Carolyn + Jim - Married!

Carolyn and I have know each other since elementary school and use to walk to each other's houses on a daily basis, sometimes even walking right past each other to end up at opposite houses! We even ended up going to the same technical high school, took the same shop, and shared the same limo to prom. Clearly when Carolyn asked me to photograph her wedding it was just another amazing thing to add to the list of things we've done together.

Her and Jim met while working at Circuit City (where I also met Jim) about 7 years ago and they have been together ever since. They have two beautiful children : James and Hailee and are surrounded by an amazing group of friends and family who don't need much to have a fabulous time. All of these things made for one fun-filled unconventional wedding and they wouldn't have had it any other way.

Wedding Venue: Arion Singing Society - New Milford, CT
Dress: Alfred Angelo from Julie Allen Bridals - Newtown, CT
Flowers : Whisconier Florist - Brookfield, CT
Hair and Make-up : Carolyn's sister-in law
Photography Location - Lover's Leap State Park - New Milford, CT
Catering - John's Best Pizza

The bride and her father. They walked in to "I loved her first". It was clear Carolyn's dad was holding back tears and he was shaking like a leaf.

At this point in the ceremony. The officiant pulled out a set of handcuffs and handcuffed Jim and Carolyn to each other. He also proceeded to tell Jim's sister that handcuffs were a very inappropriate gift for a wedding. Everyone got quite the laugh.

 After the ceremony, Jim and Carolyn exited to "I want to do bad things with you" - very fitting I might add - we went to lover's leap state park. I thought it then and I think it now.... the photo below looks like a band's album cover. 

 Family Portrait

James was thrilled to be the center of attention on the photo on the left, could you tell?

The Bridal Party

Jim with his two children: James and Hailee

After the park we went back to the reception. At this point, I felt like I was not only at Carolyn's wedding, but a high school reunion. I saw so many people that I hadn't seen in years. Sarah was one of those people. Below is Carolyn with her family and Sarah with hers.

 

 It was such a great day. I'm so glad I was able to share it with you Carolyn and Jim!

Carissa + Corrine = Married!

I met Carissa and Corrine after Carissa bought her wedding gown from a co-worker of mine. After meeting with them and learning that not only did they want to have fun at their wedding, they even wanted ME to have fun so I knew this would be a wedding I didn't want to miss!

My day with Carissa and Corrine started when I arrive at Anthony's Ocean View in New Haven at 5pm. I would have been there almost an hour earlier but I-95 had other plans that included road work and traffic galore.  (Lucky for me I anticipated that traffic.)  As soon as I walked in the door an anxious Corrine was there to greet me. The couple decided they didn't want to see each other at all the day of the wedding and do a "first look" with me there to capture it. They felt that by seeing each other first it would relieve some of the pressure on the ceremony.


Ceremony and Reception : Anthony's Ocean View. New Haven, CT
Florist : Rebecca Ripley
Cake : Mark Petonito
Dress: Jasmine Bridals from Julie Allen Bridals. Newtown, CT
DJ: Phil Thomas
Justice of the Peace : Cheryl Johnson

Carissa making her way down the stairs to find a nervous Corrine waiting for her.

After the couple saw each other we made our way out to the beach to take some pictures with all of their immediate family and close friends.

I was forewarned that Carissa's dad was a little shy and not the best at smiling for photos. I took that as a challenge and this was the outcome.

Just before the ceremony we got all of the ceremony guests together for a group picture. Of course I wanted it to be a fun one so this was what we ended up with.

I know in this picture it looks like we're having loads of fun but the truth is the sun was beating down on us all and we were all roasting. I'd still rather deal with hot sun than pouring rain. So at 5:45pm we had to head back to the patio for the private ceremony. Carissa and Corrine decided on a private ceremony for just family and close friends to keep an intimate feel.

I love this photo because EVERYONE is taking pictures!

Just after Carissa and Corrine were pronounce a married couple, Carissa's dad couldn't help but shed a few tears of happiness after seeing his daughter get married.

After the ceremony we went directly into the cocktail hour and all of the reception guests started to arrive.

This was one of my favorite couples of the night. They recently got married
and you can see how much they truly love each other. 

During cocktails I grabbed the couple and we headed back out to the beach to get a few pictures during the last few minutes of sunlight. It was a little cloudy but we still managed to get a few great shots!

After cocktails we headed inside to the reception.

Carissa and Corrine danced their first dance to "Glitter in the Air" by P!NK and it was absolutely beautiful. This was my favorite photo from their dance.

Carissa and Corrine were very classy cutting their cake and eating it. There was no cake smashing whatsoever.... just the way I like it. 

Carissa and Corrine - I had such a great time at your wedding and I am so thankful that you asked me to be part of it. I hope you enjoy looking at you photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. 

I felt it only appropriate to end this blog post with the picture below. 

Lauren + Dan - Engaged!

Lauren and Dan got engaged right before Christmas of 2010. For those of you who know me, you'll know that Lauren is my best friend and she was my maid of honor in my wedding back in October. We all have been waiting for her and Dan to get engaged after being together for the past 6, almost 7 years.

So naturally, right after they got engaged I asked to take engagement pictures for them because I was super excited for her! Due to the fact that we have had what is the snowiest January in history, we weren't able to make use of the beautiful outdoors because there is no way we could walk through almost 2 feet of snow.

Instead, we decided to head to Danbury Fair Mall as well as Vitti's Dance studio to take some different pictures. We felt that even though the snow kept us indoors, we should treat indoors as a bad thing.


This first picture was taken on the Carousel.... unfortunately Danbury Mall doesn't want you taking pictures while ON the carousel so this is the only one that I took with the camera to my face.

Lucky for me, I know how to improvise so I don't get in trouble.... Which takes me to the next few images. They were also taken on the carousel while we were all riding it. So how did I get away with it? Well, I pre-focused the camera and sat it on my lap aimed right at them.

You can't tell the difference can you? I thought not. And that's precisely the point!

This one was also taken while the camera was sitting on my lap..... not too bad right? 

So after being yelled at for taking pictures while on the carousel, We all decided to try and take pictures while I was on the ground and Lauren and Dan rode the carousel. This also posed another challenge..... making them look good while they were riding in circles and I wasn't... 

Well I think I took that challenge and "rose" to the occasion.... or rather.... Dan and Lauren did on the carousel horses. (Yes, bad joke. )

Believe it or not, This next photo was taken in the bridge from the parking garage to the food court. Lauren and Dan were also strategically placed right near the heating vent so Lauren's hair had awesome movement as if we were outside.

This picture was an experiment that went pretty good. I wanted to try a long exposure and of course since Lauren and Dan were up for anything, we tried it. I posed them, set up my tripod on the second floor, and held the shutter open hoping I got something. This was the end result and I'm quite satisfied.

So I have to take a moment and really appreciate Lauren's ring. Lauren went searching high and low to find the perfect setting for her grandmother's diamond. So after a few weeks of hunting and 5+ jewelry stores later, She ended up with this vintage reproduction ring with the most beautiful detail I've ever seen.

So after the mall, we decided to head over to Vitti's Dance Studio right around the corner. Lauren and Dan have been taking ballroom dance lessons for the past few years and there was open floor that afternoon. We took the opportunity of getting great pictures and the couple got some much need rehearsal.