Wilbur and his groomsmen… Wilbur made sure he didnt see Joann at all before the ceremony, so when her dad started walking her down the aisle , Wilbur became a little emotional…it was so sweet! The light during the ceremony was amazing…. I think nerves got the best of them and they had a little trouble with the rings…they couldn’t contain themselves from cracking up! 

Another one of my favorites… After the garden, we headed over to Elizabeth Parks Pond House.

And then the dancing started!  Wilbur is a former dance teacher, so you can only imagine the moves this by had…everyone he danced with looked like they were floating on air!

Congratulations Joann & Wilbur…and many, many hugs!

The couple lives in Miami, so their New England wedding was a perfect opportunity for them to catch up with friends and family during the celebration weekend!  When Terrance asked me to take a shot of him with his best friends, I thought, sure, no problem…5, maybe 6 guys, no worries.  Here is Terrence’s close crew, all 16 of them!

Terrence and a few of his groomsmen actually walked from their house to the ceremony, a few blocks away…all the neighbors came out to congratulate him and wish him well!

If you aren’t familiar with it, Stony Creek is a pretty cool area of CT.  Its a little nook in Branford that is right on Long Island Sound.  It overlooks a set of islands called the Thimble Islands. It has spectacular sunsets and pretty amazing views!

The house they were getting ready in had a hand made canvas painting of the islands, and I thought that might make a pretty cool ring shot!

Another to show off the beautiful rings!

Mary grew up going to Stony Creek during the summers and has fond memories of seeing the drum corps in parades, so they had them at the wedding to welcome people into the ceremony, how cool is that?!

The ceremony was beautiful, right on the water and you really could tell how much these two love each other!  Surrounded by a few hundred friends and family, it was as if they were the only two in that spot at that time, completely smitten with each other.

These 2 flower girls are nieces that came from England for the wedding, between their accents and their friendship bracelets and necklaces, they totally stole the show!

My little assistant for the day!

A few details from the day…

Congratulations Mary and Terrence!!  It was a beautiful day!

It was a hot day already, but they had no problem making it hot and steamy!

Meet Melissa and Rob..come on, can they get any cuter?!  Big shout out to Andi for catching the middle and right images!

I love this one of Melissa seeing herself as a bride in the mirror while her step-mom watches.  Look at the happiness on Melissa’s face!

Melissa’s dad walking her up the aisle to give her away….

And Rob’s emotional reaction to seeing his bride for the first time.

Their friends and family made up the bridal party.

After the ceremony, we took advantage of the Riverview’s grounds and got some formal shots.

I absolutely LOVED Melissa’s flowers, they were breath taking, as if they were made for a princess!   Perfect Princess Events completely nailed it!

Some details from their day, thank you Andi for getting some of theses awesome shots!

A little bouquet toss action…

The dancing was H-O-T Hot! I mean smoking Hot!  They danced all night long…there were some serious moves out on that dance floor!  We worked up a sweat just trying to keep up with them!

And they ended the night with a big smooch!

Congratulations Melissa and Rob and thank you so much for having us with you on your big day…we loves every second of it!

The best place to start with this post is the story of the people behind it.  John and Paige are very good friends of mine who would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.  I’ve know John since I was 16 and he is one of the most faithful friends I have ever had.  When he introduced me to the woman he  was going to spend the rest of his life with, I gained another best friend in Paige.   Seriously, these two are amazing and bring out the best in each other…they are the type of couple you cant wait to see and hang out with!  After dating for a bit, they moved away from their homes in CT and settled down in Virginia.  :0(

After getting married in 2003, they decided to start a family right away. Most people make that decision and are lucky enough to just have it happen naturally.  They were not one of the lucky ones with that.  They tried fertility drugs, IVF and endured so many heartaches along this painful process.  They never gave up hope and never thought a baby wouldnt be in the picture for them, they knew one way or another they would have their much wanted family.  They had so much to offer a child,  any child would be incredibly lucky and blessed to have them as parents.  With this desire, they put all their resources into pursuing adoption and started their own blog to document the journey.  What a journey they had, the logistics of adoption is not for the week willed or those who are impatient.  You basically have to take all you hopes and dreams and leave it up to committees of people who are strangers to decide your fate.  You cant wonder the “what ifs “or the “whens” without it making you a little crazy.  I cant begin to tell you how much I admire their silent strength in this process.

Here is an except from their blog in 2008:

“After 4 1/2 years of trying to start a family naturally and through IVF John and Paige have decided to bring a child in to their hearts and lives though the wonderful gift of Adoption.  Our journey to have a family started the day we got married September 20, 2003.  We had been together for 5 years when we got married and wanted to start having a family right away. Unfortunately it was that easy as we are amongst the “One in four couples in the US have to go through some sort of treatment to have a baby” and so after one year of naturally trying, though how natural can it get when you are taking your temperature and counting days, and well that’s enough our parents are reading this )  and 3 1/2 years of IVF treatments we have realized that Adoption is what we supposed to do.  It has been years of heartaches but it has only made us stronger and I truly believe that our child is out there waiting for us to bring him or her home.  So after a lot of soul searching and discussing the different options of adoption first domestic or international.  We choose international, then you have to decide from which country you would like to apply for and our choice is Korea, when we picture ourselves with an adopted child the child has always been of Asian decent.  And it just so happens that Paige’s sisters-in-law, sister is adopted from Korea.   Korea and Vietnam are the longest running programs in the US; at the time of our decision Vietnam was on hold and not accepting new applications.”    Please feel free to read their blog, they want to help anyone going through this process.  http://jnpsjourneytodoption.blogspot.com/

In June 2008, they put their  adoption application in the mail and waited, and waited and waited.  Fast forward though all the interviews, visits, paperwork, background checks and financial obligations,  they received word at 8:55 a.m., Friday, March 19th that they can travel to Seoul to pick-up their baby boy that have chosen to name Carter!!! On March 25th, they took custody of Carter and  started the process of bringing him home to VA.  He was coming home to so many people who loved him and hadnt even met him yet,  he is one lucky boy and John and Paige are truly blessed.

Last week, they came to CT for their first family visit and you know we were right there to meet the little man!  At 9 months old, he weighs a whooping 25lbs and is a happy little boy!  Does he have any idea how much his life just changed? Will he remember anyting from Korea?  Does he know how happy hes made so many people….. maybe not , but the love exuding from his family is proof positive this was meant to be.  So, after a long wait I can finally say…MEET CARTER!

Cater with John and Paige and his 2 little cousins.

Now, for my FAVORITE photo!  Paige’s maiden last name is Wild.  At her shower, she got the cutest little onsie that she couldnt wait to get Carter dressed in…he definitely works it!

Happy First Mothers Day to my Dixie and cCongratulations John & Paige…I love you guys!  xoxo

I want to share some images from the day, our model Anna put with with the freezing cold weather and totally rocked it!

Ms. Anna

Our location was the Train Museum in Danbury, and was such a cool place to shoot…..LOVED it!

Seriously…do you know too many people that can make a train look this hot?  I dont think so!

This is totally love this set up, it was all Eric!  He just climbed right up on the train, popped his flash there and bam there it is!

They brought me back to my vacations with my mom and dad at The Town Crier Motel on the Cape when I was little , they made me remember the 3 legged race I had with Kris Vetrano on my 8th birthday, they helped me to remember that my gram would alway wear a rain bonnet when it was “spitting” rain outside and helped me to recall what I wore and just how excited I was to go that Junior High dance and slow dance with a boy!  They brought me back to a time when things were simple, summers were long and fun and your best friend and your bike were all you needed.

My dad 1975

One photo, in particular, evoked such a reaction in me, it caught me by surprise. It was a picture I took of my dad when I was 5 years old. He’s on the pool slide at the motel we stayed at on the Cape every single year.     Instantly, I could smell the chlorine in the pool, how excited I was the very first time I jumped off the diving board, I could remember the 1970s decor of the rooms, remember the long days spent at Coast Guard Beach playing in the waves, remember eating at Arnolds and Freds Turkey House every year, remember the yearly day trips to P’Town and the running down those huge  sand dunes without a care in the world.  I was gifted all those memories from one simple photo.

That is why I love my job. I love to be able to provide people with that journey down memory lane.  My goal is not to be published, win awards or dominate the photography world. I just want to capture memories for people so 35 years down the road, they can pick up that photo and remember a wonderful time in their lives…..so they can go on the same journey I just did.

I am one lucky girl!

During their shoot, they were telling us about a room in the house that the old owners left “as is”. It has crazy wall paper and bright red carpet. When we went and checked it out, we couldnt believe our eyes….it looked like something straight out of the movie Moulin Rouge. Not great for a new homeowner, but a photographers dream!! Come on…wall to wall backdrop….there goes that moving in thought again!

Please enjoy meeting J & M and stay tuned for their wedding photos in April!

I love the look J has...mischievous!

Here’s the room I was telling ya’all about…pretty cool!

I loved the light  (and lighting) in the dining room so I had to grab this shot!

Time for a little one on one for the guest album:

M is so pretty and photogenic, cant wait for her wedding day!

Great way to end our shoot!

Thank You Andi, J& M!  Looking forward to a fun Spring wedding!  ???

Please enjoy this great start to a wonderful wedding season and please take a moment to leave a comment!

Their dog, Teddy was the best man!

Diane’s daughter , son-in-law and new baby grand daughter were the witnesses for the ceremony.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with him and his parents and capture some cute birthday boy photos!  Matty has a definite opinion of what he does an does not like…as most 2 year olds do. After trying puzzles, toys, blocks…the thing that put a smile on this little guys face was an episode of i-Carley! It cracks me up that at only 2, he is a little ladies man! How cute is that!!

Enjoy some images from our photo session.

I love his expression!