Same Sex Commitment Ceremony by Long Beach Wedding Photographer
Fritz and Sebastian chose July 3rd as the date for their lifetime commitment ceremony. Other folks might call this a gay wedding, a same sex union, or a celebration. I call it two people in love who are determined to spend their lives to together and who want to share their joy with friends and family. The ceremony was held at Hotel Maya on Queensway Drive in Long Beach (within sight of the Queen Mary). Here are a few of my favorites from the event.
The happy couple rarely gets ready in the same room on their
wedding day, but it sure seemed to work out great this time!
These bow ties were really cool!
In case you didn’t guess, their wedding colors were black, white, and yellow.
They had these cool striped dividers set up in the reception area so
I used them as convenient backgrounds for a few of these wedding-day images.
Their wedding theme was “Paris” so I grabbed a few of the table centerpieces and had them hold them
to better tell the story though photographs. Sebastian proposed to Fritz in Paris so this made a bunch of sense!
Two Guys Sitting on a Couch
[I really need to work on my descriptions here]
If you’ve followed my blog over the years, you know I love the use of
negative space and bright colors in my photography. This wall was just perfect!
Check out the reflection at the bottom of this photograph. It’s kind of difficult to come up with an original “from above” shot
and I’m pretty happy about how this image turned out given that I took it with one hand leaning far out over a railing!
I kind of wish that the Queen Mary was alone in this shot and that the cruise ship wasn’t there, but when I called Captain
Stubing, asking him to move his boat, that didn’t go over too well. Perhaps I should have asked to speak to Julie instead!
[ok, I’ll admit that humor was kind of lame]
GQ
I got the idea for this photo after watching the film Sucker Punch earlier in the week. Although the film was panned by
many critics, I thought the cinematography was simply amazing. I often look to creative films for new ideas.
It was terribly hot and this nice guy (a stranger by the pool) offered to buy Fritz and Sebastian a bottle of water.
The guys originally wanted an urban feel to their related directed portraiture prior to the ceremony. When it became apparent
that our options in the area were extremely limited, they settled on staying at the Long Beach hotel for their photos. Not
to be discouraged, I did locate this nice little piece of urban landscape near Hotel Maya.
You wouldn’t know it by this photo, but Fritz and Sebastian were both very startled
by a three-way kitty cat fight under those vines that started when they went to stand on
those steps. From the racket they made, it sounded like a dozen cats!
Here we are with the traditional wedding day groom and groom portrait.
This image started as a way to showcase their nifty cufflinks but I quickly realized that with a little
direction and creative cropping, this photo could have much greater significance.
Hey look! It’s a big leather chair sitting on the grass!
[this space intentionally left blank]
Hotel Maya
Here we have, from left to right, a photojournalist’s look at Sebastian’s aunt, Sebastian & Fritz’s best friend, two flower girls
being directed by the planner, Fritz in the far background, the ring bearer, and a bunch of their friends. And of course two
people with tiny cameras who are photographing the back of the ring bearer’s head.
It’s a little known fact, but Sebastian tends to cry a whole bunch!
[inside joke]
Ewwwwww! Licking frosting off his nose!
[even though I’m the one who suggested that Fritz to do it]
