Emily & Bojan’s Wedding at CityLight Church

CityLight Church in Queens was founded by today’s groom Pastor Bojan and his best man, Shawn Martin!  What an honor to be photographing the pastor’s wedding!The church was decorated like a storybook with spectacular Christmas trees!  From one of them hung a very special ornament that Emily & Bojan hung together.Back in the kids’ play room surrounded by toys and games, Emily carefully got into her gorgeous Allure Bridal gown with help from her mother and her sisters! Emily’s hair and makeup was done by Angie Erwin of Primp and Tease Salon. Meanwhile the church was filling up and sweet melodies filled the air thanks to Laurie Tedford on the violin.  Bojan was waiting with great anticipation to see his bride!Before he could see Emily, one of his other loves ran into his arms, the furry ring bearer!Next Emily made her grand entrance escorted by her father. I love how she took a moment to connect with her dear grandmother as she walked down the aisle.Look at that handsome couple!!!  Emily’s dress was so incredible and perfectly matched the feel of the winter wonderland inside the church!  The officiant for the ceremony was Dan Minor.Thank you to the talented David of Glickstein Photography for capturing this beautiful balcony photograph to add to the collection of images!The proud parents.Since Bojan is a pastor, he and Emily had their own private communion while husband and wife team, Dana and Brandon Amato sang.Emily and Bojan exchange their vows and rings.A very special moment happened right before the end of the ceremony when Emily and Bojan’s parents were invited up to join the couple in a prayer. Kiss the bride!!!!Happily Married!!!!Surrounded by family and friends and a sea of confetti, the newlyweds exited the church and headed for the old fashioned taxi! This beautiful cab was provided by Yellow Cab NYC!
We headed off to Gantry State Park to see if we could see some skyline on this grey winter day! Emily braved the cold and surely Bojan’s love kept her warm!The iconic Pepsi Cola sign!And finally clouds parted ways so we could get a glimpse of the most iconic NYC building there is!  Thank you Emily for bearing the elements to get some fun scenic outdoor photographs!!I loved Emily’s classic bouquet made of red roses created by Carol Olin. It was showcased quite nicely by the old school taxi cab!So keeping in style with being New Yorkers… we swerved off our path when we spotted some colorful graffiti. The driver lead us to this incredibly colorful courtyard created by graffiti artists. We jumped out full of enthusiasm to take some colorful photographs when out of the corner of our eye we saw a man… a man that did not want us there!  This man claimed that we needed a permit for this place that is suppose to be public and that we had to talk to his boss… yadda yadda yadda. Well it was a good thing we had David with us to create a distraction!  David went to go speak with this manager and quickly I told Emily and Bojan to get into position.  Click click click… we were out of there just as the manager was asking for a credit card! As Sister Francis from my old school used to tell me, “Act fast and apologize later!” and she’s a nun!  Sorry Mr. Manager, thanks for the beautiful background!Relishing in the fun we just had, we arrived at the Ravel Hotel for their reception up in the penthouse. On par with the church, the room was fantastically decorated with silver and gold!The delicious cake was created by The Master’s Baker out of Philadelphia. How amazing is that custom cake topper, doggy and all! Created by IttyBittyWoodShoppe on Etsy.The cocktail hour was so much fun as everyone milled about dining on sushi created on the scene by this sushi chef!There were also other appetizers but I think what took the prize was the one on the right, a loaded baked potato in a  glass!While everyone was enjoying the views and tastes of the city, Estrella Minor added to the spirit by singing Holiday songs!Emily sat with her Grandmother, who gave Emily her engagement ring.Outside palling around was Bojan and his Dad!Emily and Bojan had a neat idea for their guest book, having their guests photographed outside by their friend who is also a photographer.  I had to jump in there also to get this adorable shot of them kissing under the mistletoe with the Queensboro Bridge in the background!To use wedding day lingo, for better or for worse, we are a society pretty much addicted to our smart phones! Well why not put them to good use on a wedding day.  Emily and Bojan set up an app that could be downloaded that allowed guests to take pictures and then upload them to their own wedding gallery!Emily and Bojan shared a beautiful first dance. Big hug, big kiss, I loved watching how Bojan just squeezes Emily!Emily’s Father welcomed everyone and thanked them for  joining together for the celebration. Next was the Maid of Honor, Emily’s sister. She had the whole place cracking up as she recalled a story from their childhood of how all the sisters were made to take piano and how they all hated it.  She said their mom encouraged them to continue playing by saying,”You might marry a pastor one day!” The Best Man Shawn followed up by telling tales of a once shy Bojan and their brotherly friendship!Cheers!Bojan and his new sister-in-laws!!I love this Father/ Daughter series, so sweet watching them take photographs together.Emily shares a dance with her father while Bojan looks on with big smiles!One of my favorite parts of the evening was when Emily’s father invited everyone onto the dance floor for one of their family’s wedding traditions of singing, “Heart of My Heart”.Everyone joined in!Emily and Bojan cut the cake and fed each other very sweetly, no messy faces here!The delicious dinner had been enjoyed, the sun had vanished and the mood of warm winter night set in with help from a Hot Toddy bar!Brownies, cookies and fresh fruit helped too!  Especially the first 2 options!The view of the reception room seen from the outside on the terrace. It was time for the dancing to start as Emily and Bojan joined the dance floor for some fun!Everyone was having such a great time dancing to the classics and also a little Gangnam Style!  DJ Dennis Borowsky did a great job!A dance line was formed and everyone strutted their stuff……including the newlyweds who gave everyone a great show…with a big dip and kiss!!!  Congratulations Emily and Bojan!

Special thank you to David Glickstein taking video and helping with photography and the lovely Dana Amato, the Wedding Coordinator who made the whole day run perfectly!