Couples commission me to be their personal image maker during their entire wedding experience, not just the wedding day.
There is simply nothing like the warm feeling of owning a full collection of images that remind you of your loved ones. It’s beautiful.
Julie and Chaim always knew they would have a traditional Jewish wedding. The unusual part – for me at least – is the entire event was held after sundown in the middle of the winter!
The rich traditional events more than compensated for the lack of sunlight.
Cultural traditions only enhance the unity felt when loved ones spend time together. It is my responsibility to educate myself deeply about both so I can make photographs that truly represent the relationships you care about.
This wedding, held in Baltimore, is presented entirely in black and white to match the black tie style.
Julie's friends look on with love
Julie reads a letter from Chaim while her mother adjusts her veil
Chaim and an old friend
Chaim's father holds the ceremonial hammer the mothers will soon use to break a plate
At the groom's tisch (male-only reception) the family's rabbis explain the ketubah (wedding contract)
The tisch is a light-hearted time of singing and eating
Julie is escorted into the bedeken (female-only reception) with great fanfare by the mothers
Julie sits on her seat of honor while guests shower her with affection
At the appointed time Chaim is danced from the tisch into the bedeken to greet and veil Julie
A passionate, standing room-only moment when Julie is veiled by her future husband amidst intense singing and cheering
During the ceremony Julie and Chaim are escorted to the chuppah (covered altar) by their parents
In Jewish tradition the groom does not receive a wedding band; instead the bride walks seven circles around her husband during the ceremony
Julie and Chaim are considered married at the moment he hands her the ketubah
The band and dancing begin immediately as Chaim and Julie are paraded out to yichud, a symbolic moment of shared privacy in Ashkenazi tradition
Men and women dance separately - and exuberantly - during the wedding reception
Chaim and Julie are united with the support of their friends and family
A pushup contest; the dancing is highly entertaining with unrestrained joy
The bridesmaids bear the responsibility of entertaining the bride with songs, skits, and games (literally shtick)
Julie is carried to her dinner table by her attendants, per tradition
The couple honors their grandparents with a progressively faster mezinka (circle dance)
Father of the bride
Mixed dancing restrictions were lifted later in the evening
Julie steals a look at her husband during the recitation of the Sheva Brachot (seven blessings)