I don’t even know how to begin summing up Rahel & Yitzi‘s wedding…  family, love, emotion, joy, FUN, energy, party, dancing, lovely, reverent, and wonderful all describe the day!  It was a Jewish Orthodox wedding, so it was very different from your average American wedding in a lot of cool ways.  With all that goes on during an Orthodox wedding, I usually need a little extra help so we ended up with 4 of us photographing this wedding and capturing every moment of the day!  We shot a gazillion images it seemed, but somehow I’ve narrowed it down to a few of my favorites…

Rahel, the beautiful bride

A happy moment with her sisters, Yonina and Shoshana

My second shooter, Glen Cooper, captured this great shot of Yitzi praying during the Tisch

My take on the same time

Love this shot by my assistant Christopher Weigl

So much emotion between Yitzi & his father in this series caught by Glen

The Bedecken is by far, my favorite part of the Jewish Orthodox wedding day!  Rahel & Yitzi hadn’t seen each other all week before the wedding, and in this moment, the groom is presented to his bride by friends and family with dancing and singing!  It was SO emotional!  I was totally crying!

The groom then lowers the veil over the bride’s face…

He had tears just streaming down his face!  Oh, it was precious!

Then the Fathers each bless the bride… more tears…

Rahel holding her mother and Yitzi’s mother’s hands

Then they carried Yitzi off for more singing and dancing before the marriage ceremony (shot by Glen).  Don’t you just love how joyous this is?!  I mean most people are happy for the bride & groom, but these people are THRILLED that these two are getting married!  It’s glorious!

Giving away the bride

A cute moment between Rahel & Yitzi, captured by Glen

I love the graceful look of her hands holding up the veil in this shot

Another great shot by Chris – note the tear in Yitzi’s eye.  I told you it was an emotional day!

Married!

After they had a few moments alone following the ceremony, I took Rahel & Yitzi outside for a few portraits.

It started raining again though, so we went back inside for a few more portraits.  Luckily, the Granite Links Golf Club had some lovely indoor space for photos!

They’re so cute :)

Let the fun begin!!

Another unique thing about Orthodox Weddings is that for much of the reception, the men dance on one side of the dance floor, and the women on the other.  It’s cool to see a big group of men dancing and singing together with such fervor!  They’re definitely not messin’ around!   shot by Glen (if you look closely, you can see me in the shot… it’s like Where’s Waldo?)

This one was shot by my 2nd 2nd shooter, Nicki Pardo!

The guests often dance & perform for the Bride & Groom also. This guy was roasting marshmallows for them with a fire on top of his hat… I have no idea how he dreamed that up, but it was definitely entertaining!

And then there’s always more dancing…

Rahel & Yitzi – your wedding was just wonderful!  I’m so thankful to have been a part of it, and to work with your family again!  I’m already looking forward to Yonina’s wedding (one of these days) ;)

To view more of my favorites from this wedding, please check out the album on Facebook!