Harlem Engagement Photos | Dayna and Ryan

Shooting Harlemites is at the top of my list of preferred projects. I suppose it's my love for the New Renaissance, or that I too, took my engagement pictures here in Harlem. When I shot my first Harlem Engagement Shoot nearly a year ago, I thought I'd never get another chance to document the beauty of this Harlem. Enter Dayna and Ryan. Referred to me by Brian, a muse for my Faces of Harlem project, we couldn't have been a better fit for one another.

Set to wed in Richmond, Virgina this coming June, Dayna and Ryan happened to be my neighbors. Naturally, we met up on a sunny Sunday afternoon and traipsed around our stomping grounds, on what felt like a walk with old friends. Stylish, chic couples make my job feel effortless as I got to know more about Dayna, who works in Fashion PR and Ryan, an Actor. As you'll see, they were both easy in front of the camera and perfectly paired for one another. 

Dayna and Ryan were in the market for engagement photos that captured their Harlem lives, as Dayna hails from Virginia and Ryan, from the Motor City. Having met at a mutual friend's dinner a couple years ago, they've endured a quite romantic path to the altar. After sharing their first kiss in a NYC cab, the couple wanted to relive that moment as the finale to their shoot. This, of course, came after a few quintessential stops including a portrait with their dog, Paco. Cutest. Couple. {and dog!} EVER! 

Congratulations Dayna and Ryan! 

 

Erika & Donald's Harlem Renaissance Wedding | Sneak Peak

You have got to remember Erika & Donald from their Vintage Harlem Engagement Shoot earlier this year. Yup, that amazing couple. Well I couldn't wait to publish some images from their wedding, shot at the illustrious Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN this past weekend. The pictures are ah-mazing and here's a little taste of what's to come. 


Congrats Erika & Donald!

Ilene Squires Photography Featured on Black Bridal Bliss!

Thanks to the viral effect of posting updates on my Facebook page, Bridgette Bartlett of the blog Black Bridal Bliss, otherwise known to the blogging community as Triple B, found Erika & Donald's Vintage Harlem Engagement shoot. She loved it so much, she decided to feature it here!

Vintage Harlem Engagement Shoot: Erika and Donald

Erika was researching Harlem photographers when she came across my website. Without knowing who I was, she then saw my own engagement pictures and immediately reached out to Jorge, who she had gone to college with. What a small world! Naturally, Jorge referred Erika back to me and it was a done deal. When she explained her concept about doing a Harlem Renaissance engagement shoot as a prelude to her upcoming wedding, I was over the moon. Vintage + Harlem?! Two of life's little treasures that inspire me to keep chasing my dreams as a photographer.

Donald and Erika will tie the knot on October 15th, in Memphis, her hometown. Both in medicine, they met by chance a few years ago at Vanderbilt's Homecoming Weekend, their beloved alma mater. Though Erika and Donald didn't know one another as students, they shared an undeniable attraction which has carried them through a long distance relationship (she's wrapping up her studies in Memphis and his medical practice is in South Jersey) and now, their journey to the altar. 

I met up with the lovely couple at the new, illustrious, Aloft Hotel, where they were spending the weekend. After a quick rendezvous in the hotel lobby, we proceeded on to the brownstone lined blocks of West Harlem. Later, we shot over to Lenox Avenue, where we took advantage of the landscape, and topped off the first round of their shoot in the historic Mt. Morris Park District. After a quick wardrobe change into an elegant pairing which channeled 1920's Harlem, we traveled to the Cotton Club. It's Spring, but it was freezing! So this last stop was a quick one but captured the essence of old Harlem, and the bride and groom to be. 

Erika and Donald, you are one handsome couple. Period. You epitomize beauty and brains and are so lucky in love, it made me want to get married all over again! I hope you revel in your images as much as I enjoyed shooting them. Congrats and love to you!

All images shot with my new Canon 50mm/ f 1.2