I cried driving back from this wedding. I felt aligned. I have felt a shift of my being, my perspectives and my entire idea of weddings change in the last couple of years, since becoming a mother. Since becoming the memory maker in our family, realizing that legacy is what we will be passing down when our days are done. I am now looking at weddings from the perspective of a parent and just just the couple. What would my daughter want to see if she was flipping through an old album. I would want her to see what life was really like in this space and time, how aunt sally danced her ass off. How dad gave a speech about mom and how everyone cried. I photograph weddings differently now. It’s less about curated posed images and instead just showing my perspective and how it felt to be there.
Meet Ben and Kelsey who I immediately knew hired me because of these perspectives. In their questionnaire they wrote ” We want you to capture our love without feeling the pressure to perform.”
As your Finger Lakes documentary wedding photographer I also want to feel like I am not under pressure, that I’m not performing. I am tired of curating moments, I am tired of doing things just for photos. I want us to all just be.
They couldn’t have picked a better venue for this documentary style of photography. The Treman Center is located a few miles away from Treman State Park in Ithaca. If you haven’t been to the finger lakes area of upstate New York, the fall is the perfect time to plan your getaway. The trees paint the hills with deep reds and oranges like a postcard. I have photographed here now a couple of times and I always get so excited to go back. It is a barn venue but honestly it doesn’t even feel like most barns that I have been to in upstate new York. The courtyard was hand built by the owners husband and adds such a vibe to the whole place. The fountain with the most gorgeous hue of blue contrasts so well with the red barn and vines. The inside is eclectic with treasures that the owner has found all around the world. You can rent it out for the whole weekend and really takes your wedding day to another level and experience.
Anyways if you’re going to look at any of my work, look at these. It encapsulates my documentary approach as I didn’t direct much that day at all.
Ben and Kelsey opted to not have a bridal party which meant more intimate time between the two of them ( don’t worry they still got shots with her friends but we didn’t spend an hour doing so.) Instead they did a first look during a break in the rain followed by private vows with just the three of us. They had their ceremony at the courtyard, ran upstairs to take a minute to breathe and take it all on. They brought an old vintage film camera and took intentional time to play around with it. Cocktail hour was filled with laughter, candid moments and a few portraits. Per my advice, they had their special dances under the twinkling lights outside. It was perfect because all of their friends and family got to be in the background of those moments and the lighting was so beautiful. They came in for dinner, had speeches, changed into sneakers and danced the night away.
Vendors:
Photography – Leanne Rose Photography
Venue – Treman Center
Floral – Plenty Of Posies Ithaca NY
Rentals – Shabby Sisters
