Because of a sudden illness, I was unable to attend the wedding of my wife Sharon’s cousin’s daughter. Mind you, we had attended the engagement, and Sharon and my mother−in−law attended the bridal shower. Talk of Kim’s wedding was the main topic of family discussions, especially since my granddaughter Alexa was one of her two junior bridesmaids. Then Sunday, morning, the 31st of May, arrived with unresolved intestinal problems, I told Sharon that I didn’t think I could make the wedding and she should go with her mother and Cousin Judy. My tuxedo and black patent leather shoes had been laid out and I was ready to go even though my tummy wasn’t. I managed to hire someone to drop them off in Aberdeen, New Jersey at Addison Park, knowing that my daughter could drop them off in Brooklyn coming home. When Sharon came home she had nothing but praise about the beautiful exquisite reception, except that everything was delayed because of picture taking. What’s that old saying…“The best laid plans of mice and man often go astray?”
I just received an e−mail from Sharon’s cousin Reggie with offers from the photographers soliciting pictures we might want to buy…there were 1,524 photos available for sale that took me over two hours to view. WOW, “the photographs must have cost more than the wedding,” I said to myself, looking at this magnificent collection of photos that easily could have filled 12 months of any bridal magazine.
Artists European Photography were the culprits that delayed the wedding 90 minutes, taking photos of every imaginable pose, wedding item, including photos of the boxes of the wedding gifts given to the bridal party, boxes, the bottoms of Kim’s shoes, Kim’s two wedding gowns − one for the wedding, one for the reception, photos of the engagement invitation, wedding invitation. I must admit that the smart, elegant wedding invitation should have given me a clue that Kim’s wedding was to be undoubtedly the wedding of the year. Not only were there beautiful award winning artistic photos of every mundane wedding item: roses, petals. stemware, ripples in the pool, buckles on shoes, and bridesmaids’ gowns on the bed, beautician’s brushes −− and this one really blew my mind, photos of a stack of a thousand bobby pins that you can buy a 4 by 6 for $5.95, the perfect gift for the man who has everything.
Granted, many photos of the bride, groom, bridal party, parents, grandparents, family, guests, beauticians, hairstylists, waiters and busboys were outstanding and photos of the outdoor grounds, chapel, minister, view and the wedding ceremony itself were magnificent; and just in case a smile was missed, there were duplicates of every shot taken by another photographer at a different distance, range and perspective.
Kim looked absolutely beautiful, gorgeous, stunning and could easily be mistaken for a high fashion model or Vogue cover girl. Her groom Chris looked handsome, happy and very anxious. Now just to depict the negativity of the wedding would be totally inappropriate and unfair, and that’s why in next week’s column I‘ll describe the photos of Kim and Chris’s incredible wedding.
