A Wild, Rainy, Very New Orleans Wedding at Degas House with Lily & Ryan

Lily and Ryan’s wedding at Degas House was exactly the kind of New Orleans wedding I love. Beautiful, loud, emotional, a little messy, and completely alive.

The day started in the kind of old New Orleans house where every room feels like it has a story, then turned into champagne in bathtubs, family hugs, a packed courtyard ceremony, speeches that had everyone reacting, and a rainy second line through the French Quarter.

It was not stiff. It was not overly polished. It was fully them. And that’s the good stuff.

Getting Ready at Degas House

Degas House has that old New Orleans texture that makes a wedding morning feel instantly lived-in. Tall windows, creaky floors, narrow hallways, art everywhere, and rooms full of people trying to get dressed while also keeping track of shoes, flowers, drinks, and feelings.

Lily got ready upstairs with her people around her, and the morning had the right kind of chaos. Dresses hanging, makeup finishing, friends moving through the room, her mom helping with the final pieces, and a bathtub somehow becoming one of the best portrait spots of the day.

The details were there, but the people carried it.

A Courtyard Ceremony in the Rain

The ceremony took place in the courtyard at Degas House, with guests packed in close and the rain hanging around just enough to make everything feel even more New Orleans.

Lily walked down the aisle with her dad, Ryan waited under the tent, and the whole space shifted into that quiet, emotional gear weddings hit when everyone realizes the thing is actually happening.

There were tears, laughs, big reactions, a real kiss, and the kind of ceremony exit that immediately let the whole day loosen up.

Dinner, Speeches, and a Reception That Got Loose

Once the reception started, the night found its rhythm fast.

Dinner under the tent, speeches that had everyone reacting, parents laughing, friends pointing across tables, champagne moving around, and Lily and Ryan right in the middle of all of it.

Then the dance floor stopped pretending it had manners.

People were singing, crawling across bricks, falling over, throwing arms around each other, lifting Ryan into the air, and making exactly the kind of decisions that make wedding photos better.

A Rainy French Quarter Second Line

Then the night spilled into the street.

Rain on the pavement. Umbrella in hand. Brass band behind them. French Quarter lights bouncing off the road.

Lily and Ryan led their second line through the Quarter with guests packed behind them, strangers cheering from the sidewalks, and the whole thing feeling like New Orleans decided to join the wedding for a few blocks.

Vendor Love

Venue: Degas House

Planning / Coordination: Celebration Coordinator by LEC

Photography: Swanson Photography

Entertainment: NOLA Dukes Band

Catering: Elysian Catering

Second Line Band: Big Fun Brass Band

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum wedding featuring Doc & Windy

Up next on the blog, a sultry, summer wedding featuring Doc and Windy. Their wedding was far from the traditional. They had very unique, personal touches added all throughout; like using a pheasant that the family dog caught as part of their wedding decor and also using the feathers in Doc’s wedding hair, custom stickers, and this awesome piece of artwork that their guests signed in lieu of a guestbook that Windy created. Windy met Doc in the middle of the aisle and they walked together the rest of the way. That was cool as fuck. During the vows, they also made a blood pact. A Jewish Klezmer band, that was fucking awesome, provided the music for the hot & sweaty dance party that took place in the courtyard of the Pharmacy Museum. The entire wedding emanated with their personality and fun.

As usual, Alchemy Events had everything looking wonderful. They were able to take these unique touches and sprinkle them throughout the Pharmacy Museum to create the vibe Doc and Windy were going for.

Vendor List:

Planning & Coordination - Alchemy Events

Venue - New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

Officiant - Sid Patrick Medium

MUA - Verde Beauty

Catering - Toulouse Gourmet

Super Personal New Orleans Elopement at Jack Rose with Sara and Scott

When you think of a low-key, no stress, wedding, Sara and Scott’s wedding is what you should be envisioning. The couple spent most of the day together, Sara made her own bouquet from beautiful flowers she got at Trader Joe’s; there was no bridal party, no guests, and they wrote their own vows. It was just Sara and Scott. This was a deeply personal elopement at Jack Rose. After the ceremony, we stopped at Hot Tin for a drink, then took a walk down St. Charles on the perfect April afternoon to create beautiful memories throughout Lower Garden District. We honestly can’t think of a better way to start the rest of your life with the one you love.

An elegant New Orleans wedding starring Billy & Kait!

Billy & Kait’s wedding got moved not once, not twice, but three damn times! And to top it off their wedding was supposed to take place in NYC back in 2020 but the pandemic had other ideas and forced them to move their date in order to have the celebration they dreamed of.

They ultimately decided to have their wedding in New Orleans at the St. Louis Cathedral with the reception at the Old Ursaline Convent Museum, and it turned out freaking amazing.

Rena with Alchemy Events made sure that everything was absolutely perfect for their third and final go at getting married. She enlisted the always amazing Kim Star Wise to deck the place out in white orchids and accented the 4½' foot tall cake created by Sucrette Nola.

Right before the ceremony was supposed to start, Kait’s dress zipper bust open. Rena, like the badass that she is, swooped in and stitched Kait into her dress moments before she walked down the aisle. If that isn’t a testament as to why anyone should hire a wedding planner and coordinator, we don’t know what is! Anything can go south at a moments notice, so it’s nice to know you’ve got someone who can step in and save the day.

The reception was the culmination of everyone being isolated from one another for an entire year, and the fact that they were all so ready to finally celebrate with Billy & Kait. Y’all, their party was insane, but rather than keep rambling on about how awesome it was, we figured we’d do what we’re best at and show y’all.

Check it out.

Vendor List:

Planning & Coordination - Alchemy Events

MUA - Verde Beauty & Makeup by Megan

Graphic Design - Jessica Burke

Ceremony - St. Louis Cathedral

Reception - Old Ursaline Convent

Cake - Sucrette Nola

Catering - Toulouse Gourmet

Cinema - Studio Vieux Carre

Entertainment - The Tip Tops Band

Favors & Gifts - Kimbla's Cakes

Florals - Kim Starr Wise Floral Events

Rentals & Decor - Calfee Productions & Perrier Party Rentals Inc

Lighting & Decor - Firefly Ambience

Transportation - Riverbend Charters and Tours

Brass Band - Young Fellaz Brass Band

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New Orleans Weddings before the time of Covid-19, featuring Allison and Cody.

We closed 2019 out not knowing that this would have been one of the last full weddings we would ever photograph, at least for the foreseeable future. It’s weird to think that the way we celebrate love has fundamentally changed, whether we like it or not, and we’re incredibly thankful that we have been able to experience such amazing events, especially when they are often with our amazing clients and friends, like Allison and Cody, whose wedding we will certainly not forget.

We will always cherish these times that we’ve taken for granted and we’re beyond thankful for all the couples, families, and events that have rocked our socks off and left us picking ourselves up off the floor the next day. There may be a real possibility that we may never get to be a part of another wedding where the dance floor is slammed with friends and family elbow to elbow sweating it out on top of each other, or where we parade through the streets with an entire city in tow.

Hotel: The Roosevelt New Orleans

Church: Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church

Reception: The Federal Ballroom

Music: The Boogiemen

Video: Film Thread Productions

New Orleans Destination Wedding at Brennan's - Kelsey & Justin

One of the most enticing things about New Orleans is it’s charm, but the one thing nobody really tells you about, is what that charm actually is.

Some folks believe it’s the old world architecture, the food, and the sort of laissez faire attitude that us residents tend to live by. Those things are all charming, and they definitely are part of the makeup of New Orleans, but what that charm actually is, is it’s people. The way our city bands together in times of happiness and strife, the way it’s people make you feel at home by inviting you in and making you feel like you belong, like you’re just part of the family.

It’s the welcoming arms of the city and it’s unbeatable food that brought Kelsey and Justin back down to New Orleans with their all of the closest friends and family in tow for an all out beautiful celebration deep in the heart of New Orleans. They fell in love with how the city embraced them and made them feel welcome. Their guests felt the same and everyone threw care into the wind and had a long, fun night of dancing and celebrating the love between these two. We love when people love New Orleans.

Venue: Brennan’s Restaurant

Coordination & Planning: Girls in Black Events

Music: Calfee Productions

An Intimate New Orleans Wedding at Bevolo - Alayna & Justin

Our awesome clients Alayna and Justin got married at the Bevolo Gas and Electric Lighting Museum in the French Quarter. It was a smaller, more intimate affair which is always a treat because the pace is a little more casual and relaxed, which really allows us time to focus in on all the feelings and emotions going around. They both began they day at the Ace Hotel downtown; the girls from PreauxFace putting the finishing touches on Alayna as we arrived. They met each other in front of the hotel for a emotional first look, where there were some definite tears, before heading into the French Quarter for beautiful intimate ceremony in the Bevolo Museum, in which only their closest friends and family attended.

Venue: Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights

Coordination: Clark & Kelly

MUA: PreauxFace

Hotel: Ace Hotel

Entertainment: Aaron Lane

A New Orleans Wedding at The Marigny Opera House starring Maura & Deegan

“Do whatcha wanna.”

That’s probably the best way to describe Maura & Deegan, and their swanky celebration at The Marigny Opera House.

It was the kind of celebration that was true to who they are with a full embrace of what New Orleans is all about, and that’s just not giving a damn and being yourself.

So it made sense that Maura, an architect, and Deegan a chef in New York, would host their friends and family from all over the world in Deegan’s hometown of New Orleans. They created their own traditions, did things their way and created their own unique slice of history that they’ll never forget.

There was a realness with this wedding that kind of really hit home with us and we’re forever thankful we were able to be there and share those memories with them.

Here are the amazing groups of professionals that made this happen:

Planning & Coordination - Swan Blue Events

Food / Catering - Calcasieu

Floral Arrangements - Pistil & Stamen

Music - The Essentials

Brass Band - Where Ya At Brass Band

A New Orleans Wedding at Broussard's - Denver & Lexie

A little throwback to what I used to photograph some 5 years ago before I fell in love with documenting people’s lives and the start of their families. Fun fact, this is how I first met Denver. On a blazing asphalt track during the peak of summer in New Orleans, the ground was probably close to 200 degrees and I could literally feel it burning through my jeans.

That’s the kind of crazy shit photographers do to get the shot.

Fast forward a couple of years and we hear from Denver again, this time it’s not about his Porsche, but this time it was about something far more important. It was about how he found the love of his life, Lexie and wanted us to document the start of the next chapter of their lives together.

Thankfully their wedding was at the end of December; the weather much cooler and no scorching asphalt to contend with. Instead, we got the moody misty weather that is pretty typical of winter in the south.

These two are some of the greatest people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with and call friends. We’re so incredibly thankful and excited to share what we see as a lifetime of happiness and love.

Vendor love:

Venue: Broussards

Dress: Wedding Belles Nola

Flowers: Meade Wenzel

Coordinator: Weddings Taylor Made

Cake: Oh my gosh Ganache!

Live Painting: Pappion Artistry

Music: The Nola Dukes Band

Intimate New Orleans Wedding at The Degas House - Heather & Eric

We don’t really love writing blogs, it’s kinda’ dreadful. We love sharing our work for everyone to see, but finding the right set of words that best describe how incredible one night was, especially when that one night is the night that two amazing people celebrated their love for one another, eludes us. We’re not great at it, we’re more of the kind of folks who say, “hey, let me show you” versus “hey, let me tell you.” That’s probably why we’re better photographers than we are writers. But we owe it to the world to share just a little sliver of how incredibly good the world can be when times seem rough or when life has you down.

And so we’ll do our best to tell you the story of how an engineer named Eric and a social worker named Heather came down from Chicago, friends and family in tow, to witness and celebrate their love between one another.

Their beautiful ceremony took place in the courtyard of The Degas House on a chilly New Orleans evening in November. There was happy tears, smiles, love and happiness, a gumbo of all the best emotions. And of course, nothing caps off an incredibly intimate and joyous ceremony like a second line. The Big Fun Brass Band led the way with Heather and Eric at the front of the parade that headed down Esplanade.

Anyways if you’ve kept reading we applaud you and we’ll stop trying to tell you about how awesome their wedding was and and we’ll just show you how incredible it all really was.