Published :: The Knot Magazine Boston, Spring/Summer 2012

Around this time of year all of the new wedding magazines are published to be snapped up by newly engaged couples. I remember being newly engaged and being so excited to buy a bunch of these magazines. Actually I bought them all in Logan airport before a 6 hour plane ride to LA for a conference. Paul had offered to drive me to the airport and had proposed on the way :)

Depending on the magazine there can be the occasional rogue article (you do NOT need a list of 500 pictures to give your photographer, - well, unless you have an inexperienced photographer who doesn't have a clue and you want them to miss all of the real moments) but for the most part there are usually lots of helpful hints and tips, good suggestions about planning and my favorite - the real weddings - I always loved reading about how couples met and seeing how they came up with the inspiration for their wedding.

So it was a lovely surprise to be contacted by The Knot Magazine to ask if I'd submit Arianne & Roger's beautiful wedding at Hamilton Hall in Salem, MA. Umm - OK :) This wedding was planned amazingly by Christina of CMD Event Design and was visually stunning!

The Knot Magazine team were kind enough to send over PDFs of the pages - you can check them out here but why not pick up a copy of the magazine youself? Fun fact - more of my images appear in an ad for a venue on P178 (yes Kristin & Zach, that's your wedding at the Essex Room!)





If you want to see more of Arianne & Roger's wedding you can check out my full blog post **here**

Happy Holidays 2011

I thought I'd take a moment out of my mammoth eating and drinking tour of the UK to wish everyone happy holidays!
Merry Christmas!
Happy Hannukah!
Merry Kwanzaa!
Season's Greetings!

I'm planning a review of 2011 in the next week or so but in the meantime I hope you're having a wonderful time with friends and family and that Santa brought you everything you wished for ;)

This photo was taken on my iPad as it was all I had to hand when Paul decided that the mantelpiece wasn't just for Christmas stockings and that mini-dachshunds worked just as well.

Intimate Winter Wedding at Simon Pearce, Quechee, VT :: Kathleen + Joel

Can you believe it's just two days until Christmas? Or as we'd say when we were little "It's Christmas Eve Eve!" And for checking in on the blog I have the gift of a truly epic post from Kathleen & Joel's winter wedding at Simon Pearce in Quechee, VT for you. Speaking of gifts Kathleen & Joel gave me possibly the best gift you could ever give a wedding photographer - they told me that they trusted me completely.

Stick with me whilst I explain quite how awesome this is. Obviously when you book a photographer you are saying that you want that person to document your wedding. Ideally you hire your photographer based on their portfolio and style but then occasionally those wedding magazines or blogs get to you and you start thinking about whether you need one of those "500 must have pictures" kind of lists.

I'm all for lists of things that I wouldn't necessarily be aware of - some examples from recent weddings:

- My brooch belonged to my great-grandmother

- The assisting priest is my cousin and he'll be saying a blessing at dinner

- My Mom handmade the basket for giftcards

Examples of lists/picture requests that aren't so great:

- 92 different family combination pictures to be taken in 15 minutes (because it's a physical impossibility to take so many pictures in such a short time)

- A picture of my parents looking lovingly at us during the ceremony (because the priest bans limits photography and videography to the back of the church and we're unable to see the parents)

- A picture of us with a dramatic sunset behind us (because it's a rainy day and the ceremony doesn't take place until after dark ;)

Anyway, Kathleen and Joel were all kinds of awesome with no silly lists, just a simple (and welcome) list of some family pictures they'd like to get and then Kathleen reiterated that they trusted me implicitly to document their day. Hoorah. Shall I stop rambling and just start posting pictures? Yup. Going to do that right now.

This was the sky at 6am when I left my house to head to Vermont:


And this is Kathleen enjoying a little coffee as a whole team of people work on her fabulous hair:


Beautiful rustic flowers:


More details and getting ready pictures. Kathleen's dress was just perfect and she informs me it was Claire Pettibone Bridal from Bella Bridal in Amesbury, MA





This image is in my top three of the day:


The restaurant at Simon Pearce is a beautiful venue for an intimate Vermont wedding.


Joel having his boutonniere pinned on by Stepmom Mimi:


You might be wondering what I was doing up in Vermont. I generally cover weddings from Boston up to Maine and everywhere in between. But Kathleen is the sister of Lauren whose wedding to Aladin I photographed last year and I love "sibling weddings", it's so awesome to see lots of familiar faces again. Here's honorary Miller sister Audrey and Lauren as Kathleen's bridesmaids:


Kathleen walked down the aisle to Joel to "Nothing Else Matters" a Metallica song by Apocalypta which if you're not familiar with is well worth listening to **here** (in fact, open it in a new window and then come back and read the rest of the blog post with it playing). The ceremony officiated by Aunt Beverly was short, incredibly personal (the first time I've heard Doctor Who referenced in the wedding vows!) and really moving:







Fun fact: this was a 11.11.11 wedding and after the wedding Kathleen and Joel wondered out loud what was happening at exactly 11.11am - thanks to the metadata in the camera I can report the picture of the ring exchange above was at 11.11.11 11:11am and 50 seconds :)

Happy newlyweds:


This was a beautifully intimate daytime wedding so it was time for mingling with friends and family and some apple cider along with surprise gifts of toasting glasses and the cutest little mice cake toppers from Lauren and Audrey:



NH maple syrup wedding favors:


Wedding party:



Time to sit down for a most delicious lunch and fun toasts. The Simon Pearce team were beyond fabulous and I enjoyed probably the best Vermont cheddar soup I've ever eaten in my life:


The original plan had been to take pictures on the covered bridge but Hurricane Irene had made her presence felt over the summer :(


Not to worry, after lunch we hopped into cars and headed to Woodstock, VT:


I feel this next picture is very "Kathleen and Joel" - one part goofy/geeky, one part silly and a whole lot of laughter.


A stop by the Woodstock Inn had us warm our toes by the fire and even a quick chess game ;)


A super short and unexpected snow flurry made for some fabulous winter wedding pictures:


Snowflakes in hair!


Every couple should laugh this much on their wedding day...



Bye bye Kathleen and Joel! Thank you to you both and your awesome families. I couldn't think of a better way to spend 11.11.11 than photographing your wedding day. I believe it was Steven Spielberg who said "The world would be a poorer place without Doctor Who." and in that vein I will say "My 2011 was made all the better by finishing the season with your wedding."


And here's the sky as I got back in my car to drive home from Vermont:

Turner Hill Wedding Photographer :: Best North Shore Wedding Venue :: Cathy + Brian (Part II)

Bon Soir. This evening we are mostly at Turner Hill Mansion & Golf Course in Ipswich, MA and in my opinion it's probably the best wedding venue on the north shore of Boston. We had a little block of time before the sun went down and the guests arrived for cocktail hour so it was time for couples portraits:



I like to take a low-ket role at this time of day but as Cathy was putting on a tiny bit more lipgloss I asked Brian how he felt as he was saying his wedding vows:


Turner Hill has the most BEAUTIFUL grounds. I could have shot here for hours:


A boat of shrimp? Yes please!


Why don't you sit for a while?


Cathy's beloved nephew with his new Uncle Brian:


I loved how Cathy and Brian took the beautiful space of the Turner Hill Mansion and made it their own including a Euchre room!


Guest favors of home-made fudge in beautiful gold-wrap boxes:


Cake and table pictures:


Then it was straight into the first dance as newlyweds for Cathy and Brian. These pictures kill me!




Excellent blessing and toasts:



Cathy celebrated her maiden name with these yummy soda bottles:


You'd like to see more? Sure! More Jones soda in all sorts of flavors and lot of delicious pastries and chocolate covered strawberries from Eat Cake in Newburyport:


C-zone music for the win! Packed dancefloor!


One last picture:


Cathy & Brian - I think I can safely saw yours was the wedding with the most emotion ever. Please keep going out for ice cream sundaes and being incredibly happy in one another's company! Thank you for choosing me as your wedding photographer - it was an honor and a pleasure! Leah

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