Alyssa and Jason get married on the Skansonia Ferryboat

I hate to take so long before getting a blog posting up, it has been more than three weeks since the wedding of Alyssa and Jason, but I have been so busy with other weddings that my blog posts have suffered rather badly.  Time to remedy that!

Getting ready at the Paramount Hotel

The day began for me as I met up with Alyssa, her mom Beth and sister Emily at the Paramount Hotel for some “getting ready” photos.  As usual before a wedding, the dressing room scene was a bit chaotic as Alyssa’s attendants worked on getting her hair and makeup completed so she could get into the wedding dress.  There was some beautiful soft lighting coming through the windows on one side of the building and we took advantage of that to get a few nice shots of Alyssa once she was in the dress – and I must say that she looked fantastic!

Pre-ceremony photos at Gas Works Park

Next stop was Gas Works Park for pre-ceremony photos with Jason and the groomsmen, as well as both families.  The plan was for Alyssa and Jason to meet for their “first look” on top of the Kite Hill, after climbing it from opposite sides so they would not see each other.  I met Jason and his brothers Jon and Jordan at the park and accompanied them up the hill, then moved back down the other side to meet up with Alyssa, Emily and friend and co-worker Lisa, who was the official “photo organizer” for the park photo session.

The first look went perfectly, and we then proceeded back down the hill to an area overlooking Lake Union and downtown Seattle to take family and wedding party group photos.  Thanks to Lisa’s organizational skills we ran through many combinations of family members and took a somewhat crazy number of photos.  This wedding was truly a “family affair” with all of the wedding party being family members – groomsmen Jon and Jordan are Jason’s brothers, maid of honor Emily is Alyssa’s sister, and flower girl Teija is Jason’s niece.  Of course, we also had Alyssa’s parents Beth and Paul and Jason’s parents Mike and Connie, as well as a few other family members to fill out the group.

Time was starting to get a little tight but we still had time to get some photos of Alyssa, Jason and the wedding party at the concrete arches near the park entrance before we had to head for the wedding venue.  These arches were once part of an unloading trestle at the old Gas Works, and are my favorite place in the park for photos.

On to the Skansonia for the wedding!

Time was moving fast and we needed to get ourselves to the wedding venue, the old Skansonia Ferryboat that is moored just a short distance from Gas Works Park.  The Skansonia is a wonderful venue for weddings and other events, especially on a beautiful summer day such as we were having.  The foredeck of the old ferry makes a wonderful spot for an outdoor ceremony, and the decks that once were used to ferry cars have been converted into a dining room, reception area and dance floor.

We had a short time before the guests were due to arrive and took advantage of it by getting some more photos, including some extended family who had not been at Gas Works for the earlier session.  Then Alyssa moved upstairs so she could hide while the guests all arrived and found their places for the ceremony.

The Wedding Ceremony

Once everyone was in place the ceremony began, while the Sonic String Quartet provided music.  First the Chuppah was carried down the aisle and put into place by the Chuppah holders; Bruce Margolin, Judy Beiriger, Greg Montgomery and Paula Rosenberg.  Next came Jason, accompanied by his parents, followed by Emily and Flower Girl Teija.   Finally Alyssa appeared (looking simply fabulous!) and made her way down the aisle with her parents.

It is hard to imagine more perfect weather for an outdoor ceremony than we had for this wedding, or a better setting.  The ceremony went perfectly with Steve Coulter acting as the officiant, and concluding with Jason doing the traditional breaking of the glass.  Then the newlyweds headed down the aisle together and it was time for the  party to officially begin.

The Reception

Jason and Alyssa went back upstairs to sign their wedding license and take a few minutes to relax and have some drinks and snacks with their families, while the guests all headed for the bar and appetizers.  Then the newlyweds rejoined their guests for a leisurely cocktail hour, and everyone had a good time enjoying the beautiful evening.

Next up was a fantastic buffet, followed by toasts, cutting the wedding cake, and finally dancing.  This was a pretty good dancing crowd, and the floor stayed busy right up until it was time for everyone to leave.  As a wedding photographer it is always much more fun for me when there is a lot of dancing, since that almost always leads to lots of good photo opportunities.  It was clear that the guests all loved being there for Alyssa and Jason, and it was also clear that everyone had a great time at a fantastic party.

Following is a pretty large number of photos from the day.  I actually started with even more, but forced myself to cut out some; not an easy thing to do, there were too many great shots I wanted to share.  I hope you like the photos, and please leave comments at the bottom of the page!