Festival Wedding | Mount Tremper, Catskills

Mount Tremper Arts Wedding

I originally met David Kiss on a remote beach in Thailand (which is funny because we both live in Brooklyn). It was there that we hatched the idea that I start photographing on the weekends at House of Yes when I returned to the city… and he just so happened to know the person in charge of giving me that gig, his girlfriend and now wife, Jacqui.

Besides scoring a new gig, there was another highlight of meeting David that emerged… a friendship with him and Jacqui. I’ve witnessed how their combined artistic and intellectual talents shine and thrive in the NYC arts and nightlife scene. But more importantly, I’ve been constantly inspired by how they create and maintain community and friendships with style and grace, all while rising to the top in their industries and on earth as good humans. It was truly an honor to be trusted to photograph the celebration of these two insanely creative and kind people. Below is bit about their wedding, in their own words.

“Our love story began at the intersection of music and community. So, when we set out to design a wedding that would feel most authentic to us, we felt drawn to the idea of a ‘Wedding Festival’. Both of us are seasoned nightlife professionals who work at House of Yes in Brooklyn and spend our summers camping and exploring the outdoors, and we knew that our chosen family & friends would be excited to help us make this dream a reality. 

This was actually our second wedding in the span of one week; the first wedding was a traditional Jewish ceremony designed to honor the wishes of our immediate families. On this weekend, we honored ourselves and our love for our community by creating a new set of rituals to mark the beginning of our union. We could think of no better setting for our Wedding Festival than the beautiful oasis that is Mount Tremper Arts in the Catskill Mountain region. We invited our friends to camp out on the property for 3 days, hike up to the top of the mountain to share in our nuptials, dance & play in the woods, climb on a pirate ship art car (brought by 2 of our guests), swim in the Esopus river, tell stories around the campfire at dusk, and stargaze together late at night. 

We have always felt like our love is deepened by our connection to community, and so we will forever cherish the three days we got to spend frolicking on a mountain with people who inspire us. Many of our guests contributed or volunteered in some way (our community takes the principle of ‘radical participation’ pretty seriously). We are overwhelmed with love for everyone who co-created this dream wedding with us. We are especially grateful to our parents; though they didn’t understand why we needed a second wedding, they made space for us to be our authentic selves and do it our way.”