Thank you Facebook! If it wasn’t for Facebook I probably would have never been put back in touch with Gadi, a childhood swim team friend. Gadi and I shared some grueling hours in the cold Buffalo waters during morning practice sessions a long time ago! Eventually our talk moved away from swimming and onto photography. Greg and I were so honored to be chosen to document this incredible day in Barrett and Gadi’s life! Read below for how these two met and some of the decisions they made to create a unique experience for their wedding guests and of course some of their favorite moments!
“Gadi and I met in 2007 from an online dating service – he was the one person I emailed in the few months I was on (he was on for 5 years!)! He and I met at an Algerian café, and have gone there since to celebrate our “anniversary” date that we met. We’re both from Buffalo, but have been living in Boston since 2000. Strangely, we didn’t have a lot of overlap in friends either from Buffalo or Boston, so it’s a good thing we got ourselves online to find each other! We don’t have a super proposal story – one weekend morning, snuggling in bed, we decided it was the way to go.” Barret
“After we decided to get married, it was clear we wanted to be in Buffalo, both because our parents live there, and because we both have such strong Buffalo pride. Our ideal plan was to have a weekend wedding where we showed all the best parts of Buffalo off. We chose Memorial Day weekend, so that our friends and family who needed to travel would have some extra time to do so. We were blessed with perfect summer weather, and our guests were able to take in a Buffalo Bisons baseball game, an outdoor walking tour of Buffalo architecture, and trips to museums and gardens in downtown Buffalo. The weather made our pictures all the better too!” Barrett
I knew I was working with a super awesome bride when I found out that there was some serious purple involved!! LOVE!
I found it incredibly special that Dad got to zip up the dress here, so sweet! I love the look on Barrett’s face as she sees herself in her wedding dress!
Gadi and Barrett chose the historic Karpeles Manuscript building in downtown Buffalo for their ceremony.
Escorted in from opposite side of the building by their parents, Gadi and Barrett see each other for the first time on their wedding day! I love the look of excitement on their faces!!
Gadi and Barrett had such a unique wedding ceremony with a mix of traditional Jewish wedding customs but also with some modern twists on them. Here are some images from the badecken, the custom in which the groom checks to make sure his bride is the right woman and then lowers the veil over her face.
Gadi is sure that this lovely woman is Barrett!
Surrounded by their family and most beloved, Barrett and Gadi prepare to sign the ketubbah, the marriage contract.
During the signing Barrett and Gadi held a piece of “bonding material”, a handkerchief that was passed down from Barrett’s Great Grandmother, Ruth Holmes!
I have to admit that this is one of my all time favorite wedding photographs! The look on Barrett’s face as Gadi signs the ketubbah is one of such pure happiness and thrill!
And even though they had already seen each other, seeing a bride walk down the aisle never gets old!
Barrett and Gadi participate in the custom of the bride circling the groom called the hakafot, but adding a touch of modern day time, Gadi circles Barrett as well.
During the ceremony, the Rabbi takes a moment to reflect upon the chuppah, the bridal canopy, that Barrett and Gadi designed and created themselves!
Gadi ends the wedding ceremony with the traditional breaking of the glass!
Kiss the bride!!
Oh the happiness! Married!!
In these shots you will see Barrett and Gadi immediately whisked away by their chaperones! Hear what Gadi had to say about why this was one of his favorite wedding moments!
“One of my favorite moments was when we had some alone time (yichud in the Jewish ceremony). As we walked to the room, we couldn’t stop grinning/crying/whooping – it was such an amazing high! Then we had a beautiful basket of chocolate-dipped strawberries, champagne, cheese and crackers to celebrate with. It turns out the two “guards” watching the door really had to do their job too – lots of people wanted to see us but it was so wonderful to have that alone time and bask in what had just happened!” Gadi
The guards!
When Gadi emerged his little niece was thrilled to see him and wish him congratulations in her sweet little girl way!
In the time between the ceremony and the reception, Barrett, Gadi, Greg and I snuck away to a beautiful park behind the Buffalo History Museum. Everything was perfect and Barrett and Gadi were beaming! They were such a pleasure to photograph!
Off to the reception at the Ellicott Square building! Anticipating the fun they were about to have I was able to capture a giddy moment of them in front of the stunning brass doors that lead into the reception!
“If I could relive 15 minutes of our wedding over again, I think walking into the reception was such a highlight! This gorgeous building that had captured the essence of Buffalo for us was filled with all our favorite people, and just looked perfect. We hadn’t even thought about entering from the above balcony, but when we pulled up, our caterer suggested it and it was wonderful. Looking out at everyone and walking down the beautiful staircase was so fun!!” Barrett
I’m not quite sure what was being said at this moment during Barrett’s Father’s speech, but I love that Gadi is having a huge belly laugh and Barrett has a look on her face as if she is thinking, “I cant believe he is saying this!” This is why wedding speeches are so great- they go from being touching to hysterical all in a matter of minutes and all with love!
Barrett and Gadi had beautiful wedding bands that were inscribed in Hebrew. I photographed them on one of Gadi’s photographs that were used to mark each table. Gadi and Barrett are avid scuba divers and personalized their wedding space by having one of these images on each table, instead of traditional table numbers.
Gadi and his nephew get the dancing started!
Barrett and Gadi had one of the most exciting and longest Horas we had ever experienced!! It was so much fun to capture, it must have been incredibly fun to dance!!!
I had to include these two shots! Even amongst all the dancing and fun, teens will be teens! These days they seem to be either bored out of their minds or texting!
Towards the end of the night, the chuppah was taken off display and used on the dance floor to further celebrate the marriage of Barrett and Gadi!
“My other favorite moment would have to be dancing with all our friends late into the night, and how fun it was for them to circle us impromptu during our last song.” Gadi
Barrett and Gadi, Greg and I wish you a lifetime of happiness and great love! Thank you for choosing us for the great honor of being the photographers on your incredibly unique and special wedding day!
Love the photos of Gadi and Barrett’s wedding, and of course purple my favorite color, the dress and shoes and bouquet were amazing. Wonderful photos Susannah, and Gadi really has not changed since those swim meet days, same smile! Great shots of the beautiful architecture we have in Buffalo.
Heather (and Susannah),
Thanks for all the compliments! We had a great time.
And Susannah is amazing! She is so good at what she does not only in taking the pictures, but preparing before hand, being focused, present, and fun during the event, and follow through afterwords.
Plus, it’s been nice reuniting after all these years.
Gadi
Such a lovely wedding and really nice Event Space. Best wishes to you.