Rainy Engagement Session Ideas
Laura and Tim's Rainy Engagement in NYC | Grand Central Station Engagements | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography
Sideways rain and high winds, crumbling umbrellas and leaping over puddles. It takes a certain brand of person to still want to hold their engagement photo session in New York City under those conditions, but boy are we grateful that Laura and Tim are our brand of romantic and crazy. These two showed us that with the right amount of flexibility, love can still shine through the thickest of clouds, and send raindrops the size of marbles down into the gutter to gently roll down stream.
We began Laura and Tim’s engagement photo session in Grand Central Station, where the ornate architecture of the building framed the warmth of their relationship with a classy and cozy glow. We recounted how they met right around the same time Heather and I met (the end of 2014), sharing similar awkward stories about the endings of our respective first dates. When we stopped on a ramp to take their first series of photos, they nestled into each others arms as if they were cuddling beneath a blanket on the couch, laughingly saying, “we’re not sure how we’re supposed to be standing,” to which we assured them, “just keep doing exactly what you’re doing.”
Laura and Tim have a certain chemistry that is impossible not to photograph, embodying a comfort and ease that requires nothing else to understand its beauty. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a picture of these two is a book on aesthetics. I honestly don’t mean to be so flattering, but I can’t help it when I can see the love that flows so naturally out of them. Somehow they made the first time we all met on a rainy day seem like a warm spring, sunny day in Central Park—and that deserves to be celebrated.
We eventually wound up succumbing to the power of Mother Nature and ducked out in a local Irish pub, Rosie Dunn’s, for a couple of pints and conversation. The positive vibes must’ve followed us into that place because the friendly waitress invited us to continue the photo session in their beautifully styled modern-gothic private space upstairs. After a few more photos we wrapped and sat down to share stories and get to know each other better.
Laura and Tim have been dating for five years and at some point knew they’d get married, but the catalyst of the wedding was romantic to its core. While shopping in an antique ring shop for their wedding bands in November 2019, they stumbled across a set that had the date “2/22/30” with a set of initials and thought, “wouldn’t it be cute if we got married on their 90 year anniversary, 2/22/20?” After discussing with family and friends to see if the logistics could feasibly work, to their own surprise, they began planning for their wedding in just a short couple of months.
With most of everything in place except a few small decisions, they are more at ease than most couples who spend years planning their special day. Laura and Tim have reminded us that when there is a real chemistry in a relationship, love can overcome crappy weather and short timelines all the same—just let those raindrops bounce off your proverbial umbrella and watch them gently flow down stream.
Photography: Apollo Fields
Our Wedding Video Compliments of Mary Erny
Our Wedding Video | Honeymoon Acres, Ramsey NJ | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography | DIY Weddings | Farm Wedding Video
When we began wedding planning, the photography was a no-brainer: We knew that we would want to go through the business and use our associate shooters. But when it came to doing a video, we didn’t really have a specific vision. We knew we wanted something but somehow it kept falling lower and lower on the to-do list as our season was flying by with shooting our own weddings and prepping for the big move!
My sister is also in media and has spent most of her career camera-in-hand as well. We didn’t have a formal “wedding party” but she was part of the crew that we wanted up there with us and as so, we didn’t want to put too much pressure on her to also shoot video. But she was so awesome and stepped up and got some great coverage and put together this sweet video for us!
I just love watching it and seeing everyone’s faces and getting to re-live the awesomeness of that day. Everyone talks about how fast it goes by and I can 100% say that is true! The whole thing feels like a blur but watching the video and going through the pictures is the best way to bring back all of the celebrations and joy of the day. Also, Rumor is way too cute during the ceremony. I mean, how many dogs literally jump on their owners during the first kiss!? Unreal.
The farm looked so beautiful and we loved having all of the animals around. We couldn’t imagine getting married without the dogs there, but having the horse and donkey and pig and goats and all of the other four legged friends just made it that much more indicative of us. We love casual and personal weddings so we knew when we were planning what we wanted that we weren’t about to have a formal or traditional wedding! Instead, we broke outdated traditions but embraced the ones that actually spoke to us. We made it our own and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way!
So here’s a huge thank you to my sister, Mary, for not only helping us the whole weekend, but also sneaking in some great footage of the day!
– watch our wedding video below –
Video: Mary Peterson
Venue: Honeymoon Acres | Ramsey, NJ
Flower Crown: Allendale Flowers
Dress: Maggie Sottero
Photography: Derek Morf & Alexis Cohen for Apollo Fields
Harlem NYC Engagement Photos
Lizzie & Rob | Harlem Engagement Session | NYC Engagements
When you walk in New York City you get lost in the crowd, paradoxically providing you an opportunity to assert yourself as an individual. The sheer population density of the five boroughs is a marvel to contemplate, a frustration to endure; it is your license to be loud and a soundboard for your creativity. Some perish in the gutters while others shine on Broadway, but it all comes down to your will and the company you find yourself in.
Rob & Lizzie find themselves in good company. They act and play and laugh. They smile. They bring happiness to others at Touch Performance Art. They're just another couple faces in the NYC crowd but they stand out because they use their freedom to perform the dialogue in their hearts. You can’t fake that kind of happiness.
Heather and I met not too far from where Rob & Liz’s engagement pictures were taken, but for months we shared the same sidewalks as strangers. Close proximity doesn’t promise connection, you have to seek it out for yourself. I remember the first night I got Heather’s number she almost walked away from me in shy embarrassment, but I didn’t let her get away. I yelled “your phone number would be great for something like that” after she turned her back when I told her that I’d love to see her again. Happiness like Rob & Liz and Heather & I have is a reward for our respective self-expressions.
When I think of love I think of two people who can’t help being themselves, embracing the most positive sides of their identities and celebrating them. When we shoot a wedding it is clear as day which couples have this brand of relationship because their vibes reverberate through all of those in attendance. It all stems from an honesty to themselves and each other, asserting their identities as individuals and as a couple.
New York City can make you or break you but it’s obvious that Rob & Lizzie will make it. They are the walking paradoxes meandering through the collage of people crowding the sidewalks of Manhattan. They are the ones smiling and laughing, working hard and loving harder.
These guys didn't miss a beat. We popped a few beers and brown-bagged them in the park. They brought water guns, bubbles, and a lasso. Rob successfully lassoed Lizzie on his first try... did I mention they are performers? It's SO MUCH FUN to photograph people in the entertainment industry. They weren't shy or bashful, rather they were animated and theatrical and treated their engagement session like the biggest performance on Broadway.
We wrapped the session under the NYC lights in Harlem, dancing into the headlights of the traffic, with people buzzing by and taxis nearly running us over for their epic dip under the bridge. We even ran into a mutual friend on the street! It was in every way the best that New York has to offer, and reminded me of why this city will always be my city.
NYC Engagement Photography: Apollo Fields
Alex & Rae's International Wedding in New York State
Alex & Ragnhild's New York State Wedding | International Weddings | NYC Wedding Photography | Norwegian Dancers | Apollo Photojournlism
I met Alex on the Upper West Side in NYC at a restaurant. We got to chatting at the bar and I told him that I was a photographer, and as it turned out, he was engaged to his fiancé Ragnhild and looking for a wedding photographer. After talking a while longer, we realized that we had quite a few mutual friends from the neighborhood, and it all fell into place right after that.
Alex is a personal trainer and a former professional basketball player. He met Rae on the court, when her professional dancing career took her to one of his games. Rae and her daughter, Denise, were from Norway and literally packed up their lives to live in New York City with Alex. They have such a loving and playful relationship that made my job so easy!
Their wedding day kicked off with the guys hitting the basketball court, which was a fun alternative to traditional wedding mornings. Terrence was out there playing with the groomsmen, and it really reminded me of how much fun we have on our wedding days! The ceremony was officiated by a friend, who spoke of them so eloquently that it made me cry behind the camera. Yes, I still get emotional when I shoot!
The reception was one of my favorites to date. Rae's bridesmaids were all on her dancing squad and had planned a secret dance special for the couple. A room full of professional Norwegian dancers is just as much fun as it sounds. Oh my god they were talented! It was such a great party.
The importance of memories:
When you’re in a particular industry long enough, it’s easy to forget the importance of your job. You wake up on Monday, meet deadlines, schedule future goals, work through the drudgery, finish the week, and if you’re lucky, do it all over again on the following Monday. Wedding photojournalism is no exception.
Then, once in a while something happens, something that jars you out of your automatic work setting and you take a step back. Sometimes it’s good news like a family member is having a baby and other times it’s something tragic like someone has passed away. Whatever the case may be your life is drastically different than what it was just a few days before.
One of the defining things about wedding photojournalism is that we capture particular moments in our client’s lives where happiness and celebration are center stage. We have the luxury to see people at their best, laughing among their family and friends, assuming the roles they’ve carved out their who lives by sharing the stories that have made them into the persons they’ve become. When things inevitably change in their lives in the months or years that follow, we watch their stories unfold through the photos we’ve taken and we’re drawn right back to the happiness of that day.
Each story we relive is a jarring reminder of the unpredictability of life and the importance that weddings hold in bringing people together, rekindling relationships, and the celebration of love and happiness. From budding romances to lost love ones, our photos travel across time, telling our present selves the story of our past, hugging our hearts with tangible memories and familiar feelings. It’s borderline wizardry how our inanimate pens and lenses can animate our past so vividly.
As wedding photojournalists we professionally tell love stories, but it’s as friends that we remember our client’s personally. Connecting with you all is what makes us remember that our jobs are important and our happiness immemorial. Thank you for your love.
New York State Wedding Photographer: Apollo Photojournalism | Erny Photo CO
