I started my day in Emily’s room at The Customs House Hotel with some getting ready and detail shots. I love her shoes!

Emily’s choice of dress was perfect: a silk J.Crew wedding dress that showed off her gorgeous back:

Emily was pretty excited to be ready – and she looked beautiful!

Mike joined us at the hotel for the first look. The back of The Customs House was such a great spot for it – I love all the lines of the columns, and it felt private and had some lovely shade.

After the first look, we headed out together for portraits around Boston Public Garden and the ICA. We got a ton of great shots, and it was hard narrowing down the selection for the blog post – so apologies if today’s post is a little portrait-heavy!

The ICA is one of my all-time favorite spots for wedding photos; and particularly fitting I thought for Emily, who is an architect.

For the group photos, we headed over to the Exchange Conference Center (I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to work with Michele and all the team there – they are so friendly and accommodating).

OK, one last photo from our session at the ICA:

The ceremony was held at MIT Chapel over in Cambridge. It is both one of the coolest chapels I’ve worked at (love the architecture, and especially the “waterfall” above the alter) and also one of the toughest – it’s small, dark, and has the whackiest mixed lighting I’ve seen … definitely a challenge!

Earl captured this great shot of Emily with her parents just before the ceremony began – thank you Earl!

This is the waterfall feature … so cool.

After the ceremony, we all headed back to the ECC, and I grabbed a few more photos with Emily and Mike on Boston Fish Pier:

This next shot is one of my all-time favorite detail shots … and it was captured by Earl. Love the soft grays with the pop of fuchsia pink …

Two of my favorite first dance photos:

East Coast Soul are amazing performers; the three front-men-and-woman not only sing but they do some pretty fabulous dancing too. I especially loved this guy – he was so expressive:

They had some gorgeous uplighting at the reception too:

A sweet moment from the father daughter dance – and a little shout-out here to Ray for being such a fabulous father of the bride – he played a major role in the wedding planning and was an absolute sweetheart to boot!

And to close, one last couple’s portrait at night with the Boston harbor as a backdrop. Emily and Mike, thank you for trusting me to capture your amazing wedding; I hope you like the teasers so far, and I can’t wait to share your slideshow with you very soon!

The new photobooth features a white background for a cool, clean look, as well as props galore.  It is free-standing and open-air – meaning it can accommodate much larger groups than a traditional boxy booth.  If you’d like to add one to your wedding collection, just make sure that your venue has enough space; it requires an indoor space roughly 12 feet square (we can work in slightly smaller spaces too) and works best against a wall or in a corner.  It’s also great to have a table on-hand to display the props, but again we can work around this.  The setup is simple – a studio light plugged into the wall, with a large umbrella to create soft, flattering light, and the background which is held up by two large stands.

The photobooth currently costs $750 plus tax per hour, and includes the high-res, edited images.  We aren’t able to print on-site, however we can offer a quicker turnaround on photobooth photos if you need them for thank you cards and so on.  And now for the special!  If you’d like to add a photobooth to your wedding collection, and can pay in full by the end of this month (May 2012), you can add it on for just $500 plus tax.  Woo-hoo!

And now for what you really wanted to see … some photos, right?  Well, I was all alone when I was testing out the new setup, but I still managed to have some fun with it.  Yes, this is yours truly, goofing off.  Enjoy!

Leah was totally stylin’ – her shoes were by Valentino, and her dress was actually a two-part ensemble by Oscar de la Renta. Wow.

We were hoping to head outside for the first look and portraits, but the wind was raging, so we held it under the huppa in the grand Oriental Ballroom instead. The first photo here is by my fabulous second shooter Erica; the second, of Leah’s expression, is mine. Love these guys.

Leah’s dress was perfection … and Jim looked pretty dashing too.

A funny moment just before the ketubah signing:

The ketubah signing is always one of my favorite parts of Jewish weddings, as just the very closest friends and family come together to witness the marriage of the couple. Jim and Leah’s signing in the Beijing Room was brimful of emotion:

The image above is by Erica – what a great capture! And I love these sweet, emotional moments below too:

We headed back into the Oriental Ballroom for the main ceremony. I love the opulent gold decor …

The wedding ceremony was full of sweet glances …

… and I LOVE Leah and Jim’s expressions as they walked back down the aisle.

After cocktail hour in the Oriental Gallery, we went back into the ballroom for dinner, dancing and toasts. The room was absolutely stunning (a quick shout-out here to Designing Images Florist who did a spectacular job with all the flowers, from the sweet bouquets to the impressive centerpieces, and to the coordinator at the Mandarin Oriental Boston, Jessica, for her help throughout the day).

The first dance was the perfect combination of sweet and fun:

As, in fact, were the toasts:

Love this image I captured of Leah dancing with her father, Stu:

And then it was non-stop party time for the rest of the night, with awesome music by band Soul City. Thank you Leah and Jim for trusting me to document your day … I can’t wait to share your slideshow with you soon too!

I’ve been a busy girl this winter … as well as designing a ton of albums, updating my website and marketing materials, I’ve also been trying to second shoot with other photographers to keep me on my photographic toes (and it’s always fascinating seeing how other people work!) This was my second wedding working for Zev Fisher Photography – thank you Zev for having me along! His clients Lisa and Matt had a beautiful wedding at Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge. It’s a really lovely hotel, very clean and modern, but with just the right amount of personality too. I started my day with Matt and the guys, getting some getting ready photos. These boys had me in stitches!

We held the first look at Lechmere Canal Park, right next to the hotel, and underneath a row of gorgeous blossoms. Happy days! (I love spring.)

Zev and I split up for portraits, taking it in turns with the girls and the guys … here are a couple of my favorites:

I’m pretty much in love with Lisa’s shoes … gorgeous, girl!

Their Jewish ceremony was held back inside Hotel Marlowe. It was chock-a-blcok full of emotion … I can’t tell you how much I love a good cry during the ceremony!

The ballroom looked gorgeous. I liked the travel theme that ran through the reception (and especially the uber-cool cake – love!)

The first dance was really sweet …

… and was followed by some serious partying!

This may be my favorite shot of the night – I LOVE the hora! Thanks again Zev for having me shoot with you, and to Lisa and Matt for a super fun wedding!

I started off in Rachel’s room at The Ames Hotel in downtown Boston (such a great spot for weddings, or in fact just the getting ready portion of the day) – Rachel was reading a letter from Moshe and I love the emotion above.

I headed over to the guys’ room in time to capture them getting dressed.

Rachel and Moshe had such a sweet first look at Post Office Square, and we stayed on for portraits. It’s a great spot even during winter weddings (and we had some pretty tough light to work with!)

We headed back to The State Room for some more portraits, followed by a pre-ceremony cocktail hour. Then, it was straight into the multiple ceremonies … I have to say, Jewish Orthodox weddings are awesome!

We moved into the Great Room at The State Room for the marriage ceremony:

The State Room is just gorgeous … and I love the classic, simple decor Rachel and Moshe chose for their wedding reception.

Some of my favorite photos of the day came after dinner, when the dancing broke out. Love these!

Sam and Stephen are one of the most wonderful couples I’ve met, and I had been looking forward to their winter wedding in the pretty New Hampshire countryside since meeting them at another wedding early last summer (the moment I saw them, in fact, I asked them to have me be their photographer!) They are sweet, funny, and kind … and so incredibly passionate about each other, their families, and their friends. They also laugh together constantly, and I hope a little of their wonderful personalities shows through in this post.

I wanted to change things up this year and post a smaller number of images per wedding, focusing on the photos that I really love. I’m trying to keep it to no more than thirty photos … we’ll see how I do with that as the year progresses. I’m also hoping to talk a little less. No promises, but I’ll try. Anyway, back to our grooms – they got ready together in a room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, NH. Sam spent the morning doing the girls’ makeup (seriously!) and Stephen popped in and out, running errands. Both guys were the epitome of cool, calm, and collected.

I loved watching them help each other … with their hair, their ties, their cufflinks … everything.

Once they were ready, Stephen and Sam exchanged gifts. They went for personal hand crafted gifts with meaning (I don’t want to share too much here) and there were some incredibly emotional moments during the exchange …

After that, we headed out for an extended portrait session in the surrounding area. Huge thanks to Stephen’s family for scouting some great spots for us, and to his stepdad Al in particular for playing chauffeur! We got a TON of great shots, and it was hard narrowing down the selection for the blog post … so today is a little portrait heavy.

The yellow wading boots were hilarious.

The ceremony took place at the utterly adorable Alvirne Chapel in Hudson, NH. Sam’s mom officiated, and the short service was filled with emotion.

After the ceremony, we headed over to Nashua Country Club for the reception. We grabbed a couple of portraits with the bridal party outside – and these guys were troupers; it was coooold by then!

The grooms started the reception with a dance party (yeah!) I love how excited Sam looks here.

Their traditional first dance followed a few minutes later, and the mood was once again intimate and oh so sweet:

The rest of the night was filled with a ton of partying … and a visit from the fire dept.! A huge shout-out to my favorite DJ, Nate Oinonen of White Label DJs, for keeping the party rocking all night long, despite the unplanned interruption. And to my lovely, gorgeous and sweet-as-can-be grooms: thank you. I can’t wait to share your full set of images with you in a few weeks!

My weddings this year took place in Boston, of course, and all over New England.  And two in Seattle (yeah!)  Some of my favorite venues below include Belle Mer in Newport, RI, Saltwater Farm Vineyard in CT, The Towers in Narragansett, Turner Hill in Ipswich, MA, Castle Hill Inn (another beautiful Newport, RI venue), Taj Boston, Boston Marriott Cambridge, DeCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, The Liberty Hotel, Museum of Science Boston, Four Season Boston, Omni Mount Washington Resort in the White Mountains, The Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Wentworth by the Sea Country Club, Rockport Art Association, Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA and a lovely backyard wedding at a private residence.  Enjoy – and let me know if you have any favorites!

In 2011 I had the good fortune to photograph in some amazing places, and the photos below came from Seattle (a super cool indie wedding no less), Wentworth by the Sea Country Club, The Connor Family Retreat, The Liberty Hotel (and the Cambodian ceremony the day before at a private home outside Boston), Turner Hill in Ipswich, MA (possibly my favorite estate venue in the area), Belle Mer (my new favorite Newport, RI venue), The Paulist Center in Boston, a private home south of the city, a winter wedding on the beach in Plymouth, MA, Le Meridien in Cambridge, The Boston Marriott Cambridge (an amazing Indian wedding!), The Taj Boston (love that rooftop terrace), The Omni Mount Washington Hotel in the White Mountains (a fairytale venue if ever there was one), Cambridge City Hall (my most intimate wedding of the year with just the couple, myself and the officiant present), an old favorite – Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA, and a number of cute churches dotted around the New England area.  Enjoy!

The photos below come from weddings in grand hotels, such as the Four Seasons Boston and Taj Boston, from couples’ homes, parents’ homes, even tiny rooms in the most modest of hotels and inns … The weddings took place in Boston and all over New England … even two in Seattle … and I photographed Jewish weddings, Christian weddings, my first Indian wedding, my first Cambodian ceremony, and a ton of multi-cultural and non-religious weddings. I’ve experienced the full gamut of emotions, and I hope some of them are apparent below. I’ve seen a whole lot of nervous anticipation, emotional tears, but most of all, excited and delighted couples, full of laughter and huge smiles. Enjoy the highlights reel – with more coming soon!

The aisle was nice and long, meaning I could capture the processional from half-way up the aisle – I prefer this to blocking up the end of the aisle and being in full view of the entire congregation!

There were some sweet – and funny – moments during the ceremony:

Alissa got choked up during the emotional vows – this made me so happy!

I’m always drawn to repeating patterns as a photographer … do you like this next shot on the left?

The next photo is one of my all-time ceremony favorites! The room to the side of the alter was open for use during the ceremony and I found a nun hanging out back there, peering through the gap in the door, watching intently as the ceremony unfolded. I found it pretty funny to watch.

How happy are these two? So very happy!

As soon as the ceremony was over, I bombed over to Jones River Trading in Kingston, MA to get some room overview and detail shots before the first guests began to arrive. It’s a really unique venue, filled with antiques and boating memorabilia.

Cocktail hour was buzzing:

Pete and Alissa opened dinner with a wonderfully emotional first dance:

Toasts came from Pete’s brother, and Alissa’s sister.

Dancing started during dinner with some slow dances; I love having the opportunity to capture couples enjoying sweet dances like this:

After dinner came cake …

… followed immediately by the parent dances, again brimming with emotion (yay!)

The rest of the night was filled with drinking and dancing and a lot of crazy on the dancefloor. These guys were pretty awesome to photograph!

And a couple of sweet slow dances to end with (that’s Alissa’s brother Matt and his wife Judy in the photo on the right; I photographed their wedding last fall – love that!) Thank you all for the incredibly warm welcome; I loved documenting your special day!