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Wedding location:  Lovell, Maine

Reception Site: Alpenglow Farm (Bride’s Mother’s home)

A few weekends ago Rob and I headed up to Maine for Todd and Amanda’s wedding.  Amanda chose not to have any getting ready portraits, but when I arrived she was still in her room with her bridesmaid’s getting dressed, so I couldn’t help but grab a few shots.  The tradition of dressing the bride is one of my favorite moments of the day, and I just couldn’t resist…

 

The facial expression in the image on the right is typical for someone trying to get their veil on….those of you who  have been through this before know what I am talking about…for all you bride’s – to – be, you’ll get it soon enough

The flowers were beautiful.  They complimented the day perfectly!  I personally L.O.V.E. the Ball jars – I have them all over my house!

 

The horse shoe Amanda’s mom is helping her put on is an old Irish tradition – and a family heirloom.  Amanda will pass it on to the next family bride!

Waiting to see her husband to be for the first time….I just love this moment.

Another one of my favorite moments – Todd’s reaction to seeing his Bride for the first time.  I always, always, always try to capture this shot and you probably see it on this blog over and over again!  Most brides are too teary eyed to actually see it for themselves – and this is ususally their first glance at it. 

I don’t ususally post formal portraits here, but I just love this shot of Amanda with her Bridesmaids and I love the flare even more!

Everyone was oogling over that horse shoe!

 Not sure which of these next two is my favorite…..

or

the bouquet…

 

this was my first shot arriving at the ceremony.  I just love it. 

Todd and Amanda were wed in a tiny chapel just down the road from her mom’s house.  I keep coming back to this image.  The lighting brings me back to that day and I love not just the stained glass window, but this whole moment-from the bride’s sister fixing her dress to the friend of the family’s capturing the ceremony on home video, to the smiles you can see on the bride and groom’s fathers – the two gentleman on either side of the image.  This may be my favorite ceremony shot of the whole year!

I have to admit – if there were an award for the most emotional bride – Amanda would win, hands down!  That paired with the stiffling heat that day made me worry she would be my first bride to pass out, but she made it!  And I just love how Todd is looking at her as they say their vows.  A little note on vows – hubby and I selected an Apache Wedding Blessing for our ceremony.  We had never heard it before, but every wedding we have been to this year has included all or part of it…check it out here.

Todd and Amanda’s reception reminded me of an upscale lawn party – and I just love this image of their guests.

How amazing was this day – the view was spectacular and the guests had a wonderful time playing lawn games and relaxing on chairs and benches to enjoy the view and eachother’s company!

The bride and groom!  Amanda’s mom had amazing flower gardens, so I framed this shot with them.

 

A few formal portraits…

 

Classic warm black and white…

and another one of my favorite’s….yes, that is a chair lift swing!  Does it get any better?

 

To check out the rest of Todd and Amanda’s images click here to be taken to the online gallery!

We celebrated my nephew Michael’s birthday on that trip also…that post up next!

Wedding Location: Lake Placid, N.Y.

Ceremony and Reception Site:  The Whiteface Club and Resort

Flowers:  Liz at Lake Placid Florist

The Whiteface Club and Resort is an amazing little piece of the Adirondacks and Jason and Melissa’s wedding there was gorgeous.  I usually prefer to meet my clients ahead of time and shoot an engagement session with them (to see why, check out this interview with me on the Well Wed blog) but Jason and Melissa are from NJ and couldn’t make it up before their big day for a shoot, so I was meeting them for the first time on their wedding day.  I’ve done this several times before, and although it’s always worked out, I was still nervous about it.  All that went away though when I stepped into Melissa’s room.  Besides being a drop dead knockout, she is extremely down to earth and wonderful!  I immediately felt comfortable around her.  Here are a few of my getting ready favorite’s…

Some brides are a total whirlwind while getting ready but Melissa was totally calm and centered -

A last minute touch-up…

As I said….Melissa is drop dead gorgeous…really, how lucky am I to have such good looking clients!

Melissa and Jason opted for a first look, which I L.O.V.E.  Want to know why…get the scoop here.  Anyway, the White Face Club Resort has the perfect spot for this…

Jason stood on one side of this rustic arbor while Melissa stood on the other…

As she walked through, she called for him to turn around and of course, I was there to catch his expression…

I love these next few…

A few details -

Jason and Melissa had my favorite flower in their arrangements – Chocolate Cosmos!  They actually smell like chocolate!

the adorable flower girl and ring bearer – I didn’t even have to ask him to kiss her!

Shortly after their first look the rain started – luckily they had planned their cocktail hour before the ceremony – so their guests were safely inside enjoying eachother’s company, yummy cocktails and fabulous food…and of course, the view from the Whiteface Club Resort Boathouse – breathtaking even in the rain!

I love how you can see the rain drops falling on the lake!  They also had a harpist to entertain the guests…not sure which image I like better…

Just as the rain stopped everyone headed outside for the lakeside ceremony to find a rainbow!  Melissa had requested I use a fish-eye lens during her wedding, and I thought this was the perfect chance to break it out!

I am not Jewish, but I love the tradition of the chuppah.   The chuppah symbolizes the home the bride and groom will build together…Jason and Melissa’s included portrait’s of their loved one’s.

Mr. and Mrs.

Jason and Melissa rushed off to share their first moments as husband and wife together privately.  I think I love this image so much because you can just feel Melissa’s joy!

The guys started off the reception with a little J.D.  A favorite of my own!  I love this series…

I love this image of Melissa and her dad…

and this one!  To me it totally captures the ambiance of the evening…These images are extremely difficult to capture – since they use only the lights from the D.J. – and I love good D.J. lighting!

O.K., so this moment just kind of happened out of no where…I was totally lost as to what was going on, and although I’m not posting them here, I have tons of images of Jason and Melissa with unmistakable fear on their faces – in fact I told them later they looked petrified – it’s all fun here though -

I broke out the fish-eye lens one more time…

The cake cutting…

OK, so at the end of the night, Melissa’s dad started their version of the Y-M-C-A, the O-H-I-O…this image is one of my favorite’s because that’s Melissa’s dad and her new husband Jason over to the right of the image…

Check back tomorrow for my favorite’s from their ‘day after’ session, which actually took place during their honeymoon over July 4th weekend as well as a link to the online proofing gallery where you can view all the images!