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Photographing a Gay Wedding
June 20th, 2010 by Elizabeth Beskin | Share Blog
From our perspective, providing photography for a gay wedding is no different than photographing a wedding for any other male/female union. Each wedding is unique – gay or not – but the wedding for Andrew and Rob stepped up the “different” factor to another level. And our photographer really had to be her toes to capture all the fun.
The wedding for Andrew and Rob, planned and executed by Shawn Rabideau of Shawn Rabideau Events and Designs, was small and elaborate. Their 75 guests came from around the world to celebrate at The Mandarin Oriental over Memorial Day weekend, with a full slate of activities.
The wedding ceremony itself set the tone, and 5th Avenue Digital was there to cover it all. To start, Andrew and Rob exchanged vows on the dance floor of the hotel ballroom. The couple’s two religions were acknowledged, with the moms lighting a Unity candle to represent the Protestant side and the grooms breaking glasses to represent the Jewish side.
Immediately after the ceremony the couple had their first dance, followed by a dance with their respective mothers. Then everyone got their groove on to a full dance set with music provided by a DJ from Total Entertainment.
One of the best décor elements was the hotel’s sweeping views of Central Park from the 36th floor ballroom, which the wedding photographer used to great advantage. Shawn created a logo and a color palette of platinum, blue and brown especially for the wedding, and augmented the décor with custom linens and lighting design, brown leather chairs (for a masculine touch), and ice sculptures. Open seating, food stations, and pin-spot lighting on all the tables underscored the lounge club feeling.
The amazing cake, designed by Charm City Cakes, was a hit with everyone, symbolizing all of the places that Andrew and Rob have traveled to around the world. This work of delicious chocolate art was extremely detailed down to the patches on Andrew’s sports coat and an exact replica of the couple’s TUMI Luggage.  Photographing the wedding cake is always an important element, but here even more so!
What really set this wedding apart – and provided exceptional photo opportunities – was the entertainment, featuring performances by the Screaming Queens.  They started with Cabaret, then went on to perform some of Rob’s favorite songs. Later in the evening “Lady Gaga” made a special appearance, surprising all of the guests. After the performances, guests continued to dance the night away with their brown and blue boas.
