Check out these South Florida wedding pictures from the Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove
A little over two months ago I had the pleasure of photographing Andrew and Jennifer’s South Florida wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove. Andrew and Jennifer’s wedding was a festive, beautiful event. The beautiful arrangements by Xquisite Events really made this Miami wedding special.
This wedding photo collage is made up of the getting ready session. Normally when shooting a full sized South Florida wedding I’ll start about 4 hours before the ceremony time. Since this was actually a Jewish wedding the ceremony starts with the Ketubah signing. From experience I know that I need at lease one hour for the getting ready pictures. This is a time when the bride really wants to spend time enjoying her wedding day. It’s a time when she goes to share her feelings with her bridesmaids and the girls in her family. As much as a photographer or the bride think that this part of the wedding day can be rushed, it can’t. It’s also a time when the groom and hang with his father and the groomsmen. In this layout I felt that using sepia photos would work best. I shot all these in color but processed them in sepia, this way the client has both.
As a South Florida wedding photographer, it is very gratifying to be asked to photograph a second wedding for the same family. Only 2 years ago I photographed Andrew’s sister Susie’s wedding. (See Susie & Micha’s wedding.) With that said, I was both flattered and excited when I received the call about Jennifer and Andrew’s wedding.
Most of the weddings I shoot incorporate a First Look into the picture taking process. By doing a first look the bride and groom get to spend an intimate moment together before starting the pictures and family pictures. At this South Florida wedding I decided to have some additional fun with the first look. I put th groom on one side of a door and the bride on another side. This way I could take a portrait of both of them, yet they still can’t see each other. Once I got the bride and groom portrait taken between the door I turned the grooms back to the bride. Then he turned around seeing his bride in her gown for the first time. Since I actually set up this first look I was guaranteed to get his face the moment he saw her.
While both weddings had some similarities, they were also quite different. Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton is a gorgeous country club location with magnificent grounds and a fabulous ballroom. The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove is settled right smack in the center of the lovely neighborhood of Coconut Grove in Miami. It’s location is prime and the venue is just breathtaking with cool looking furniture and interesting architectural aspects as well.
Whenever I work at a new wedding venue I always arrive early and spend some time looking for places and special venue features that I can use to make interesting photos. One of my goals is to created images that no other photographer has evert created before. While scouting the Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove. I found this fountain on the back patio. I know that this area has most likely been photographed by every South Florida photographer who has ever worked here in the past. As a way of creating something unique I decided to shoot this bride and groom kissing photo using a camera modified for infrared. For more information on infrared photography check out this link: Infrared Photography Explaned.
Photographing a South Florida wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove is uniquely special. This South Florida venue offers a wide range of interesting visual settings and awesome photographic possibilities. In addition the hotel’s beautiful decor, it also happens to be located in one of the most fun and fantastic neighborhoods in South Florida. Coconut Grove is a wonderful neighborhood because it’s loaded with great restaurants and lots of shopping which makes it a great choice for a destination wedding. Guests traveling to Miami for a destination wedding can always find something to do in Coconut Grove, Florida.
This bride and groom photo was taken at the Ritz-Carlton in Coconut Grove. If you are looking for a small elegant wedding venue this is a great place to say I Do.
I take this wedding group photo often because it’s a sure way to get a group photo in which you can see everyones faces and their heads are also close together. Shooting this photo is easy, I mount the camera to my tripod, set the self timer and hold the camera up high over their heads. My tripod has a special lock that locks the camera to the mount. Most tripods have a quick release. I’m not too comfortable doing this without the camera locked to the tripod head. The last thing any photographer needs is the camera falling off the tripod above a wedding guests head. I’m super careful when taking this shot. It’s apparent that everyone loved this photo because it is always selected for a big picture in most of the wedding albums we make.
These pictures were taken during the Ketubah signing. At a Jewish wedding the bride and groom each sign a Ketubah. The Ketubah is a Jewish wedding contract. During the Ketubah signing the Rabbi explains the history behind the Ketubah and the reason why this jewish tradition is important. Often different rabbis with explaining slightly different meanings and perform the Ketubah signing in different ways. Some have to bride and groom sign together, others have the groom sign in a different room then take his signed Ketubah to the bride for her to sign.
If you are planning a destination wedding in South Florida and need an amazing decor company then you should check out Xquisite Events in Boca Raton. Joni Scalzo of Your Special Day by Joni worked with closely with Xquisite events to create the special ambiance Jennifer and Andrew wanted.
Aren’t these beautiful flowers? The decor for this wedding was created by one of South Florida best florists and event designers, Exquisite Events. If you are planning a wedding and looking for a high end designer the Exquisite Events is a great company to consider hiring. Their designs are not only unique but they are also top notch. While there are many great wedding event designers in South Florida, this is one to check out. They are not the least expensive but they are one of the best.
There are many options and choices if you are looking to have either a Boca Raton Wedding or a Miami Wedding. The number of locations and venues is literally endless. While there are some country clubs in Miami area for sure, Boca Raton is known for the large number of country clubs that are part of larger housing developments and many of these are very popular for people having South Florida Weddings. Some of these country clubs require that you live in the development in order to host an event there, while others do not enforce that stipulation. Miami, on the other hand, has an incredible number of hotels to choose from. In the Coconut Grove area, there really are only a few other hotels besides the Ritz-Carlton, but when you venture out of that area to South Beach, Coral Gables, Miami Beach and downtown, there are a huge number of hotels to select from. The atmosphere in each of these neighborhoods is completely different. Andrew and Jennifer specifically were looking in the Coconut Grove area which also offers great shopping and restaurants for their out of town guests to enjoy. There are specific reasons for choosing any one of these Miami neighborhoods for a wedding. A South Florida wedding in Boca Raton is a different story. Most of the venues are not on the beach, but rather inland with just a few nearby beach areas, yet the number of country club options inland is plentiful and allows for a difficult choice when selecting a location for a South Florida wedding.
