Norma and Jeff get married at Palisade restaurant

On July 14 I was the lucky photographer who got to work with Norma, Jeff and their assorted family and friends at their wedding and reception, held at the Alani Room at Palisade restaurant at the Elliot Bay Marina in Seattle.  All of the preliminary prep work for this wedding had been done by phone or email, so this was my first time to actually meet the bride and groom.

Preliminary photos at Kerry Park

Jeff and I had talked several times before the wedding day about possible locations for off-site photos before going to Palisade, and we agreed on Kerry Park.  If you have never been to Kerry Park the odds are that you have seen photos taken there.  It is the most photographed location in Seattle, and is regularly used for everything from weddings to TV commercials, and with good reason.  On a nice day the view out over Seattle Center, downtown Seattle and Elliot Bay with Mt Rainier in the background, can best be described as spectacular.  And we had about as perfect a summer day as was possible; sunny and warm with clear skies that gave us a fantastic view over the city and Puget Sound.

I arrived a bit early (I am a bit neurotic about being on time) and was happy to see that the park was not nearly as busy as I had expected on such a gorgeous day.  A few minutes later Norma and Jeff arrived along with their entire wedding party in a very full minivan, 8 people total.  It took a bit for everyone to squeeze their way out, and I finally got to meet Norma and Jeff in person.  Norma looked amazing, wearing a beautiful dress with a big train.  The Best Man and Matron of Honor were their friends Blaise and Rhonda Prebo, the groomsmen were Jeff’s sons Carter and Conrad, and the bridesmaids were Norma’s daughters Allison and Lizzie.

We got right to work with photos of pretty much every combination of members of the group that we could come up with.  Because it was a warm day I knew that everyone would be very warm in their fancy clothes (especially the guys), so I did not want to keep them out in the sun any longer than necessary.  We spent about 30 minutes at Kerry and then moved down the street to Parsons Garden to get a few photos with a different backdrop, as well as some shots looking out over Magnolia to the Olympic Mountains.

Pre-ceremony photos at Palisade

Then it was on to Palisade to meet up with the rest of the family for more photos.  Because it was pretty clear their van was a bit packed I took Carter and Conrad along in my car for the drive down to Palisade.  It was fun to have a chance to talk with them while we weren’t rushing to take photos.  Once everyone made it to Palisade we met outside the Alani Room, a very nice “events location” building right next to the main Palisade restaurant.  More family members as well as guests began to arrive, and we took a lot of photos of various groups of family and friends as guests continued to arrive in anticipation of the ceremony.  Norma’s mother (also named Norma just to help confuse matters) and her brothers Ricardo and Hector were there, as well as Jeff’s parents Marti and Richard and his sister Stacy.  It was typical pre-ceremony chaos but we still managed to get a lot of photos of various family groups until it was time for Norma to get out of sight and for all of the guests to get seated for the wedding ceremony.

The Wedding Ceremony

As the guests started to move into their seats I had a chance to talk with the officiant David Cooper of Forever, Together, who I always enjoy working with at weddings. One of the very cool things about David is that he speaks very good Spanish, and is capable of doing bi-lingual wedding ceremonies; I had worked with him just over a month earlier at a wedding with another couple where the groom was from Mexico, and David did pretty much the entire ceremony in both English and Spanish.  Because of the time of day the sun was going to be shining right into Norma’s eyes throughout the ceremony as the area had been set up.  It was far too late to move all the chairs, so we decided to just have the wedding party shift about 15 feet to one side to try to minimize the issue with the sun.  Slightly asymmetrical but a lot easier on Norma’s eyes!

Now it was time for the ceremony to begin.  Once Jeff and David took their places up front, the processional began.  The first down the aisle was Rhonda and Blaise, followed by Allison and Carter, and Lizzie and Conrad.   Finally Norma came down the aisle, escorted by her brother Ricardo.  Much of Norma’s family are not very fluent in English, so David used his Spanish-speaking skills to conduct the ceremony in Spanish as well as English.

The ceremony was beautiful and went very smoothly.  Even Norma’s and Jeff’s rings both fit without any major pushing and twisting, and that is a bit unusual.  A good start to a marriage!

Immediately after the ceremony David, Norma, Jeff and their two witnesses, Norma’s brother Ricardo and his wife Diana moved to the tent on the far side of the Alani Room to sign their wedding certificates and license.  While this was taking place, the guests all moved into the Alani Room for appetizers and drinks.  Jeff and Norma then disappeared to take a few minutes to themselves while the guests were having a fine time partying.  After ~15 minutes Norma and Jeff made a grand entrance to the Alani Room while their guests all cheered the newlyweds.

The Wedding Reception

Once Norma and Jeff had rejoined the crowd the staff at Palisade quickly got the buffet ready to go, and the couple led the way through the buffet line.  The wedding party and family were next through the line, followed by the remainder of the guests.

Jeff had told me that he and Norma wanted to get some sunset photos, so when sunset got close I let them know that we needed to go outdoors for the photos.  To get to the location where the sunset would be visible we needed to walk a couple of hundred yards down the marina.  As it turned out, I had gotten bad info as to the actual time of sunset (curse you, Google!) and by the time we made it to the last dock the sun had already dipped below the mountains.  But we were still able to get some nice shots of the afterglow over the Olympics.

When we rejoined the reception it was time for toasts.  Both Blaise and Rhonda made nice speeches while the guests applauded.

Next up for the newlyweds was the first dance.  DJ Daniel Alvarez of Sounds Unlimited was the man in charge of the music, and he had already been doing a great job with background music throughout the earlier part of the evening.  Now it was Daniel’s time to shine.  Jeff and Norma led off with their official first dance, and as it was ending they were joined on the floor by the entire wedding party.

And now the party really started rolling.  I have photographed somewhere north of 1200 weddings over the last 38 years, and I have to say that if this was not the best dancing crowd I have ever had at a wedding I sure can’t remember one that was better!  DJ Daniel kept the music coming while the dancers just kept on dancing.  And Norma was the queen of the dance floor!  She was actively dancing far more than watching, and seemed to have unlimited stamina, and very good skills.  Not to take anything away from Jeff, but Norma seemed to be in a different league.  Her daughters were also excellent dancers, and they and their friends gave me almost unlimited opportunities for good candid dancing shots.  I love dance crowds like that!

During one break in the music Jeff and Norma moved back inside to cut their wedding cake, but even before it had been served up to the guests they were both back on the dance floor.  The dancing was stopped again when it was time for the bouquet and garter toss (photos below), but once again as soon as the music started the crowd was back to the floor and showing their moves.

My time at the reception ran out before the reception ended, and I said reluctant good-byes to Norma, Jeff and their friends.  It was one heck of a wedding, and one I will remember for a very long time.

Now you get to look through some photos from the day.  I gave you a pretty big selection, I hope you will leave some comments and tell me what you think!