I hope everyone is safe and sound after Hurricane Sandy!

Man, what a way to end the regular season! I shot Chelsea and Steve’s engagement last fall and it was so fun, Chelsea is sweet as can be and Steve is hilarious! We miraculously got a beautiful, sunny, warm day and still had leaves on the trees… couldn’t ask for anything better! Chelsea and her girls were getting ready at the Sherwood Inn, where the amazing Erica Abdo was working her makeup magic! Hair by Stephanie Dantuono-Davis of Adagio Salon. How stunning is Chelsea!?

Loved her beautiful Badgley Mischka shoes.

And flowers!

I went to shoot the guys down the street at the Arbor House and ended up giving Steve a ride to the park for the first look. We rocked out to some sweet tunes for the 90 second drive! I love Steve’s reaction so much!!

We did some portraits around the park, so glad we had some leaves!

Jumping around a bit, we also did some portraits at the Lodge, where the ceremony and reception were held.

Bridal party lookin good!

The ceremony was short and sweet!

Perfect kiss!

The Lodge looked incredible! The uplighting and pin lights were from Visa Versa Entertainment, they did a beautiful job and created an awesome party!

Love this introduction!!

Steve and his mom, awww!

Random chair lifts broke out…

MVP was a pretty easy choice tonight… Steve was killing it out on the dance floor all night!

At the end of the night, Steve and his groomsmen had this super freakout to Cajmere’s hot jam, Percolator. (The original video has a lot of butts in it, and while they’re pretty tame 1992 butts, I figured this was a better choice. It has the Carlton in it, and no butts. Win win.) I’m pretty sure the guys were dancing so fast that their feet only touched the floor about once a minute. It was really special, and reminded me of the Sandstorm/Jackhammer magic from Molly and Connor’s wedding in May. So great!

Congratulations, Chelsea and Steve, thank you so much for having me!

Hooray, what a wonderful wedding! I finally got to meet Alyssa and Andy the day before the wedding when we met up for a pre-wedding shoot on Friday. They were just as sweet and easygoing as I thought they’d be from our correspondence. We shot around Alyssa’s parents’ house and they were more than willing to hop in the car to head out and do a few shots in a pretty field of goldenrod I’d passed on the way over. Love when my couples trust my weird ideas!
I arrived at Mirbeau the next afternoon where the ridiculously talented Erica Abdo was doing her thing with the makeup… Alyssa looked stunning!

Jimmy Choos + diamonds!

Love this moment from Alyssa and Andy’s first sight… so sweet.

We headed down to the lake for some pictures before the ceremony. Got to hang out with my favorite fountain for a few minutes! Swoon.

Lucked out with some clouds making the lake soft and pretty…

The back of that dress is hotness… how gorgeous is she?!

Light!

Mirbeau is too pretty!

Loved Alyssa’s flowers from Whistlestop.

The ceremony was very sweet and heartfelt… these two just wanted to be married.

Adorable!

Party time! Mirbeau’s tent looked so beautiful with the uplighting!

Alyssa and Andy wanted me to get lots of pictures of their grandmothers… don’t worry guys, got it covered. So smitten with this picture!

It is time to name the winner of tonight’s semi-coveted Wedding MVP award… we have a tie tonight! Alyssa’s mom was on the dance floor all. night. long. And this guy had the best moves. My camera could not even contain his flailing limbs of awesomeness. Best team!

Obviously most of the reception pictures happen on the dance floor… I love when slow songs come on because it’s a great time to get pictures of couples out on the floor. This is one my favorites in a long time… they had no idea I was taking their picture. I just love her expression, pure happiness!

Ha ha, that’s right Alyssa, this is your dance floor.

Sometimes I feel like such a creeper aiming the camera at someone and waiting waiting waiting for the right moment… but it’s so worth it.

Congratulations Alyssa and Andy, it has been a true pleasure working with you guys! Let me know when you decide on the honeymoon destination, can’t wait to hear all about it!!
Special thanks to my awesome second shooter Anjolee De Maroux!

Ahh, another fabulous wedding I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time! Meagan’s first email to me last year was so sweet and excited, and nothing is more fun for me than working with people who are passionate about photography! We shot their engagement a month later (which I just realized I neglected to blog?! I can’t believe it! I have to get that posted!) and had a great time, so of course I knew the wedding was going to be great! I arrived at Meagan’s parents’ house on Skaneateles Lake where the girls were getting ready…

Love this shot… Meagan has the best smile!

Simple, beautiful…

The ceremony was at St Elizabeth Ann Seton in Baldwinsville… it’s a very unique church, there’s no center aisle so that was a special challenge for me ha ha! I love how close these families are. Meagan’s dad is just beaming as he walks Meagan down the aisle to her groom.

So love this one… this is Meagan’s dad’s hand during the group blessing of the couple. So many layers of love and family here…

It’s official!!!

Now this is a bridal party…

Meagan’s special request

Oh, that light…

The sun on the lake was pretty eye-scorching, but Meagan and Chris did their best not to burst into flames, ha ha.

We also got in a few portraits at sunset… love that soft, subtle color.

This picture has required me to invent a new hybrid word. Gorge-dorable. Hear that Webster’s? Time for an update.

So sweet!

Swoon!

The reception was at Skaneateles Country Club, which looked incredible! I especially love the big table for the bridal party. So pretty!

So many amazing little moments during the first dance!

<3

Father daughter, always a sweet moment!

Orient Express + Awesome People = Rad Party

Chris’s dad rocked the dance floor!

As did Meagan… she was the most awesome dancing bride ever! Which made the Wedding MVP choice very easy this week!

Ha ha, work it Chris

These two crack me up!

Congratulations Meagan and Chris!! Thank you for having me!

When Molly and Connor hired me I knew the wedding was going to be a flippin blast because they told me that one of the things that cemented their decision was the fact that I name a Wedding MVP in each blog post. If that doesn’t sound like a couple that’s going to have a super fun party, I don’t know what does! When I arrived at Molly’s house, I basically died and went to heaven when I saw her gorgeous Kate Spades and perfect dress. I mean seriously.

This dress was made for Molly. It looked SO perfect on her!

One of my favorite little moments of every wedding… I don’t even have to look to know the exact moment when the bride appears at the end of the aisle…

Most Holy Rosary in Syracuse is a magnificent church.

There were a couple of mishaps during the ceremony (would it even be considered a wedding if there weren’t?) and Molly and Connor took them in stride.

It’s official!

For a photographer, the best thing about a full Catholic ceremony is a bit of free time during communion for the bride and groom to take everything in… and for me to creep around and take pictures of it, ha ha. So happy!

I love this moment… Molly and Connor didn’t plan an official exit from the church (like bubbles or confetti) so people weren’t standing there waiting to cheer for them, this is just a true, organic moment of utter happiness.

We headed over to Skaneateles Country Club for the reception. I’ll be honest, I was kind of concerned about rounding up the big bridal party after a long drive, but the whole crew was organized and awesome. Well done, y’all. Well done.

Molly and Connor’s turn!

Cuuuute

You guys are awesome

Party time! Within about two minutes of the dancing starting, I had pretty much decided on my MVP… this lady in pink came out and owned the floor like nobody’s business, but then I didn’t see her for the rest of the night. She was like a shooting star… majestic yet fleeting.

L to the O to the L

!!!

Then Molly’s dad came gliding out onto the floor and had a dance-off with his lovely daughter… really giving the MVP a run for her money!

Honorable Mention right here, no question

She liked it. She put a ring on it.

I love these two together. So hilariously rad.

So I thought this was just going to be another “dance around a bottle in the middle of the floor” moment. I was not correct. WHAT! MVP battle heating up!

This is where things got real. So this song started… and everyone freaked out. I was kind of like “Uhhh?” cause it’s kind of an old song. But then I saw why. This is Connor’s song. His dance is called The Jackhammer. And it was amaaaazing. He and Molly teamed up and jackhammered their way through the packed dance floor… it was so hilarious!

I have thought long and hard about it and just can’t decide on one Wedding MVP, so I have decided to dub this the MVP Wedding. Everybody wins!! Congratulations Molly and Connor it was a delight to spend the day with you and your friends and family… thank you for having me!!!

It’s so weird how the dozens of posts I wrote in the last two months completely disappeared from my blog! Must be a… uh, wordpress bug. *shifty eyes*
I just got back from a trip to Arizona for my second Pat’s Run , which was absolutely wonderful. I’ll post more about it once we have some of the professional pictures, but you can read last year’s post here if you’re so inclined. And even if you’re not inclined, you should read “Where Men Win Glory” because it is an excellent book!

I can’t believe I haven’t blogged all my engagements yet. I got sucked into a vortex of decorating and puppy snuggling this winter that has been really hard to escape from. Chelsea and Steve booked me for their Skaneateles wedding last fall and we shot their engagement photos a couple of weeks later. We met down at the canal path in Pittsford where I was immediately consumed with jealousy upon seeing Chelsea’s hair. And boots. And scarf. (Ok I’m stopping!) These two are such a great pair… Chelsea is as sweet as can be and Steve is hilarious and had us cracking up the entire time. The wedding is going to be so flippin fun!!

Love.

They’re so cute.

I was not kidding about the hilarity…

For real!

he he

So sweet

I had to include this one… this was basically an accidental high noon showdown. I chatted with Chelsea and Steve about what I wanted them to do for this shot, then had both of us walk away from each other to get the distance I wanted. We swung around at the same time and bam! I’m going to say camera trumps finger guns, but that’s just me ha ha!

Can’t wait for October you two!!!

Melissa and Dave have known each other since grade school… Melissa’s parents’ house is a 5 minute drive from Dave’s parents’ lake house. (I really hope I deployed all those apostrophes properly.) They were long time friends and even went to prom together, but didn’t start dating until a few years ago! I loved hearing all their family and friends talk about how perfectly they balance each other out, and I could definitely see it at the wedding… I can’t believe it took so long for them to get together! They are just perfect for each other!

I met the ladies at Melissa’s parents’ house, where the incredibly talented Erica Abdo was working her makeup magic!

Anyone who has spent more than five minutes on the blog may notice that I’m obsessed with fun shoes for brides, Melissa did not disappoint with her gorgeous, sparkly Jimmy Choos.

I love all of the ladies attending to our bride as she gets ready… makes me think of the romantic period!

Look at this gorgeous girl!

The ceremony was at St. Mary’s of Lake, which is a beautiful church.

Yay!

We went to the lake house for a while so the bridal party could hang out for a bit and we took a few photos as well. Everyone was really patient as I blasted them with the flash to balance out the super bright sun on the lake behind them! Thanks guys

We also hit up the lakefront by the Sherwood Inn, where the reception was held. We had some sweet light filtering through the trees… mmm, pretty.

Portrait time… OMG backlit fountain!

Melissa’s dress is so, so stunning.

Oh yeah, the dress has pockets. Yessssssss!

The party at the Sherwood was outstanding, thanks to the guys from Ormond Entertainment.

Wedding MVP of the week goes to Melissa’s dad, on the left… he was rocking it out all night!

This is a shot of Dave trying to coax his dad out onto the dance floor as his dad sort of shrinks back into a potted plant… right when I took it, all I could think of was one of my all time favorite gifs of Homer backing into a shrub. I mean, it’s perfect right?

And this may be my all-time favorite dancing picture… perfect in every way! We can see both of their faces, got some flying Choos, I mean I couldn’t ask for anything better. I don’t even understand the physics of this move, but I love it.

This was the dance floor during the last song of the night… the guys from Ormond killed it on Saturday!

Thanks so much for having me Melissa and Dave, have a wonderful honeymoon!!!