March 7, 2010 — Last weekend, I received an email with the subject line “Holi Shit!” from my friend Ashwin. He was referring, of course, to Holi, the grand festival of colors that Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and others celebrate to welcome spring. The tradition involves throwing dye, baby powder, and colored water at each other to “chase away the winter grays.”
And what a springtime day it was. Sunny. Warm. Miraculous.
Dave and Jenn are now married!
Last weekend at the Kum Gang San restaurant in Flushing, Queens I had the privilege of photographing Dave and Jenn’s colorful and inspiring Korean wedding. You might remember the lovely Lower East Side-based couple from a previous post where I had taken some pre-wedding photos. Now the day had come for the main event.
It would not be an overstatement to say the wedding blew my mind and expectations in every way. There was so much color and food and friends that I didn’t feel like I was just the hired help dressed in all-black. Instead, I mingled with old Condé Nast friends I hadn’t seen since our days of working together, I met Dave and Jenn’s lovely parents, family members and friends, and oh yeah, I took some photographs. Boy, did I take a lot of photographs!
Another reason it was a special day — as least for me — was because it would be my first solo wedding as a photographer. Earlier in the summer I had shot Ravi and Laura’s charming wedding at the Foundry with my good friend, wedding photographer extraordinaire Jacob Pritchard, in part to prepare for this event. (Jake and I are also shooting another wedding together in Connecticut this weekend. Stay tuned.) Perhaps that was one reason I shot so many frames — I knew Jacob wouldn’t be just around the corner in case I missed a precious moment or two. In fact, I inhaled my dinner while sitting by the reception desk with one eye and ear glued to the main stage and my camera strapped around my neck, and actually ended up having to jump in mid-oyster-slurp when Jenn’s mother was approaching the podium for the first toast of the night.
Despite the stress and craziness that all wedding photographers undoubtedly face — especially those without a second shooter, it was a lot of fun. And I have no doubt (and plenty of evidence, in fact) that Dave, Jenn and everyone else present at the ceremony also had a really good time. Here are a few glimpses of the amazing night. I hope they serve as wonderful reminders for Dave and Jenn and their families and friends, and perhaps future generations of the Cho-Ross household.
Colorful Outfits and Yummy Hors d’Oeuvres
Take Flatbush Avenue to the end of Brooklyn. Watch passing signs for Avenues U and V. Kings Plaza Mall is as massive and 1970s as the Death Star. Some place called Nick’s Lobster House next to Gerritsen Creek. (Why would anyone want to eat lobsters near a creek?) A golf course. Cross Marine Parkway Bridge. Now you’re in Queens. See navy bases and army camps. A national reservation area with horse stables and abandoned buildings. A gated community called Breezy Point. The Atlantic Ocean.
All those tiny, tiny islands you only see when taking off from JFK.
These are some of the things we saw on our way to the taxman on Saturday. My borough, explored.
