What do you get when you mix roller derby, tattoos, bowling, burlesque, a rope swinging cowboy, a sword & flame swallower, a contortionist, a magician, and couple that is head over heals in love?
One of the craziest, most unique, and fabulously fun weddings I have ever had the opportunity to experience.
Dina and Gary met all because of roller derby! They both skate for local teams. It even played a roll (haha… I couldn’t resist) in Gary’s proposal. He woke Dina up at 8am on a Saturday with flowers, a few packs of gum, and an engraved skate bearing which said “Marry me Dina”.
Being a creative, Dina wanted their wedding to reflect her and Gary’s personalities, and incorporate the things they both love. The boardwalk in Asbury and Asbury Lanes were the perfect locations for all she envisioned… a casual, carnival themed, fun filled event with tons of entertainment for her guests.
Dina’s style reminded me of 1920’s vaudeville. Absolutely gorgeous! Jami Fay (Jami Fiasconaro), Dina’s sister, did a fabulous job on the makeup as did Mallory Zenner with the vintage hair styling.
Dina’s bouquet was made specially for her by her sister Jami & Melissa Heid (multi talented isn’t aren’t they). I love it! It reminded me of Candy Land! I wanted to just take a bite out it…. YUM! Yep, her dress and jewelry were custom designs as well. One of Dina’s former team mates from the Gotham Girls Roller Derby team, Cecelia Anton of Live Fast Boutique (a.k.a. C.C. Bullets of the Manhattan Mayhem, No. 69) designed and made her dress, and the lovely Melissa Heid of The Turquoise Pony did a fabulous job with her necklace and bracelet.
Asbury is one of my favorite places to shoot. There are so many fun and funky locations just within a small radius.
Everything from the popcorn you received as you walked through the door, to sideshow performances, the goldfish in bowls with floating ping pong balls, to the peanut passing beauty, on down to the candied apples and cupcakes in cones for desert was representative of what you would experience at a carnival, but with one added bonus… Bowling!
Michael of MLS videographer and I had a fun capturing all of the reactions throughout the performances. We were amazed with the whole show, the wild west performer,Chris McDaniel; the magician, Albert Cadabra; burlesque beauty, Gal Friday; Contortionist, Ravi, The Scorpion Mystic ; and daring sword and flame swallower, Roderick Russell .
by Brandi Grooms Johnson
no comments
add a comment link to this post email a friend