Karen + Jesse [Barbados Wedding Photography]

Okay. So first I need to apologize to everyone about my lack of blogging this year. I can tell you that 2011 has been crazy busy and overwhelming in the best of ways, and now that the wedding season is winding down, I am pledging to be back on the blogging horse because I really enjoy showcasing the truly incredible clients that I have had the good fortune of meeting.

Which brings me to the main topic of this post; Two of the most kind-hearted and creative individuals that have fused into one lovely marriage.
This post in particular has been on the back burner for awhile because I don’t even know where to start with the awesomeness that was Karen and Jesse’s Barbados knot-tying. Half of the wedding attendees, like the couple, were from the New York/Brooklyn area, the other half came from London. It was a super friendly combination of cultures, and everyone seemed to be a musician or rockstar of some sort.
Now throw all of that into the Barbados Scenery and you’ve got yourself a kick-ass time!

I knew Karen was a bit of a rebel when she surprisingly suggested that we do the Trash the Dress shoot the day of the wedding and it worked out amazingly with the locations we found!
The day started with a beautiful “first look” between Karen and Jesse, then the three of us hopped into a (thankfully) air conditioned car to embark on our romantic portrait safari. First stop set the bar high with this amazing location called “Ragged Point” Lighthouse that I had found on google. The decrepit, ruin look was just perfect to juxtapose with Karen’s dress and beauty.
I couldn’t believe that they were both okay with running through the questionable flooring, not to mention climbing up into the window frames! These photographs will forever be some of my favorite.
We also visited the Farley Hill mansion ruins and a historic monument called the Morgan Lewis Windmill, it is one of the only two working sugar windmills in the world today. Aside from the lighthouse, my other favorite photo location had to have been the “Animal Flower Cave”, named so because of the abundant sea anemone populating the shallow pools in these famous ocean-side caves.
I was in photography heaven. I wanted to put so many more images on this post, but I had to draw the line somewhere.
Oh, and a monkey ate Karen’s hair flowers. How many brides can say that!?

The ceremony took place on the seaside under a gorgeous arbutus tree, which was dwarfed in beauty only by Karen’s huge smile, when it managed to explode among the happy tears. Everyone was crying actually. Their vows corresponded appropriately with the wedding’s “pirate” theme and were burned and sealed inside of glass bottles.
After the wedding, the entire bridal party and some family members ran immediately into the ocean! Before I knew what was happening, I was up to my neck in the ocean myself, with my $8,000 camera right there with me haha, though I wasn’t worried. Everyone had the most wonderful feeling frolicking in the waves, Karen and her girls even started doing sand-angels!
The reception was wild and the following afternoon we all partied on a catamaran and snorkeled with giant turtles.

Thank you for the wonderful experience, next time I’m in NY we are hanging out with your own pet turtle.

Cheers,

Kels

For guests at the wedding, you can view/purchase the wedding images at the online gallery here.