Last week Bold American Catering hired me to come out and shoot details at a wedding at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center for which they were hired to do event design and catering. Being one of my favorite vendors, I was happy to help them out. Steve and Stacy and Todd and the whole staff are fantastic at what they do. I am always amazed at the level of effort they put into every tiny detail. I won’t say much more, just enjoy…

Remember that attention to detail that I mentioned? Here’s the front of the program, hand made on real fabric, next to Steve’s (the Creative Director) tie, which he picked out especially to match the motif used throughout the wedding on the custom made runners (see above), the china, the programs, etc.. Okay, so he’s a little embarrassed now.

Ben Vigil, High-end Boutique Weddings

Over the summer there was this little blog game going around the internet where photographers were “tagging” each other and posting 8 things about themselves that most people don’t know. Well, Ruth Rackley tagged me a while back so here goes…

1: I know the day that I was conceived. It was in a hotel in downtown Atlanta in August of 1969. That’s all I’m saying.

2: I happen to know that there is a little girl named Mary that tells her mom that my site is her favorite. Every time I post on my blog or add to the gallery, I think about her and ask myself if it’s good for a 9 or 10 year old girl to see what I am going post. The answer is usually very clear.

3: I love cheese. Any kind. Oh, and fruity girlie drinks like frozen margaritas and long island iced teas.

4: You’ll never hear the words “say cheese” come from my lips at your wedding.

5: I lived in Hollyweird, CA for two years where I attended Musicians Institute. I wanted to be like Eddie Van Halen. But then I realized that most rock musicians live off their girlfriends and hand out flyers 27-30 days of the month (and therefore work at Kinko’s) so they can earn enough money to PAY a club to let them play. And they usually have more girlfriends per annum than gigs. I still play guitar some and love bands like xxxxx and xxxxxx xxxxx (SEE: #2). Besides have you seen Eddie lately?

6: I love woodworking. I rarely have time to do it and when I do, I usually take shortcuts because I don’t have enough time to do it right. But I come up with something cool every now and then.

7: I’ve seen the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice at least 20 times. Maria has seen it more.

8: I was almost a priest. I did a little soul searching and even met with the vocations director for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, but after more than a little grace from God I discovered that I didn’t have a vocation to the priesthood. For years I sat in the pew thinking, “*I* could give a better homily than this!” I have a great interest in apologetics and imagined myself up there giving these amazing sermons. So for a long time I thought I had a vocation, but in the end I finally realized that I was just full of pride and really conceited.

Ben

On Saturday I helped out a good friend of mine, Sara Speert, with a wedding she was shooting at the Solarium in the Oakhurst community just east of Atlanta. I always love getting to shoot with fellow photographers because you get to see how they work and you often get to see a different side of the wedding as the second shooter.

As Morris and the parents were leaving their home for the Solarium my waiting paid off with this shot of Monica’s father heading out the door. He had this super cool top hat and lanky figure that totally reminded me of the classic actor Fred Astaire.

The officiant asked guests to stand and say a few words if they wanted. When Morris’ mother stood up I knew he was in trouble! He barely managed to keep it together in spite of the tears coming down his face. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place when she got done.

The beautiful and ever so kind Monica…

Ben Vigil, Oakhurst Solarium Photographer

Being a relative newbie of only a couple years in the wedding photography industry, I was a little surprised when I got a call from three different bridal magazines (two local, one [k]not) asking ME to submit weddings for publication. I guess it goes to show that marketing isn’t exactly my forté.

The first one to be published is the wedding of Elizabeth & John Paul on December 30, 2006. Honestly, it couldn’t make me happier that they were the first ones because not only was it one of my favorite weddings last year, they are two of the nicest and most gracious people I have met. Truly first class.

And on a very personal level this one was quite sweet to me for a couple reasons. Brides Atlanta sent me a few copies of the magazine and I flipped through the “Real Weddings” section looking for images of Elizabeth & John Paul and eventually found them. Being the anal photographer that I am I did a quick critique of the images and read the copy. The next thing I did was take a look at the photographers whose work was featured in the same issue and was shocked to find out who I was sandwiched between: just before mine was a wedding shot by LaCour, one of the premier wedding studios in Atlanta (and all-around super nice people), and right after me was a wedding shot by Manuel Llaneras the photographer who shot MY WEDDING over eight years ago! How cool is that?!

Ben Vigil, Featured in Atlanta Brides, The Knot Florida, The Atlantan Bride, Newsweek, The Miami Herald