July 4, 2009

Photography by Christina Rossomando, Forever in Focus

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? For this actress, it turns out he was…right on her living room sofa. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. A lot went down before their curtain rose, starting with the obvious—their common careers.

Act One: Miguel and Kelly are both actors. Miguel hails from Texas; Kelly from Nebraska. Both move to Manhattan in pursuit of acting careers. Both are passionate. Both are unattached. Jeff is Kelly’s roomate and, as fate would have it, also a close friend of Miguel’s. In passing one day, Jeff shows Kelly’s professional...

Once upon a time (actually, it was November 6, 2009) in a land far, far away (okay, it was right here in Westchester) a very lucky girl (Chrystalle) married a very special guy (Michael). After a magical Castle reception (this part is true) they drove off into the sunset in a Lamborghini (also true). This is their story.

Two special people—two artists who found themselves single once again. In the case of this lovely couple, two was indeed the charm.

Truth be told, neither Jennifer nor Manny were actively searching for romance, in fact, their relationship developed quite by happenstance when a group of three colleagues began to spend frequent coffee breaks together at the office, commiserating on their new common grounds of being recently divorced. While Jennifer brought the female perspective to the table, her two friends, Manny and another divorced newbie, represented the male point of view.

Little by little, the three came to realize that not only did they have a lot in common, but that they had developed quite a special bond along the way. And while...

Love can be complicated. Of this, no one can argue. In the case of Adam Dworkin and Dale Riedl, however, the falling in love part was easy. As they both attested, they just simply and naturally did. That said and done and despite these more progressive times, when it came to planning their official marriage and wedding, this gay couple knew full well that there would be many obstacles to overcome, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves—the fate and destiny part came first.

The two met back in 1999 while brunching with mutual friends at Time Café in Manhattan, but despite their instant connection, their stars were not in alignment. As circumstances would have it, in early 2000, Adam was headed to England on a two-year assignment, forcing a hiatus before the...

Born and raised in Peru, Nadia Pinedo had her heart set on becoming an architect. When it came time to select an internship, Nadia chose to broaden her horizons and pursue an opportunity in the United States. She completed her internship and was then offered a job at a different company. With a heavy heart and an ambitious soul, she went for a job here, promising herself an eventual return to her beloved Peru where all of her friends and family awaited her.

One fortuitous night, Nadia ventured out with a group of friends. They decided to stop at a bar in Nyack for last call. There she met Matthew, a “friend of a friend” who had clearly indulged in one too many. Even though he was tipsy, Matthew recognized a wonderful lady when he saw one, so he worked up the nerve...

Deep into the fall semester of 2002, two Boston College students who traveled within a common social group came to realize that their friendship had taken an undeniably romantic turn. Despite their longstanding baseball-team rivalry (“perhaps even because of it,” the bride playfully jokes), given Chris’s dedication to the Red Sox and Laura’s loyalty to the Yankees, the couple fell in love.

In December of 2007, right around Laura’s birthday, the now inseparable twosome visited Mystic, Connecticut, a place they had both been eager to see. For Laura, this holiday jaunt was expressly geared toward enjoying the historic village’s famous holiday candlelight tour, with perhaps a little shopping thrown in. Chris, on the...

Steve Ball, 32, spotted Courtney Shea, 28, straight away that serendipitous night at a local pub in Burlington, Vermont, but he just couldn’t seem to work up the nerve to talk to her. Not wanting to lose the opportunity, he solicited one of his female friends to approach her. “My friend over there thinks you’re really pretty, but he’s way too chicken to come over,” the friend relayed.

The chemistry was immediate; they dated for more than four years before he proposed. Then one Sunday morning after church, Courtney was returning home with her usual cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee when, upon opening the front door, she found Steve kneeling down on one knee. The coffee quickly was discarded and replaced with a stunning diamond...

Roses are red, and if Megan DeMichiel had her druthers, violets would be, too. You see, for as long as she could remember, everything that mattered to this August bride of the month has been colored red.

“Red has been my very favorite color since I was a baby,” she says, noting that even her nursery was red. That said, when it came to planning her wedding, Megan stayed true to form, from the stunning rose petals strewn about the aisle and the silver candelabras holding abundant bunches of red roses, to the five-tiered red wedding cake custom-made by Aux Delices. Event planner Diana Gould of Elmsford helped make this dream come true with seamless style and grand-scale elegance as she complemented Megan’s plans, ideas, and efforts...

Vanessa Vetrano is a woman who knows what she wants. Impose your ideas and visions on her if you must, but at the end of the day, Vanessa will inevitably find her way right back to square one, drawing instead from her very own pocket of dreams.

When Vanessa first met Everett, of course the same rule of thumb applied. She happened upon Everett one night while out with some friends and, from that moment on, the two took off full steam and remained together for the better part of the next ten years. One crisp autumn night in 2007, the couple made things official. They set out to eat at a favorite restaurant, drove up to the entrance, and, unable to wait any longer, Everett pulled out his future wife’s engagement ring—a stunning 4.01-carat...

April 19, 2009