Welcome to the new wordpress blog!

Hello hello! After a hard day’s work, I’m happy to present to you all my new blog now hosted with WordPress! Check out the categories, links, and pages to the right. I got a bit too frustrated with the lack of customization within Tumblr, it’s just not fitted for my purposes and what I’m trying to achieve, I should have started here! I’ve moved most of the posts from Tumblr over here, but I might be missing bits and pieces here and there. Those of you who have commented between June 15th and now, no worries, your comments are still valid for the ongoing print giveaways. Either way, by this month’s end I’m also moving to a customized flash website and more advanced proofing /shopping cart options, so please pardon the dust while we transition in between! Thanks for your patience and support!

Rebekah and Matt | Cape Cod Wedding Photography

I had my first opportunity to shoot an intimate wedding on Cape Cod late June. Unless you were out of town or under a rock, you’d know that it had not stopped raining for weeks in June!!!! Rebekah’s wedding, unfortunately, got rained on, and we had to move from a beach location to a white gazebo. There was some hilarity with regards to the specific gazebo we were supposed to find – apparently we all went to the wrong one than the one the JP had recommended, but it turned out to work perfectly for this intimate ceremony!

Matt looking all suave

Ahh rain..

The whole gazebo

Beautiful symbolism in mixing sand together

Really cool jewelry Rebekah made for herself and the maid of honor

A happy beginning!

It was really great to meet you Rebekah, good luck with the little one!

Enter for a chance to win $10 Amazon gift card! Please take my survey!

[ homepage | twitter |  facebook | yelp! ]

Emily and Jesse | Boston Wedding Photography

Planning a wedding is a lot of hard work, so I love it when I see that all the guests, family members, AND the bride and groom have a grand time at the wedding. The story of Emily and Jesse has been a long time in making, spanning both coasts of the U.S. in 7 years. I got to meet Emily and Jesse and Emily’s mom beforehand to scope out the gorgeous Union Club as well, and true to themselves, they spent their wedding in laughter, tears, tight hugs, kisses, stolen glances, stuck-out tongues, with all the warmth and genuine love a marriage could bring. You two are awesome!

Kicking it off with some details… Emily was incredibly prepared with baskets of emergency supplies lying around in the bridal suite and in the restrooms

I love this image of Emily getting ready

Right after she put her dress on

Coming down the stairs for the First Look..

Portraits outside

Being silly!

Group portraits

Right as Jesse began his vows… the handkerchief came out

Every dinner table was named after “Love” in a different language. How cool!

A very fabulous first dance!

I laughed so hard during all of the toasts. What a funny crowd!

A little back story to the cardboard cutout in this photo – one of the cousins could not attend, and so he sent along a cardboard cutout of himself that people could pose with during the wedding. He ended up crowd surfing the dance floor

See more photos here! Emily and Jesse, thank you so much for including me as part of your day. I couldn’t help but dance with the rest of you!

Vendor love!

Venue: Contact Jay at Union Club of Boston
Music: Jumpstreet Band
Violinist: Birdy Chou
Dance Floor: Boston Party Rental
Florist: Valerie Miller
Hair and Make-up: Mia Lisa Salon
Host Hotel: Sonesta Boston
Officiant: Jean Ellis La-Bossiere
Desserts: Modern Pastry
Rings: Peter Jon Studios

Before or After? | Boston Wedding Photography

You’ll notice that the majority of my brides during this upcoming wedding season have opted to do their portraits before the wedding ceremony, some even opting for something called a First Look, which is when the groom sees his bride in her beautiful dress for the first time, a very tender and emotional moment.

I am biased towards doing photos before, but I’ll try to weigh both sides. When planning your day, remember to allocate time towards what you value. For some, it is photography, for others, it is spending more time with their friends at the reception, for others, it may be a very long and lavish, tradition-filled ceremony.

Photos before the ceremony:
Pros:
- You can allocate more time – usually up to 2 hours – which is especially helpful if you have a large wedding party or you want to travel farther for your photos
- Your hair and makeup will be just finished and perfect
- Help chase away those pre-ceremony jitters by spending quality time with each other
- You can then see your guests at cocktail hour – which is usually a much better way to see them than during a formal reception where you may be confined to your table for most of the night
Cons:
- If you wish to do family photos, they may not all be present by this time
- Seeing bride before wedding? I hope it doesn’t bring bad luck!
- You might also be rushed if your hair and makeup runs over

Photos after the ceremony:
Pros:
- You’ll be all happy and relaxed from having finished the ceremony. It shows in a beautiful glow on your face!
- You can include family members as well if they’re around
- If you have a particularly long cocktail hour, this gives you something to do while your guests relax and explore the area
Cons:
- Time! You may not have planned enough time between the ceremony and the reception, and these photos will end up rushed, you can’t travel as far
- You may need makeup/hair touch-ups
- If your wedding is low on resources, members of your bridal party may be needed to help set up parts of the reception
- You may not be able to spend as much time seeing your guests at cocktail hour

For all my clients, I understand that sometimes it’s best to plan your wedding without someone giving you advice every which way. However, if requested, I’m always happy to help review your schedule, make sure you are not rushing too many things, and make sure you have planned enough buffer time in between to allow for any delays during the day.

[ homepage | facebook | yelp! ]

Becca and Dean | Boston Wedding Photography

Constantly striving for improvement – that’s how you can describe my work ethic. When I started out just a year or two ago I would often feel, after a session, that there was just something that I couldn’t get, that I wasn’t getting there. Well, I’m still far away from being where I want to be, and I doubt that if I reach that I would be fully satisfied with my work. However, I can pinpoint the engagement session I had with Becca and Dean was really a turning point of me taking photography as “just a hobby” towards the “I think this could be a serious thing”. Not only are they incredibly warm and generous people to work with, they are extremely creative as well, inspiring me (at that point) to produce some of my best work… You can see some of those engagement photos here.

Flash forward a year, and we’re now at their Harvard wedding. The amount of detail placed into this wedding was incredible – you can see their personal touches everywhere. From her self-designed dress, to her sister’s font-like handwriting on all the paper, to initialed shoes, to a handmade photobooth, this wedding was lovingly their own. I had the opportunity to take some photos of them getting ready and my separate portrait session with them as well as an additional shooter at this wedding. We timed it before the ceremony – which is commonly known in the wedding photography world as the First Look (it was Dean’s first time seeing Becca in her dress). I’m extremely thankful for this wonderful opportunity. [Note to other friends of mine getting married whose weddings I may attend as a guest: I don’t bring my professional equipment as a rule of thumb, so if you’d like me to take photos, we should talk first!] It was also a blast catching up with all the people from Harvard AACF that I may or may not have seen since graduation (congrats to 2009!), and a shoutout to the 5 generation of PBJ leaders that were there – praise band represent!

Some details

Putting on the dress and accessories takes lots of help!

Photos from my private session with them

Cutest kids to walk down the aisle! (ring bearer and flower girl). Becca’s sister and matron of honor is in the background

Emotional hugs with Dean’s parents

Izze at the cocktail party? I’m all in

They set up a photo booth with some large pieces of cloth, old photo frames, and chalkboard

So Andrew and I got in on the fun =)

Ah yes, dreams do come true

Becca, Dean, congrats on such a beautiful wedding and may God continue to bless your marriage into the future – one that I know will be filled with joy, grace, love, and lots and lots of laughter, sports, and arts. And thank you again for setting out some time with me and my camera as well! Curious to see more of the highlights? Please click here

See Strut Photography’s beautiful coverage of the wedding here