Marisa & Brian: Destination Wedding: Aruba: NYC Wedding Photographer

This spectacular event took place at the Renaissance Aruba Hotel and Resort.  If you fancy delicious food, beautiful restaurants,  gorgeous pools, luxury casinos, high end shopping, a private island with sandy beaches for Renaissnace guests only, and a never ending supply of yummy cocktails, then this is the place for you.  The entire weekend was one big highlight for me, but I would have to say that standing literally a foot away from a flamingo was an awesome experience I wasn't expecting to have.  On the private island one of the beaches is named "Flamingo Beach," and fittingly a flock of flamingos lives there.  These creatures are so odd and so beautiful all at the same time.  As an animal lover, that was definitely a top moment.

It was also really lovely to take a break from the modern luxury of the hotel, and head into town to attend Marisa and Brian's civil ceremony at City Hall.  It was a really neat old building that still had all of its old school charm intact.  Marisa and Brian had to officially get married there on Friday morning, prior to their actual wedding that was to be held at 6pm on Saturday evening.  I believe this had something to do with them being married in a foreign country.  The lovely bride wore a short white dress, which turned out to be a smaller version of the Pronovias gown she wore Saturday. How cute!  Anyways, we had a great time shooting a mini portrait session in honor of this occasion.  

Marisa did a phenomenal job planning this wedding from afar, and making sure that she put her and Brian's own personal touch on everything.  Marisa and her sister, Christina, actually run their own print shop on etsy.  So together they hand crafted her Save The Dates, invitations, and a plethora of items with a really cool M+B logo that went into a super cute welcome bag for all their guests.  They even found a local Aruba company to make custom rum bottles for them.  So fun!  My personal favorite welcome bag item was the inflatable flamingo drink holder!!

Even though they were getting married on the beach of a private island they still wanted a formal elegant affair, but one that catered to the light hearted extremely loving nature of them and all of their guests.  So when it came to designing her table settings, it wasn't lavish flower arrangements that Marisa wanted.  Instead they had rustic tea lights put out along a black burlap table runner.  It created a perfectly intimate ambiance.  As a combination party favor/seating card their guests all received a personally tagged gold box with a metal starfish shaped bottle opener inside.  They even had a local brother and sister team there hand rolling cigars for the guests.  I mean come on!! How cool is that?!  Although, I must say I think they beat everyone in the creativity game when they had their cake covered in white rock candy, pretty impressive!

I was wowed by it all.  Marisa and Brian's love . . . what a wonderful time I had being part of their family for a weekend . . . Marisa's attention to detail . . . the beautiful ceremony . . . 

I am officially in Marisa and Brian withdrawal.  If I could relive their wedding weekend over again, I would in a heart beat.  Their love was a raw and real kind of love that every photographer dreams of capturing on film (or chip), not to mention the tropical island, turquoise waters, and ocean breezes.  This home grown Staten Island couple came all the way to the little island of Aruba for their nuptials, and made it their own!  Their friends and families could not have been more of a pleasure to be with.  It is easy for me to say that this fun filled weekend did not feel like work, not in the least. 

I can't thank you all enough for such a wonderful experience.  And I want to give a special thank you to Christina Ripo and Uncle Mark for being my part time supporters and photo assistants.  You were both a great help, and great people to get to know.

Enjoy the pictures!!!