Newburyport Engagement Pictures in the Fall :: Beth + Frank

Meet Beth and Frank:


Beth and Frank went to the same school and the same church. Frank remembers exactly what Beth was wearing the first time he saw her. I asked him if he made some big move and he confessed that he may have sat a little closer to her ;)


Their wedding is next August in Rockport and we'll be doing a full engagement session in the spring but Beth and Frank needed a few pictures for save the dates so we added a mini session which basically consisted of wandering around Newburyport looking for some nice light:


Frank missed our initial meeting due to work so this was the first time I'd met him. It was an absolute pleasure to see him and Beth together, talking about their relationship over the years including time in Hawaii, the occasional break up and how one day Frank had a (very smart) epiphany that Beth was the one. Good job Frank :)


Giggling in the grass. Why not?


We timed it just right to take advantage of the twinkly lights galore in Newburyport:


It's OK, they're almost married ;)


Beth and Frank - I had so much fun chatting with you both and you were so easy to photograph! I hope you enjoyed the preview pictures and I'm looking forward to the spring shoot!

Newburyport Engagement Pictures in the Fall :: Lauren + David

Lauren and David live in Austin, TX but will be getting married in Maine next September and guess who'll be photographing their wedding? Yup - me! We talked over the phone plenty but the first time we met in person was to take these pictures and so there was the potential for a little awkwardness but I am happy to report there was zero awkwardness.

We started out down by the harbor:


And then found some cool tall grass in the boatyard. Lauren and Dave were laughing away:


I figured they seemed pretty comfortable with the whole engagement shoot lark and therefore it was time to make them lie down in some leaves. Lauren has spectacular sparkly eyes:


Dave - are you laughing at me or with me? :)


I liked the blue color of this door, it almost matches my blog:


Sometimes couples will ask me "how do we choose a location for our engagement pictures?" and I'll usually ask if there's a place with some special meaning to both of them or their home or a beach or park if they're outdoorsy kind of people.

For out-of-town wedding clients I'll suggest a bunch of different places and when I mentioned the harbor/downtown/New England feel of Newburyport Lauren and Dave happily agreed to meet me there.

Paul and I lived in NBPT for years before moving to NH and so I figured we'd take in some of the more famous sites like the Fowles sign:


We stopped by Oldies Marketplace which is a great way to while away a Sunday morning. Fabulous old estate/costume jewelry and other crazy stuff. Lobster trap anyone?


Lauren & Dave had been haring around Maine trying to find the perfect reception venue to compliment their wedding ceremony which will be held at one of the most beautiful churches in Kennebunkport - Saint Anne's Church and they commented on how many churches there are in New England so we made a quick stop at one:


It was getting pretty cold so we popped into the excellent bookstore in the Tannery:


I found a little bench tucked away under a porch and the light was just beautiful, how cute are these two!?!


I will admit to having some major boot envy going on here:


You're probably wondering how Lauren & Dave met aren't you?

Well, some people live together before they get married.

Lauren and Dave lived together before they even dated :) They were actually at school together and lived in the same large student house. One night they went out for dinner. Lauren says she wasn't sure if it was actually a date as they split the check but Dave assures me it was a date. And everything went from there.

Fast forward past much dating and graduation and other fun. Dave and Lauren went back to Michigan and spent an amazing day doing all of their favorite Ann Arbor things. And at the end of that perfect day Dave asked Lauren to marry him. Lauren said yes. Hurrah! September 2011 can't come soon enough!

I got the most lovely little note in the mail from Lauren after the shoot saying how much fun they'd had. Well, I think I might have had more fun! I hope you like the preview pictures - lots more to follow!

Newburyport Fall Engagement Pictures :: 10 pictures in 10 minutes :: Katy + Sean

When I book new wedding clients at this time of year they often want to wait until the Spring or Summer to do engagement pictures which I completely understand...but then the quandary arises about which pictures to use for a save the date card or for the custom wedding websites that I offer.

So "10 pictures in 10 minutes" was born. This is a complimentary service I provide to my wedding clients who need just a few pictures NOW! Essentially they have to pretty much fit in with my schedule and location but I've done about 4 of these sessions now and they're pretty fun.

Katy & Sean will have their wedding at Atkinson Country Club & Resort in Atkinson, NH next year (can I tell you how excited I am to shoot there? It's where Paul and I had our post-wedding reception, the whole team are amazing, the food is delicious AND it's only 15 minutes from my house). We'll shoot some pictures in the Spring for their guest signature album but they needed just a few pictures now so one Sunday morning a few weeks back we met up to take 10 pictures in 10 minutes (well maybe 20 minutes...we did stop for Starbucks):


Katy and Sean had mentioned that they didn't really want super posed pictures and so I told them just to hang out whilst I checked my camera settings. And then I took some pictures anyway. Oh I am so sneaky:


We went for a little walk along the Newburyport waterfront:


And even sat for a minute:


It was pretty chilly but Katy was a trooper plus she had on a super cute BR shirt that needed to be shown off:


And Sean kept her warm and smiling:


It seems kind of obligatory to have some leaves in fall engagement pictures ;)


I'll often leave some negative space in pictures when I know they'll be used as save the dates as it leaves room for text:


I got all excited when I spotted these tiny red berries - they felt very "fall" or even "Pottery Barn Holiday-ish":


In fact I liked them so much I took another picture:


Katy & Sean are actual real-life high-school sweethearts, they met when one of Sean's friends told him about "a girl who's just what you're looking for". Sean met Katy and boom! They dated through Sean's senior year and the first year that he was away in school and then like many high-school relationships they took a little break. Katy says that during that time she dated a few guys but was always looking for another Sean.

But there's only one Sean:


And wouldn't you know it - he missed Katy too:


And so after finishing school Sean called Katy up one day. Now they're engaged! Next July they'll get married. And then they'll live happily ever after. The End.

So that was actually 12 pictures in like 26 minutes but I've never been that good at math...

Fall Engagement Pictures :: Charlestown :: Boston, MA :: Rebecca + Duke

Just over 2 weeks ago I had the most AMAZING weekend. I photographed Alison & Matt's spectacular wedding at The Colonnade and then on Halloween morning I met up with Becky & Duke for their engagement pictures in Charlestown (oh, and I had a meeting with Caitlin & Peter and they booked me for their wedding next July - it doesn't get any better!)

Alison & Matt's pictures will be featured ALL though next week so today I'm squeezing in a little preview for Becky and Duke. And believe me when I say that regardless of your Thanksgiving turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing, next week I will have a veritable FEAST of wedding pictures for you right here!

Update over - on with the blog....

As a single guy you gotta have rules.

Duke was a single guy and he had rules. Plenty of them.

The most important rule: Just drinks on a first date.

Dinner can feel like too much of a commitment and it can get awkward if you run out of conversation. So just drinks on a first date.

Duke and Becky met at a friend's party. They'd all been to culinary school so it was a foodie type party with a pig roast. Nothing better in my opinion. In his own words, Duke was holding court and being a ham. Becky and Duke got chatting and Duke asked her to go out with him. Just for drinks of course.

On their first date Becky and Duke had drinks.

And then they had dinner.

Duke was breaking all the rules...

After dinner Becky suggested they walk across the street and get another drink together. And Duke realized that maybe his single guy rules were meant to be broken. And after the drinks there may have been some "kerbside makeout" which is my new favorite phrase.

So after much rule breaking and dating and relationship fun, Duke got down on one knee in City Sq in Charlestown and asked Becky to marry him. Becky said yes. And I'm guessing there was maybe some more kerbside makeout but I'm just too polite to ask about that.

I'm sure you're now mad for some pictures and who am I to disappoint...yes, Becky and Duke arrived with a GIANT pumpkin engraved with their initials. I hereby award the pumpkin the #1 Best Prop Ever award:


Who doesn't like to sit in the fall leaves on a Sunday morning?


I love a colorful little doorway so we hung out here for a while:




This was almost "monument makeout" but we scaled it back to "monument coziness":


I imagine life with Becky & Duke to involve an awful lot of laughing interspersed with lovely food and it sounds just perfect:


The leaves looked like they were on fire. And Duke continued to be a ham...


Although I did catch some of the sweet moments in between:


This was a sort of sunflare happy accident but I like it regardless:

Becky and Duke are getting married in January in the Winter Garden of the Seaport Hotel and then they're having their reception at Mistral. You wouldn't expect anything less from a pair of ex-culinary students.

I'll leave you with one last pumpkin shot:

Happy Friday! I have my last wedding of 2010 tomorrow, I can't believe another wedding season is over! Feel free to leave a comment below, you know they make me smile...