I am super excited to announce the gallery show I am taking part in. The theme for our work is love. The show came about from a desire to explore love in new context. All of the photographers in the show are women who primarily shoot weddings. You can check out some of their wedding work on their sites: Jacklyn Greenberg, Tina Parsadanov, Val McCormick, Mary Marantz, Jane Shauck, Krystal Prue, Carla Ten Eyck, and Nikki Nicole Rinaldi. I am honored to be among these women, who are not only fabulous photographers, but extraordinary individuals.

Read the rest of this entry »

We hope everyone has a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for all of our family, friends, colleagues and clients who make our lives joyful in so many ways. We wish you all the very best.

We are so excited to have the first guest writer on our blog. We asked Cassandra to share some of her thoughts about the fashion show and she graciously agreed. We hope you enjoy!

If you have ideas for other guest writers, please let us know.

When he is not designing events for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Elton John, Barbara Walters and Kenneth Cole, David Tutera can be seen hosting not one, but two, TV shows, The Party Planner on The Discovery Channel and Get Married on Lifetime. David is also the creative genius behind Disney’s Couture Wedding Collection and in his spare time, the author of four books on party planning. David graciously invited Critsey Rowe and I into his fabulous Manhattan apartment for a private portrait sitting. Not surprisingly David is quite at ease in front of the camera and we all had a great time.

If you are looking for the ultimate in invitations, I’ve got the place for you…. It’s Ceci New York. We met with Lisa Hoffman, Founder and Creative Director of Ceci New York, at her studio last week. We had heard about her work but having seen it in person, Critsey, Thomas and I were completely blown away.

Photographs courtesy of Ceci New York.

The level of innovation, luxury and craftsmanship in her designs is Read the rest of this entry »

The Yankee Candle Company flagship store is like a playround for adults and kids alike. Of course, there are candles- every shape, size, color and scent of candles. But there is also an array of other gifts- from food to toys to christmas ornaments. They even have a fabulous romantic award-winning restaurant, Chandler’s. I am fascinated by this place. There are so many things to see and hear and smell and touch. Of course, whenever visitors come, we now bring them here.

Here’s a few from our most recent visit with my parents…

Gotta love the pickle ornaments!

Read the rest of this entry »

Discovering New England has been a most pleasurable task. A couple of college friends introduced us to the delights of Maple Sugaring season by bringing us to our first Sugar Shack. What is a Sugar Shack? you might ask. This is where they turn maple sap into maple syrup. It takes something like 40 gallons of sugary watery sap to make 1 gallon of sweet maple syrup. And most of these places simply boil the water away, a process that takes quite a bit of time and some careful attention.

We have visited several maple syrup farms and hope to visit even a few more. We started with the North Hadley Sugar Shack. Not knowing what we were in for, my friends Peter and Surita brought us here for a delicious brunch. The pancakes were great and, of course, so was the syrup. The sugaring room wasn’t open when we visited there. We actually learned more about the sugaring process when we ventured out on our own to Steve’s Sugar Shack. Steve showed us the ins and outs of the process.

Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps my favorite part of wedding planning and the part I am sure I didn’t get enough of was the cake tasting. Of course, now we go to the bridal fairs (see entries- Bay State Bridal Expo, Westin Copley Place Bridal Expo, and Western New England Bridal Show) and we get to taste bits of cake from around the state. Hooray!!!! I have enjoyed a lot of cakes recently. And I would have to say that Konditormeister makes a mean chocolate cake and Ivy’s Fine Cakes and Pastries makes one awesome lemon. But it isn’t just the taste that is important for a wedding cake. It has to look amazing, too. And people’s imaginations run wild, especially after watching shows like The Ace of Cakes. So the cakes have become a showcase of someone’s style.

Check out these beauties by Deb from Cakes by Deborah. Read the rest of this entry »

After meeting the people promoting their sites at the Western New England Bridal Show, we were wowed by the options. It is clear that whatever you are looking for, you can definitely find it in Western Massachusetts. There was such a range- from fabulous hotels to historic estates with spectacular grounds to upscale restaurants.

We met Holly and Michael from The Hotel Northampton at the Baystate Bridal Expo. We had already known about the Hotel from visiting Northampton last spring. It is a gorgeous, historic building; we were looking forward to getting to know the people who worked there. I am so glad we did. Holly and Michael are amazing. They really know what they are doing and they provide the highest quality service to their brides. Holly is at all of the weddings, an extra level of guidance. Her couples are so lucky to have her.

The Hotel Northampton will help you with everything and even create a beautiful and great-tasting cake for your day….

Check out their website for more info.

If you are looking to have your reception at a restaurant, check out the Westwood Restaurant and Pub or Chandler’s Restaurant. Tracy and her crew were in the booth next to ours. This was their first time at one of these shows. They had an elegant and professional look. I am sure their events are pulled off without a hitch.

Here’s a few images of their scrumptious chocolate fountain and their sample table setting….

Chandler’s provides an upscale, warm and romantic environment for bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, and wedding receptions. I met the catering manager, Amanda, at the show. We are looking forward to working with her and taking some images of an upcoming event for the restaurant. We will definitely share the pix when we take them.

If you are looking for an historic estate, you have so many amazing options. The Harding Allen Estate in Barre, MA is a stunning site. This grand mansion evokes memories of opulence and style form the roaring twenties. The catering services are provided by a groumet chef. The grounds are filled with flowers in the summer and changing colors in the fall. And to top it off, owners Grace and Carmin have the experience of three generations in this business. We will be working with them to create some images of their estate very soon.

A little closer to the Pioneer Valley, check out The Carriage House at the Barney Estate, Emma’s Place on Wilder Pond, and King Philip’s Stockade in Springfield. These city owned properties provide a breadth of options with green space in abundance.

Or if you would like to plan a weekend get-away for your guests, try a retreat in Vermont. The Mountain Meadows Lodge is a lakefront property in Killington; here Anne and Bill will take great care of you so that you can relax and enjoy time with your guests. Some of the special touches available here include a “rowboat” bar, hikes to nearby waterfalls, farm animal feedings, and my personal favorite a campfire with marshmallow roasting and s’mores. We can’t wait to check the place out in person!

We met some great vendors at the Western New England Bridal Show so I thought it would be fun to share a little about a few of them. Today I will focus on Bridal Heirlooms, located in South Hadley. This full-service bridal boutique was started by a pair of sisters; we were fortunate enough to have met Christine. She has amazing taste and her booth set-up looked fabulous.

Take a look at these couture gowns….

And what girl wouldn’t love a pair of sexy shoes for her wedding day?

If you head over to South Hadley, make sure to say hello to all of the ladies. They will definitely help you find whatever you are looking for.

We had a fabulous time meeting brides and vendors from our local area at yesterday’s Western New England Bridal Show in Springfield’s MassMutual Center. Everyone here has been so welcoming and generous. We couldn’t be happier about our move and we can’t wait to create some fantastic images for these wonderful people.

Let me take this moment to congratulate the winners of our free engagement session, Kelly and Lenny. They will be getting married in Saratoga, NY at the Saratoga National Golf Club in June of 2009. Congrats to you both! We are excited to work with you.

Speaking of fantastic images, Dave took a break from the booth to go enjoy the fashion show. We haven’t done any runway work in awhile so he was glad to get back into the game. Here’s a few from the show put on by Bancroft Bridal….

Dave said he was excited to try a different perspective. Typically when shooting fashion, we stand at the end of the runway. This time, he was able to move around and check out some different perspectives.

We met Tara, the boutique manager and daughter of the owners. It’s a family operation which translates into great service and great attention to detail. Their one goal is to have “happy brides.”

Here are a few pix of the dresses you can find at their shop….

And kudos to the DJ Network for the great music.

We would also like to thank Lisa and Jim Powers of CJC Events and the MassMutual Center Event staff. They all did amazing job!

It seems like every day is a snow day here in Northampton, MA. The kids have been getting off school left and right due to this winter’s multitude of storms. But there is one kid that couldn’t be happier, our puppy Max. He LOVES the snow. Here’s a few of him going nuts….

And for those who wanted to see where we are living here’s a few of our cute little rental. We live in Florence which is a village within Northampton.

We live very close to the Norwottuck Rail Trail, which runs from Amherst to Northampton. We took a short walk along it on the one day above 50 degrees. It was so foggy it looked a lot like San Francisco in the summer.

We had a great time meeting everyone at the Westin Copley Place Great Bridal Expo yesterday. We loved sharing our work with all of you and getting to hear about their wedding plans. It sounds like people are going to be creating some very memorable weddings, with sites both far away- Atlanta, the Carribean and Trinidad- and closer to home- Newport, the Berkshires, Cape Cod and downtown Boston. And one bride I met will be getting married at her parents’ home on the North Shore.

Of course there were also some amazing engagement stories. One groom brought his fiancee to Palm Springs for a vacation and proposed on the top of a mountain. Another took his out to see the lunar eclipse. Under the moonlight, he reminded her that the last time there was a lunar eclipse the Red Sox won the world series, which I am sure most of agree was a pretty amazing day. But, he told her, no day would be better than this one if she agreed to marry him. She did. And that makes two wonderful events to coincide with the lunar eclipse.

We can’t help but be inspired by all of the creativity and love we saw yesterday. We look forward to talking with you again soon and learning even more about what you have planned.

In the meantime, allow me to congratulate Kara Kearne and Jason Saylor (wedding date October 2, 2009) who won the engagement session we were giving away. We will be in touch soon.

See our booth and a past bridal show here.

This weekend we had the distinct pleasure of meeting approximately 800 brides, several grooms, a few bridesmaids, supportive family members and esteemed vendor peers at the Baystate Bridal Expo. The event was a whirlwind. We arrived as early as possible on Friday to set up our booth. We had been working on the different elements for a month. And when it all came together, we were thrilled with the results.

We had the opportunity to show several new albums which showcase some of our more recent work. And we debuted the silk album- a luxurious hand-crafted matted album with a raw silk cover, bound by satin ribbons (more on that later).

This year, we offered a different kind of drawing. Attendees had the opportunity to enter to win a limited edition print from the 2004 Red Sox World Series Celebration. It was quite a hit and we were able to meet many of our fellow Red Sox fans. It feels good to be among The Nation. Congrats to our winner Kellie Moore. We will be in touch soon to arrange a time when we can deliver the print.

Of course, an endeavor like this couldn’t be done without help from lots of amazing people. First I want to thank my family- my dad helped us build the structure and the tables, my mom helped set me up on the sewing machine so I could construct the curtains and tablecloths, and my sister welcomed us into her home so we could test the whole thing out. Thank you to the Codrington family for hosting us during our stay in Boston and for offering us storage space. It is always a pleasure to visit with you; we feel so welcome in your home. Thank you to Jeff and Lisa for helping us take down our booth and storing the furniture for us. And last but definitely not least, a HUGE thank you to our client and friend Karen Chung for helping us at the show. You did an amazing job and definitely helped tell the story of what we do. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Here’s a photo of Karen and I at the booth. It sure was nice to take a moment to sit down and catch up.

Okay so it wasn’t your typical school. But the Tampa Photography Convention we attended was filled with education and inspiration. All schools should be this good. Some of the best and brightest in the Wedding and Portrait Photography business shared their knowledge throughout the event.

We were inspired by the amazing artistry of the Bebbs, David Williams, Jesh de Rox, and Jerry Ghionis, to name a few. Each had a style and perspective all their own and shared some of the ways in which they create their work. We even got to see the Bebbs in action during an improvised wedding.

Steve Bebb shooting with Jeff Newcum playing the funky minister

the wedding “guests” and here comes the bride…

Anything to get the perfect shot!- image of us (above) taken by Paul Johnson (below)

At the convention luncheon, Denis Reggie shared his thoughts on wedding photojournalism, citing its organic appeal. He spoke about his particular segment of the market and what they are looking for in a photographer.

Denis Reggie speaking to a packed house

We had the opportunity to learn more about business practices, particularly marketing and cultivating our clients, from other speakers. We are always glad to gather new ideas and ways to provide better service to our clients.

Perhaps the best part of the convention though was getting to know and talk with other photographers. We made tons of new friends, who are not only talented artists but wonderful people. Thank you to Melissa and Rene Tirado for mentoring us. You had so much to share about the New England market and ways to meet other vendors in Western Massachusetts. And a huge thank you to Critsey Rowe for organizing the fashion shoot. We loved working with you- your calm presence clearly put your model at ease. And the photos are fabulous!

We are just entering the world of bloggers and are excited to share our news, adventures and images. We want this to be a way to offer ideas as well. So please let us know what you find most enjoyable and what you would like to hear more about. We would love to make this a blog that fills the needs of our readers. Enjoy!