Rooftop Wedding at The Westin Bonaventure

The Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles, I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of it. It’s been in countless movies, there’s a documentary out about it. Apparently it’s a really big deal.

This was supposed to be a concept shot for something after the ceremony. We didn't have time to get that shot, but I still like the concept. 

Architecturally, it is quite the site to be seen. Four columns of independent hotel suits rise up around a fifth larger column in the middle of downtown L.A. The glass throws reflections of the sun all over the surrounding blocks making it so that one minute you could be standing in shade and the next in shaft of sunlight. It’s so striking that there are bridges from other buildings on either side of it to the terrace. 

A view from the terrace while waiting on groomsmen. Loved the idea of the shadow of nature hidden away inside a towering city. 

For as confusing as the light is outside, the interior is just as perplexing. If you’re in one of the suites, say, getting into your dress for the bid day or something, you have to go down to the lobby and cross over to another elevator located a hundred or so feet away to go up to another floor so that you can then circle all the way around to access the La Prime Steak House. You can’t simply drop straight down to the terrace because while all four towers are connected, they are all independent and require their own elevators.

I may or may not have gotten lost once or twice.

Not actually shot at the Westin. Check out Facebook to see what I had to stand on in order to hang this.

The Westin Bonaventure overlooks the ceremony site.

Jack loves the building. When I mentioned how confusing it was he beamed, “That’s exactly what the architect wanted. It’s what all architects want, for the people visiting the things we design to have to engage with them.”

Jack and Jamie are exactly that kind of couple. They’re people you have to engage with. They’re not passing faces, not folks you think you might have met at a party once, but people you don’t forget because they treat interactions with others the way Mr. Portman treated the design of that building.

They are also connected while still being completely separate.  You can’t cross over from one of Jamie’s thoughts and arrive at Jack’s. They have their own unique ways of getting from here to there, but they do so as a unit.

Their coming together brought friends and family in from all over. In the same way The Westin focus is on people, so too was this wedding. Small, intimate, it was more about the coming together of everyone, not just the joining of two people in marriage.

Enjoy the imagery here, but remember that the antics are always saved for the Facebook gallery. 

Missed the afterparty. Heard it was a blast.

Hand crafted by a friend, a little liquor and love letters for a later date.

If you're going to invite children, be sure to give them something to do.

 

 

 

It is absolutely impossible to beat couples to social media with wedding images.

Shot from across the street looking back towards the Westin.

The Westin has been the backdrop for many films and you can see why. Just about everything shot there takes on a cinematic quality.

Remember, fun outtakes are here: Facebook
Be sure to like and share!

Elena and Nick's Vineyard Wedding in New York

Melody and I have a friend named Magda. She moved here from Michigan many years ago. She was the first person outside of family to hold Aiden when he was born. She’s a little loud, a little in your face, definitely talkative, and if she wants to know something, anything, she’ll ask you. One of her mottos is “You never know until you ask.”

Socially, I am NOT a Magda. I’m quiet, reserved, stay in my own head until I think the moment is right, and if I want to know something I Google it or pick up a book. But every once in a while, Magda’s voice creeps into my head and whispers, “You never know until you ask.”

As many of you know, I like second shooting whenever I can. Halfway through last year, I shot a wedding with my friend Amanda. As it turned out, it was for one of the brothers of her best friend Elena.  At dinner, Amanda and I sat with Elena and her fiancé Nick who both flew in from the east coast for the wedding. Earlier in the day, she was the young lady I’d been snapping pictures of putting a clear coat on her brother’s fingernails and unabashedly smooching on her sweetheart as everyone got ready. 

Elena clear-coating her brother's fingernails before his wedding back in 2013.

Elena and Nick a year before their own big day.

"Hey now!"

Not Elena and Nick, but I do love this shot from her brother's wedding.

A much different kind of wedding a year prior.

A month later, Amanda and I were shooting together again. On a long drive to San Francisco, she talked about Elena’s wedding in New York, how Amanda was a bridesmaid, and about Elena’s suggestion that she should take jobs back east so that she could visit more frequently. As it turned out, Elena was getting married in Westfield, about an hour south of where my grandmother grew up in Lockport. My grandma had recently passed and I hadn’t seen Lockport since I was a child. A thought started to grow in my head as we shot throughout the day and by the end of it Magda’s voice was whispering in my ear, “You never know until you ask.”

So I pitched an idea to Amanda, she relayed it to Elena, and a year later I was boarding a plane to Buffalo, New York. What follows are some photos from that day. 

Amanda helping Elena into her dress. 

Expressions catch a lot, but sometimes a simple shot like this says so much more. 

Mom giving her blessing before we head for the door.

Rain. Lots and lots of rain. I flew from drought-plagued California to be welcomed by rain at the Noble Winery in
Westfield, New York. That meant shooting under the awning at the beginning.

Rather than having guests sign a book, why not have them sign a cork instead?

No assistance needed for being cute, only in walking down the aisle.

Umbrellas for the ceremony.

Both mothers read a passage from the Bible during the ceremony. 

Elena blows mom a kiss after hearing her passage.

With all the color that Elena had in her wedding, you'd think that I would have shot a lot more in color, but because
of the weather, so many of these shots looked perfect in black and white.

Sister-in-law gracing us all with her beautiful voice during the ceremony. 

Her hair might be damp but the weather couldn't dampen her spirits.

Color-coded bridesmaids.

Sometimes moody weather makes for the best photos.

Uncles are great.

Not sure how I lit this so well. Because of the weather, it was inside while I was taking details. The next thing I know
they're telling me that they're cutting the cake. "Cake?! What cake? I didn't take a picture of a cake!" A minute later
the knife plunged into the frosting.

Some of the most touching photos are brides dancing with their dads.

It was just a touch breezy, too.

I find that I tend to like shots of the bride and groom dancing together after the first dance. They're often much more
genuine because they think no one is looking.

It was that kind of night.

When you are over two and a half thousand miles away from your family, you tend to get drawn into taking pictures of
little ones, especially when one of your own is only seven months old.

Kite flying.

See, more little ones.

At the end of the evening I snuck these two off into the vineyard for a few shots. The rain had thrown a huge wrench into
our timeline and left us with very few shots of these two together.

An edited version of something similar to what I put up on Instagram. I wanted more sense of place since the winery
was important to the two of them.

And a quick attempt at a dip. Many thanks to Chandler Milligan of Milligan Cinema for being my VAL (voice-activated
lightstand), as well as an awesome all-around guy and former groom.

Links:

Venue: Noble Winery in Westfield, New York.
Videography: Milligan Cinema

Discounts: Everyone in the wedding party is entitled to a $200 discount for their wedding day.

You can see more from this wedding on our Facebook page here.

If you'd like to find out more about our photography, look us up at www.daveandmel.com

Want to see some editing videos that show a bit of how David works his magic? https://www.youtube.com/user/DefiningDave

And if you want to see cute pictures of our kids along with sneak peeks of what we're working on, follow us on Instagram at: http://instagram.com/dnoceti