Love On The Mystic River

I met Leann and her bridesmaids at a beautiful rental house for prep photos and a touching moment when she read a letter from Josh, her groom.

Their daughter, Avery, was adorable. Just look at this face! "Cheese!"

They were married by the amazing Rev. Ron at the charming and historic Road Church in Stonington. They personalized their vows and had the entire assembly laughing.

Before and after the ceremony, I took the wedding party around the Mystic Seaport for posed photos. It's my second time this year shooting in the park, and it's such an amazingly fun venue I hope I get to come back soon.

The party kicked off with a karaoke cocktail hour, which was a blast, MC'd by Stephanie Stardust of Royal Beats DJs. I won't say it was the most talented live music I've seen at a wedding, but it might have been the most fun. Leann and Josh did do an excellent rendition of Wagon Wheel.

Inside, the reception was simple but fun - good food, good music, and lots and lots of dancing.

At the end of the night, a sparkler sendoff before the couple took off in a golf cart with a "Just Married" sign and trailing strings of cans.

Congratulations, Leann and Josh!

From Texas With Love

Kara and Max were one of my rare couples that I don't meet before the wedding day, on account of them living in Texas.  No trouble, though. We all met up at Lighthouse Point Park for the big day.

Unfortunately, the weather was a little rainy, pretty cold, and very, very windy, so the planned beach wedding had to be switched for an indoor ceremony. It ended up being an amazing backdrop, though, and the ceremony was great.

Kara and Max are made of stern stuff, so they were up for a quick trip outside to grab a few photos on the beach. If nature wants to give you drama, you might as well make use of it!

The rest of the night was a great party with excellent food, live music, and rides on a carousel.

Plus late-night popcorn, which gave me the chance to catch this picture that makes me giggle.

Congratulations, Kara and Max!

Do What Makes You Happy

Nicole and Joe held their wedding at the North House in Avon. I met the girls there, while my second shooter Jeff met them across the street.

Nicole threw everyone for a curve when she changed her dress at the last minute, deciding to wear her evening "party" dress for the ceremony too. It was a great choice - she looked absolutely stunning!

We got incredibly lucky with the weather - after two weeks of cold, wet weather, their day was perfect. The ceremony was held out on the patio, with lovely fall foliage as a backdrop.

I couldn't help but use the natural beauty for their ring photo as well.

Inside, we had the usual compliment of first dances, speeches, delicious food (and a stunning Venetian table that gave me a stomach-ache...), and family and friends enjoy their time together.

Oh, and dancing, obviously. Always dancing.

Congratulations Nicole and Joe!

Love Without Borders

I first met Paulina and Cristhian at my windy wedding last November, where he was teaching the bar tender to make caipirinhas. (Incidentally, this detail has stuck with me because caipirinhas are one of my dad's favorite drinks.)

We reconnected this past summer at Elizabeth Park in West Hartford for their engagement photos.

They're an amazing couple. He's from Ecuador, and she's from Poland. 

As part of their portraits, they wanted to recreate the proposal...

...which got cheers of applause from the crowds around us! It was a lot of fun.

Congratulations, Paulina and Cristhian!

Doubleheader Pt. II - At The Mansion

For the second time this weekend, rain on a wedding day. But no worries, because the Tarrywile Mansion may have the best "back-up room" I've ever seen.

Actually, the entire place is stunning. Marylou and Kevin put together an amazing day too, starting with the bridal party getting ready in the suites upstairs.

They opted for a first look, but wanted it to be something more than the standard "bride walking up behind the groom". We found a spot where they could talk before seeing each other - Marylou's reaction when she caught just a glimpse of his tie around the corner was amazing.  It only got better when they turned the corner.

The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was intimate and fun.

Marylou and Kevin braved the cold (as did a few of her devoted bridesmaids) for some posed photos.

And, of course, there was time for lots of dancing. Exciting, energetic dancing.

It was an amazing night. Congratulations Marylou and Kevin!

(I had a busy weekend - this is part 2. You can see the other part here. Or, you can check out Marylou and Kevin's engagement shoot... in Boston!)

Doubleheader Pt. I - In The Lodge

When I met Jillian for her prep photos Friday morning, one thing was on everyone's mind: the weather. Thickly overcast, it had been threatening rain all morning and looked likely to get worse.

You'd have been hard pressed to tell, though - the girls were having a ball.

We made it to the Lodge at Maneeley's in time to mostly beat the rain, but there was no doubt about it - we'd have to be inside. It was the backup plan but it worked out beautifully.

Right after the ceremony, we got a well-timed little break in the rain so we could sneak out for quick posed photos...

...assisted by a golf cart ride.

The reception was amazing: loads of music, dancing, and great food.

And we rounded off the night with a stunning photo in the rain. Sometimes things just work out.

Congratulations, Jillian and Kevin!

(I had a busy weekend - this is part 1 of 2. You can see the other part here. Or, you can check out their engagement, which also required some last minute improvisation.)

A Quick Note on Smugmug

Recently, a major online photo hosting site, Picturelife, went through some troubles and ultimately collapsed. 200 million photos, everything from trip snapshots to baby photos uploaded by their users and often not existing anywhere else, were at risk of disappearing forever. 

Smugmug, the company that hosts the online galleries I give out to all my clients, stepped up and, free of charge, rescued the entire catalog and made it available for Picturelife's customers to download.

Smugmug will probably get some new customers, but ultimately this is a losing proposition. They're just doing it because it's the right thing to do.

In a way, my Smugmug galleries are the same thing - I always lose money on them, because I don't force people to purchase prints there. But it's fine - it's a tiny cost, and I feel like in today's age having a private gallery is essential. So it makes me really happy to see that Smugmug is running their business the same way I try to run mine.

So happy, in fact, I want to do something nice for them. Good deeds should be rewarded, right? So I've made a coupon, good on all my client's galleries through October 15th, 2016, where you can get any print you want at cost. I wont make a cent, but Smugmug will. I think they deserve it.

Use coupon code "SMHero" to get the discount.

They also just added photo cases for iPhone and Samsung S7, which are pretty awesome. Hint hint.

A Weekend Worth Waiting For

I've been... busy. Weddings, yearbook photos, meetings, calls. I was out of town, living from my suitcase for the entire week before Trish and Ryan's wedding. I even got myself a hotel room the night before the wedding, to save a couple hours driving. 

So I hope you'll understand if I say I went in with a workmanlike, nose-to-the-grindstone attitude. Show up, do my job, go home. Sometimes that's how it goes.

That attitude lasted about ten minutes with the girls. Grooving to Beyoncé, cracking jokes - Trish had to be told, repeatedly, by her make-up artist to quit smiling so much.

Ten minutes in and this wedding wasn't work, it was a vacation.

"Quit smiling so much" was the refrain of the day. Trish and Ryan are one of those electric couples who can't seem to be in the same room without smiling. All through their ceremony I couldn't escape the feeling that they were alone up there in a world of their own.

Following the ceremony, we headed to the New Haven Lawn Club for posed photos and the reception.

As you'd expect, posed photos were a lot of fun, especially when it got down to just the couple, the videographer, and myself. Trish and Ryan didn't need a lot of encouragement to try fun stuff, and the Lawn Club made for a beautiful backdrop.

The reception was a blast - a cocktail hour full of good drinks and good food (those scallops!), and a reception that was low on formal events but full of amazing music from the live funk band, energetic dancing, and donuts and late-night sliders.

It was an amazing day, where everything seemed to come together just perfectly. 

Congratulations, Trish and Ryan! It was such a pleasure getting to work with you two.