This season has been just fantastic so far, and this weekend was certainly no exception! Sarah and Mike booked with me last August, but we didn’t get to meet until this summer… they told me they were going to have a great party and I was definitely convinced when Sarah emailed a couple of weeks before the wedding to ask for my cell number because her phone had been destroyed during her bachelorette party. That’s one hell of a party! (Ok, so the phone was actually waterlogged because the ladies were at the beach and a rogue wave came out of nowhere and soaked them all, but it sounds pretty impressive before you get the real story, doesn’t it?)

The whole day took place at the lovely Inn on the Lake in Canandaigua. The girls were so hilarious and fun to hang around with while they were getting ready, I was cracking up while I was shooting. Sarah looks stunning! I loved her dress.

Sarah and Mike opted for a first sight.

We did the bridal party shots and portraits before the ceremony, it was a fun group!

Smooth.

After pictures, everyone went inside to freshen up. The ladies were taken to a little waiting room before heading out to the ceremony… everyone was laughing and joking as we walked down the hall, and then as soon as they crossed the threshold of the room, half of them started tearing up. It must be some kind of special crying room!

The ceremony was sweet.

And funny!

There was a wine ceremony, and Mike gave some to Sarah, then the officiant said, “And Mike can finish the rest.” which was what prompted this expression from Sarah… so cute! There was a lot of wine left.

A few details… I could’ve watched the tablecloths fluttering in the breeze for a good hour or so.

I love the tent at the Inn, the lanterns add so much!

Let’s do this!

This was such a great dancing crowd!

How about some portraits? (This is the one where I told Mike I can read lips through the camera… ha ha ha ha)

The lake is so great on a cloudy day.

Sweet.

And one last one that they made me promise to post…

Thanks for having me guys, it was really a blast!

***Quick note to my clients- I will be on vacation next week in a place without internet access (GASP!) so will be a bit slow to respond, but I will probably end up trolling for free wifi. Hold tight!

Another super awesome wedding… I know I’m a broken record, but I can’t help it if my clients are the best. I was really excited to see Sipra and Jan again after our engagement session earlier this year, they’re such a cute couple and really, really sweet. Plus I was eager to shoot in Letchworth Park, also known as the Grand Canyon of the east! I met the ladies at Bellezza Salon in Brighton. The ladies there do beautiful work… not that Sipra needed any help at all. So gorgeous and happy!

The definition of a glowing bride!

The ceremony and reception were held at the Glen Iris Inn in Letchworth Park. Make sure you use the directions on their site and not your gps. Unless you want to spend the day staring at a signpost in front of a wall of trees. Whatever you prefer. My friend John Larkin came to shoot with me and got this awesome shot with a remote camera.

The ceremony was very sweet- Jan wrote a cute poem for Sipra.

Kiss!

Mr and Mrs… I think Jan’s parents threw some rice, I am totally in favor of rice/confetti/etc being thrown during the recessional!

We did a bunch of gorgeous portraits by the falls… see them at the end!
The reception was lots of fun, there were lots of music majors so the floor was rocking all night with help from Pierre at Turner Music. Sipra and Jan started things off right with a foxtrot and this saucy move!

I love a good soul circle.

YES! If I were him, I’d make this my facebook profile picture. Just sayin’

There are tons of beautiful spots to work with at and around the Inn… so much fun to shoot there!

Thank you so much for having me, Sipra and Jan… I loved photographing you two!

I met Caitlin and Andy earlier this year, a few months after they booked… I love when I get a chance to meet my out of town clients before the wedding, and it’s especially great when they’re super nice, as is the case with these two! I was looking forward to seeing all of Caitlin’s details, since she works for Tiffany & Co! When I arrived at the hotel, it was the usual hustle and bustle as Caitlin’s bridesmaids buzzed around the suite taking care of all the details while Caitlin sat, calm and happy, having her makeup applied.

When Caitlin first saw her final look in the mirror it was so so so cute, she and her bridesmaids all giggled for about 3 straight minutes. I started giggling too, because that kind of happy is contagious!

Looking gorgeous!

Then her dad came in and it was tears all around…

You know how when you’re trying not to cry, and someone asks you if you’re ok, and that’s always the thing that starts you crying? Caitlin’s dad was prepared… so sweetly funny:

The ceremony was at Nazareth’s Linehan Chapel … loving the aisle.

Happy!

I wish people were blowing bubbles and/or throwing confetti everywhere I went!

The church entrance is gorgeous…

Then we headed to the reception at the Plantation… good looking bridal party, wouldn’t you say? The rest of the portraits will be at the end, as usual!

Caitlin had a lot of lovely accessories, and in an effort to avoid this blog turning into a jewelry catalog, I’ll just give you the wedding bands… wow!

First dance!

I love this… everyone was into it!

I need to invite this gentleman to every wedding because he is awesome. He brought the party every time he stepped on to the dance floor.

Caitlin’s mom felt the same way I did!

On to the portraits… the sun sorta peeked out from behind the rainclouds to give us some really nice light at the reception. I like.

Oh sunshine!

Thanks for having me, you guys were fantastic! Enjoy the honeymoon

A while back, Design Aglow (a great resource for beautiful design, stunning templates, and all sorts of inspiration) announced a contest to be included in their upcoming “Inspire Me” posing guide. I rarely get around to entering photos in contests, but I had just the image in mind for this one so I sent it in. Of course I totally forgot about it until today, when I got an email announcing that one of my images was selected from over 1000 submissions. Woo!

Here’s a link with more info, and of course my winning image of Stacy and Drew with their super cool bridal party. My card is called “Character Study”

This rules!

It’s been a crazy whirlwind the last few weeks that looked something like this: moving-wedding-unpacking-wedding-birthday-nyc-philly-wedding-yardwork-atrocious combination of cold and allergies. To be followed by wedding-more unpacking-a lot more weddings. Ha ha! I can’t wait to get some of the pictures from my birthday trip, I had SO much fun! I got back just in time for Kristie and Jason’s wedding, and you have to hear their amazing “how we met” story. It’s one of the funniest!

Jason has a favorite bar that he goes to with his friends. They know the owner and she’s just a bit scatterbrained, so the guys like to play jokes on her occasionally. The prank in question involved secretly posting a “Help Wanted” sign out front and watching the owner deal with all the interested applicants. Kristie saw the sign and went in to apply, and the owner seemed confused so Kristie mentioned the sign. The owner still looked confused, but agreed to consider her because, after all, there was a sign up! Kristie got the job, and hit it off with Jason, and now here we are! I just love that a silly prank turned into a marriage… who would ever guess that the owner would not only agree to interview, but actually hire someone when she wasn’t even looking! I love it.

I headed down to Watkins Glen to meet the girls at Sunset on Seneca B&B . It’s a beautiful spot! Here’s Kristie’s custom-made dress:

The place was buzzing and Kristie was happy as could be as the girls had their hair and makeup done.

The ceremony was outside on the deck overlooking the lake… pretty view!

£ (a little inside joke!)

Oh hi little good-luck ladybug that landed on Kristie’s dad’s tux! Welcome to the party!

A few portraits at the B&B…

Then we headed to the pier near the Harbor Hotel.

Dancing! The way he looks at her is so very sweet…

Mother-son… aww.

It was too hot for most people to dance… but not too hot for tickling!

Thanks for having me guys! Congratulations!

I’ve been waiting for Katie and Sean’s wedding to roll around for a while now… we booked last spring and I shot their engagement pictures in the summer and had a lot of fun with them shooting around St. John Fisher (and falling over) and a pretty field. Plus it was time for our Buicks to reunite… they missed eachother!

I started out at Katie’s parents’ house where the girls were getting ready. Katie started crying when she first saw her dad and he asked her why she was crying and she was just like *sniff sniff* “I don’t know!” *sob* It was a ridiculously sweet moment.

The church was pretty… it’s nice to have really open space to work in.

Mr & Mrs!

For pictures, we headed to a beautiful house on the lake, which was great. We did a few bridal party pictures, and I had to post this one for the guys. They had some really elaborate plans for jumping shots, and jumping high five shots. I think we can all agree on who has the best form here…

Now of course on to the ones with just Katie and Sean… they told me they’d been practicing since our engagement. I didn’t think they needed it, but they do look mighty hot right here.

We also got some sunset shots at the hotel where the reception was, which I love! I’m going to pretend that’s a beautiful old estate in the background, ala Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice, instead of a furniture store. Romantic!

Now on to the party… I told Katie at one point that was the first reception where I ever actually lost track of time! Their family and friends were really entertaining!

Shooting dancing can be really tough. Most people dance in a circle formation, which means there’s a wall of backs aimed at me. Sometimes people do this thing where they make two parallel lines and then two people will dance down the middle. I LOVE this. Everyone should do this. So much easier to get great pictures!

Some of the girls also had an interesting choreographed dance:

Katie’s family are big Sinatra fans!

Dirty Dancing!

This really sums the two of them up… so happy together!

It has been an honor being your photographer Katie and Sean! Enjoy Lake Placid!!