Jo and Paulie:
Wedding at Hermann-Grima House and Broussard’s

This New York couple had a spectacular wedding in New Orleans that was an absolute joy to photograph, with Brittani Adams-Perret of Unique Weddings in New Orleans expertly coordinating the event, and the always professional crew of Studio Vieux Carré on hand for video.

We started out with coverage of the bride and groom getting ready at Hotel Mazarin, where the couple also shared their emotional first look. After some portraits of the couple around the French Quarter, and the formal group shots back at Hotel Mazarin, we headed to the beautiful Hermann-Grimma House courtyard, where the ceremony took place. This courtyard is ideal for weddings, as it features a long brick-paved walkway through the center leading up to the house, where ceremonies typically take place at this venue, making for very nice photographs of the processional.

Reception at Broussard’s

The reception took place in world-famous restaurant Broussard’s courtyard, which is adjacent to that of the Hermann-Grima House. Their courtyards are located back-to-back and share a common wall, with a gate allowing easy access between the two.

Both venues are capable of hosting a ceremony and reception by themselves. But many Broussard’s couples split up these two portions of the event by having the ceremony at the Hermann-Grima House. This eliminates the need for a single space to be reconfigured for the reception. However, another great way to address this problem when having a ceremony and reception in the same space is to have a Second Line parade immediately after the ceremony. This gives venue staff time to make the necessary changes.

The fabulous Kinfolk Brass Band showed up for some classic New Orleans entertainment early in the reception. The band then returned later to lead the big group on an amazing second line parade through the streets of the French Quarter. While a second line is the perfect way to end any New Orleans wedding, it was particularly suited for this couple. As Johanna mentioned during her speech, it was during a prior visit to the city when she saw a bride and groom parading through the streets, and knew right then and there that she wanted to get married here!

• Planner / Coordinator: Unique Weddings in New Orleans
• Officiant: James Fendt
• Florist: Arbor House
• Other Decorations: New Orleans Candlelight Decor
• Videographer: Studio Vieux Carre
• Cake: Frosted Fantasies by Nikki

Family Portrait Session

Several years after the wedding, the bride messaged me that they were coming into town to celebrate their anniversary. Accompanying them was their little boy who was a year and a half old at the time. They wanted to do a family portrait session in the French Quarter, and we spent an hour or so strolling around and getting some great photos of them. Athough we didn’t originally plan for this to be the case, we ended up shooting in several of the same spots we did on the wedding day, including Hotel Mazarin’s courtyard, Exchange Place. We even grabbed a few photos at Broussard’s, as they were kind enough to let us get a few shots in the courtyard right before the restaurant opened.