Austin, Texas Wedding Photography // Studio Uma Weddings

Liz and Josh are a Brooklyn couple that had gotten married a month earlier and were about to leave for their Hawaii honeymoon (at the crack of dawn the morning after our shoot). The chemistry between them undeniable, and I love them for running all over New York with me in the August heat, and still looking spectacular and hopelessly in-love the entire time.

Let’s start this story at the end. We ended the day at Brooklyn Bridge Park — I love this park and the expansive views it offers up of the bridge and the city skyline. We shot at sunset, when the light and colors were seriously magical.

Liz had this to say about it: “Josh and I talked about getting elements of Brooklyn into our wedding day, but sadly it was too much of a hassle to trek everyone over to that park or any other landscape that read specifically “Brooklyn.” I get the chills when I see the images of us together with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. It’s so romantic! So us! I still can’t believe that was all captured so perfectly and it looks like it was a scene from a film!”

This is my favorite thing about a newlywed session – we can go absolutely anywhere, at any time of day – without the restrictions of the wedding day schedule. Its all about location, location, location as they say.

Speaking of stunning locations, I had seen unbelievable pictures of the abandoned palace at 5 Beekman Street in editorial fashion spreads and I had this tingly feeling about it. I just had to shoot there. Built in 1882, Beekman Palace is a hidden treasure in the middle of the financial district. It is nine stories that enclose the most gorgeous atrium in the city, and a beautiful iron and glass skylight. It feels like old-world Europe actually – a completely different world. The views of City Hall Park from the roof are breath-taking. Our whole crew was just blown away by this space.

The dramatic head piece you see in the Beekman photos is courtesy of Leah C. Couture Millinery.

Style Me Pretty featured this shoot recently, thanks for the love, SMP ladies!

If you’d like to keep up with latest Studio Uma happenings, please join us at Studio Uma on Facebook. For more information, you can contact me at uma@umasanghvi.com.

MANY thanks to the talented team who helped to produce this shoot, especially Priya and Dan.

The dress is an original design made from vintage lace by Gina Desilva for Adrienne’s Bridal on Orchard Street in the lower east side.

From the Beekman shoot the fabulous headpiece is courtesy of Leah C. Couture Millinery. The groom’s boutonniere is also courtesy of Leah C.

The head piece from the Brooklyn Bridge Park shoot is made by Rachel Sax for Nona E. Rose.

Shoes by Manolo Blahnik.

Custom bracelet by “etc… Modern-Vintage Jewelry”

Josh’s suit, socks and shoes are all Paul Smith, shirt by Armani, tie by Dior.

Hair and makeup by Emily Rodrigues.

I am so happy and honored to be included in this talented group of photographers from around the world. The image below was from Ambika and Aayush’s wedding in South Carolina this summer. Stay tuned for lots more pictures from this GORGEOUS wedding.

Please click on this link to the Best of the Best gallery on Junebug Weddings and you will also see the amazing company we are in. Such an honor!

Talk about a wedding that stands out for you as being one of your favorites

Sabrina: The wedding from this last weekend was the best one ever! It was a challenge to make everything that the bride and the groom wanted fused into one. The groom wanted an outdoor music festival-type wedding and the bride wanted a romantic princess-type wedding. And we really made both of them happy – even though it was such a luxurious wedding, we were still able to get that outdoor, relaxed feel.

The outdoor ceremony was in the north courtyard at COSI. We had butlered hors d’oeuvres, and we had orchids on all the butler trays. We had pretty signature drinks, like Smoke and Ginger. For the reception hall we had three chandeliers in a tent that was completely lined with fabric. At night the full tent lit up in purple.

They’re huge music festival fans so there were a lot of little things that we did to bring that into the wedding. As the guests went into the cocktail hour they picked up “concert tickets” for the reception. So when you walked into the reception hall you had to find your table name which was one of the festivals that the bride and groom had attended during their 8-year relationship.

The couple had their grand entrance using a trolley. Then at 10:30pm the DJ announced the live band taking over, and a live brass 10-piece jazz band took over. We had three courses – hors d’oeuvres, the main reception meal and we had a late night snack. The midnight buffet included Kobe beef sliders, a nacho bar (where you filled your martini glass with nachos and shrimp and steak) plus we had a fire table where you could make your own s’mores.

I’m so happy they found me. It was literally like the royal wedding of Ohio!

When you first start working with a bride, what are the first questions you ask?

The first question is always – how many guests? The best way to exponentially reduce your costs is to keep your headcount in mind from the very beginning.

In the beginning we discuss how hands-on they want me to be. Some girls will just give you their credit card and say ‘you know what I want and I trust you, so go make it happen’ and other girls want to be involved with every decision.
Later on in the process I heavily depend on them sending me images. They can just Google stuff and send me images, which I then put into their inspiration file. That helps me decide what I think this will work for her. Nine times out of ten, I’m pretty spot on.

Does Joie de Vivre have any particular specialty? How would you describe your clients?

I am the only first-generation South Asian/Indian wedding planner in Columbus. We are really able to relate to those South Asian brides. However I don’t just do South Asian weddings. Most of my clients are traditional American clients. I have a pretty good blend of the two. And almost all of my weddings have been multi-faith. We’ve had a lot of fusion weddings where we need to blend multiple religions and customs and traditions into one event.

How are you well-suited for the fusion and South-Asian weddings?

From a personal standpoint, I know what they’re going through. I think because I myself am in a multi-faith relationship, I can relate well to the challenges of brides and grooms who are trying to please multiple family members and trying to make everyone’s customs come to life. And I think its easier for them to relate to me.

How did you get started in event planning?

When I was in high school I was voted biggest partier! Not because I was a partier, but because I planned the parties. I just always had this knack for bringing together large groups of people and creating a setting where they could have a good time and relax.

In college through my engineering studies, I was the event coordinator for all of our engineering fraternities and our clubs and organizations. When I moved to Columbus for my job as an engineer at Honda, I had a large network of friends who were all new to Columbus. I was always planning new stuff to do just so that people got to know each other and feel comfortable in Columbus.

We started making trips to Vegas and I made some connections there with club promoters. I started sending larger groups from Ohio there. And then I said, well if I’m going to start doing bachelor and bachelorette parties, well maybe wedding planning is the next thing. That’s pretty much how I got started.

For me its more about bringing people together to enjoy their time together, rather than having to worry about the details. I hate to hear a guest complain at a wedding. I hate to hear a bride say she’s so exhausted or tired at her own wedding. I don’t ever want to hear that!

What’s it like to be planning your own wedding?

I haven’t done much for my own wedding because my brides are my priority. I pushed back my own wedding date over a year and a half because I have too many clients for 2011 to worry about myself. My mom wasn’t too happy about that!
What I have learned already, is that it helps to have a third party there when you’re talking with your parents about things you may not agree on. Maybe someone isn’t going to say something they normally would if a third party is there. When I’m present with those brides, I act as a buffer. Maybe I don’t even have to say anything, but just being there helps everyone a lot. And I kind of wish I had that right now.

What advice do you have for the brides reading this?

The best advice I can give would be (whether you can have a planner or not) to communicate with your family members and your fiance about what you really want.

Also don’t be afraid to ask questions of your vendors and find the right ones who fit you and your personality. Vendors make or break your event. Even if you can’t have a planner, do your research and homework and ask the right questions.
Why is it important that you click with your vendors personality-wise?

I’ll use photography as an example. Its really important that you feel safe with your photographer. Your photographer is going to be by your side for the entire eight to twelve hour day, if not longer. And so if you have someone who is standing there with you all day long giving you orders (as far as poses go), you want to feel completely comfortable with them so that comfort shows in your pictures. You’ve got to make sure that you relate to the personality of the vendor. It’s very critical I think.

You can find out more about Sabrina at the Joie de Vivre website.

Kristin & Byron from Uma Sanghvi on Vimeo.

In June I had the pleasure of assisting my good friend and fellow wedding photographer John Croyle with this lavish Indian wedding at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel. I mostly helped out during the ceremony and behind-the-scenes with the bride while she got ready.

You’ll see the bride in two different outfits: her gorgeous red and gold ceremony duds, and later her reception outfit, which features a pretty sea green and magenta color palette. I had a field day photographing Sonia: she’s beautiful, regal and hilarious. Plus, her taste in music is sweet! I appreciated her awesome wedding-day playlists as I worked on capturing the getting-ready process with my camera.

Isn’t she gorgeous? In case you were wondering, the artist responsible for Sonia’s flawless makeup is this talented lady: Bobbi Lapushansky of BobbiArt.

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…there’s a hand-knitted tree cozy out front, made by owner Debbie Mitchell’s sister. As I was snapping away, I met Debbie, who told me that she likes to feature the work of local artists in her shop. She offered me the opportunity to show my photographs. Talk about Serendipity! If you go to their website, you’ll see this definition:

Ser⋅en⋅dip⋅i⋅ty [ser-uhn-dip-i-tee] – good fortune; luck. Serendipity is defined as the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.

Ha. This is truly a serendipitous place. I went looking for one thing, and found something else unexpected and wonderful.

Serendipity is a funky, eclectic place that offers up mouth-watering-ly delicious ice cream. There’s free wifi and a pretty porch out front with a big swing made for two. If this place looks familiar, it’s because I took the entire bridal party at Kristin and Byron’s wedding there for pictures. Later Kristin confided that the mint chocolate ice cream cone was the only thing she ate on her wedding day!

Here are some of the prints up around the shop…

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… playful moments all the time. ‘Playful’ is the perfect way to describe these two.

There was a beautiful ceremony at St. Paul’s church in Westerville followed by a reception at the Embassy Suites Columbus where their guests danced and danced and danced and danced.

Kristin and Byron met in the military, when she recruited him into the ROTC program at Ohio State. As Byron told me in his interview (stay tuned for their wedding story.. told in their own words) -  “my goal was to become a physicians assistant, a PA, and our unit only has one PA slot, and she had it. So everyone kept telling me how I couldn’t take the slot because Cadet Rediger had it. And I’m wondering, who is this person, Cadet Rediger?”

On their first date they went to the Columbus Zoo, where Kristin says she realized from that first day that Byron was The One. “I just looked at him and thought, he’s such a good guy. He’s so sweet and kind-hearted and knows how to treat a woman right,” she remembers. “He’s just an absolute prince.”

Kristin will be deployed again at the end of this summer. The day before her wedding she told me the story of how Byron proposed to her on her birthday in December. “He took my glass of wine and set it on the table. He’s like, ‘we need to talk. You’re leaving for Afghanistan soon, and I don’t want to lose you. I can’t do this without you..’ and then all of a sudden he pulls the ring out. “So I want to be with you for the rest of my life and know that you’ll come home to me from Afghanistan.”

We are all wishing for your safe return and reunion with one another. Thank you, Kristin and Byron, for letting me document your wedding day! It’s so wonderful to be around two people who are so much in love.

Stay tuned for their multimedia wedding story, told in their own words..