St Francis Xavier Church x Hotel Chelsea

When couples whisper “anti-traditional,” Cece & George’s wedding is the fever dream that comes back to me. Yes, they exchanged vows in a church—holy water, stained glass, the whole shebang. But the anti-wedding-timeline spirit of the day made it feel more like improv than a rigid orchestration of nuptial events. Behold:

2:00 PM – A Catholic ceremony, classy and heartfelt.

3:30 PM – Family photos in front of the church, because Grandma needed proof.

3:30 - 6:00 PM – Siesta! Friends and family scattered like dandelion seeds in the wind. (can we be more European and normalize siestas already?)

Meanwhile, between 4pm and 6pm, I had Cece & George all to myself - two dolls in the palm of my hand. Two uninterrupted, unhurried, unbridled hours at The Hotel Chelsea.. This? This is the stuff of wedding photographer dreams are made of.

Naturally, we beelined to their suite, where—like any self-respecting grown-ups—we summoned a chilled bottle of champagne. George cracked it open like a seasoned sabreur (okay, maybe just with his hands, but still, panache!). We sipped on the legendary balcony while the pigeons gossiped nearby, basking in the glow of the city, the sounds, everything.

I clicked the shutter sparingly, resisting the urge to turn our time into a full-blown photoshoot. We lingered. We laughed. We existed. And by 5:30 PM, I knew—I knew—we knew—we had gold. I packed up and let them have a little breathing room before the revelry resumed.

Around 6:00 PM, they descended into Cave a Vin, greeted by a symphony of cheers from a small but mighty wild brigade of their closest friends and family ready to toast, feast, & twirl on the dance floor. There was no scheduled cake-cut time, no scheduled speech time… it all jsut happened when it happened and that, my friends, is how you do an “anti-traditional wedding”.

- Chellise