Wedding Blog

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA lately. Between trying to get a good mortgage rate amidst these market conditions (WaMu’s CFO said last week, “I have never seen housing credit conditions change so significantly over such a short period of time, nor can I remember a period when there was less clarity about near-term housing and credit trends.” ) and Mr Peony breaking out in one of the worst cases of poison ivy I’ve ever seen , I just haven’t been in a blogging mood lately.

However, I’m happy to announce that we finally decided on a location for our engagement photo session. We know that on the actual day of the wedding, we will be shooting in Central Park and a very urban environment that is TBD. At first we wanted someplace urban as well for the engagement photos, but nothing really stood out. Our photographer suggested Coney Island, but it has been such a popular location for engagement photos lately and I wanted something a bit different. In addition, Mr Peony and I had never visited Coney Island together before and I wanted a location that was meaningful to us.

I racked my brain for my favorite spots in NYC - there are so many!

Then it hit me, and I couldn’t believe it wasn’t my first choice from the beginning. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As a one-time art history major and an avid museum-lover, the Met is definitely one of my favorite places in the city. I had been accepted to their summer internship program years ago and it was one of the best experiences of my life (this was the same summer they shot The Thomas Crown Affair, and although the museum did not allow them to shoot inside, it was quite a treat to see Pierce Brosnan doing his thang on the museum’s outside steps ). In addition, Mr Peony and I had one of the best dates of our relationship while visiting the museum together.

I immediately checked the Met’s photography policies. Still photography is permitted for personal, non-commercial use only in the areas of the museum’s permanent collection. There is no flash photography allowed, nor can you use video cameras.

I contacted our photographer, who said no flash is fine just as long as it’s not too dark. He loved the idea - he had never done a photo shoot inside the museum and was excited to try something different.

There are so many beautiful places inside the 5-block-long museum. However, the places that come to my mind are:

1. The Astor Court in the Asian wing. This Chinese garden court is modeled after the architecture and decor of the Ming dynasty. It’s one of the most serene and beautiful locations in the museum, at least IMHO.

2. The Sackler Wing in the Egyptian galleries, where the famous Temple of Dendur stands. I love ancient Egyptian art, and the Sackler Wing is one of the most well-known places in the museum (a scene from the movie When Harry Met Sally was filmed here) with its fountain, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Central Park, and, of course, impressive Egyptian art.

3. The Courtyard at the American Wing. Surrounded by sculptures, decorative shrubs and bushes, stained glass art and a fountain in the middle, this is yet another picturesque destination in the museum. The last time I visited, it was closed for renovations and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be open when we return for the engagement photos.

4. The Petrie European Sculpture Court - another bright, airy, beautiful location in the museum with soaring ceilings and magnificent marble sculptures.

5. The staircase by the 20th Century Art galleries. It doesn’t sound too impressive and I can’t find any pictures of it online. But it has windows looking out to Central Park, and looking above you can see glimpses of modern installment art, paintings, and sculptures.

The one thing that all these locations have in common is that there are windows that bring in tons of natural light on sunny days. In addition to these, I also want to try taking some pictures in low light, with a high ISO setting so that some graininess comes through the pictures. I think they’d create some very vintage-y, romantic looks.

How did you choose your photo locations? Do they have any significance to you or your SO?