Photography by Erik Matey » Philadelphia Wedding and Portrait Photographer

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Jen and Chris – Wedding

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A couple of weeks back, Jen and Chris, got married at The Rockleigh, in New Jersey, on a beautiful late October day. Every wedding that I was lucky to be part of this year just seems to be my favorite one – I guess I just love my job! This one didn’t disappoint either. Helped by my good friend, Josh Lynn, we captured a very fun group. Peter of PF Films was on hand too – they did an fabulous job and were a pleasure to work with.

After getting ready, I traveled with the ladies to the Dewint House for Jen and Chris’ first look. (I’ll be doing a blog post about all the benefits of a first look soon) After getting Chris in place, we brought Jen up. These are the kind of moments I love to capture – pure uncontained happiness. Jen couldn’t fight the happy tears back as Chris held her close and they savored the few moments before the crazy whirlwind of the day started.

The ceremony went very well, lead by Father Raul, then we all headed to the Rockleigh. The staff at the venue did an excellent job with the decor. As the night got underway, the guests kept the dance floor packed lead by the sounds of the band.

Here are a bunch from their day!

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Kathy and Anthony – Tendenza Wedding photos

Monday, October 24, 2011

Kathy and Anthony were just married this past weekend at the still very new, and very awesome Tendenza, which is part of the Chescaphe venue family. Hanging out in Northern Liberties pretty often, I got to see the weekly progress of this place being built from the outside. It was very nice to finally set foot in it and I was not disappointed. The building and staff are all very wonderful.

Kathy didn’t get to see the same progress I did, though. She planned nearly the whole wedding from Chicago! Anthony is a lawyer, and Kathy, a doctor – so their free time can be pretty few and far between. They met a bunch of years ago (I think that was their exact words to me) in Wildwood. After a first date in Chicago, and second in Europe (picked that up from Kathy’s matron of honor’s speach), they finally settled together in Chicago, but have finally moved back out this way closer to both of their families. Even with just moving back to this area within the last few months, the wedding went exactly as planned, and everything was gorgeous.

We started the day at the Marriott near City Hall, and we did their first glance right outside. After a nice easy portrait session with the two of them, we corralled the bridal party and stopped through out Philadelphia for a lot of fun, relaxed pictures. We made our way to Love park, Broad Street and even the Art Museum. Then it was time for the ceremony at one of the only Slovak churches in Philadelphia.

To the Tendenza after the ceremony, the whole night was filled with dancing. I don’t think there was anytime that there wasn’t at least a few people dancing – even during dinner.

Enjoy their preview!!

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Tiffany and Nate – Merion Tribute House Wedding

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Tiffany and Nate’s wedding took me back to the Merion Tribute house. It’s not too often that you get to work at the same beautiful venue so close to each other.

Tiffany and the girls prepped at the hotel, while and and his side got ready at the Tribute house. Fueled by laughter (and some mimosas) the girls all had a lot of fun hanging out and getting ready for the nuptials later in the day. From what I was told, the guys had some laughs too – caught by my second shooter of the day, David Zaveloff.

We planned to do their First Look after Tiffany got to the tribute house. Both of them seemed a bit nervous, but as soon as they saw each other, I could see it in their faces that the nervousness just melted away. After walking around the grounds of the Tribute house for a little while, and getting some spectacular images, we took a short break and got ready for the ceremony. The Tribute house was prepped for an indoor ceremony, just in case the weather turned poor, but we couldn’t have gotten a better late September wedding day.

The reception brought just as many laughs, and enjoyment as the whole day leading up to did. Congrats Tiff and Nate!!

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Amanda and Alex – Marco Island Marriott Wedding

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Amanda and Alex live in Florida. Amanda saw my work, and asked if I would come down to the Marco Island Marriott Resort to photograph their wedding. After a hard 1 second decision, I said, of course I would. It’s not everyday this Philadelphia wedding photographer gets to visit the gulf coast of Florida to shoot at a fabulous beach resort.

Amanda and her brides maids visited the spa and took their time to get their hair and makeup done. Surrounded by a group of their closest family and friends, Amanda and Alex had a beautiful wedding ceremony that started just as sunset started. From the moment that Amanda saw Alex as she walked down the beach, she never lost her smile. These two had such a calm presence about them, it made the whole trip very easy and a pleasure to work with them.

The reception kicked off without a hitch and the dance floor was busy the whole night. Enjoy their preview!

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Kristi and Keith – Merion Tribute House wedding

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Kristi and Keith were married a few weeks ago at the wonder venue, The Merion Tribute House. The grounds of this secluded mansion are gorgeous. Hidden back in Lower Merion, this is a wedding destination I hope to be at more and more.

Their day started off with me meeting up with the girls, and my second shooter (Jeremy Evans Thomas) meeting with the guys. The girls were very easy to work with and like the engagement session, Kristi was still a ton of laughs and smiles. With her mom and grandmother near, Kristi prepped while the bridesmaids hustled around. Eventually we all headed to the church for the wedding ceremony – presided by Kristi’s pastor from when she attended Temple university. From the ceremony, we moved on to the Merion Tribute House. Powered by the sounds of the awesome band, Kristi and Keith’s families and friends kept the dance floor full the whole night.

Enjoy!

Also seen in Weddings

Sonia and Steve – Engagement Session

Monday, September 5, 2011

Last week I met up with Sonia and Steve at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, we walked around the outside of one of Philadelphia’s most famous buildings. Using the beautiful sunlight and also the skyline in the background, we had a really fun time with their engagement session.