Erin and David || Cape Cod, Massachusetts

In between all of the weddings this season, I had a chance to squeeze in an engagement session. I've been doing more and more of these it seems, and I really enjoy them for a lot of reasons. First of all, it gives me a chance to get to know my clients a little better, and also to see what works for them. Chronic blinker? Hate how you look from your left side? An engagement shoot is a great time to figure all of this out.
Also, I think it's nice to have some great pictures of the two of you looking how you look most of the time. Of course you're going to look fabulous on your wedding day, but chances are you don't walk around in a white dress and tux most weekends. It just captures a little more of your personality.

I met Erin and David down on the cape, which is where Erin grew up. Imagine having this right around the corner as a kid? Awesome. Her dad came along to as chief dog-sitter, so we could get some shots of them with Murphy, their ADORABLE lab puppy, and a some without.




Erin and David were good sports about the wind, it was pretty crazy!



Erin said this beach is usually pretty calm, it was the intense wind that was whipping up the ocean.  Makes for a pretty background though, don't you think??







This is David cracking up after getting an entire mouthful of sand blown into his mouth!







I had a blast with you guys - looking forward to your big day next year!

Melissa and Chris || Chatham Bars Inn || Chatham, Massachusetts

Ok - part three! I just had to share a few pictures from Chris and Melissa's "Bon Voyage Brunch". They had it at the lovely Chatham Bars Inn. This place is near & dear to me, because it is where I met my husband. He was a bartender....I was a waitress....the classic American love story. Not a bad place to work when you are killing time between college and the real world. And by the way - today is our 7 year wedding anniversary!





Check out all the cuties!!




I love how Melissa had the perfect white dress for each day!

Melissa and Chris || Wequassett Inn || Chatham, Massachusetts

Ok, here we are with part two!

Melissa got ready at the Wequassett Inn before the ceremony. l loved her shoes, hair, dress....everything!






Her dress is a Vera Wang, her favorite part (and mine) was the back, which you'll see later....



Do my eyes deceive me???? Really?? A blue sky? The ceremony was at the beautiful St. George Greek Orthodox Church.


We were early to the ceremony, and so we decided to do a few more pictures of the girls on the church grounds.


Of course, before we were done, Chris arrived. So, even though it was sunny, my rainbow umbrella got a little play hiding Melissa from Chris as she snuck back in the limo.



I swear I did not do this, although I thought about it!




So, the three little flower girls were absolute angels all weekend long, it was amazing. Quiet, adorable, not whining, which, as the mother of a three year old I can assure you is no small feat. So, it was especially amusing during the ceremony when they got a little over ambitious with the spreading out of flower petals. Flower girls gone wild!


Little angel.






After the ceremony we headed back to Wequassett Inn for more pictures and of course the amazing reception.







Melissa bought parasols for her bridesmaids....Kelly took this image and I just love it.


I had them spin them and I dragged the shutter a bit to capture the motion.




Kalson Pang was on hand to make sure everything was perfect, which of course it was. The tables looked beautiful with flowers from Patrice Milley.







This picture just cracks me up. Not intentionally posed.


Melissa and Chris had the best of both worlds for their reception - Sultans of Swing for dinner music and dancing, and John Loakimidis from
Salonica Boys for all of the Greek Music.






Could this little boy BE any cuter? Seriously.








The back of her dress - isn't it lovely? I shot this without any flash while they were listening to a toast from Chris' mom. She wrapped up the toast saying "Life is Good!", which is coincidentally who Melissa works for.



Congratulations you two!!! And a few more on the way for part three!

Melissa and Chris || Chatham Wayside Inn || Chatham, Massachusetts

So, this is part one of three of Melissa & Chris' three-day celebration on Cape Cod. Chris' family is from Greece, and they had a lot of people who came over for the wedding, so they wanted to be sure that they captured every moment of the weekend! They started with a clambake style rehearsal dinner at Chatham Wayside Inn.







For bridesmaid gifts, Melissa bought each one a unique vintage purse.


Not only that, she filled them all with goodies from Anthropologie and other stores....mini-perfume, sparkly hair things and more!


Melissa with her three nieces who were the flower girls - adorable.




Much more to come!!

Catherine & Kevin || Willowbend Country Club || North Falmouth, MA

Catherine and Kevin had a great day for their wedding on the Cape, even if there were a FEW raindrops.....

Catherine's mother's friend custom made her gown that fit her like a glove...



I love this series of her mom helping her with her veil - definitely the classic "wow, this is really happening!" moment...









Flowers by Art of Flowers...




Kevin getting a look at his bride for the first time -






So, I was trying to get a shot of the groomsmen's shoes because I thought they were interesting, and then a few troublemakers started hiking up their pants!



The bride's family gives a number to each new member, and Kevin was lucky number #99. They made team pins for everyone! (Thanks to Kathryn, a 2006 client of mine, for being my model!)



We went down to the beach for a few pictures, who need sun??







The bridal party had a trolley to take them to reception, driven by Tes of Trolleys by Tes. She was very accomodating, allowing us some extra time to make our stops. Thanks Tes!



We make it to the beautiful Willowbend Country Club, and it starts to rain!! It was definitely disappointing because they have some amazing grounds, but it did give me a chance to whip out my new rainbow umbrella!



The guests were perfectly happy inside the gorgeous ballroom.



Catherine did what I had planned on doing for my wedding but never got around to it....beaches for table names.


This is how the bridal party made their entrance - love it!








I walked into the ballroom and saw a friend of mine from junior high playing the saxophone - so random!




The groomsmen's ties were Vineyard Vines. It took me awhile to clue in that they were covered in tiny Cape Cods!



Ok, this guy was Trouble. (get it, with a capital T?)



The crew from Bentley...





The Marsels got everyone on the dance floor all night.



I mostly took this picture because I thought it looked like a really cool present!




Congratulations Catherine and Kevin!!!

a little relaxing on cape cod....

We had some time to go down the cape recently, and had gorgeous weather. I also had Arnold's, Sundae School ice cream, and Villa Pizza, so how could that be a bad trip???




So, one of my MOST challenging subjects is my daughter Lee. I think she's beautiful, but she tends to make these wacky faces that make it difficult to get a traditionally great picture of her....here's a few examples....




Anyway, I stick with it long enough, and I'm able to get something...



Jonah on the other hand.....the camera loves him.


We went out to Coast Guard Beach in the evening (much less crowded, and very pretty light!). Stephen and Jonah checked out the surfers. Stephen used to own the Pump House in Orleans, and is hoping that Lee & Jonah will be surfing with him soon!






I can't wait to get back down to the cape this weekend to shoot Catherine & Kevin's wedding at Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee. Their family is so fun, and not only will there be past clients there, but clients from this coming summer, as well!

caroline and eric - lighthouse inn, west dennis, ma

So, Caroline and Eric did not exactly have the most cooperative weather for their wedding day, but it certainly didn't make it any less joyful or special, and I'm really not just saying that...
Everything took place at the Lighthouse Inn in Dennis.




Her mom seeing her in her dress for the first time....




Caroline & her dad..


Caroline and Eric saw each other before the ceremony to take some pictures - no peeking!










Making their way over to the ceremony!


Caroline and the sweetie that she nannies...


Who incidentally smudged her dress, but no worries! Kelly was Johnny-on-the-spot (ha! literally!) with the Tide stick she had bought the day before.


Ta da!






It's like a movie kiss.....










Serenading the guests...




Nice snap back from a dip!




Lobster, anyone?










Congratulations....can't wait for you to see the rest!!!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #18

Next up is Adrianne, she had a super-fun day with absolutely amazing weather.

"Top 10 Fabulous Things about Adrianne & Jeremy's wedding day:

10. A 75 degree, sunny beautiful August Saturday! I had fears of 95 degrees.

9. Not speaking to each other the morning of our wedding. It made the moment of seeing each other at the church all the more special.

8. Having our families and friends involved and around us to celebrate our marriage. There's nothing better than that.

7. Having a wedding day that had our stamp on it- from the Red Sox jerseys, to our first dance to Jimmy Buffett, and our last to Motley Crue. The day had "Adrianne & Jeremy" written all over it.


6. Taking a boat to our reception! We were definitely rockstars.


5. Having the greatest DJ ever! The ceiling on the first floor of the restaurant was shaking all night long.


4. Having each part of our day- the ceremony and the reception- happen in our respective hometowns. The ceremony was in mine & the reception in Jeremy's.

3. Having the best photographer we could imagine!!!

2. Our "moment" as we left the church- the piece of advice to take a moment to ourselves was one of the best we received among all that advice.


1. The end of the evening & knowing that it was really just the beginning."


Thanks Adrianne! They had Greg Hodges as their DJ and he was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

a party planner has a party!

So, Emily works for Party by Design, so of course her day was extremely well-planned out and filled with exquisite details! I absolutely loved her slippers that she brought to change into when her heels got to be a little too much!

David sent her flowers that morning, which I just think is so sweet.

Her flowers were done by Artistic Blossoms. They were so excited about these bouquets that they called me when I was on the way there to ask for pictures.


The groomsmen formed a human sheild when Emily was getting out of the car.

In the back of the church they had closed circuit television so they can see when everyone's ready to go!


The ceremony was at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee.

We had time to stop at a few different spots for pictures on the way to the reception in Plymouth.






The reception was at the Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth. The room looked beautiful.

Emily made these little gift packs for their younger guests.



There was a little New York vs. Boston rivalry among the guests......one of David's relatives took over the microphone and led the New Yorkers in song.......(New York, New York, of course...)

A gift to try and convince David to be a Red Sox fan.......




Congratulations Emily and David - can't wait to show you the rest!