Studio Noveau Blog

Do you remember last year when Jen and I traveled to Baltimore for Melody and Mikey’s wedding?  Maria was the maid of honor for Melody, so when she and Martin contacted me about photographing their wedding in November, I was pretty ecstatic.  Martin is Greek.  Maria is Italian.  It is pretty much a match made in culinary heaven.  I believe her exact words to me were: “Will you photograph my big fat Greek wedding?”  Ha!  Since I’ve worked in a Greek restaurant and visited Crete, I suppose you could say I have a love affair with Greek food and culture.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.   Here’s the story, in Maria’s words:

 

 

As a side note, I asked Maria if she had a wedding theme.  Her answer?  ”I guess my wedding theme is Etsy“.  That cracked me up.  The shoes above?  Hand-painted, purchased from an Etsy seller.One of the things Jen and I noticed right away was how many big, over-the-top, joyful emotions were swirling around us.  Everyone was incredibly happy for this couple, including themselves.  It sounds funny to point that out since weddings are such wonderful days, but this wedding was notable in how extremely ecstatic they were.  Exhibit A: Maria.  This next photo was taken while she read Martin’s letter to her.

 

Another note.  Jen and I had photographed Patti & Sharath’s wedding in Milwaukee the day before, caught a few hours of sleep, then grabbed an early plane to Raleigh.  We were the first ones to the church and were so caught up in the day’s events that we didn’t even feel tired!  The sweetness of the couple, their family, and friends was so …. so… incredible.  These next few images of Martin  opening his gift from Maria were taken by Jen.  Greek Orthodox ceremonies are pretty awesome.  The traditions and symbolism behind them is fantastic.  The words of the ceremony may have all been Greek to us (ha ha!), but it was still a powerful, moving experience.Next two photos taken by Jen.  We couldn’t move around much so she had a hidden little perch at the front of the sanctuary.  Can you spot her behind the bridesmaids in the wider ceremony shots?

After some very large family photos and a couple of Maria and Martin, we made it to the reception hall.  Holy moly.  The food.  THE FOOD.  I thought I died and went to foodie heaven.  I have never.  ever. seen so much amazing food at one wedding.  The highlight was the baklava made by Martin’s grandma.  Each piece was topped with a single clove.  Now, I’ve had a lot of baklava in my day, and I have never tasted any that compared to this.  I’m still dreaming of this baklava.  Oh, and the shrimp & grits.  Sounds gross, yes?  Well, I gave it a shot and was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it.  I guess there is hope for this Yankee.  (Yes, we were called Yankees several times.)

Jen and I both noticed how much everyone adored this couple.  Seriously.  Everyone was just enamored with them.  You could tell they were such sweet people.  Love it.

Two reasons I love this photo, below.

#1: Maria looks SO happy.

#2: See the flower girl?  I really want to know what she was thinking as she watched the bride and groom.

If you haven’t seen Greek dancing, you are missing out.  Jen and I both took hundred of photos of this… it was many different rings of dancers, often going in other directions, ducking under the arms of other dances.  So crazy to have this many things going on at once!  The photo above is by Jen.  Below, by me.

Next two by Jen.

Photo above is by Jen.  Now, for the next two photos, they are taken within seconds of each other.  First, everyone was gathered to watch the cake cutting.  Then, when they opened up the sweets table, it was pretty much a mad rush to the cupcakes.  I tried one, and I assure you, it was worth making your way through the crowd.  Yum.