hamptonBRIDE’s A Toast to Summer at EHP Resort

hamptonBRIDE hosted A Toast to Summer at EHP Resort and Marina in East Hampton, a cocktail party for the East End wedding community. Roughly a hundred and fifty wedding professionals from the Hamptons, Montauk, and the North Fork spent the evening on the property.

Heritage House photographed it.

The Setting

The evening ran on the Great Lawn and at the boathouse, Shagwong Boat Club, out on Three Mile Harbor.

hamptonBRIDE chose the Boathouse deliberately. It shows the room a side of EHP that is less familiar than the resort’s better known restaurant spaces. It worked. The Boathouse sits right on the water and it feels relaxed rather than staged, which is a difficult thing for a venue to be on purpose.

It was a perfect summer evening, the kind that does not need anything done to it. The sun set behind the water.

Then the band played and the light got challenging, which is the part of an evening like this that separates a working photographer from someone with a nice camera. A waterfront property after dark gives you very little for free.

What It Is Like to Photograph a Room of Photographers

An event for the wedding industry is a particular assignment.

Everyone there knows what you are doing. Many of them do it for a living. A number of them were there specifically to be seen. A vendor event is a working night for the people attending it, not only for the people hired to cover it.

That changes the job. The photographs have to serve the host, who needs a record of the night that looks like what it was. They also have to serve the guests. Those guests are vendors building their own businesses, and good images of themselves in that room are worth something.

So we worked the room the way we work a cocktail hour at a wedding. Move constantly, stay out of the way, and be close enough that nothing has to be staged for you.

Getting Images Into People’s Hands Fast

We shared photographs with vendors on the spot during the evening, and hamptonBRIDE had the full gallery the next day.

That is worth explaining rather than just stating. For an industry event, turnaround is part of the value of the photography. Images delivered while the event is still current let the host and the vendors share the work. The conversation around the night is still active then, and that is when sharing counts.

A recap published the following week lands differently than one published a month later. So on a job like this, speed is not a flourish. It is part of what the coverage is for.

What hamptonBRIDE Said

From their published feature on the evening:

“Stephen Mayo of Heritage House Photography absolutely hit it out of the park. He moved seamlessly throughout the evening, capturing the energy, people and details so beautifully, while even sharing photos with vendors on the spot. And by the very next day, the full gallery was in our hands.”

We quote it in full because it names the two things we were actually trying to do. Cover the room without disrupting it. Then get the work back before it stopped being useful.

Why We Take Work Like This

Two reasons, and neither is a secret.

The first is the community. Heritage House photographs weddings across Long Island and the East End. Many of the planners, venues, and designers shaping those weddings were together that evening. Being part of that room matters to us.

The second is the property. We had not worked at EHP before. An evening with a large crowd moving through a venue teaches you how the spaces actually behave. That is information we now have for any couple who asks about getting married there.

The Vendors

More than twenty vendors contributed to the evening. Cocktails, catering, entertainment, florals, and the experiential pieces that made the night what it was. hamptonBRIDE’s feature credits all of them, and it is worth reading for that alone.

Photographing at EHP Resort

Some people find this post while researching the venue rather than the event. If that is you, we wrote a separate guide to what EHP offers a wedding. The short version is that guests can stay on the property, so a celebration can run across a whole weekend without anyone driving between events. That is unusual on the East End.

About the Photographer

Stephen Mayo is the founder and lead photographer of Heritage House, a boutique wedding photography studio. We serve Long Island, New York City, Westchester, New Jersey, and the East End. Stephen is a member of Fearless Photographers, and his work has been featured in Sophisticated Weddings and hamptonBRIDE.

Planning an Event on the East End?

Heritage House photographs weddings primarily, and accepts a limited number of industry and brand events where our approach fits. For an evening like A Toast to Summer that means three things. Unobtrusive coverage, photographs shared while the event is still going on, and a complete gallery turned around fast.

If you are planning an event on the East End and want that kind of coverage, we would like to hear about it.

Contact Heritage House to start the conversation.