When you shoot 40-45 weddings a year as a photographer, it’s a very strange feeling to actually get invited to a wedding as a guest. When our good friends Luke & Alisha invited us to their wedding, I immediately knew it was going to be challenging to just sit there as a guest, but was greatly honored (by the way, who gets married on a Tuesday, LOL). Tonya and I spent a couple days in Aurora, NY which is right on the Finger Lakes for the wedding and had such a great time…. every time I travel to Western NY, I seem to love it more and more and almost wish I could move there to be honest – it’s such a beautiful place.
Despite the fact, I as a guest at this wedding, I couldn’t help bring my camera just to shoot a few “snapshots” throughout the day and to document the trip. Luke and Alisha are both photographers themselves, and this wedding was so unique since out of the 65 guests, probably 20+ were professional photographers from around the country – all shooting and having fun…. this was such a fun and cool experience! I want to make it well known that their main photographer was the very talented Jason Groupp out of NYC, who is an incredibly talented photographer and awesome guy all around – it was great to hang out with him and watch him do his thing.
Here are a few quick shots from the trip I took – I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to not shoot like I normally would at a wedding, but did my best to stay out of the way and in my seat, LOL. Congrats to Luke & Alisha….. truly amazing photographers and friends that I’m so glad to have become friends with this year and such an honor to witness such an amazing experience with them!
P.S. Stay tuned for a special announcement I have been waiting to make and the most amazing photo I will have ever posted on this blog over the past 4 years……. :)
Shot this on the ride up…. what I wouldn’t do to photograph a bride & groom in this field!

Ok, this is where it gets interesting, this was where I stayed for a hotel, not the church……

So you can imagine how my jaw dropped when I walked into the church and saw this!

could they have had a nicer day for a wedding? Not a chance, what an amazing day!

“stay in your chair, Matt, stay in your chair, Matt, stay in your chair, Matt……”






behind the scenes action of Jason Groupp and the entourage doing their thing – awesome stuff!

more behind the scenes action…. JP Elario (in both photos) also shooting for fun with me



now THIS is a reception dinner site – wow!


by Matt Ramos
5 comments