gwyneth colleen photography » portsmouth, nh wedding photographer

my friend david lives a whirlwind life…he works for world vision and was in a whopping 15 countries this year. therefore…his blogs are never in ‘real time’. he coined a brilliant term…”retro blogging.” seeing as jody and matt got married LAST NOVEMBER…this is definitely an exercise in retro blogging.

jody was claire’s maid of honor in july last year, and after claire & bobby’s wedding, she contacted me about traveling down to NJ to photograph her wedding.

matt really wanted pictures of his grandpa helping him put on his tie…and i’m SO glad he specifically requested these. they’re some of my favorites from the whole day!

pretty much everyone at the entire wedding doted on this little girl…and, like smart little girls everywhere, she gobbled it right up.

sometimes, when i’m doing family pictures…i tell everyone to pretend they’re on a roller coaster. there are a few reasons for this…
1) because who doesn’t look happy and excited when they’re on a roller coaster? especially if it’s just a pretend one that isn’t actually high up in the air…
2) for the POWAH! it’s intoxicating.

i probably took 100 images trying to get the motion blur in the windows, but i’m glad i persevered!

it was a really cold day, and they’d hired this fabulous trolley to take everyone between the ceremony and reception sites…so we made the most of it!

jody & matt, thanks for inviting me to join your celebration. sorry i’m the world’s most disorganized and delinquent blogger ever, and it took me so long to write about you guys.

amy & ben (of the super hot newport, ri engagement session last summer) were married last november (that’s right…november 2008. i told you…i am the world’s worst blogger.) at the glen manor house in portsmouth, ri. their incredible floral arrangements were done by the wildly talented sayles livingston. and amy makes the best sweet treats in the universe…she provided the favors/candy bar.

then it was time for amy & ben’s first look. i super duper love having a time set aside to capture this moment.
the ever fantastic doug levy was shooting with me, so we’ve got this moment from multiple angles. (which is always awesome.)

the grounds were so amazing…i could have shot there all day (well…i DID shoot there all day, but you know what I mean, right?) unfortunately, the weather didn’t let us do much exploring…i’d love to go back and shoot there again on a non-rainy day!

isn’t she so amazingly beautiful? (i think this shot is doug’s.)

bustling is complicated.

i loved how fanciful their cake arrangement was.

anyone who knows ben would probably agree that this shot encapsulates him pretty well. anywhere ben is, a good time is sure to find him.

i’m not sure, but i’d be willing to put money down that this is “sweet caroline.”

see that tall girl with her arm in the air? that’s joanna. she’s my friend matthew’s little sister. i met matthew in august of 98 when we were both doing a year long internship program in texas. we’ve stayed in touch…(his wife is now my best friend.) anyway, joanna works for amy at her delectable treat construction business…when amy got engaged and started looking for a photographer, joanna passed my name along. and now, to thank her, i will put these pictures of her on the internet. thanks joanna!

(ps: this blurry image on the right only made the cut b/c it is joanna…)

hey amy & ben…i know i’m late with this, but thanks so much for rocking my world and buying me mocha martinis (or whatever those were), and introducing me to pad thai at salvation cafe, and loie fullers in providence. you guys know all the best spots!

jason and barrett got married about a month 3.5 months ago (i’ve been working on this post for 3 months…i am the worst blogger ever) in west roxbury, ma. her dad works for the roxbury latin school…so there was never really anywhere else on the list. she grew up wandering around its beautiful grounds and has known the priest there since she was “yea high.”

the whole day was perfect…relaxed and elegant, just like jason and barrett. (well, the flower girls weren’t particularly relaxed and elegant so much as little firecrackers more full of energy and spunk than any 3 little girls i think i’ve ever met.)

can you guess what happened next?

(don’t worry; the blow dryer did the trick. silk shantung can handle champagne or water and dry gracefully. however, it does not do as well with breastmilk. just for reference.)

barrett’s dad picked everyone up in the roxbury latin school bus for the short trip over to campus. jason was waiting so he could get a first look at his beautiful bride.

they wanted to do all the group pictures before the ceremony (so they could enjoy their cocktail hour), which i love!  their bridal party was lots of fun, and when i told them to do something silly…they totally went with it.  (it was a full mass ceremony, and there is usually a point in the service where the priest exhorts people to greet one another.  so i told the bridal party to do that…and then i couldn’t talk for 3 minutes because i was laughing too hard.  see?)

there are so many things i love about this picture…so many fantastic expressions!

after the ceremony, it was time for my very favorite part: bride & groom portraits. wedding days usually move super quickly…it’s always a creative challenge to take the tiny slice of time allotted for these pictures, and make it feel like there were no time constraints…only time for love and beauty and creativity. i think jason, barrett, and i slam-dunked this in our 15 minutes.

first dance. what i love so, so, so much about this image…they are flanked by their respective parents…and they’re even on the right sides! and i didn’t arrange it…i just got in the right place at the right time.

after the parent dances, everyone started to get their dance on…but my time at the party was drawing to a close.

but…tip: if you want to get me to stay a little later, even after i’ve already checked in and we’ve said, “ok, we’re all good”…have the DJ start playing “sweet caroline” as i’m heading out. i am a new england girl, and i physically canNOT make myself leave until after the last note has played.

(barrett & jason are very savvy and cunning people, and they did this very thing. and i THANK them for it. a new england wedding with dancing is not complete until sweet caroline has had its playtime. i’m just saying.)