This New York couple had a spectacular choreographed first dance for their Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans wedding reception in the famous Blue Room, which is one of the two main spaces the hotel has available for full sized weddings.
The ceremony had taken place across the street at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, a very popular choice for Roosevelt Hotel weddings given the convenient close proximity.
After a few formal group shots in the church, as well as some extended family shots back at the Roosevelt, we had some time before the start of the reception, and were able to capture some great portraits of the couple around the hotel.
The band Three Thirty Seven from Lafayette provided the reception entertainment, and were amazing. Several of the couple's guests sat in with the band to sing a few songs and were fabulous as well.
The band's horn section was particularly entertaining.
The hotel originally dates back to the late 1800s, though a larger addition was built about 15 years later, which still stands. The original half of the hotel was torn down by a subsequent owner in the early 1900s and rebuilt to the same size as the addition. The hotel has gone through a few name changes as ownership changed hands over the decades. Originally the Hotel Grunewald, it later became The Roosevelt, then The Fairmont, which it remained until damage from Hurricane Katrina forced the hotel to close. But a few years later, new ownership made a massive investment to completely renovate the historic hotel, both modernizing it, and restoring it with a beautiful art deco look that harkens back to it heyday, along with changing the name back to The Roosevelt and designating the Waldolf Astoria to run the hotel.
You'd be hard pressed to find a more beautiful hotel lobby in all of the Crescent City, and it is famous for the stunning Christmas decorations the hotel puts up each holiday season.
A plaque near the doors of the Blue Room reads as follows;
Behind these ornate gold doors, the Blue Room came into being on New Year's Eve 1935 and soon became America's premier night club featuring the big bands of Glenn Miller and Guy Lombardo, as well as top entertainers including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Tina Turner and Ella Fitzgerald to name a few.
Generations of New Orleanians have celebrated their most important occasions in the Blue Room. Ice skating performances, afternoon kiddie matinee shows, and the twice-nightly performances, all a part of Blue Room lore. The room has gone through many re-designs and at one point was called the Hawaiian Blue Room complete with a tropical South Seas decor.
In 1932, WWL radio moved into the hotel (then known as the Roosevelt Hotel) as one of the very few "clear watt channel" stations. They began broadcasting, "Live from the Blue Room" for twenty years, reaching homes across the nation, as well as soldiers stationed across the world during World War II through Armed Forces Radio. Many a GI has returned over the years to look for the Blue Room and relive memories of years past.
Below the Blue Room is the location which housed what is believed to be the first nightclub in America, The Cave. A subterranean supper club with waterfalls, streams, stalactites, and gnome-like faces, the club opened in 1908 and presented lavish musical revues, stage acts, and Dixieland bands.
Today, the Blue Room is one of the city's most sought-after sites for elegant weddings, private dinners and social gatherings. During the holiday season, the Blue Room hosts children of all ages for a delightful "Teddy Bear Tea," as part of the hotel's annual "Angel Hair Lobby" festivities where the block-long lobby is transformed into a winter wonderland of twinkling lights and holiday ornaments and ribbons.
Location: 130 Roosevelt Way, New Orleans, LA 70112.
