You know that scene in Wedding Crashers when the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson realize it's the favorite time of year, stand up and cheer "Wedding Season!"? I can't help but think about that scene every time May rolls around. (I may have been known to quote the movie from time to time. Rob loves it. No, really, he does.) May marks the beginning of wedding season for us because although we do usually have weddings throughout the year, once the spring rolls around the frequency increases tenfold. It's when we go into high gear, switching into our "wedding season" selfs and start running like a well-oiled machine. We have it down to a science. The Friday (or Thursday) night ritual of charging the cameras and packing up the snacks (we can get a bit peckish on long days). The Saturday morning routine - drop off Malachy, fill up on caffeine (at least for me, Rob has gone off coffee to prepare for the NYC Marathon), and catch up with one another as we drive the first location of the day. And then, the best part arrives. As much as we have Friday night and Saturday morning down to a science, the rest of the day is always different because every single wedding is different. And we bring a fresh approach to each and every one. How many people can say they get to do that? How many people have a job where each day is different than the day before? Plus, one of my absolute favorite things about what we do is that we attract couples that strive to make their wedding days reflect their personalities, which in turn makes those weddings so much fun to photograph.
So wedding season starts in May, why am I talking about it in September? Well, while Wedding Crashers may make it seem like wedding season it's a few short weeks, it's actually more like seven or eight months. Seven or eight months of weddings nearly every weekend and working in the office at least 5 days a week. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love it. It's second nature to us now, we (try to) carve out our own "weekend," turning Mondays into our day away from work. We go food shopping on Thursday mornings and it's actually really nice - no crowds, no hustle. We get so used to running our errands during times when most people are at work, the rare times during the winter when we venture into a mall on Saturday are completely disorienting to me (where in the world did all these people come from?). Of course, one of the side effects of the hustle and bustle of wedding season is that we don't always get to blog quite as quickly as we would like to. We come home from each wedding, each engagement session completely and totally pumped about what we shot that day and eager to share the shots as soon as possible. Occasionally, we'll even share a quick shot on our Facebook Page ("Like" it to get updates). We understand how excited couples are about their photos, because we are too. With that in mind, we thought we'd give you a preview of what we're working on (and what will be coming up on the blog soon). Can't wait to share the rest of them with you all very soon. For now though, we're off to finish getting our gear ready. We have another wedding tomorrow! :)
Laura & Eli, Kristin & Steven, Maria & Del, Matt & Mary, Anne Marie & Peter, Natalie & Ray, Lisa & Josh, Jillian & Alex, and Jaqui & Stephen - we hope you LOVE the preview. We'll be sharing more very soon! :)
We are often asked if going to so many weddings ever gets old. With a slightly confused look on our face without a doubt our answer is always "no of course not". Wedding days are filled with so many amazing emotions, with so many happy people and with couples bursting with happiness that they finally found each other. How could that ever get old? Plus with every wedding we attend and every engagement session that we photograph we are continually reminded about our own wedding day, our own engagement session and our own story. We constantly think about the times in the beginning of our relationship and how far we have come. Seriously how could that ever get old.
The last few weeks for us have been incredibly busy. Most of you know that we are getting ready for the arrival of our son (our first) in just a couple of weeks. So in addition to emerging ourselves in so many wedding and engagement images our days have been filled with making sure we complete all the finishing touches to his nursery (more photos coming soon!), washing all the clothes we got for him and making sure we are stocked up on all the essentials like diapers and wipes. It has been a great whirlwind and we seriously can't believe that we are almost already in October. Where did the summer go?
In the midst of all of this we have been so lucky to spend our weekends at some truly amazing weddings and some of our weekdays photographing an engagement session or two. We can't wait to share all the stories of our couples in full but for now we thought we would give you a little glimpse of what we have been up to.
Next up on the blog will be Cait & Barry's Bayshore, New York wedding with this gorgeous church and a lively reception featuring the New Orleans jazz funk band Brother Joscephus and the Love Revival Revolution.
Then we have the wedding of the adorable couple, Lizzie & Geoff', a romantic & classic New Haven wedding at the New Haven Lawn Club.
Then we have an engagement session coming your way! Jeff & Elliott's engagement which brought us all around some of our favorite parts of the city - the Upper West Side, Central Park & Lincoln Center.
Then we'll head north back up to the Guilford Yacht Club to share the nautical-inspired wedding of high-school sweethearts Allie & Shane.
And finally, our weddings from this past weekend! First up, Alissa & Carmine's wedding where we were able to fight back the rain for at least 20 minutes to get some fabulous shots like this one.
And last but certainly not least, Sandy & Mike's vineyard tent wedding at the gorgeous Jonathan Edwards Winery.
Just a few previews! Can't wait for you to see all of these weddings in full! Check back soon & often!
Years ago, when Rob and I were nothing more than friends and co-workers who happened to be thrown back together at the same university, we discovered that there was one thing we loved to do: go for long car rides. We would just pick a direction and drive with no destination in mind, no plan on what we would do. We would just get lost in conversation and suddenly realize that we were much further from home than we had intended to go. But it didn't matter, because that just meant we would spend that much more time together getting back to where we started from. We would talk and laugh and sing along to the radio (ok, well that was usually just me, but Rob wouldn't protest) and in the process we built an incredibly solid friendship. And that friendship was the basis of everything else we built from there, when I became smart enough to realize the incredible guy I had right in front of me and we finally went on our very first date. It was a huge jump to go from friends to something more, but when I got in the car the night of that date I knew it would all work out. Because if being in a relationship with Rob was anything like spending time with him on our long car rides together, I knew I was going to be one incredibly lucky girl. I was more right than I could have ever known.
Six years later, we spend every more time together than we ever did before but we still relish every minute of the long car rides we go on. And now, we get to go on them even more often than we ever did before. From weddings to engagement sessions, we log quite a bit of miles in our little green Jetta, all of that time spent exactly like it was when we were getting to know each other so many years ago - talking, laughing and singing along to the radio (now I can even get Rob to join in from time to time). So when we looked at our calendar for July and saw just how full it was with weddings and shoots all over New York and Connecticut, we made a few new mix CD's (yes, I still make those) and got ready to relive those old days all over again. After each wedding was over and we were on our way home, we would turn off the radio, hold hands and talk about each day. It was those moments that would remind us why we started loving those long car rides together in the first place.
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Since the beginning of July we've been pretty much all over the place - from Long Island to Stonington, CT with much of the Hudson Valley in between. Each wedding has been completely different and each couple has taught us a little bit more about why we love what we do. We're working on putting together complete blog posts from all of their wedding days, but we couldn't wait to share some previews to get you all just as excited as we are.
Next up on the blog will be Laura & Kenny's wedding at the Whitby Castle in Rye, NY.
Then, we'll be sharing Shannon & Dan's wedding at the majestic Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY.
Then we'll be sharing the three weddings we photographed this past weekend. First up was Kerry & Michael's wedding at The Grandview in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Then we were back close to home for Jaclyn & Robert's wedding held at Battery Gardens in New York City.
And our last wedding of the weekend, Emily & Justin's romantic vineyard wedding at Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington, CT.
And to finish out our whirlwind weekend, we got to catch up with one of our 2009 couples, Emily & Matt, to photograph their sweet little girl, Scout.
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And we haven't been the only ones hard at work. Our associate, Susan, had weddings of her own as well. Next up from her will be Jennifer & Eric's wedding which was held at the Candlewood Inn in Brookfield.
Be sure to check the blog often, we'll be sharing complete posts of these weddings and shoots very soon! Can't wait for you to hear all of these couple's amazing stories!
In the last month we have traveled just about 5,000 miles. In other words, we could have driven from Connecticut to California and back again. While that may sound incredibly daunting to most people, to us each mile that ticks off is a reminder that we are driving toward doing something we love to do. Each time we get in the car, program the GPS, and pop in a new mix CD, we are pumped. It's almost a ritual now. We look forward to that time in the car, away from the computers - time to refocus on the task at hand - capturing the connection between two people. And we always find it's much easier for us to do that when we're connected as well. So we chat, laugh, sing along to the radio. (Mostly, I sing along and once in a while say, "Just Rob now," and Rob smiles at me and stays silent. Always makes me laugh.) As the miles tick off and the car fills with the sound of Rob's laughter I can't help but think, how lucky are we? Especially when we arrive, pull out our cameras and have so many amazing couples waiting for us to share our passion with them.
I'm sure you're probably wondering where we got to stop on our many mile journey this October, so we thought we'd share with you some previews of what we've been up do. Here's what you can expect in the coming weeks on the blog: gorgeous weddings, romantic engagement sessions and maybe even some playlists from our mix CDs (if you're interested, of course).
We headed over to New York for Heather & Steve's classic wedding at La Chateau in South Salem.
Then Jennifer & Clark's 10-10-10 wedding blowout with ceremony at Assumption Church in Westport, reception New Haven Lawn Club, and tons of details.
And just when you think you couldn't possibly be getting any more romantic prettiness, we'll be posting Kate & Spencer's old-school Hollywood inspired wedding at the
Hartford Golf Club.
Then we'll be switching gears, bringing you New England in all it's Autumn glory with Gayle and Robert's Guilford engagement session.
And following that up with a complete change of pace with Kristin & Patrick's NYC engagement session, hitting up Central Park and the Highline.
Fittingly, Jennifer & Dan will be up next - bringing their rock n'roll relaxed vibe right into the heart of Hartford with their Society Room wedding.
Then for something completely different: Shannon & Dan's Long Island Equestrian inspired engagement session with not one, but two horses! For real! :)
After that we'll be sharing Liz & Don's Boston engagement session where we hit up some of our favorite Beantown spots - Boston Common & Fenway.
And we'll be finishing up with some more New England rustic-ness (totally a word), with Melissa & Jason's wedding at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills.
Last but certainly not least, Nancy & Jake's Easton engagement session with tons of beautiful woods and even a stop over to Silverman's Farms (a great spot for pies and delicious apple cider donuts - the perfect road trip food, by the way.)
Definitely keep an eye out for those posts and much more coming soon! We are blown away that we got to see so many gorgeous events this October and look forward to sharing them with all of you.
We're not quite done with the driving part of the season and I'm always working on new mix CDs, anyone have a good sing along song I could add to our rotation?
This time of year I sometimes feel like Jessie Spano on that very special episode of "Saved by the Bell." It takes a lot for me to resist the urge to stand in the corner and dramatically say to myself over and over again, "No time, there's never any time!" Of course, I'm not on speed and Zack Morris doesn't live next door to me (if only), but I totally get her point. Sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day. For the next several weeks we will be going non-stop, our October is jam-packed. Rob and I will be relying on a diet of caffeine and whatever food we can make (or, more accurately, get delivered) quickly, but we'll be loving every minute of it. I'm not sure what it says about us, but we actually kinda enjoy this time of year. We put our heads down, focus, and look forward to every next shoot, especially since it gives us a chance to step away from the computer and spend some time with our couples. Believe it or not, we look back in January or February and sometimes crave the craziness that is October.
With that in mind, we thought we share with you a bit of what we have been up to in September, which was probably runner-up in the busiest month race. We've had weddings all around the tri-state area and it's pretty safe to say by now that I know nearly every Usher song on the radio by heart. Sometimes I find myself singing along on the dance floor without even realizing it. Maybe by the end of October I'll be busting out in dance moves? I should start practicing now (the Britney Spears Glee episode may have re-kindled my love for trying to learn dance moves from music videos.) Have I said too much? Let's just say I can do one mean Billie Jean.)
Ok, well before I embarrass myself anymore, let's get to the good stuff - the pictures!
Coming up next, our second wedding in our whirl-wind Labor Day weekend triple header: Hillari & Danny at The Waveny House in New Canaan.
The following weekend we headed up north to spend the day with Lee & Patrick who wowed us with their impressive first dance at The Society Room of Hartford.
The following day we had a bit of a change of pace, getting to spend the afternoon with some sweet little girls (and they're wonderful parents) for a family session at Walnut Beach in Milford.
The following weekend we were back up in Hartford, hitting up some of the best picture spots with Jennifer & Jeff before their reception at the The Bond Ballroom.
Alba & Gary's wedding kept us a bit closer to home, with their ceremony in Shelton and reception at The Waterview in Monroe.
Finally, this wedding from just a few days ago, which was a bit of a homecoming for Rob. It brought us back to his hometown of Naugatuck for Suzanne & Dave's wedding. Rob has been close with Suzanne's family for several years and grew up going to their house. It was a bit surreal, and incredibly special, to be photograph such special moments for a family we care so much about.
Hope these fun previews get you all even more excited for the beautiful weddings have coming up on the blog. In the meantime, Rob and I are going to head over the Max, pick up some Buddy Bands and enter a dance contest.
