Equestrian Wedding Photos
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Helen + Sam’s Wedding
The first wedding of a triple-header weekend feels like the first lap around the track when running a mile. Your pace is good, energy is high, and you think to yourself, “I got this, this is going to be easy!” Lucky for us, Helen and Sam’s equestrian wedding at John Jay Homestead was the perfect mix of their fun personalities to get our weekend off on the right foot!
John Jay Homestead Wedding Photos
The best part about having a wedding on a blank canvas historical site like John Jay’s Homestead in Katonah, NY, is how customizable it is. Yes, you have to do the legwork to bring everything in, but the result is a wedding that reflects the most important aspects of a couples relationship. Take Sam and Helen’s wedding for example: they held their ceremony behind one of the many picturesque, historical buildings, and branded a cowhide rug at the ceremony’s conclusion. From there, their guests moved onto cocktail hour in the garden while the staff put the finishing touches on their reception space under a pristine white tent. Helen and Sam decided to bring in food trucks rather than a catering company, and had a mechanical bull (!!), and a bunch of other carnival games scattered about the grass. You won’t see these details at your local country club.
Equestrian Wedding Photographer
We knew going into Helen and Sam’s wedding that wedding photos with their horses were at the top of their priority list. Right after the ceremony, their horses, Pacman and Pepper, arrived to the property, and we found a great shaded spot for them to stay cool while we corralled them. Taking photos of horses can feel like trying to take photos of 2,000 pound children who can’t be bothered to look at the camera, but Pacman and Pepper did a great job! Helen even jumped on Pacman bareback—the kind of no-frills bride we absolutely LOVE to work with! Do what YOU WANT TO DO on your special day!
Personalized Wedding Details
Whether it’s something blue, a pair of cufflinks, a watch, belt buckle, tie clip, or cowboy hat—make sure you grab a little something for yourself to show off on your wedding. Heather and I had “bad cop” and “good cop” stitched into our respective wedding garments for our celebration. We always joked that when we had a kid that these would be our roles. As for Helen and Sam, they trekked down to Fort Worth, Texas, to get some American-made, custom cowboy hats for their wedding day. They both dazzled in them and wore them like badges of honor. No faux cowboys or cowgirls here, just a couple horse lovers through-and-through.
Golden Hour Photos
We finished Helen and Sam’s wedding day with some absolutely stunning golden hour photos! They strolled the grounds, already reflective and ecstatic with how their wedding day went, and shared a few beautiful moments before we headed home.
vendors
Photography | Apollo Fields
Venue | John Jay Homestead | Katonah, NY
Tent | Cartwright and Daughter’s
Bar | Bar-a-Cudas
Food Trucks | Brooklyn Boys @southbrooklynboyspizza | Three Little Pigs | Taco Loco | Waffle Cabin
DJ | Lakeside Productions
Floral | Maple Field Floral
Planner | LCR Events
Concessions | Conrad’s Concessions
Carnival Games | Just 4 Fun Entertainment | Ovation Events
Hair/Makeup | Beautify by Celeste
Transportation | Red Oak Transportation
Howdy, friends!
We had such a blast with Sam and Helen! Reach out today for your own photography.
The Ethel Walker School Wedding Photography
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Jess & Dan’s Wedding
I don’t know exactly when we became the unofficial Ethel Walker’s alumni wedding photographers--but after photographing Jess and Dan’s ceremony in the chapel on campus--it’s pretty safe to say “‘08 Don’t Hate!” That was the hilarious motto for Heather’s graduating class, which was less than 40 students. I love watching Heather talk to her old classmates and share the questionable teenage stories that are made of pure nostalgia. It’s like listening to The Goonies talk about their adventures, or hearing “Green Onions” come on when The Sandlot boys are walking on their turf to talk some trash. Nostalgia is so powerful because it connects senses (smells, tastes) with memories that immediately transport us back to a place in time. I’m just happy to be taking photos and coming along for the ride.
I’ve learned as a photographer that the lighting in churches is typically terrible. That being said, the chapel on Ethel Walker’s campus has pure New England church vibes. It has that immaculate white spire that pierces cloudless blue skies, and clean, dark wooden pews that contrast with all the white on the inside. The large, long windows allow natural light to pour in from all directions. There was an aura in the air during Jess and Dan’s ceremony, almost like an atmospheric halo floating above their guests’ collective heads. It’s probably one of the most divine scenes that I’ve experienced in a church.
After the ceremony, we borrowed Jess and Dan and took them up the hill from the church to take some romantics. The sun is already setting so early so we have to be precise when it comes to golden hour in the beautiful fall months. Jess and Dan danced around in the same space that Heather used to jump horses, with a quintessential New England backdrop in the background. Every time we have one of these perfect moments it makes me sad that Heather and I never quite got a romantics session for our own wedding. Between hosting it on Heather’s uncle’s farm, the on-and-off rain, and welcoming our guests, we simply didn’t carve out enough time. It does make me immensely happy to help deliver this experience to our couples like Dan and Jess, though!
From there we headed to The Riverview in Simsbury, Connecticut, a venue that we have worked at a few years ago. We rolled right into cocktail hour as the night came on quickly. Heather and I got to catch up with a few more of her classmates before dinner was served and dances and speeches began. Once the music kicked off people hit the dance floor and it was all partying from then on!
Heather and I are enjoying the connections she has to Ethel Walker and the friends of her past. We got a small tour of the gorgeous campus before Jess and Dan’s ceremony and we even found a mural that Heather painted back in 2008. It still hangs in the infirmary, right behind one of the nurses that has worked there since Heather was a student. As our partnership goes into its seventh year it’s always wonderful to see sides of Heather I haven’t seen before. Judging by all of the interactions with her friends and teachers it’s obvious that everyone knew that Heather was going somewhere. I’m just grateful that she was heading towards me.
Enjoy these photos from Dan & Jessica’s Simsbury, CT wedding:
Vendors
Photography | Apollo Fields
Ceremony Location | The Ethel Walker School | Simsbury, CT
Reception Venue | The Riverview | Simsbury, CT
Back in my old stomping grounds…
And always up for a CT reunion. Reach out for your own wedding photography!