Boston Engagement Pictures in the North End :: Gabi + Albert

When a couple hires me as their wedding photographer, it's always an honor to be trusted with the big responsibility of documenting their day. When one half of the couple has managed huge weddings and events, chaired various wedding industry groups and met/worked with probably half of the photographers in Boston and then hires me, well, I'm almost blushing!

I first met Gabi maybe 6 or 7 years ago when she managed all of the weddings at The Colonnade Hotel (one of my favorite wedding venues in Boston), over the years I've joked "When you get married, you'd better call me!?" and so I was delighted to hear that she was engaged to Albert AND they wanted me to be their photographer! We met at the Bristol Lounge in the Four Seasons for a pre-shoot beverage. I have a strict "no drinking for Leah" rule at your wedding but we can break the rules a little for an engagement shoot! 

Albert first met Gabi when a mutual friend Catherine insisted they just had to meet. The first date flew by with great conversation, so much in common and led to a second date and since then Gabi and Albert have been pretty much inseparable.


A romantic proposal in Rhode Island was next and Gabi said yes!


It was a rather chilly day but we had a little wander around the Public Gardens to catch the last of the fall foliage before making our way over to the North End where Gabi & Albert used to spend a lot of time.


I realized it's time for me to get a new winter hat! #hatcrush.


 Gabi & Albert will be married at the Boston Harbor Hotel next year (you can just see the iconic arch in the background) and I can't wait to be their photographer! I hope you like these few favorites! 

Next up: Claire & Kevin's Wychmere wedding, Meaghan & Christian's Red Lion Inn wedding, Stephanie & Rob's Rosecliff wedding and more....

Beacon Hill Engagement Pictures :: Laura + Charles

Is it me or does it feel like summer is finally on the way? Sunshine and warmer weather means it's time for wedding and engagement season to start!

I met up with Laura and Charles in Beacon Hill for engagement pictures before their June wedding at Glen Magna Farms. Laura and Charles used to live in Beacon Hill so we took a little nostalgic stroll through the historic Boston area.


Laura and Charles met when they were both at the same law firm for the summer (along with their good friend Donny who'll actually marry them next month). A friendship slowly transitioned into a relationship after a first date at Fugakyu (a seriously good sushi restaurant in Chestnut Hill that you should totally check out if you haven't been).

After that summer, Laura and Charles had a period of long-distance romance with Laura finishing up school in Nashville and Charles sitting for the bar in Colorado.  As they explained, if you have to do long-distance, having Nashville and Colorado as your bases makes everything a lot more fun! 

Laura and Charles came back to make their home in Beacon Hill, enjoying summers on Nantucket and winters in Vermont. 

We totally lucked out with the weather and beautiful light, we could have probably spent the whole hour on Acorn Street (incidentally the most photographed street in Boston)

Work took Laura and Charles to Washington, DC but they knew they wanted to get married in New England and incorporate lots of Boston/Colorado small touches to their wedding plans. 

We finished up the afternoon in the Parish Cafe which was always a favorite with Laura and Charles due to their extensive selection of local and craft beers. Charles was mid-way to achieving his own beer mug but the challenge had to be postponed with the move to DC. The sacrifices we make for love :) 

Laura & Charlie - it was a pleasure to finally meet you both. Thank you for being so much fun to hang out with for the afternoon, I can't wait to be your Glen Magna Wedding Photographer! See you next month!

Boston Beacon Hill and Back Bay Engagement Pictures :: Clara + David

A couple of week ago I had an email from Clara explaining that her wedding to David was coming up in Wyoming but they'd like to take some engagement pictures in Boston:

Their first meeting was at work, Clara was supposed to convince David to take a job at the New York office of the company they were both working with. David decided that he was actually going to move to the San Francisco office so that was that.


The initial meeting was forgotten and a little time later their mutual friend insisted on setting them up. After the three of them went out for a night David confided in the friend,"Thats the kind of girl I want to be with!"

Luckily Clara agreed and they started dating.

On a recent trip to Wyoming - a favorite place of Clara's - David surprised Clara on a hike by asking her to marry him.

Clara said yes and they'll be married later this month! 


I had such a lovely afternoon evening wandering around the Back Bay and the Public Gardens with Clara and David who were supremely easy to photograph as well as being excellent company. 

We even found the time for a chilled beverage:

Clara and David - I'm so happy you got in touch for some last minute engagement pictures in the city which is currently your home! My very best wishes for your wedding! Wishing you both (and Hank the dog) a wonderful life together! 

Boston Engagement Pictures :: Sara + Jason

I remember getting the first email from Sara about her 2014 wedding to Jason which had all sorts of interesting and hilarious information about their plans including:
"One of our best friends and mentors is officiating. Our 14 pound Boston Terrier named Uncle June will be involved. Also, Jason and I are both guaranteed criers."

I am a big fan of dogs with more than one name so I knew I had to shoot this one :) A couple of weeks ago I met up with Sara and Jason on a dull and overcast afternoon at Aquitaine in Dedham.

Our session didn't exactly go to plan. We were supposed to have a quick drink and then head out to shoot. The quick drink accidentally turned into a bottle of wine and oysters and truffled fries while Sara and Jason told me all about the proposal in Paris.

On a previous visit they'd written their names on a lock and thrown the key into the Seine. Jason had big plans to take Sara back to the bridge, find their lock and ask her to be his wife. Jason involved Sara's grandparents who convinced Sara to spend Christmas in Paris. Jason went by to check the lock was still there and miraculously it was one of the few that had survived the cull by the French government. However, as it was December there was torrential rain every day making a trip to the bridge unlikely and so Jason put Plan B into action.

Sara & Jason checked in to one of their favorite little places with the most fabulous breakfasts and made dinner reservations. And then food poisoning struck and Sara & Jason were trapped in their room like sick little bunnies in their bathrobes. Jason decided enough was enough and he was just going to ask. Sara had always had a thing about "for the whole time" so if there was any random talk of future events she'd shrug and say "Well, no one's talked to me about for the whole time yet..." so Jason said "What if someone did want to talk to you about the whole time..?"

See - how could you miss a story like that? Not to mention the story about Jason's poor deceased cat and his urn of ashes. It suddenly occurred to me that we really needed to take some pictures.  It was about to get dark, I had a parking lot as my backdrop and it was raining pretty heavily but see what you can do with a small plant:

We went to Sara & Jason's house to meet Uncle June the dog and Lion the cat.

I can't decide if Uncle June was less than impressed with the PDA or keeping a watchful eye out for intruders

Uncle June had heard that kissing sometimes happens at an engagement shoot so he tried to get in on the action

For some reason I thought it would be kind of amusing to see if the animals would sit in the bookshelf

Sara and Jason whipped up a batch of cocktails...

...while June did his best "Bunny in PJs" impression and introduced me to his friend Hippo

I was a little concerned that we'd spent much of the session talking and I had more pictures of Uncle June than Sara and Jason. I had plans to be in Boston the following evening so we squeezed in a mini night session. This was a temporary art installation - the Lucy Light Forest - and it was only around for a week. I'd kind of like to buy this and install it in my yard...

The incoming storm made for dramatic skies, thanks to Daniel for holding my lights!

And one last one

Sara & Jason - I think it goes without saying that I literally can't wait for your wedding at Castle Hill Inn next summer. I can't wait to see Uncle June's wedding bow tie. Most importantly, I can't wait for you two to make it official that you're in it for the whole time.

Beacon Hill Engagement Pictures :: Amara + Chris

I have a beautiful set of Boston engagement pictures for you today!

Amara and Chris initially met when they were both at school - they were part of the same dance group. I'll be completely honest here - as soon as I heard the words "dance group" my head started spinning with first dance anticipation (Chris and Amara can actually do "the lift"!!!). In my Top Ten movie list Dirty Dancing is currently tied at #1 and Crazy Stupid Love takes spot #9 so you can only imagine how excited I am for this wedding. Not to mention Amara and Chris are ridiculously easy to photograph.

The day started out with horrific thick fog, Amara and Chris was super flexible and happily moved to the gardens and Beacon Hill (we'd initially planned the waterfront but you couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you!). As the morning went on the weather actually got pretty great!

I love engagement sessions as I get to know each couple a little better before their wedding. Amara and Chris are planning an elegant wedding at the beautiful Wellesley Country Club next summer so we took a number of elegant engagement portraits. Amara and Chris also have a goofy side so I encouraged them to show me their silly sides too!

A quick outfit change (handy tip - if you plan on changing outfits for your pictures it's best to leave your clothes hanging in the car or tip generously and a local hotel bellman will usually be happy to hold them for you - you don't want to drag around clothing bags!) and we headed to Beacon Hill. Acorn Street is officially the most photographed street in Boston. As I took this shot I had maybe 50 tourists behind me, I'm guessing Amara and Chris will be appearing in people's vacation slideshows soon!

So anyways, back to dance group. Everyone was pretty friendly with each other and sometimes the whole group would go out. Chris admitted he always had his eye on Amara.

Chris decided to formally ask Amara out on a date. He thought they could start with a simple coffee date and they went to one of their now favorite coffee shops. Coffee turned into more dates into a relationship and finally a proposal! Amara knew Chris was still in Beijing on a work trip so when her friends invited her out for drinks she happily accepted. Little did she know that Chris had flown home a day earlier and was waiting for her on the rooftop of Beacon XV armed with an engagement ring and a proposal of marriage!

We had so much fun on this early morning shoot!

As this relationship started in a coffee shop it seemed only appropriate to end our shoot in a coffee shop. I left Amara and Chris happily sipping on coffee, eating pastries and laughing like usual!

Amara & Chris - thank you for being so much fun to hang out with! I have TONS more pictures for you to follow and I can't wait for August 2014 to come around! It'll be here before you know it.

Boston Engagement Pictures in Post Office Square :: Christine + Alex

Christine and Alex are getting married in two weeks!!! What?!?! Better share some engagement pictures with you! If you want to be the first to see some sneak peeks make sure you LIKE my facebook business page Leah Haydock Photography.

We met up last week on a sunny yet incredibly windy day. Christine and Alex met at work in the financial district and so we started there:

Alex was working at PSG when Christine arrived as a new employee.  Alex wanted to make his new colleague feel welcome so he stopped by her desk to say hi. And look how that turned out? :) 

We stopped by Post Office Square. Heads up - if you're planning to take pictures here you need to apply for a permit first.

There are all sorts of interesting buildings and waterfalls in the financial district, some with very friendly security guards ;)

With a quick outfit change we decided to walk over towards the harbor/waterfront area

I think I have 3 upcoming weddings at the Boston Harbor Hotel in the next 18 months. I love the iconic arch and flag:

One last one:

A shout out to Dani Wagener who made Christine look even more beautiful for our shoot. I cannot WAIT for the wedding at Wequassett Resort & Golf Club! Christine & Alex - I hope you like these - lots more in your gallery! See you soon!!!