In early May we traveled to the DC area where we shot A.J. and Kim’s beautiful spring wedding. A.J. is an old friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in about 10 years. When he and Kim got engaged I was excited that they both loved our work so much that we were the first vendor they booked for their wedding. And we were so flattered that they had to have us and brought us from Maine to DC for the wedding!

A.J. and Kim have a great story — they actually dated back in high school and re-united many years later when Kim found A.J. and got back in touch. They went out for lunch which lasted late into the evening. The sparks were re-kindled and knew they were supposed to find their way back to each other all those years later. And on May 8 they were married at Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville (loved this venue so much!). They chose their wedding day because it was also A.J.’s beloved grandmother’s birthday and during the reception presented her with a special cupcake and everyone sang to her (she’s so cute, I loved shooting a few portraits of her). The whole day was beautiful and emotional for their family and friends (who were so kind to us) and we were happy to be there to document it AND it was our first wedding of 2010! Congrats A.J. and Kim!

Wedding season for us kicks off in just a few short weeks in Washington, DC! We are so excited to get back into the swing of things and 2010 weddings may give 2009 (which was such a great year) some serious competition. Before that we have some engagement shoots lined up too. I have been drooling over some of the venues we’ll be shooting at this year (historic mansions! farms!! castles!!!)… We do still have some dates open for 2010 so if you are newly engaged or maybe waited a bit to book a photographer please e-mail us to check on your date and get our rate info. We also do engagement sessions or after sessions (also known as Trash the Dress) independently of weddings if you’re looking for that.

Last year I ran across this article online in Seattle Magazine which is a great piece on why hiring a professional is better than using a friend or someone just starting out shooting (with photos to illustrate their points). While the popularity of DSLRs continues to grow and new businesses and photographers are popping up all over the place, wedding photography is not something that is easy to just start doing. Weddings are fast-moving with constantly changing conditions (light, weather) and photographers who are not experienced with anticipating moments will often miss them. Just a few things to think about.

So excited to finally blog this wedding… Liz planned her entire wedding from San Francisco (not an easy task!) and during one of her trips to Maine last winter we had breakfast with her to talk about the wedding and get to know each other. She is so sweet and we really connected with her right away. We met Nate later and had even more fun with them braving 10 degree temperatures when we did their engagement session! Their wedding day was a gorgeous September day and we loved the unique location of their ceremony (a fort!) and all the moments. Liz’s dad took all the girls over to the ceremony via his boat, and on that trip I learned of a new skill I never know I had before–shooting while feeling totally sea sick! After their ceremony we headed to their reception at Sebasco. One of the most emotional moments of Nate and Liz’s day was a special dance at the reception when family and friends gathered in a circle in memory of an old friend/family member and sung “Sunshine on my shoulders” by John Denver several times–it was a beautiful moment to witness. Liz and Nate’s story is so awesome and I asked her to share it in her own words:

Nate and I met when was just four and a half days old.  He was on the ferry dock of Cliff Island (where we grew up in Casco Bay) waiting for me when my parent’s brought me home from the hospital.  He was the ‘older man’ at about 3 and half years.  Our families have known each other forever.  My Dad went to college (Bowdoin) with Nate’s uncle in the early 60′s and had been close ever since.  Nate and I were friends our whole lives, each having crushes on each other at different times but we each never knew it.  Until the summer of 2007 when Nate made his big move.  I was living in San Diego at the time and Nate in Portland.  We had a long distance relationship for all of 3 weeks before Nate came out to San Diego to visit.  He says he’s really bad on the phone and didn’t want to let me or the opportunity slip away.  During his visit we decided to make a go of it together and decided on San Francisco as our new home.  Within the month we had both packed up our lives and were off on the adventure of Natebeth (or Niz, depending on who you talk to…).  We were engaged in October of 2008 and wedding planning was on.  Being married on the Maine coast was very important to us since it is such a big part of our lives.

Thank you so much Liz and Nate. We enjoyed getting to know you both so much and are looking forward to keeping in touch!

I’m skipping ahead a bit in the blogs to post one of our favorites from the year… Arnie and Evan were planning their Maine wedding from New Jersey and we got a chance to meet with them when they came up for a visit a few months before their wedding. We sat in a diner and ate breakfast and talked forever about their wedding and New Jersey (where we spent a few years living too) and so much more. I absolutely LOVED the location of their wedding and all of the decor (which they did on their own). They rented the old mansion for a week and completely gutted it and added their own touches to every room. Their ceremony was outside and then each room had a different part of the reception in it (dinner, toasts, dancing, etc). We even found a creepy room upstairs for some photos of the bride and groom (actually they found the creepy room–even cooler when clients know our style so well that they suggest rooms they know we would love!). And I loved that their first dance was to one of my favorite artists’ songs–”Heavenly Day” by Patty Griffin–sung by her best friend and accompanied by her dad on guitar.

Arnie and Evan are awesome, down-to-earth, kind and gracious. It was great to be there with them to document their wedding and we are looking forward to meeting up with them sometime this spring to shoot their After Session. Thank you both so much and we can’t wait to shoot and see you again.

Eric and Alisha were referred to us from former clients (love that!) and are so much fun. I also got a chance to know her better at a boudoir shoot we did (with the album presented secretly to Eric later that night) and she is so sweet and easy-going. We had a great day shooting their wedding and the rain and dramatic clouds actually turned out to be pretty cool. Thanks Eric and Alisha!!

Date: August 23, 2009 / Ceremony and Reception: SMCC/Spring Point Lighthouse, South Portland, ME / Hair and Makeup: J.Kelley Salon, Yarmouth, ME / Dress: David’s Bridal / Caterer: Holiday Inn Express, Saco, ME / Cake: European Bakery / Florist: Studio Flora, Windham, ME / Band: Sly Chi

I have been a slacker in blogging lately–I’m sorry! I am embarrassed to admit how long it takes me to put these wedding blogs together but as our schedule as slowed down a bit I’m ready to go…

Stan and Megan were married in August, which in Maine this year was unusually rainy and their day started off so… but quickly turned absolutely beautiful and sunny. Stan and Megan were so cool and gracious and we especially loved their fun barn reception at Laudholm Farm (featuring an awesome jug band from Massachusetts which had everyone dancing). I also loved all the cute kid moments throughout the day, especially during their ceremony. Thanks so much and congratulations again Stan and Megan!

We have been blessed to have known Nick and Ashley since before they even officially started dating! Our story with them actually begins in 2007, during a photo shoot with Ashley, a local model, who told us about her friend Nick who was going through a rough time. Ashley wanted to surprise Nick, who was also a model, with a photo shoot and they met up with us for a fun shoot at the beach. They hadn’t even started dating yet but I had a feeling…and am normally pretty intuitive about things like this. A few months later Nick and Ashley came to meet us for another shoot for some ideas that we had, and they had only recently started officially dating and I mentioned how cool it would be if we shot their wedding some day (which I think made Nick’s jaw drop since they were both so young and it was all so new)… Nick and Ash became close very quickly and attended the same college and they just knew… when you know, you know, right? Nick proposed to Ashley and a year later on August 14 we were shooting their wedding in beautiful Danversport, MA.  We have gotten to know Nick and Ashley pretty well through various photo shoots (two engagement shoots and other modeling they’ve done for us) and they are such sweet, loving people. They are both young and very close to their families, so their wedding day was a day filled with emotion.

Nick recently established a charity, Cling, in memory of his mother which raises funds for basic needs for children in developing countries. Please check out their website to learn more.

Nick and Ashley, we are so grateful for your friendships and to have been able to document your relationship from the beginning. We look forward to continuing to document your family as it grows one day too. The images below are from Ashley and Nick’s wedding day and an additional After Session we did with them a few weeks after their wedding.

Warning: I might overuse a lot of adjectives in this blog post… This wedding was ridiculous! And by ridiculous I mean completely awesome. We LOVE Dave and Taylor. You might remember them from their fun amusement park engagement session this summer (or their wedding preview)… we really connected with them and as I mentioned in that post Taylor and I emailed each other all the time up to the day of their wedding (and continue to email!)… They are both such nice people and if there was ever a wedding that was made for us to shoot, this one is one of them. D&T planned to see each other before the ceremony at a private reveal and then do all their bride/groom and bridal party photos before the ceremony–SUCH a good idea. Their ceremony and reception included lots of fun details (red, red, red! ) and moments. I could probably ramble for a long time about how much I loved it all but the pics tell the story pretty well I think (had a hard time choosing for the blog!)… If you’re a bride planning a 2010/2011 wedding that is a bit different than the traditional wedding plleeaaaase get in touch with us because we love them (and I have lots of resources for unique, fun details, colors, etc…)! Thank you so much D&T (and your families) for being so great to work with. We can’t wait to see you guys again sometime soon!

ps: D&T’s wedding was chosen to be a part of something very cool which we will be able to share info on soon!