New Orleans Wedding Photography

Elisa and Matt Tie the knot during Mardi Gras

Elisa and Matt had a very unique plan for their wedding. It would be in two parts: a church ceremony in the morning followed by a break and a wardrobe change for a Mardi Gras Masquerade reception in the evening. Plus there were some pretty amazing surprises sprinkled throughout the day. After telling me about her plan I was more than thrilled to be the one to capture their wedding. In over a decade as a New Orleans Wedding Photographer, I had never been asked to be a part of a day quite like Elisa and Matt’s.

I met up with Elisa and her bridal party at her Marigny house in the morning. Unlike your standard wedding, her bridal party wasn’t just women. A recent transplant to New Orleans, it was important to Elisa to include all of the important people in her life before she moved away from New York. I really liked that. Another aspect I loved was that it was important to her that her dog, Maddie, was in photos as well (I had no way of knowing I’d start a Family Pet Portrait company a year later!).

While I captured bride prep, my second photographer, April, was with Matt and his guys at a rental a few blocks away catching them getting ready. I think Groom Prep photos are every bit as important as Bride Prep. The day is about a couple. But so much of the wedding industry is bride oriented that I think a lot of photography loses the groom too. Not this photographer!

We did a First Look with Elisa’s dad, “The Colonel”, outside of her and Matt’s gorgeous home. It was a sweet moment on an uncommonly warm February morning. We weren’t doing a First Look with Matt so I was happy to capture one with Elisa’s dad.

The Ceremony was a full-length mass including songs from the amazing St Augustine choir. Located in the historic Treme neighborhood, St. Augustine is the oldest black catholic church in the US and the first black church in Louisiana. Elisa and Matt attend church there every Sunday but she also is on a committee that is working to restore the old church. She’s a fundraising wizard and the choir loft was in the middle of construction with help from her efforts.

After the ceremony concluded, guests went outside to enjoy coffee and beignets from the Cafe Du Monde food truck while we took family portraits. Here’s where it gets good: as the couple exited the church, the guests lined up to throw powdered sugar at them! It was the first ever powedered sugar sendoff and it was amazing to photograph. A friend had Maddie waiting outside of the church to join her parents for portraits before they all piled into pedi-cabs and headed to their respite on Frenchman Street (where Matt had proposed to Elisa the year before).

My second and I, April, took a break to unload the morning’s photos, grab a bite to eat, and dust the powdered sugar off our gear. A few hours later, I met up with Elisa, Matt, and their wedding party at the Frenchmen street balcony. We did portraits (where I captured one of my favorite images of the day of Matt helping Elisa into her masquerade outfit) before they climbed into mule-drawn carriages to take them down to their reception at the Art Garage on Elysian Fields.

April was set up taking portraits of guests in their disguises when I made the entrance with the couple- lead by the Treme Brass Band and DancingMan 504! They set the tone for the party and got the guests on their feet. The rest of the night was a colorful blur of dancing, costumes, teary-eyed speeches, and so, so much king cake. Since the majority of the guests were from out of town and it was Carnival season, Elisa and Matt wanted them to experience a Mardi Gras ball. They certainly delivered!

All-in-all, it was a very memorable and completely one-of-a-kind wedding that was a pleasure to capture.

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