Blue sky. Green grass. White dress. Black tux. Diamond rings. Fresh flowers. Family + friends. Historic building. Small chapel. Happy tears. Dave and Maria had all of the elements to make a perfect wedding and even more. Their day was classic and refined and was brought together by their location – Raspberry Plain. This historic house had all of the character and charm needed to reflect their personalities and style. I met up with them at Raspberry Plain before the ceremony to do a first look and get the day started….

Maria’s Amsale dress was the perfect fit and the beaded detail at the waist was gorgeous.

You can’t get ready with out the help of your bridesmaids! Maria’s girls were wonderful and it was so apparent she has great family and friends.

A first look can sometimes be more emotional than a walk down the aisle. There are several benefits of doing a first look but ultimately it’s an additional moment you are able to share on your wedding day, and I love when couples are able to do that.

Seriously, I love those flowers and that dress! Dave and Maria, you guys are such a cute couple. I’m so glad I was able to photograph your wedding!

The ceremony was held nearby at the tiny Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. I think it is the smallest ceremony location I’ve shot it, but it was good to be provided with a new challenge!

One of the traditions Maria + Dave incorporated in to their ceremony was having the lazo placed over their shoulders by Maria’s grandmother and godmother.

The newlyweds exited the chapel and soon everyone was on their way to the reception! Taking place in the conservatory of Raspberry plain, the reception room had large windows and tons of natural light which was perfect to photograph the details with.

I always like to set up and interesting ring shot. After looking around the location, I decided to use the set of encyclopedias on the bookshelf in the library. I thought it fit Dave + Maria well since they are certainly academics – Maria is a doctor and Dave is pursuing additional degrees in business at Johns Hopkins.

Maria threw a fortune bouquet which is a great alternative to a traditional bouquet toss to “all the single ladies.” The fortune bouquet can be caught by anyone and contains – no surprise – fortunes to be read by the lucky recipient!

The night was filled with laughter, dancing and love and at the end of it Dave and Maria exited through a row of twinkling sparklers. They jumped in their car and soon were off on their honeymoon in Chile. Now that you two are back to life at home I hope you enjoy looking through the images and remembering your day!

It was several weeks ago that I photographed the Cool family and I can’t believe how much has changed since then. The leaves have changed, temperatures have dropped, and we are officially out of summer and on our way through fall. This family of five lives nearby so I took them to one of my favorite spots for their session and as you can see it was a gorgeous day. I love shooting in the area where I live since I know all of the good places (and am always finding more) and the country is (of course) full of open spaces. Family photos are not always the easiest to arrange but when you’re outside having fun it makes them so much better. How do you like my version of a family portrait in shadows, above?

Their three boys have loads of personality and I while we took some individual images of them these are my top choices of each:

looking good boys! one my personal favorites below…

oh summer, I can’t wait to see you again.

As I found out from Caitlin, they purchased the template for their invitations from E.M. Papers which provides well designed, DIY invitation sets. I’m impressed with the options they have and they are so affordable to do if you have a tight budget – or even if you don’t! (For even more DIY printable invitation options you can check out the Printable Press, which works similarly to EM Papers). After finalizing the text all Caitlin and Matthew had to do was print them off at home. I’ve seen even more invitations printed at home, so it’s very reasonable and most of use have a high quality printer – or know someone who does. With out further ado, enjoy these beautiful wedding invitations which I’ve photographed with the giant pine cone Matt and I picked up out in California!

The invitation suite arrived out of the envelope gracefully tied by a thin white thread. It’s all in the details :)

One suggestion I would make to people considering printing their own invites is to make sure they invest in the right paper, since that will make all of the difference. EM Papers answers this question well if you don’t know where to start in their FAQ section. Caitlin choose a slightly textured white paper which was delicate and the perfect contrast to the rustic kraft envelope.

A few weeks earlier, when Madeline was in town, I met with her in Geneseo to talk about wedding photography. I love being able to hear about wedding plans and was delighted to find out their wedding will take place at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club, the day after opening day at the racetrack. Not only will the city be bustling, but I’m sure their day will be uniquely Saratoga Springs and I can’t wait to see what that looks like.

Before we get to the wedding, let me bring you back to the engagement session. We headed into the park for its natural setting and it was a gorgeous morning…

Would love really be love if you didn’t laugh? These two definitely have fun together, which I think is a must.

When I found out that Tom + Madeline had two dachshunds, I suggested they bring them to the session. Being a mini dachshund owner myself, I know how easy it is for them – or any dog for that matter – to have a special place in your life, and these two are definitely part of their family.

Adorable! Madeline + Tom, I’m so glad we got together for the session and I can’t wait for your wedding. Enjoy the planning and the day will be here before you know it!

She had made her decision a long time ago. The way he made her laugh, the way he served others, the way he opened up to her in a way only she knew. These were some of the things that made their love unique; that made her fall in love in the first place. She stood in front of the mirror calm and assured. This was the day she was waiting for, and choosing to marry Sean was the best decision she made.

In a nearby room surrounded by his groomsmen, Sean quietly buttoned his vest and put on his tie. He could hardly believe the day had come, that Jessica was going to be his wife. He thought about the many cards he had written to her, the one he gave her today, and those he would write in the future. Today was the beginning of something new.

Surrounded by family and friends, Sean and Jessica were married and started their lives as husband and wife. After knowing both Sean and Jess from my college days at Houghton, it was such a privilege to also be a part of their wedding and document the day. It was a celebration, and party, a reunion, and everything a wedding should be.

The day took place at Westminster Chapel, over in Mendon New York, and it was my first time shooting at that location. It’s a gorgeous church and reception space so that everything can take place there. I meet Sean and Jess there to start documenting their day.

The wedding bells rang and the newlyweds exited the church through a sea of bubbles. The bridal party then headed to nearby Nazareth College for some photos on their grounds. 

you two look so good together, and jess you’re simply gorgeous! we had to get another running image like the one from the engagement session, and I love the motion and life in this one

As fun as it is to watch the bride and groom cut the cake, I also love to see the crowd’s reaction to that!

The night did not end, there was much more dancing, laughing, talking, and celebrating but I’m going to end with this last image that I love of the rings. Leave Sean + Jess some love and write a comment! After that, head over to their proofing gallery so you can see all of the images for yourself.

I hope life in Virginia is treating you well, Sean and Jess and thank you again for letting me be a part of your day!

There’s nothing like a wedding around a holiday. They combine for a great weekend and getaway for family and friends and this weekend was no exception. Yesterday Chris and Beth were married back in my hometown in Michigan and had beautiful church wedding followed by a fun at home reception. It was an event celebrated by many and I think they had the largest wedding I’ve ever photographed… was it 350 guests? It was also the first wedding in which I was able to photograph my sister playing the piano, and since Beth and her family have been friends for some years my parents were also in attendance and helped with the set up and grilling having pulled off my sister’s at home reception a few years ago. Everything came together beautifully and I’m so happy for Chris and Beth and look forward to sharing more of their wedding day soon. It’s time to go enjoy the 4th of July with my family here in Michigan – I see ladderball and lawn games in my future!

There really wasn’t any other time to do the session. Living in the Chicago area meant that they wouldn’t have much time in Virginia before the wedding, so we decided to do the engagement session the day before. It also meant that I wasn’t able to meet with Tommy + Megan in person prior to the wedding, but I was able to get to know them through our emails and conversations. We settled on heading into colonial Williamsburg for the shoot which was right next to the site of their wedding the next day at the Williamsburg Inn.

I was looking forward to it, and while I had stopped at many historic sites on road trips as a child, I had never made it to Williamsburg. Tommy and Megan didn’t know what to expect, but arrived as any couple would the day before their wedding: completely in love. It had been an understandably busy few days for them so the engagement session gave them some time together and away from the planning, organizing, out of town guests, family, decisions, and everything else that happens the day before a wedding. Despite being self described as camera shy, they were one of the easiest couples to photograph. Most of the photos took place in gorgeous locations right off of the main street in colonial Williamsburg, but I couldn’t help but include pieces of the city like in the photo above!

After the session we walked over to a coffee shop to get some drinks to cool us down, and Tommy said something to the effect of “while that could have been one of the most awkward experiences in my life you made it fun.” Mission accomplished. If you thought their engagement session was great then you have to stay tuned for their wedding since it was even better!

This wedding shoot was pulled together to combine amazing flowers, creative letterpress, and modern photography. I showcased the flowers before by Sassafras in Rochester, New York, but you’ll see a few of the images again because I love them so much! It was fun to pull this together with Sarah + Margaret (who’s engagement session you just saw below) and they set most everything up and arranged for things to happen. Margaret created all of the signs that you see and we’re excited to give the one you see above away. Just leave a comment and the most convincing person will win! (how does that sound?) Erin + Ben were our lovely models and made looking good look really easy… thanks so much for being a part of the shoot!

Erin is gorgeous, hilarious, and super smart. She was kind enough to squeeze this in her busy doctor schedule.

Ben is a talented musician, soft spoken, and thankfully the kind of guy that agreed to be in photos with his wife! I’m counting it as an anniversary shoot for them.

more fun signs by Margaret – the above reads “til death do us part” and the bride + groom signs below are also up for grabs if you want to leave a comment for them!

oh yes, and there were horses… well we got lucky and their owners lent them to us for a few shots. thanks! I’ll leave you with this last dreamy shot and leave some comments if you want to win a set of signs!

It’s always exciting to photograph something new. Sometimes it’s the people that inspire you, the props, the location, but hopefully it’s all of the above. It’s not always easy to have those three elements come together as it takes more planning and collaborating, but as you can see it’s totally worth it. I’ve been planning on doing a unique session like this for a while, and wanted to use it as a starting point for other sessions… so this is just the beginning. I hope to collaborate like this with other couples and come up with totally unique and creative images so let me know if you want to be involved.  This photo makes it look effortless, but if you saw the car full of props we brought with us and the hiking we did out to our locations you would be impressed. Margaret and Luke were the perfect couple to try anything and incorporated their own style and personality into the shoot, which made it even more successful. I’ll write more on planning a session like this and show you the rest of the images soon!

UPDATE: So last night I posted the photo below, as a quick edit after downloading the images from the shoot. I looked at it this morning and knew I had to do a few edits to finish the image and wanted to show you the difference. The one above I’m happy with and looks so much better I’m kind of embarrassed I posted the one below but that’s what you get for a late night post. As you can see below the grass was just too blue, and I added a little warmth to make it sunnier. I feel soo much better.