microsoft to start my company as a wedding photographer, but we remained in touch off and on and, after he proposed to his girlfriend, he called me up and hired us to photograph his wedding at Tom Douglas’ awesome Palace Ballroom located in the heart of Seattle. Mark’s fiance, Gwen, is the genius bread baker for Tom Douglas who was in attendance the night of their wedding to make sure the food and drink were up to spec. It was also fun to meet one of Gwen’s high school pals, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who flew up from Los Angeles just after filming J.I. Joe. We tried to stay out of his face, but managed to grab a fun photo of the two of them together later in the evening. As you can imagine, Joseph was a fun person to talk to (Candice said he was very sweet).

The day started out with us meeting Gwen for hair and makeup at the RedX in Capitol Hill east of downtown Seattle. We followed Gwen from there to the Olympic Sculpture Park where she met up with Mark. After family photographs there at the Park, I wandered a bit with them to an overlook of the Puget Sound (enjoy the goosing sequence below).

Mark and Gwen entered the Palace Ballroom to greet arriving guests, then Gwen retreated to the back as everyone took their seats. The Palace Ballroom used long drapes to partition the room into a ceremony space (mid-room) and used the back area as staging for the heavy appetizers to be served after the room was turned over. During the changeover, guests were ushered back to the front of the building and treated to drinks and a chinese food appitizer buffet.

The food at the reception included a burger and fries bar, a cheese and wine table and an assortment of other great eats. The dance floor was set up in the south-east corner and hosted the bride and groom dance followed by the bride and father dance. The whole group of guests then joined them on the dance floor. Mark’s friend, a gifted pastry chef, treated everyone to a variety of treats. As the night came to a close, Mark and Gwen departed across the street to their hotel.

Sam is another great friend I met while working in a research lab at the UW several years ago. He’s passionate about soccer and that’s where he met Smriti. Everything clicked and they became inseparable (I know this from personal experience!).

When it came time to plan their wedding, they chose Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo because it met their ‘open flame’ requirement for their Indian ceremony. So, on June 17th, 2006, they set up and decorated a tent just outside of the main food pavilion and guests gathered around for the colorful, lengthy ceremony. I asked Sam and Smriti if they could recall some of their memories from their wedding day:

Sam:

I was nervous because the pundit delivered the ceremony in Sanskrit and the probability of misunderstanding him was high. In fact, during the ceremony, I briefly set myself on fire when I got too close to the flaming coconut. I also remember the pundit (supposedly) was telling way too many jokes and Smriti’s brother had to come over and tell him to wrap it up. I loved that so many people from all around the world traveled to see us become married.

Smriti:

I wasn’t too nervous and loved to see Sam all dressed up in the Indian outfits my mummy brought from India for him. I remember Sam didn’t want to see me before the ceremony, but I snuck up and saw him anyhow.

After the ceremony, Sam transitioned into his family’s traditional Scottish garb and they entered the reception led by a bagpipe player. They finished out the night with Indian food and dancing.