Old St. Patrick's Cathedral: SoHo

There are probably thousands of places to have a wedding ceremony in and around NYC: myriad churches, temples and chapels for one thing. You also have parks, reception halls, apartments and houses that are popular spots to say "I do". Some people exchange vows while submerged in the ocean in scuba gear, skydiving over the country side or on top of the Empire State Building.

The reason I bring this up is because I am shooting two weddings this weekend, and both of them happen to be at the same place: Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in SoHo.

I have to admit that I didn't make the connection right away. I knew I had two weddings there this year, but didn't realized until going over my wedding notes last week that they were both this weekend! This is definitely a unique experience in that I have never shot in the same location on back-to-back days in my career as a wedding videographer.

Old St. Patrick's is a beautiful church with an incredible history. A beautiful brick wall with an ornate Iron Gate entrance surrounds it. Many SoHo shoppers will recognize the sidewalks that surround the church as a weekend market where some of SoHo's most unique goods are sold.

I have shot at Old Saint Patrick's before so I know the best place to stand, the lighting situation (very tough) as well as some other intricacies specific to working there. The last wedding I shot there- John and Mary in May of 2006- was a beautiful affair with a unique twist at the end. After the ceremony, John and Mary were greeted by a New Orleans Jazz Band in the church courtyard that led a festive parade of wedding guests and gawking tourists to the Puck Building, only a few blocks away.

If you are looking for a beautiful NYC Catholic Church and an amazing reception site close by, the combination of Old Saint Patrick's and the Puck Building is hard to beat!

As far as my weekend, I'm pretty excited for the challenge as well as the uniqueness of the situation. I guess with all of the possibilities of places to shoot when working in NYC, it's cool to see the world is still a small place once in a while!