Here’s a few pages from Dave’s Chapter in the book. Yup, a whole chapter. Did I mention I was proud? He photographed Christina and Ed’s Mexican dream wedding. They had initally planned a destination wedding in Riviera Maya, Mexico, but had to change their plans suddenly. With no time whatsoever, they were at a loss. David Tutera created a stunning Latin inspired wedding in Staten Island. They were even able to wed on the beach. Amazing!

And now a few details that actually aren’t in the book for those who want more.

Christina’s dress was one of the first from the David Tutera by Faviana bridal collection. It’s perfect for both the ceremony and the reception; the skirt below the flowers can be removed for a fun party dress.

If you’ve watched My Fair Wedding, you know that David makes the decisions. The brides can voice their opinions, but in the end, the buck stops with Tutera. Once he decided on the Latin theme, he included it at every turn. The bridesmaids dresses, for instance, were light, airy and supremely colorful.

As I mentioned, they were able to host their ceremony on the beach. It was quite breezy.

David transformed this corner of the beach into an oasis with tropical plants, orange and yellow roses, green turf and gold chiavari chairs.

The string ensemble enhanced the mood with beautiful music.

Blue skies and puffy white clouds with an oceanview. Oh my!

In the distance, the clouds weren’t quite as playful, but I love the bridge peaking through them. And a chance to see what was going on nearby at the beach.

Everyone went inside the hotel for the reception. The colors and theme were carried through into these spaces as well.

Cocktails with fruit.

A Mariachi band started off the party with Mexican flair.

A very romantic, warm dinner table. Roses dripping from everywhere and amber plates and glassware.

Candlelight always great for ambiance.

Bringing in the tropical flowers and more vibrant colors on a chocolate cake. Mmmmmm…..

To end the day, what could be better than fireworks?

The bride and groom were definitely surprised and happy with this ending!

Congrats to my hubby, Dave Lee; to our friend and fellow photographer, Critsey Rowe, who is also published in the book; and of course, to the man behind it all, the extremely talented, warm, and charming, David Tutera. It is such an honor and pleasure to work with David and his team- consummate professionals and creative geniuses!

Check back soon for a behind the scenes look at the making of this season 2 episode of My Fair Wedding.

If you want seriously useful and helpful advice in the meantime, check out The Big White Book of Weddings: A How-to Guide for the Savvy, Stylish Bride. In honor of the opening of the MFW season and in celebration of the new year, we thought it would be fun to give away one of these books. As it happens, the copy we have for one lucky winner is extra special as David even signed it. Very cool indeed!

So how can you win aforementioned signed copy of Mr. Tutera’s book? We have set up a special area on our facebook fanpage devoted to the contest. All you have to do is:

1- Become a fan of Allegro Photography on Facebook.

2- Leave a comment in the David Tutera MFW Celebration Gallery telling us which wedding in this gallery is your favorite.

Best of luck! and Happy New Year!

I’ll be honest I can’t tell you all about the article our work is part of, because, as you would expect, it’s in Japanese, but what I can gather is that they were highlighting several vendors celebrated in the international wedding industry. They focused on florists and event planners, in particular. And David Tutera, whom we have worked with on several occassions, was number one on their list. It’s no surprise as his work is astounding- it completely captivates all of my senses.

Our image was taken during a wedding at The Fairmont’s Plaza Hotel in New York City. The whole concept was based around crystals and they were everywhere. The ballroom sparkled.

If you want to see more of David’s work, definitely check out:

David Tutera’s Metropolitan Club Wedding
Tutera’s Gotham Hall Wedding

Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer Inspiration

More of David’s designs still to come from a fall episode of My Fair Wedding.

We wanted to make sure we captured their day in a way that spoke to their fun and creative nature as well as their individual personalities. Courtney is exuberant, energetic and courageous. And Brian is so, so sweet and supportive and genuine. They perfectly compliment each other. So today I share with you just a taste of what’s to come from their wedding at the Topsfield Commons. I hope you enjoy!

Courtney’s beautiful dancing dress and super cute shoes.

Hanging with the girls before the wedding.

Hanging with the boys…

A few portraits after the wedding. Tender sweetness.

A little background for this photo…. Courtney and Brian asked one of their dear friends to perform the ceremony at the wedding. She also happens to be a trapeze artist and a member of the circus arts community. During the ceremony, she handed Courtney and Brian each a clown nose with the wise thought that they never take themselves too seriously. They started not taking themselves too seriously immediately after the wedding and obliged us with a few emotional photos.

Another of Courtney and Brian’s talents’, swing dancing. They were awesome with aerials and all. (By the way, guys, we’d love to join you sometime. We haven’t been swing dancing in a very long time and totally miss it.)

Stealing a kiss during dinner.

After dinner and a bit of dancing and a few drinks, the circus crew went outside for a bite of dessert, aka fire. Okay so maybe it was more of a show than dessert, but it was so cool. This would be the "ringleader."

Several guests gave it a shot. And Brian used the tools of the trade to light his cigar.

Courtney was considering giving it a go. She had actually decided not to do it prior to the wedding- you know the whole don’t want to burn myself up and ruin the honeymoon idea- but then on the night of the wedding, she considered it. Here’s one of her attempts. Aaahhh, but did she go through with it? Check back to find out.

And I have to put a plug in for Courtney’s next trapeze show. It’s at the TSNY Beantown Boston area facility on Saturday, December 19 at 8 pm. We are so excited to finally be able to make it to one of her shows and it promises to be amazing. Come if you can!

Stay tuned for more photos.

I wanted to start with the portraits today because I felt like there were a few more fun ones I had to share from this part of the day. I love the old stone walls you find in New England. And The Harding Allen Estate definitely has some pretty ones.

The Estate has amazing gardens, complete with little hideways, pretty paths, a pergola, statues and this reflecting glass orb.

Catching the highlights from the setting sun and the resulting shadow.

The bustle on Andrea’s dress took a bit of time, but I love this image of her surrounded by the lace of her dress. And don’t her arms look amazing?

Off to the reception….

The speeches were great all around, but my personal favorite was the musical toast to Andrea, sung by her bridesmaids. They took the song "Agony" (which is actually a love song) from Into the Woods, the play Andrea and Eric were working on when they first met, and turned it into a tribute to Andrea. It was beautiful, witty, touching, perfect.

They were rewarded by a huge hug from Andrea and Eric.

Last night, we also learned a bit more about some of the preparation and thoughts that had gone into their planning. One of the things that stuck with me was that Andrea hadn’t planned on wearing a veil. But then when she tried it on, she just felt like a bride. I know exactly what she means. It didn’t feel real to me, when I was trying on dresses, unless I had a veil on. So then on Andrea’s wedding day, it became an important part of her look. I love the way Dave captured this image that shows off the veil in such a beautiful way.

And something a bit more amusing…

The young boys were outside playing with Eric’s brother’s dog. He was quite an athelete and the kids were highly entertained.

Back inside the dancing got kicked off by Andrea and Eric. If you haven’t checked out the PicFlick of them dancing, you should definitely do that. Here’s one of my absolute favorite still images from their first dance.

I love that Andrea took this moment to dance with her mom. They are clearly so close; it seemed only right that her mom should get a chance to dance with the bride.

And then the real party got underway. Some seriously crazy fun dancing, complete with handstands, kids on shoulders, two Conga lines, and even a dance routine led by one of Andrea’s bridesmaids. Good times were had!

The last dance slowed things down a bit, a chance for Andrea and Eric to embrace and take in the moment.

If you would like to see a larger set from their wedding, please enjoy this PicFlick…

Special thanks to all of the professionals who helped to make Andrea and Eric’s day so special:

To Grace and Leslie at The Harding Allen Estate, the grounds and service were amazing.
To Lisa at the Blessed Sacrament Parish, what a stunning New England Church!

Judy from Fulgere Salon and Spa, for Andrea’s hair and make-up
Andrea’s stunning wedding gown from Casablanca Bridal
The coordinated bridesmaid dresses from Jasmine Bridal
Eric and his groomsmen’s tux’s from Men’s Wearhouse, with special ties to match the ladies; gowns from The Tie Bar

Floral Design by Danielson Flowers
Revel Video captured the moments of their ceremony

Music was so important to Andrea and Eric and their musicians and DJ did an outstanding job fulfilling their dreams:
Arioso Chamber Players, lead by Brenda van der Merwe, and Elizabeth Noone, their organist provided the ceremony music
Roberta from Music Sensations kept the dancing going during their reception

For their invitations and paper products, friends Molly and Jon created the design. They also utilized a Rita Renning collection through Papyrus and created super cool save the date magnets through Magnet Street.

If you would like to see a few more of Andrea and Eric, definitely check out their engagement session, their sneak peek, and their slideshow.