Griffin Photography Museum Wedding :: Winchester, MA :: Erin + Jeffrey (Part IIa)

Lovely client meeting last night and last minute shoot today means that I am in danger of breaking my blog post promise. So as a compromise I'll let you see more of the fabulous flags with the wedding party at Erin & Jeffrey's wedding at the Griffin Photography Museum in Winchester, MA. We're still at Sanborn House for these pictures.

The flags were just so cool. Job titles on one side and mustaches on the other. Double duty excellence:

Family pictures, beautiful pictures of the almost-newlyweds, the ceremony and much more coming soon...can you even bear it?

Griffin Photography Museum Wedding, Winchester, MA :: Erin + Jeffrey (Part II)

So I took a little blogging hiatus to catch up with the crazy amount of shooting I've been doing, galleries galore are uploading as we speak and I think it's time to get back to Erin & Jeffrey's wedding at the Griffin Photography Museum in Winchester, MA.

Last time we spoke I shared some of the getting ready pictures, the save the dates, the invitations, the shoes, oh the shoes **here** and I have many delights for you today followed with a tiny preview of their first look. Without further ado...

All of the brides/groomsmaids were given custom hoodies, tote bags, flags and the most beautiful necklaces:


Erin carefully folded her grandmother's handkerchief to wrap around her bouquet:


Bow tying, dress fastening and deodorant drying:


Erin's mom and sister helped with her jewelry. Loving Colleen's expression as she makes sure Erin's necklace is firmly clasped:


Colleen carefully secured the veil in her sister's hair:


And Erin's Mom had the following reaction seeing her daughter as a bride:


Erin & Jeffrey said that photography was very important to them (music to my ears). They did so many amazing things to make their wedding special whilst allowing time for photography that I thought I'd share

1. They chose to do a first look
Yes, I know I've written about this before but if you decide to see each other earlier in the day then

a) you get to share more of your day together without waiting until 6pm to see each other

b) you can spend more time with your closest friends and family

c) it won't take away from the emotion at your wedding ceremony. Believe me, I'd say about 50% of my wedding clients chose to do a first look and there are almost always tears at the ceremony even after they've seen each other

d) you can enjoy cocktail hour - mmmm, appetizers and champagne

e) you'll get epic pictures, what's not to love?!

2. They had a back up rain plan.
Trust me when I say that the last place you want to do your family pictures is "the photo room" at your venue. Your wedding coordinator may try to sell you on this - there are rare exceptions with beautiful light - but most of the time this will be a horrid dark room with a choice of a pink or green velour curtain. Ugh. Rain happens but a porch, a hotel reception area, a library is usually better than the dreaded "photo room".
On 10.10.10 the weather couldn't have been better but if it had rained we would have been all set as Erin & Jeffrey researched historic buildings in the area and managed to rent the grand estate of Sanborn House for a very reasonable fee for just two hours. What an excellent idea!

3. Flags - more on that later. Huzzah!

Oh, sorry, you're all "Shut up Leah! Where are the d*mn first look pictures?!!?"


So off we went to Sanborn House to get all of the lovely family portraits and wedding party pictures before the ceremony. As everyone headed inside, I was in full ninja photographer mode to take this picture. Erin & Jeffrey were completely unaware that I was hiding in a doorway inside the house whilst the talked outside on the porch and I love it:



I don't think these pictures need any captions:


And in case you have any doubt about just how awesomely cool Erin & Jeffrey are I have just two words for you: mustache flags:


I'll be back later with pictures of the wedding party and some relaxed family portraits followed by a healthy serving of one of the most personal wedding ceremonies I have seen in a while topped off with some excellent partying and wedding reception shenanigans...comments welcomed as always :)

Griffin Photography Museum Wedding, Winchester, MA :: Erin + Jeffrey (Part I)

10.10.10

A popular wedding date for many couples. I'm guessing mostly for the easy-to-remember anniversary date or the pleasing sound of the numerical repetition.

Erin & Jeffrey? Well, they chose it because of the binary nature of the date and how well it would fit with their elegant robot-themed-wedding. Because that's how they roll. If you'd like to see more of Erin & Jeffrey you can see their Spring engagement shoot**here** and a mini Winter Engagement Picture shoot **here**

When I first met with Erin & Jeffrey to discuss their wedding and they mentioned the robot theme I was intrigued but had no idea how they would be incorporated into the day. And to be honest I don't think I could have anticipated how brilliant and elegant a robot-themed-wedding could be!

Let's just say there is homemade. And then there is homemade by Erin (and maybe Jeffrey too). Without further ado let's get to the pictures...

Robot-themed save the date:


Because there are just SO many amazing wedding detail pictures to share I think this post will have to be split into two but I'll give you a little preview of the hair and makeup fun going on in Erin's room (make up by the excellent Natalie Lelless):


And the board games going on in Jeffrey's room:


Elegant invitation:


The favors were wrapped in simple white paper, tied with a ribbon and sealed with a binary number heart sticker. And inside the favors? What else but astronaut ice cream:


In keeping with the theme, I pilfered an apple from the display in the hotel lobby and decided it had a sort of planet feel for the wedding rings...


Erin was super organized and had everything ready for me to photograph when I arrived.
Handy checklist for future brides:
- Rings (so I don't have to ask you to remove them once you're married!)
- Copy of all wedding stationary
- Wedding favors
- Jewelery
- Shoes and Dress
- Any other meaningful items - notes, vows etc

Here we have Erin's necklace, the lucky sixpence to go in her shoe, another shot of the beautiful wedding rings and her grandmother's handkerchief:


And Erin's shoes. On a scale of 1 to 10 they're such an 11:


Look underneath and they just got promoted to a 12:


Wow - 17 preview pictures and Erin isn't even in her wedding dress. And you haven't seen the flags. Or the custom tote bags for the bridesmaids. Or the custom hoodies for the wedding party. or the flowers. Or the first look.

Well then, you'll just have to come back tomorrow for more details and getting ready pictures and then the first look and relaxed family pictures and wedding party portaits at Sanborn house in Winchester, MA.

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10.10.10 EKGs, pistachios, robots, the most amazing wedding and the importance of contingency plans

Full coverage of Erin & Jeffrey's amazing 10.10.10 wedding at the Griffin Photography Museum in Winchester, MA will start tomorrow and I can't wait to share the amazing details, the family and wedding party pictures at the historic Sanborn house, the beautiful wedding ceremony and all the fun of the wedding reception....

I want those blog posts to be purely about the wonderful wedding so today I'll fill you in on some of the behind-the scenes stuff that was happening as it's too crazy not to share...but feel free to skip this post and come back tomorrow ;)

Last week I was in the UK and Sweden and I'm usually a pro when it comes to beating jet lag. I was feeling out-of-sorts, barely sleeping, short of breath, like my heart was beating really fast and there was this sort of heavy feeling in my chest.

Full disclaimer: I do have some hypochondriac tendencies. A pain in my leg whilst flying? I start imagining a DVT - you get the idea.

As we landed back in Logan airport on Saturday I had convinced myself that I was at imminent risk of a heart attack, I was panicking at the thought of collapsing in the middle of Erin & Jeffrey's wedding on Sunday (see what I mean about the hypochondriac tendencies...) so Paul pulled off the highway to make a stop at Lawrence General Hospital.

The whole ER team were just lovely, they said I was absolutely right to be concerned and in no time at all ran a full set of blood work and an EKG:

And I'm as healthy as a horse - my EKG was perfect, cardiac enzymes great, electrolytes A-OK. Paul had patiently sat with me, got me tissues when I cried as they drew blood (did I mention my needle phobia?) and he laughingly shook his head as they discharged me saying "Well, I'm glad you're not dying of a heart attack too."

One of the questions that you should ask your wedding photographer is what would happen if they get so sick they can't shoot your wedding. Although I don't keep another photographer on call 24 hours a day, I have a number of contingency plans involving great photographer friends and contacts through photographers guilds and forums that would have rallied to cover for me in the absolute worst case.

But once I knew everything was OK I felt SO much better, I slept for 11 hours and woke up raring to go for my Sunday wedding.

I'll start at the beginning of the wedding tomorrow - all of the getting ready pictures and the stunning details tomorrow but just to prove I was firing on all cylinders here's just a couple of preview pictures that caught my eye as I've been downloading:

So Sunday was going swimmingly, I had been looking forward to Erin & Jeffrey's wedding for the longest time - I mean robot themed centerpieces? Hello!?


Around 8:15pm I sat down with the wonderful Julia Snider who was assisting/second shooting for me to grab a quick bite of dinner before the cake cutting. The food was DELICIOUS thanks to Green Olive Catering. I'd finished the tasty stuffed chicken and enjoyed a few forks of cous cous when I noticed a weird tingling feeling in my lips and tongue...

About twelve years ago I ate my first pistachio nut and noticed a sort of scratchy feeling in my throat so have always erred on the side of caution and avoided pistachios. About six years ago my allergy suspicions were confirmed when I ate a chocolate that contained pistachio and noticed the same kind of thing. Now luckily pistachios are pretty obvious in food - they're bright green and tend to be scattered on top as a feature so it's been easy to avoid them.

Had I been paying more attention on Sunday I probably should have read the menu:


Or actually looked at what I was eating. Silly Leah.

The above picture was taken by Julia who was an absolute superstar on Sunday. As soon as I'd confirmed with the chef that there were pistachios in the food, Julia hopped in my car returning in minutes with Benadryl from CVS. I took just one as I didn't want to get drowsy and off we went to shoot the toasts, cake cutting and parent dances (they'll follow later in the week).

Around 9:30pm Julia was scheduled to finish, she was planning on jumping on the train back to Cambridge, MA. It was around that time that I started having some trouble swallowing so took another Benadryl and Julia refused to leave.

I really can't say how amazing Julia was when she agreed to stay until I also finished and we came up with another contingency plan. If I held up both hands at her, it meant I was in serious trouble and she was to call 911 and explain about the pistachios. I explained where my extra memory cards were so she would stay to shoot last hour of dancing and then drive my car home. It's all in the planning :)

Luckily we didn't need to activate the contingency plan but as I drove back home around 11:30pm after dropping Julia home, it was getting harder to swallow and I could barely talk. I called my primary care doctor to ask if I should just take another Benadryl and go to sleep or if my airways would close over as I slept causing me to die in my sleep (hypochondriac alert again!), and he advised me to go straight to the ER.

So embarrassingly I was back in the ER just 24 hours after being discharged for the first time. Steroids and anti-histamines calmed all of the swelling and inflammation down and I now have epipens on hand, a prescription for 5 more days of steroids and an appointment scheduled with an allergist:


I won't be eating pistachio nuts again you'll be relieved to hear. I've been advised that the steroids might make me somewhat "wired" so I plan on some speedy editing so I can share with you the beautiful pictures of the wedding. And that's it for today. How was your weekend?

Nubble Light Wedding Elopement Ceremony :: Cape Neddick, ME :: Tess + Allen

Wait!!! Before you read any further did you miss Tess & Allen's wedding ceremony on the rocks at Sohier Park at Nubble Light? If so click **here** to catch up and then hurry back now!

The little town of York was lovely and quiet.


We took some pictures at the Atlantic:


And just outside the Atlantic we stumbled across a little display of pumpkins. One was beautifully carved with a W. We had no idea what this was for but it seemed marvelously portentous as "W" is the first letter of their new last name!


Tess and Allen were just so fun to hang out with, never mind photograph! I mentioned to Tess that I'd like to take a picture of them crossing the road and so she happily grabbed Allen's hand and skipped across the road. A number of times :)


Tess pointed wistfully at the carousel in the fairground but it was closed for the season; as we drove past my usually law-abiding husband pointed out that the gate was only tied with a tiny piece of white plastic and was the perfect height for Allen to lift Tess over...


As the afternoon went on it got a little colder and darker and windier but Tess and Allen were like "sure, let's go on the beach! shall we take our shoes off and run out to the water?" Umm - hello could I wish for better clients!?!?


And if I've shown you their shoes, it seems only appropriate to show you their feet!


Right now, this might just be one of my all-time favorite pictures. I'd love to tell you that I posed them like this and told Tess to hop up perfectly on one foot but I'm not a super-posey kind of person. This is ALL just Tess and Allen:


We also made a stop at an old Maine stone church:


On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy do you think Tess and Allen are right now?


And that ladies and gentlemen is it for today. Coming up tomorrow are Kate & Chris getting married at the Old State House, then we'll have another break from weddings with Lindsay and Matt's engagement pictures and then it'll be time for my 10.10.10 wedding which you won't want to miss...

Oh go on then, one more picture. Tess & Allen - you have NO idea how happy I am that you stumbled across me and asked me to photograph your wedding. You are two of the sweetest people ever and I hope that these pictures bring the day back for you. Wishing you so much happiness together. Leah (and Paul)


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Nubble Lighthouse, Cape Neddick, ME :: Wedding Ceremony :: Tess + Allen

A light drizzle of rain fell on the windscreen of the Aston Martin as Paul and I drove up to Kennebunkport, ME for the wedding of Tess & Allen at Nubble Light.

Yes - you read that correctly. Paul and I drove to a wedding together and Paul took some pictures.

No - we will not be the next Jasmine Star and JD married photographer team :)

Paul has no desire to get involved in the wedding industry and that's why I hire qualified second-shooters. However when I explained that Tess and Allen were flying in from Pennsylvania to get married on the rocks at Nubble Light and they needed two witnesses and a way to get Tess to the ceremony he said "Hey, I'll come and drive the bride in the Aston Martin." We'd just finished dinner and may have had a couple of glasses of wine so I was a little skeptical that he's actually do it but he was perfect company for the day.

More on that later because let's be honest, you're here for the wonder that is the wedding of Tess & Allen at Nubble Light.

I arrived at the Captain Lord Mansion in Kennebunkport, ME to take some detail pictures and Tess getting ready. It can be difficult to find hair and make up on a Sunday when it's just for one person and although the super-awesome Joanne from Joya Beauty was already booked, she still took the time to find someone to help Tess. And the amazing Maura Gagne (mauragagne@gmail.com) from Samba Salon (Phone 603 766 2460) in Portsmouth, NH did a phenomenal job!

This beautiful little locket belonged to Tess's grandmother and was her "something old":


The Captain Lord Mansion Oriental Room was perfect for getting ready, and I couldn't resist hanging Tess's dress from the ornate four poster bed. I think Tess was channeling old Hollywood here:


A wedding isn't a wedding without rings:


Tess's beautiful satin shoes:


I drove ahead with Allen to Nubble Light and Sohier Park to meet with the fabulous Maureen Quirk who would be the Justice of the Peace conducting the wedding ceremony for Tess & Allen.

When I'm entrusted to document a wedding through photography it's a responsibility I don't take lightly, and when it's an elopement the responsibility is even greater as this is how friends and family will share in the wedding. I hope these pictures show the love and tears and wonder and smiles :)


And happiness:


So when you have only the bride and groom to photograph having a second shooter is kind of overkill so I figured I'd give Paul my back-up back-up camera and see what award-winning images he came up with. He may kill me for posting this but check out my multi-tasking photographer-bouquet-holding husband as this will be the first and last time he appears at one of my weddings:


Tess & Allen, by the power invested in me by the state of my blog, I now pronounce you man and wife and you may kiss your bride:


As it was such a cold and windy day, Sohier Park was pretty quiet but there was a smattering of tourists who quietly watched the ceremony breaking out in claps and cheers and honking their car horns. Tess and Allen waved back. And the picture on the right is one of my favorites:


Happy Newlyweds:

Okey dokey, I'm at the limit of images for this blog post...

After the ceremony I had the distinct honor of following Tess & Allen around York, ME for an hour or so to take more pictures.

I think most photographers are slightly insecure at heart; I constantly try to challenge myself to get that heart-stopping or remarkable images and always think that I could have done better.

I'm telling you this as Tess & Allen's wedding was the perfect storm of:

- a couple so in love

- soft Maine light

- no timeline or schedule

- beaches and rocks and old stone churches

as Paul drove me home after a celebratory drink with Tess and Allen, I looked at the pictures on the back of the camera and declared "these are so good I almost want to cry". The next blog post is already written so leave a comment below and I'll post it early...

Wayside Inn, Sudbury, MA :: Engagement Pictures :: Jennifer + Wiktor

A few weeks ago I met up with Jennifer & Wiktor at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA to take their engagement pictures.


The Wayside Inn is the venue where Jennifer and Wiktor will be having their winter wedding next month and it's a photographer's dream of gardens, woods, grist mills and ponds:


"But wait!" I'm sure you're saying, "How did Jennifer and Wiktor meet?" Here are pictures of them talking through the story:


Well, seeing as you asked so nicely...Jennifer and Wiktor both happened to be at a party in Washington, DC on the very night that Barack Obama became the forty-fourth President of the United States.

Jen was telling a friend that she only wanted to date older guys. So Wiktor told Jen he was 48 years old. He's not ;)


Fast forward to Jen and Wiktor getting along like a house on fire and dating.


Then fast forward again to Wiktor spending a LOT of time in jewelry stores looking for the PERFECT engagement ring. He finally finds the one and arranges for it to be shipped to him in Washington as soon as it's ready.

Wiktor and Jen have a weekend planned together in Miami in February. Everything is coming together, Wiktor books flights, makes dinner reservations, there's just one issue. There is a huge snowstorm in Washington and the fedex package with Jen's ring can't be found and will likely arrive a day or two late.

Wiktor speaks to a wonderful customer service representative who can't resist the romance of the story; she personally finds the ring, gets it to Wiktor on time so he can ask Jennifer to be his wife. Jennifer says yes. Phew.

And here's the old grist mill I promised you:


As part of the wedding package offered by the Wayside Inn there will be a horse and carriage and I'm hoping we can clippety clop back to the mill for wedding pictures if the weather/schedule permits:


Jennifer and Wiktor are very fun to hang out with and they are also incredibly easy to photograph:


I've been challenging myself to see things differently so I shot this dancing picture through a small gap in the wooden fence. I rather like it. You?


It was a little too early for the leaves to have changed but you can't have fall engagement pictures without a little flash of orange foliage. Add in some laughter and it's even better:


Just next month, Jen & Wiktor will have their wedding ceremony at the Mary Martha Chapel and then their wedding reception at the Wayside Inn. It promises to be a supremely personal event with the focus on celebrating with family and fun cultural involvement like the Polish vodka ceremony which I am most intrigued by....

Coming soon to a blog near you (probably Wed & Thur) Tess & Allen's beautiful wedding ceremony at Nubble Light in Maine and Kate & Chris's fabulous wedding at the Old State House in Boston...