And I also loved the blue couch in front of the window in this room:

The backyard was similarly awesome …

After a little while at the house, we decided to check out a few favorite spots in the neighborhood. We started out down by Charles – I love the little series of John chasing Katie back up the river path:

It was a little breezy out – can you tell?!

Our next stop was this cool sculpture at MIT. The numbers and letters made for some cool framing options:

Some fun shots against an old warehouse I spotted:

And time for some closer up photos. I LOVE the black and white shot below. Such utter cuteness!

Our final stop was The People’s Republik, a very cool pub on Mass Ave, for a quick beer. Yum! Thank you both for keeping me laughing throughout our session, and for being such naturals in front of the camera. Roll on August 2012!

The ceremony was short and sweet, with a reading from The Hobbit by Amy’s brother and Eric’s sister.

The vows started sweetly … just as they always do …

… and then Eric erupted into giggles. I was dying! In fact, I think we all were – including the fantastic JP.

Even the ring exchange became hilarious. Love it.

The recessional filled with bubbles and happy faces was followed by some fun portraits (and lots more belly-laughing) back in the little park behind the hotel.

We had fun making some moody portraits with this giant wheel in the park:

The reception room looked really pretty with blue uplighting and gorgeous centerpieces by New Leaf Flores:

Giggles turned into sweet smiles for the first dance:

Amy hand-painted this adorable little bride and groom. They were originally going to be used as cake toppers, but they ended up guarding the guestbook instead (and of course I had to use them for a quick ring shot):

Speaking of cake … this was the best cake-cutting ever. I love a good cake-smashing!

Then, there were some fantastic parent dances (including an impromptu dance between Eric’s mom and her father):

And the rest of the night was spent dancing to the super cool tunes spun by DJ extraordinaire, Nate Oinonen (see his site White Label DJs for more info). This crowd was super fun:

Thank you all for a ridiculously fun night, and for looking after us so well. I cannot tell you how much I loved working with you all – I am pretty sure I have never laughed quite so hard in all my life. Hope you’ve enjoyed the teasers! And … if you’re a newly engaged couple wanting some kick-ass wedding and engagement photos, view my portfolio here; if you’re more interested in kids and pets, click here; follow me on Facebook here … or contact me here!

I feel that the next photo should maybe have a photo caption contest attached to it …

Some more pretty details (I love the bold colors that Amy and Eric chose for their wedding):

I like these more serious moments that I caught – Amy is incredibly expressive and it was a dream photographing the different moods that floated across her face throughout the day.

Some more details … first Amy’s pretty jewelry, then the FAB accessories she gave to her bridesmaids – including the cutest little Coach purse!

Time to get dressed!

And here she is in all her splendor … Amy, you are beautiful!

The girls all looked gorgeous – love the rich purple bridesmaids’ dresses, and the contrasting bouquets:

The boys, not to be outdone, looked very fly in their Spectators … especially in this Abbey Road style shot:

Love those shoes!!

And a final shot of the guys heading back to the hotel for the ceremony … speaking of which, the ceremony and reception will be along after the weekend, so watch this space!  Oh, and if you haven’t already, please come on over and like my Facebook page.  It’ll make me very happy. 

Rob and Shana opened the evening reception with their first dance. They look sooo happy in these photos.

There were some funny moments and some emotional ones during the toasts from Shana’s father, Kate and Rusty:

I pronounce this cake Cake of the Year! I must find out who made it – it was both ridiculously beautiful and utterly delicious (I had to have a little bite to make sure):

The parent dances were full of feeling (and I must say I’m quite pleased with how the light turned out – it’s no easy task lighting a space with such a low ceiling).

My favorite DJ of all time, DJ Nate Oinonen of White Label DJs worked his magic on the dance floor … Nate, it was such a treat working with you again!

And here’s the proof … nice and small so that I don’t embarrass anyone too much

Thank you all for a lovely afternoon and evening, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the teasers! If you’re a newly engaged couple wanting some kick-ass wedding and engagement photos, view my portfolio here; if you’re more interested in kids and pets, click here; follow me on Facebook here … or contact me here!

We started off just a block or two from their condo in Inman Square, briefly visiting their neighborhood coffee shop and favorite pub:

The guy standing in front of the window in the photo below is actually someone that Shana and Rob know – love that.

Our next stop was Winthrop Square. There are often guitarists playing here, and Shana and Rob like to come and listen to them.

We decided to stop at Om restaurant for a glass of wine. Loved this spot for photos!

We then headed down to the Charles, another spot they love to explore together …

I really like the playfulness in these last shots on the grass:

And I have to finish with one of my favorites from the day – walking through Harvard Square. Thank you both so much for trusting me to take engagement photos with you – I hope there are at least a couple that you love! And see you very soon for your wedding!

We were blessed with beautiful light and two fun locations.  First, a few photos in Brewster Gardens in Plymouth, MA:

Then, before the second ceremony, some photos around Harvard Square:

I was loving the combination of that crazy light and my 85mm 1.4 wide, wide open …

These guys are so cute together.  Love those sweet glances and soft kisses.

Their second ceremony honored Jason’s Jewish background; at sundown we headed into the gorgeous Charles Hotel in Cambridge where we were greeted by an elegant, modern setup and a delightful string duo.

One of the things I love most about Jewish ceremonies is the focus on family; Kim and Jason’s parents stood with them under the Chuppa and were heavily involved in the ceremony.

Emotions were running high throughout, and I caught so many great expressions and glances.

The final post will be along very soon – I can’t wait to share the crazy dancing and beautiful details with you all!

The next photo is one of my all-time bridal party favorites.  These guys were so patient as I arranged and rearranged …

And off to the ceremony we go!  The service was held at St Mary of the Annunciation in Cambridge.  It was insanely dark in there but oh so pretty …

The flower girl and ring bearer were hilarious!  The little ring bearer finally made it to the front with a little help from the guests, but the flower girl got a third of the way down, then ran back to the entrance.  Too cute!

There were several readings and then the vows and ring exchange.  The kiss caught me totally by surprise – I was expecting it to come right at the end … nope!

The reception back at the Seaport will be up in the next day or two … and it’s going to be a long one!  So much good stuff to come. 

I started my afternoon just as Neeta was about to get into her gorgeous Maggie Sottero gown:

I loved how excited and happy all the girls were, and how touched Rich was as he opened a letter from Neeta in the room next door.  The colors for this wedding were awesome … combine that with the henna tattoos: photographic bliss!

One of my very favorite things about this wedding was the food and drink.  As guests arrived for the ceremony, they were served glasses of mango lassi.  Yum!

The ceremony was very personal and there was a good mix of teary eyes and huge laughs.  I especially loved the moment when Neeta pointed out their soft toy, Liger, who was watching the ceremony from up inside the hotel:

While Leah was busy taking awesome couples portraits of Neeta and Rich, I headed into the 16th floor Charles View Ballroom to get some detail shots.  It was such a gorgeous setup, and there was so much light to work with.  The fabulous Christy at Cake Weddings and her assistant Erica not only did a spectacular job with the decor and flow, but were SO awesome to work with.  I highly recommend them!

And some final photos of the reception, including some cute couples portraits in the lobby.

Huge thanks to Neeta and Rich for their wonderful warm welcome, to their friends and family for bringing the fun, and to Leah for inviting me to second shoot for her at such a fabulous wedding.  And be sure to head over to Leah’s blog for gorgeous photos galore.    Oh, and for any techies out there reading this: I wanted to see if I could shoot an entire wedding with just two lenses, a 24 1.4 and a 135 2.0.  Turns out I can … until the dancing starts.  I had to bring out my trusty old 35 1.4 for the dancing (and my 85 1.4 came in handy during the reverse-angle cake cutting too).  What I did find, though, was that I absolutely did not miss the gigantic 70-200 2.8 that I used to rely so heavily on.  Happy days!

I met Annie and Ryan for the first time at their engagement session.  They booked me a few months ago, all the way from North Carolina where they currently live.  They’re getting married at the Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington, CT and have cast the net wide to find their vendors.  Lucky me!  So we met, said hello, and went straight into pictures.  I can’t imagine how awkward that must have felt for them, but the smiles were big and the laughter seemed very genuine, so maybe it wasn’t all that bad …

The setting for our session was Cambridge boat club, where Annie’s uncle is a member.  Both Ryan and Annie rowed through school and I’m pretty sure that they are rowing superstars (of course their modesty got in the way of them telling me that … but it would seem to be so).

A boat club isn’t the most obvious place for cute couples shots, but I really enjoyed the challenge …

I loved the boat shed, and the cool partial-silhouette shots we got in there.  We also headed inside the club house – and I couldn’t resist a photo in the amazing semi-circle window:

I love how silly and goofy these guys are together, even in front of the camera, and with a photographer they’d never met before. 

Our final stop was Crema Cafe in Cambridge.  They spend a lot of time in coffee shops, and figured they should do a little during the photo session.  It’s a gorgeous spot.

Thank you both for a fun afternoon, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the teaser photos!

The hobby shop is a challenging space to use for photos, so I’m really excited about how the session turned out.  We were working with mixed fluorescent and tungsten lighting, underground, with dust and wood chips everywhere.  There were no clean, pretty backdrops, no fall foliage, no gorgeous natural light … so I brought in a speedlight, played up the 50s feel and we worked to create cute and silly scenarios with the various pieces of equipment and work spaces.  Awesome!  I’d love to know what you think about this session – so please leave me a comment!  Guys, thank you for such a fun morning and I hope you like the teasers.

A unique indoor engagement session at the MIT hobby shop

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© 2009 Kate McElwee Photography