What do you get when you pair two brilliant photographers together for ten years…shooting wedding after gorgeous wedding while simultaneously building their own home, their own love, their own dreams? Well, you get a wedding that has soul. That has depth. That has an undeniable beauty, filled to the brim with the most incredible details a girl could ever want. The kind of wedding that Paul and Krystal of Studio Foto threw when they tied the knot just a few weeks ago. Add to that equation THREE photographers to shoot the day, a vintage gown that will literally make you cry and the sweetest love story on the planet. And you get perfection. Total perfection. Here are the first set of images by Jacklyn Greenberg Jag Studios and a film by Jim Altieri…
And before we get to all of the behind the scenes details, we thought you would love to see how one of their 2 cinematographers brought their beautiful day to life through film. It’s a tear jerker my friends, so a box of tissue is a must! Here’s the first look at Paul and Krystal’s wedding through the lens of Jim Altieri…
CLICK HERE to see the full wedding gallery by Jag Studios!
As creative people and photographers, Paul & I knew our wedding would be a labor of love. We have been together for over 10 years, and always talked about having an autumn wedding (our favorite season here in New England). So when we picked our wedding date, it naturally had to be in October. So when we looked at the calendar and noticed the magic date of 10.10.10., and how it ironically represented the years we had been together, we knew we had the perfect date for our wedding. The logo I designed for our wedding had the saying “Celebrating 10 plus years together & 100 more to come….”
We had talked for years about what our wedding would be like. We knew that we wanted it to be outdoors, under the trees, in Paul’s parent’s beautiful backyard in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. The vision for our wedding was this: homemade, down-to-earth, eclectic, vintage-styled, rustic, artistic; and it had to be true reflection of us. Almost every detail was hand created by us or someone close to us, or selected because it had some meaning to us. We treated our wedding as a personal art project. In the end, our wedding was a true collaboration of artists, and definitely a labor of love.
Naturally photography is our life and our love, so choosing our photographers was one of the most important things to us. We asked our good friends Carla Ten Eyck, Jacklyn Greenberg, and Matt Grazier to all be our photographers, as well as guests. We knew that we also wanted super creative films, so we asked our filmmaker friends Jeremy White and Jim Altieri to each create their own films.
Paul & I decided to get ready at our photography studio, in two separate rooms. My vintage 1920’s dress, which I found by hours of searching online, was displayed on a vintage Wolf dress form. I’m a big Beatles fan, so I incorporated this into some of my detail’s for photographic purposes. I got a couple 45’s to be used for ring shots and such. My sisters and Paul’s sister were my ladies-of-honor.
Our ceremony was so magical, personal, emotional and symbolic. As the Parkington Sisters, a beautifully talented folk group of 5 sisters, performed their own version of the Beatles “Love Me Do,” Paul & I were each simultaneously escorted by our parents down opposite sides of the circle, towards one another, joining together in the center. One of our best friends, Eric Goodrich “married” us that day, on top of a circle platform of tree trunks built by Paul. It was truly magical; the sun was shining, warming our faces, as our friends & family in sat on haybales and on eclectic vintage furniture, in circle around us, literally surrounding us with their love.
Everything was so vivid; the colors, the music, everyone’s smiling (and tearing) faces. If there is any advice I could give another couple getting married, it would be look around and try to absorb everything around you; take it all in. I can’t explain how amazing a feeling it was to feel all the love surrounding us. It was literally radiating from every single person present!
Some of the highlights of our ceremony were the following: Paul’s immediate family members read the “Irish Wedding Blessing” (they are half Irish). My mom read the “Apache Wedding Blessing” (my family has a little bit of native American heritage). We love the symbolism of the tree and had my nephew Lennon carry a beautiful tree ring pillow hand-felted by my mom with our rings on it. We also had a weeping cherry tree in a pot that we are going to plant together in our yard. My sister Kalee read the beautiful poem “Advice from a Tree” by Ilan Shamir. Another highlight was having the Parkington Sister’s perform their version of “All You Need is Love,” and almost all of our guests and Paul & I joined in the singing!!! We had Paul’s brother Brendan and my sister Addi help with a hand-binding ceremony, which was a beautiful ceremony in which our hands were bound together with a silk sash, and the poem “The Blessing of the Hands” was read. The expression of “tying the knot” came from this early Celtic marriage ritual. Paul & I also wrote and read our own vows, which was so personal.
We have so much more from Paul and Krystal’s Wedding yet to come!!
Details…Photographers: Carla Ten Eyck Photography + Jag Studios + Grazier Photography / Cinematographers: Jeremy White + Jim Altieri / Officiant: Eric Goodrich / Ceremony & Reception Site: The McNerney’s backyard in Stafford Springs, Connecticut / Floral Design: A Modern Garden / Food: Emily’s Catering / Cake + Pastries: La Petite France Bakery / Music: The Parkington Sisters / Sound system & setup, fun effects, and late night Karaoke: Donald Prue of Good Time Karaoke and DJ Entertainment / Live after party music: P.V. O’Donnell & his band / Day of Coordination (and help with some projects) Sixpence for Your Shoe / Photo Booth: LUXE Booth
Bride’s Fashion… Dress: Vintage 1920’s dress, Boudoir Queen / Shoes: Robert Clergerie Paris (found used on Ebay) with feather adornments by Feathers and Frills on Etsy / Shoes (flats): Amanda Smith (found new on Ebay) / Veil: Naturally Inspired / Necklaces: Two vintage pearl necklaces from Krystal’s grandmothers / Earrings: Debra Dane / Wedding Band: Janeliunas Jewelry / Garter: Irish Jewelry Company / Purse : Vintage 1920’s beaded evening purse found at “Never Say Goodbye” in Middletown, CT / Fur Coat : Vintage mink coat given to Krystal by her nana, Dorothy Riggio. It belonged to Dorothy and she gave it to Krystal for her 16 birthday / Brooch: Lyn D Jewelry / Hair : Unique Hair by Chrissy in Southbridge, MA / Makeup: Simply Gorgeous by Erin Infantino
Maid’s Fashion…Dresses : Vintage-inspired dresses by Nataya / Earrings : Custom designed by Debra Dane / Feathered Headpieces : Custom designed & crafted by me & my friend Anne using feathers and flowers found at craft stores
Groom’s Fashion… Jacket: Façonnable / Shirt: Bruno Conte / Pants: Scoth & Soda / Socks: Happy Socks / Shoes: Ben Sherman / Cuff links: Custom made by Paul with vintage typewriter keys / Watch: Glamorous Sandstone by Swiss Legend / Wedding Band : Custom-made by Jewelry by Johan