Andrea & Jonathan:
Intimate Wedding at Coquette

I’ve always maintained that there’s no direct correlation to the size and extravagance of a wedding with how enjoyable it is to photograph. Such was the case with this Maryland couple who, after exploring various bigger budget options both around home and here in New Orleans, came to the realization that this kind of event simply wasn’t what they wanted. They decided on a simple and informal wedding at Coquette in New Orleans on Magazine Street.

But we started out in Audubon Park, where we did our formal group photographs at the Newman Bandstand, and then spent some time capturing a series of wonderful portraits of just the couple in several spots around the park (including a shot of them in the reflecting pool of a fountain near the Audubon Zoo), where despite being right around noon (typically not an ideal time of day for outdoor portraits), we were blessed with some good cloud cover that gave us perfect light to work with. Being able to spend time on these kinds of pictures is what I love about intimate weddings.

We then headed down the restaurant Coquette, which has a nice event space upstairs perfectly suited for a smaller wedding like this. A lighthearted and informal ceremony took place, officiated by family members, followed by a few more portraits of the couple outside the restaurant, and a lunch reception.

The bride left this delightful review for me after the wedding:

Michael was an absolute joy to work with. I was overwhelmed with trying to organize a wedding in NOLA while planning from Baltimore. We had great email dialogue with Michael and met him a couple days before our wedding to discuss how best to capture photos in the park. He listened to our ideas and offered suggestions that would give us the best shots and still align with our original concepts. On the actual day, he was prompt and efficient with his time. He skillfully arranged our families to maximize time for group shots. We had a small, 30ish person wedding and he captured key moments during the ceremony all while blending in with our group. At the end of our contracted time, Michael was packed up and saying goodbye when he realized that we had not taken photos with the one grandmother present (she was one of the main reasons we traveled to NOLA!). He unpacked and made sure that we got some priceless photos with her, what a lifesaver! Michael is a gentlemen and true artist. He is easy to communicate with and very professional, while still maintaining a relaxed attitude that is very soothing during a hectic day. Plus, his rates are great especially for the quality of his work and he was very quick with releasing our edited photos to us. I feel lucky that we had Michael to capture our special day and highly recommend him as a photographer.