Dance with me my loves

(I apologize for today's long post but today's image has been in the works since "The Singing Brothers" image we created last year and we knew we had to get this shot for Nina's wedding. Like all wedding images, it was either now or never!)...

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Daniels! Nina and Vinny were married Saturday, May 30th. What a beautiful wedding. Nina and Vinny are such an amazing couple and it was an honor to photograph their wedding.

This was the last shot of the night. It wasn't easy to get either. Possibly one of the most complicated. We don't like to steal the Bride and Groom away from their party for longer than 3-5 minutes (one song). This time we had more people to work with to help tell a story but we had a big rain storm coming in along with a lot of expensive camera equipment at stake. All of this had to be done in a dark parking lot. We chose the back corner of the lot because it was an older asphalt that had more sheen to it. Getting a reflection in the image was a nice little extra detail.

But, first things first, we had to wait for it to rain. Yes, we wait for rain on a wedding! But the big question is...."When will it start raining?" During the reception we kept an eye on our weather apps and it was supposed to rain at 9:00PM. "Why rain" you ask? We wanted this image to be dramatic and certain elements such as rain, snow, fog or mist adds drama to an image so we do what we can do add that extra magic. We try to do everything in the camera when we can but more on that later...

You will notice there are two other couples in the shot as well. These were two of Nina's Bridesmaids (Alicia and Vanessa) and best friends. We actually photographed both of their weddings as well! We mentioned in last weeks blog post that Nina was a huge Disney fan. Well, so are these two lovely ladies. All three of them had weddings with Disney themes incorporated into them. We wanted Alicia and Vanessa to be part of the magic we were creating for Nina and Vinny. How awesome is that?

After the success of last years "The Singing Brothers" image that was inspired by a popular painting called "The Singing Butler" (Jack Vettriano). The painter also painted "Dance Me To The End of Love" which inspired todays image. "Dance Me..." had more meaning because it was hanging in Nina's parents' house where she got ready.

We had no idea that they knew about the painting, so we got even more excited for this shot when we saw it hanging in the house. At that point we knew it was meant to be and we had to do whatever we could to get it. Later on during the reception we approached Alicia and Vanessa (and their husbands, Elliot and Anthony) told them our idea. They loved it and were all for it! As the reception went on, they were all excited for the picture. But, we had to wait for the rain. We kept giving everyone updates.

9:00PM hit and we were ready to go but mother nature wasn't. Still no rain. Neal kept checking outside, he could tell that a storm was coming as it got windy and the temperture dropped. The forecast changed to 10:00. 10PM hit and still nothing! The dance party was rocking so we didn't have a problem waiting for mother nature to perform. Then the radar showed a huge rain cloud that was coming in fast at 11:00. Every 15 minutes Neal kept checking outside. And then about 10:45 it started! Finally....RAIN!!! Neal ran into the reception fist pumping, he was ready to create magic. We knew it was go time. I asked Vanessa to round up the troops while we tested out the lighting. Of course I was the guinea pig standing in the rain for the light test. It was quite fun! We used four lights for this shot. That morning we packed clear plastic bags to cover the lights just in case. Good thing we did because our expensive gear stayed nice and dry.

When we had all of the lighting ready to go, we had all six of our beautiful models head outside. We had umbrellas waiting for them as they came out. Neal positioned Nina and Vinny first and then everyone else. After a few test shots, and me running back and forth making minor adjustments when needed, it was time for me to take their umbrellas away! And then, this magnificent image was created! We waited 2 hours for it to rain and it only took about 4 minutes to get "the shot". All images should tell a story and this one tells a story like no other. It was a real life fairy tale, it was magical and it was meant to be!

What an amazing way to end the night! We thank Nina & Vinny, Alicia & Elliot, and Vanessa & Anthony for being a part of this beautiful image. And for being such great sports in the rain. We know that Nina and Vinny will appreciate everything you did for them. And to Nina and Vinny, Congratulations again on your wedding! We were so excited to be able to create this image for you and many, many more to come from earlier in the day. This image looks amazing in high resolution, we can't wait to print it for our studio and we hope to see it hang in your home (maybe Nina's parents house too)!

-Danielle

Buffalo Wedding Photography by Neal Urban Studio

Niagara Falls Wedding Ceremony - St. Mary's of the Cataract 

Buffalo Wedding Photo Location - Shea's Performing Arts Center

Niagara Falls Wedding Reception - Antonio's Banquet and Conference Center

Buffalo Wedding DJ, Photobooth and Uplighting by - CJ Sound

Buffalo Bridal Dress by - M.A. Carr