Lucy & Alex’s classy urban wedding at St. James Cathedral and Bynx in Orlando, FL

Recent Weddings
Written By Michael Kuo

Classy Urban Downtown Micro Wedding at St. James Cathedral with Wedding Reception at Bynx, Orlando, FL | Orlando Wedding Photographer & Wedding Videographer

Don’t rain on our love

Lucy + Alex: what a sweet, sweet couple and SUCH a classy, urban-themed wedding! This wonderful couple met online and began their love story with a first date over pizza. Finally, Alex popped the question in a romantic private picnic, and from there the rest was history.

Bride Lucy found us at Author Made through online search, and after getting to hear her vision of her wedding day and talk through details, we excitedly put her wedding in the books. A January wedding in Florida: what could go wrong?

Only one of the biggest winter storms we experienced that season.

Unfortunately for Lucy + Alex’s classy urban wedding day, we were facing the prospect of very, very high chances of torrentially pouring rain at the exact time of their wedding.

(This story has a happy ending, though: keep reading!)

Holy matrimony at St. James Cathedral in downtown Orlando, FL

Lucy + Alex chose to honor their religious traditions with a Catholic wedding ceremony at the beautiful St. James Cathedral in downtown Orlando. As a Christian (Protestant) myself, I truly love when my couples incorporate their most important values and beliefs into their wedding day!

St. James Cathedral, a centerpiece of urban downtown Orlando, serves as a sacred space for the Catholic community nearby. Beyond its role as the bishop’s seat and serving as a sacred space for ordinations, this incredibly gorgeous cathedral features a beautiful altar at its center, symbolizing the profound Sacrifice of the Cross and serving as a focal point for worshippers to partake in the Eucharist. Additionally, adorned with hand-painted murals and intricate stained-glass windows depicting crucial moments in the life of Jesus and the apostles, St. James Cathedral provides a spiritually rich and aesthetically captivating wedding venue for the sacred sacrament of marriage within the Catholic tradition.

As a wedding vendor, I found the weddings team at St. James Cathedral incredibly kind and helpful. I called a few days before the wedding to understand the parish’s specific rules, understanding that many religious wedding spaces have preferences or limitations around the use of wedding photography (such as use of flash during the wedding ceremony, where you can or cannot stand to take photos, etc.). Further, as a Protestant, I was less familiar with the intricacies of a Catholic wedding ceremony, and the wedding events manager and wedding day-of coordinator were both incredible in providing me a rundown of what to expect and ways to make sure I captured the critical moments of Lucy + Alex’s wedding ceremony.

This is a task I always complete before showing up to a client’s wedding—calling the wedding venue to confirm details and talk through logistics before the big day—a task that some wedding photographers skip or overlook. Over the years, I’ve either learned valuable information so I can do my job properly, or—worse—managed to catch crucial details that would have entirely derailed a couple’s wedding day. (True story!)

Sunny days are here again

When Bride Lucy arrived at St. James Cathedral, she was all smiles, despite starting to get ready for her big day since 7:30AM! She excitedly shared that she hadn’t slept the night before because she was just so ready to get married. (Between a mix of nerves and excitement, does anyone sleep well the night before their wedding?) Groom Alex arrived in time for the noon mass wedding ceremony, and it was off to get the lovebirds hitched.

The Catholic mass wedding ceremony was a truly gorgeous and reverent experience. Knowing how important the religious overtones were to Lucy + Alex, they had requested photos of many of the important moments of the wedding ceremony, and I was glad I’d communicated with the wedding team at St. James beforehand to make sure I respected the sacred spaces of the cathedral while capturing the moments on the couple’s wish list.

If you don’t believe in miracles, then I don’t know what to call this: when we walked out of the cathedral following the wedding ceremony, the skies were bright and sunny! May I remind you that there was about a 90% chance of rain that afternoon?! Yet the weather cleared just in time for an urban bridal portrait session at a nearby parking garage (Bride Lucy’s dream…which the night before, I really thought wasn’t going to happen).

Classy urban wedding reception at Bynx Café, Orlando

Wrapping up Lucy + Alex’s urban bridal portraits in downtown Orlando, we headed to Bynx, a unique family-owned café in downtown Orlando for the wedding reception. The wedding reception at Bynx was truly special—honestly, one of the most laid-back and relaxed wedding receptions I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to a lot!). Bynx is a coffee shop, musical venue, private events space, and vintage boutique located in the heart of downtown Orlando. I certainly hope I’ll get to attend future wedding receptions at Bynx and will be highly recommending it to my clients! The design of this space is just the right blend of minimal and modern but with so many unique vintage details that truly make this space special.

At Lucy + Alex’s wedding reception, everyone was having a great time eating, drinking, sitting back, and relaxing while socializing with one another. The maid of honor gave a short and powerful speech sharing heartfelt moments of her relationship with Lucy; the best man gave a humorous anecdote of his longstanding friendship with groom Alex. The bride and groom shared a sweet first dance with one another, and from there the party continued as I wrapped up and headed home for the evening.

Congratulations to the classy, cool, and charming couple, Lucy + Alex!

Vendors:

Hi, we’re Author Made, a wedding photographer / videographer studio based in Orlando, FL specializing in wedding photography and videography packages for small, intimate, micro weddings and elopements throughout Central Florida. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer or wedding videographer near you who understands and values the unique needs of smaller-scale weddings (we had a small wedding, too), we’d love to have the honor of capturing your wedding day.

If you’re interested in capturing your wedding photography or videography with us, please contact us - we would love to help your special day be all it can be!

Michael Kuo
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