Small Business; Big Family Values
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Capa on my shoulders, Oli strapped to Heather’s chest, we enter the same woods that I used to explore as a child. We’re looking for deer, for frogs, or anything that rustles in the leaves. We pass places that carry snapshots of memories in my mind when Capa decides to let out a coyote howl–awooooo–we all take a turn. We are a wild pack of animals.
It’s times like these that soften the bags under my eyes, the shade of the trees allowing me to open my eyelids a little wider. For all of the blurry hours of the day these minutes are crystal clear. Heather tells me to cling to these moments when things get hard; it’s too easy to let them pass.
All of a sudden it’s the weekend and Heather and I are in the middle of a dance floor, revolving around a mother and son as they cling to each other, and I catch a glimpse of a tear streaming down Heather’s face. She never used to cry during parent dances, but things are different now. Now she sees Capa or Oliver in a suit and she imagines looking into their eyes. I can’t help tearing up either.
And this is how most weeks go for us. We bounce between day care, grocery runs, engagement shoots, weddings, scheduling meetings, and the occasional jaunt in the woods. Weekdays and weekends are indistinguishable save the tuxes, white dresses, epic dance parties, and champagne toasts. Have you ever wondered why they say someone with a watch is “keeping the time” when you can’t really keep it at all? You can only really keep time to the point of telling it, at that specific moment, on that specific day. Thus, it is up to us to keep what was happening in that moment as time moves forward.
Walking in the woods will always remind me of the time before we had Capa and Oliver, when Heather and I explored trails from the Rockies to the Adirondacks. It’s what makes it so special when we get to share it with them, leading them along the path of our values that we’ve been trailblazing since we started dating in 2014. It’s been a steady climb from bartending to starting our own business, from date nights in Manhattan to hosting dinners at our homes in Colorado and Long Island. It’s helped us realize that we will always build upon who we are to figure out where we are going.
And at this point in time, we are a pack of wild animals. Sometimes we wear hiking shoes, other times we wear our precious Sabah’s, but you can catch us howling in the woods or on dance floors alike. Our next chapter will have us tying our aprons behind our backs again, so stay tuned, stay hungry, and stay wild.
Sunken Meadow Pavilion Wedding Photos
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Caity + Mike
Every time I go to Sunken Meadow Beach—a New York State Park just 15 minutes from our house—I wonder why I don’t go there more often. It’s a beach on the north shore of Long Island, which means it has more shells, rocks, and pebbles, than its south shore counterparts, but it also has a nice wooden boardwalk, clean sand, and a gorgeous view of the Long Island Sound. Caity and Mike’s wedding at the Pavilion was the first time I photographed a wedding at Sunken Meadow State Park and it won’t be the last.
Golden Hour Sunset Pictures
It’s funny how good (and bad) wedding weather tends to come in bunches. For the beginning of the season I remember a stretch of rainy, cold, cloudy days. Then came the unbearable heat wave that lasted pretty much all summer. Finally, the last few weeks gave way to slightly cooler temperatures with impressionist-esque cloud formations. The fluffy skies created some absolutely surreal, dreamy golden hours like the one Mike and Caity got. Those moments are some of my favorite to share with our couples; where we all get to step back from the party for a moment and revel at the beauty of the day and our lives. Gratitude always feels good.
Downtown Northport Wedding Photos
Yet another first for me was photographing a wedding and family formals in my hometown of Northport, NY. Northport is a cute harbor town that has old trolley lines down the center of Main street, where restaurants, retail and ice cream shops, and delis line the sidewalk. At the base of the hill is a parkside marina with a dock, playground, pavilion, and lots of green grass for picnics and pups to play. I had my pre-prom photos down in this area and I couldn’t help but be transported back in time when we were photographing Mike and Caity. Fun fact is that Caity and I went to the same high school and it rained on her prom day so she has always wanted to do photos downtown Northport–her wedding at St. Phillip Neri was the perfect opportunity!
From Photographers to Friends
Probably the most underrated part of our job as wedding photographers is getting to know our couples and their families. We are constantly welcomed into tight knit circles and given the license to document relationships as they evolve in real time. Mike is actually the brother of one of our previous brides, Kristen, and seeing her and her partner (also Mike) at the wedding was such a fun shared experience. The way I see it, most people in 9-5 jobs don’t get to constantly meet new people at work, let alone make lasting relationships. Photographing weddings as an extrovert is a cheat code to ignite creativity, connection, and appreciation for both the finer and simpler things in life.
vendors
Photography | Apollo Fields
Venue | Sunken Meadow Pavilion | Kings Park, NY
Dress | All Who Wander | Arlo
Boots | North Fork Bridal Shoppe | Miranda Lambert Idyllwind
Florist | Black Dahlia
DJ | Absolute Entertainment
Suit | Black Tux
Rings | Squires Jewelers
Hair | Ink & Ivy | Nikki Lee
Makeup | Laura Brooke
Cake | Dortoni
Wrapping up the night
With Caity and Mike! We had a great time with these guys!! Reach out for your own wedding photography below:
Huie, Party of Four!
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It’s official!
Heather is pregnant with our second child due November 2022!
The baby and Capa will be just under two years apart. We are so happy to have them so close in age!
It makes me think of all the times that my little brother, Matt, and I spent playing whiffle ball in the backyard.
The nights we spent laying awake in our beds, chatting about nothing, while playing Pokemon on our Gameboys after lights out. There is such a special bond between siblings, one that I’ve grown to embrace with each of my other four over the last few years. The bond has something to do with similar circumstances on how we were raised: we went to the same schools, knew the same families, ate the same meals, and followed the same rules. Despite becoming very different people in our adult lives, we had the same base line of who we were when we were kids. So when I think of the relationship that Capa will have with his little sibling–I can’t help but get very, very excited.
At the same time I can’t shake the most likely common feeling of a parent expecting their second child–how am I going to love you as much as I love the first?
There is such a romantic unknown to doing anything for the first time–and that’s especially true when raising your first child in those first 12-18 months. For me the emotion came in little moments like in the middle of the night, when I was beyond exhausted, and attempting to rock Capa back to sleep. I’d look down at his wrinkly, pudgy face, eyes closing and opening in gentle flutters, when a realization of amazement would wash over me. You are my son. Your mother and I brought you into this world. And the fatigue would give way to a deep, deep appreciation.
And of course I will have that for our second child; but my experience as a middle child who got lost in the mix has me on high alert.
All the times I wished my dad was outside with me, helping me with my jump shot in those last minutes of daylight. Or when I was left to fend for myself when it came to self-confidence, dating, and getting started on a career track. I’ve learned to appreciate that there is an intrinsic value to finding your own way, but I want to make sure that I love and care for Capa’s little sibling as much as I care for him.
This announcement is as much a celebration as it is a reminder to hold myself accountable. To give the love and care that I shower Capa with, the love and care that I wish I had, to the eventual 4th member of our family.
I love you already, bud.
– Terrence
Riviera Waterfront Mansion Wedding Photos
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Kristen & Mike
Fall colors, a stiff but gentle breeze, your significant other nestling onto the shoulder of your flannel shirt. Genuine laughter, a pause, and the click of the shutter from Heather’s camera. Heather, Mike, Kristen, and I marched forward, brittle leaves crackling beneath our feet as we circled Stump Pond in Blydenburgh Park in Smithtown in fall 2019. Pre-Covid memories like these seem more like a dream, reminiscent of the pristine moments from Heather and I’s honeymoon in Jamaica. They manifest a clear division of before and after [quarantine] in my mind, where our relationships with our couples represent the light at both ends of a dark tunnel.
Kristen and Mike held their ceremony last year in East Northport, stopping in Heckscher Park in Huntington afterwards for family formals and romantics. They turned it up this year for their reception at the Riviera Waterfront Mansion in Massapequa and it did not disappoint! Although it rained, the beautifully renovated property right on South Oyster Bay allowed Kristen and Mike’s family and friends to mingle and explore, especially when the clouds let up for a short while.
Kristen and Mike took it all in stride, allowing themselves to enjoy the celebration that they waited so long for. When cocktail hour gave way to the reception, the grand entrances of the wedding party officially kick started the day. With a camera on one hip and a stuffed octopus on the other, Heather, Capa (with protective headphones) and I danced and documented these priceless moments. Seeing all of Kristen and Mike’s closest family and friends that we’d met the year before reminded us how grateful we are for being, albeit briefly, allowed into these intimate circles of our couple’s lives. Occasionally we’re even lucky enough to be invited to photograph one of their siblings or relative’s weddings!
Such is the case with Kristen’s brother, Mike, and his fiance, Caity. We’ll be photographing their wedding at Sunken Meadow State Park in August 2022 and we’re already pumped. Caity and Mike, like Kristen and Mike, are fun loving, salt-of-the-earth type people. They’re the kind of people you want to sit around a bonfire with, sharing stories, ‘smores, and a drink or two. They’re the kind of people you can count on.
And in this last year I think we’ve all needed and found the people in our lives that we can count on. I was surprised that my five siblings and I kept a weekly Zoom chat going all year. It culminated into our first family vacation together with all of our partners and children. For all of the turmoil that each one of us have been through, having a friend or family member you can count on is one of the most valuable assets you can have in life. Lucky for Mike and Kristen, Caity and Mike, and Heather and I, we all have our partners, and now we all have each other to follow the light outside the tunnel.
Enjoy these photos from Kristen & Mike’s Riviera Waterfront wedding reception:
Vendors
Photography | Apollo Fields
Venue | Riviera Waterfront Mansion | Massapequa, NY
Videography | Chris Lobello Productions
Suits | Karako
Dress | Madi Lane Bridal
Hair Vine | Green Alaska
Shoes | Betsey Johnson
Floral | Tim’s Florist | Massapequa, NY
Having the best time!
With Kristen & Mike ANDDDD one of our couples for next year, Caity & Mike!!
Waterside Restaurant Weddings New Jersey
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Heather and Scott’s Wedding
“This is actually the park where Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton,” Scott told me, his eyebrows raised with the enthusiasm that comes with sharing a juicy factoid. Heather (my wife), Heather (the bride-to-be), Scott, Capa, and I were walking through Hamilton Park in Weehawken, New Jersey, just on the other side of the Hudson from Manhattan, snapping some pre-wedding celebration photos before we made our way up to their venue. I have to say, the view of the skyline from Hamilton Park is unparalleled--and I do love me some views from Brooklyn Bridge Park, The Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Liberty State Park (NJ), and Gantry Plaza--but the combination of the elevation and the location of the park (across from ~ 48th Street in NYC) truly takes the cake.
I met Heather and Scott about seven years ago in my favorite community that I’ve ever been a part of in New York--Sheep’s Meadow Ultimate [Frisbee]. Led by a dear friend, Ben, Sheep’s Meadow Ultimate is an ever-increasing group of performers, hospitality professionals, tourists, and pretty much anyone who ever wanted to join in on our ultimate frisbee game. We spent so many hot summer days out there, sweating, laughing, and trying not to get kicked out by the park rangers. I knew Heather and Scott before they were Heather and Scott--and it’s amazing that our frisbee community led to Heather and I being their wedding photographers.
Heather and Scott are performers through-and-through. They’ve both been on Broadway and it had me wondering how people who love the spotlight fared through quarantine. They said that they both found ways to redirect their unspent energy: exercising, eating healthy, exploring career options that don’t rely on rooms filled with hundreds of people. They’ve fallen in love with biking up and down the coast of New Jersey, staring across the Hudson at the city that brought them together. “We love it here,” Scott said.
I was so excited to see Heather and Scott dance together because I know the energy and skill that each of them bring to the table. So when the music started and the smoke machine started pumping I put headphones on Capa and Heather and I started snapping away. Heather and Scott immediately locked right in, synchronizing steps, movements, and looks toward the crowd, baiting their guests with confident stares that said, I know you want more. Things started getting really spicy when Scott heard Michael Jackson come on. I’m so jealous of performers like Heather and Scott who can own a stage like that--Heather and I talk a big game--but when all the lights are on us we pick up a camera, pen, or meet for a beer at the bar.
When you make a connection with someone you never know how long it’s going to last. I’ve seen so many friends disappear over the years, and sadly enough, most of the time it’s for the better. Yet the ones that come back, the ones that reach out, and say, “hey, heard you were in town, want to grab a beer?” Are the ones who are growing right along with you; the ones who aren’t just living life but taking center stage.
Enjoy Scott & Heather’s Wedding Reception Photos:
vendors
Photography | Apollo Fields
Venue | Waterside Weddings
Team Apollo!
Having a blast, as usual, with baby Capa in tow!
Honu Kitchen Wedding in Huntington, Long Island
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Selecting the location(s) for your wedding ceremony and reception isn’t always a straight-forward conversation. You have to consider: accessibility, cost, capacity, chair and table rentals, logistics, weather, vendor lists, and even things you don’t think about like bathrooms. In this selection process you’re forced to prioritize what is most important to you and your significant other. Sage and John kept it simple—good food, good booze, and a good community—in two very familiar locations: John’s family’s church for the ceremony and the restaurant they had their first date for the reception.
The sanctuary of the church was a mix of beautiful wooden arches and pews and recently renovated clean white granite. The family pastor who led the service spoke honestly and jovially, weaving in biblical quotes as seamlessly as the architecture of the room blended together. These walls have seen John’s family through good times and bad, and it’s ironically the tragic and celebratory moments that remind us of the supportive communities we have in our lives. From opposite sides of the emotional spectrum we constantly find ourselves drifting back to the center where we feel safe, where we feel loved. What more appropriate place for John and Sage’s wedding ceremony than the embracing arms of this powerful community.
The reception shifted gears into the heart of one of Huntington’s busiest restaurants, Honu. A modern, dimly lit multi-level expansive space with large white pillars, a dance floor, and contemporary Asian cuisine. Just a few years back, John and Sage were first laughing with one another over one of the cocktail tables. Now they were holding their sides as their best man and maid of honor spoke straight from their hearts and funny bones. Rather than have a quintessential “sweethearts table” they had what I would call a “sweetheart’s nook” where they could have a bit of privacy and probably steal a nap if they really wanted to. Rest assured they partied like the best of them and waited until much later to call it a wedding day.
Shortly after dinner we pulled them out onto the streets of Huntington to snap a few romantics for posterity. We stumbled across an antique green chair on the sidewalk that perfectly complemented their classic, clean, almost timeless appearance. We kept laughing and walking when we suddenly stopped upon a narrow alleyway that you wouldn’t trust at night but glowed in all of it’s golden hour glory. Without hesitation John and Sage jumped in their and we snapped this absolute gem.
Whether locations happen upon (like this alley) you or you know your priorities (family church, first date spot), know that your wedding day will be amazing no matter what. Adversities are inevitable but logistics will be worked out. “Where there is a will there is a way,” or perhaps more accurately, “where there is love, there will be a wedding.”
Vendors:
Cocktail Hour / Reception Venue | Honu Kitchen & Cocktails
DJ/Band | DJ Keith Cheshire
Cake / Bakery | Sammy Barea
Dress | Stella York | Max Bridal
Shoes | Badgley Mischka
Earrings and Bracelet | Olive & Piper
Makeup | Amanda Rose Cosmetics
Hair | Alexa Toscano
Florist | Bella Flower
Invitations | Zazzle.com
Champagne Escort Cards | Leslie Barlow
