You never know what adventures can result from a simple phone conversation.  I got a call from Yegi one Wednesday afternoon in March asking if I was available to do some engagement portraits that Friday.  I said that I was – but wait, she said, there’s more!  She and her fiancé Reza were going to have a short civil ceremony in front of a District Magistrate in Penn Hills before the portraits.  You can see some photos from that day by clicking here.

I really enjoyed the session and they were very happy with the photos, too.  So Yegi asked if I would be available to photograph their formal Persian ceremony in the summer.  I had a wedding the day before their date, but two weddings in a weekend isn’t anything out of the ordinary – except that this wedding was to take place on Long Island, NY and my wedding the day before was in Pittsburgh!

Yegi and Reza are two of the sweetest people you’d ever want to meet.  They’re also very accomplished and have incredible drive.  For them to choose me to photograph their wedding meant a lot to me and I wanted to honor their confidence.  So I got an early morning flight to LaGuardia and drove out to Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY for the wedding.

I was thrilled to have been able to work with my friend Britney Gardner on this wedding.  She’s a terrific photographer and was the perfect teammate.

This is the view as you drive into Oheka Castle.  Incredible!

Yegi plays the piano in the library before getting ready for the wedding ceremony:

Reza and the guys were watching soccer on TV in his room.  Yegi sent a bottle of wine to him in the same box that he brought to the party where they met several years ago. (Photo by Britney):

Yegi and her younger sister:

Photo by Britney:

Reza gets some help as he gets his tuxedo on (Photo by Britney):

Photo by Britney:

Yegi’s mom gets a look at Yegi in her lovely Vera Wang gown:

Reza and the guys hang out in the library (Photo by Britney):

Photo by Britney:

The first look took place in the foyer:

Britney’s photo:

Some details:

Plans for a portrait session after the first look had to be scuttled when a storm blew through (Photo by Britney):

So we waited in the library for it to blow over:

Instead of moving the ceremony indoors, Yegi and Reza decided to wait for the storm to pass.  I thought it was great how their guests joined the Oheka staff to dry things off and set up the site for the ceremony:

The bridesmaids checked the plan to make sure they’d be in the proper order for the processional:

Before the ceremony I heard a beautiful version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” played by an amazing guitar player (center).  I don’t throw the word “amazing” around lightly – this guy is truly a wonderful player.  So I went over and talked to him for a few minutes.  Turns out he’s Stephane Wrembel, the guy who scored the theme for Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.”

Yegi and Reza get ready to walk out to the ceremony:

It’s traditional at Persian weddings to grind sugar cones together over top of a piece of fabric held by women of outstanding virtue:

A table of treats sat before Yegi and Reza (Photos by Britney):

Yegi’s mom brought these tiny sugar cones back from Iran:

Another tradition is for a mirror to be set up so that the couple can see each other:

This was fun!  As part of the ceremony Yegi and Reza fed each other honey.  Yegi took a bite of Reza’s little finger:D

Because of the delay in the wedding, we had a very short time to do portraits of the couple.  Happily, the light was perfect.  Britney and I shot the heck out of the remaining 15 minutes of daylight!

Photo by Britney:

Some more details:

Yegi surprised Reza with a private performance on the piano in the library:

Photo by Britney:

The first dance:

Reza danced with his mom (Photo by Britney):

Yegi and her dad brought down the house with their dance:

Photo by Britney:

Reza’s sister and his mom dance:

Photo by Britney:

Reza and his dad danced together.  It’s beautiful to see how much Reza’s dad loves him:

I told Yegi that the cake cutting at all weddings ought to include a knife dance!

It was a long day:

Photo by Britney:

I really enjoyed my destination wedding adventure to Long Island.  It was so wonderful to be there for Yegi and Reza and to have had the experience of photographing a Persian wedding.  Everything about the day was exciting – I was on the go from 5am until 3am the next day and by the time I went to bed I found that I was still too wound up to sleep!  Thankfully, I was able to relax the next day and spent the next day at the shore with my wife and kids.  I ended up sleeping for a few hours on the beach.