in the beginning, i loved everything that pushed the boundary on “traditional”. anything that created extra interest in the end-product photos. now…now i’m happy to photograph anything that happens. i know that couples make the choices they make thoughtfully…and as such, it’s a priority for them. which means it’s a priority to me.

a few years ago, if anyone had asked me what i thought of receiving lines, i probably would have said that they took time and didn’t provide great photo ops. NOW…i will amend that to say that they take time, but can provide an amazing opportunity to get candids of most of the wedding guests looking happy fairly quickly. they may not look as delighted the whole rest of the day as they will when they are congratulating the newly married couple. if the receiving line takes place in pleasing conditions (good light, colorful backdrop), in the span of 15 minutes, not only will the bride and groom get to thank each and every person who went out of his or her way to attend the celebration…the photographer can capture all those beloved faces with consistent exposures…which is GREAT for wedding albums!

i’ve been thinking about this a lot the last few days while designing an album layout for a wedding i photographed in october. the receiving line took place outdoors in a garden, so the light was gorgeous and there were still flowers blooming all around. having these images as part of the record of the day enabled me to design this…which is one of my favorite album layouts ever! i love the colors, and i love being able to include so many of the couple’s favorite people in their album…the book they’re going to treasure and look at every time they want to relive the day they promised each other forever!

tips if you’re considering having a receiving line:

*if possible–do it outside! pick a location that has lots of pretty colors and good light. (i also loved the images from a receiving line that took place inside in a greenhouse. that soft filtered light was GORGEOUS.)
*make sure your photographer knows you’d love to have lots of images of your guests as you greet them. to create layouts like this, your photographer(s) will also need to take a few moments to capture the scene-setting details.
*have a plan: ensure that everyone in the receiving line knows he/she is supposed to be in the line, where it will be happening, the order to line up in, and how soon after the ceremony it will be (will everyone exit and immediately line up, or will the bride and groom take a breather prior to greeting their guests?)

this lovely and happy woman is the generous soul on whose property the wedding took place. her son is next to her…and he rang a bell after the ceremony (see below!) which i LOVED.

can i just say…i LOVE jewish weddings…the horah is AWESOME. also…i go to a lot of weddings…and most weddings are full of people who love to dance. but…NOT LIKE THESE PEOPLE. right after the horah, they played “i gotta feeling” by the black eyed peas…i have honestly never seen anything like it.mmmm, refreshing!

jess + matt…thanks for the adventures last year! from crashing movie sets in NYC to seeing osprey nests in maryland, i had a great time being part of your celebration and documenting your love.

paul had been waiting for this day for a very long time. i loved seeing the emotion on their faces as they prepared to promise each other everything.

one of the best parts about having 2 photographers, especially in a church ceremony, is the ability to get multiple perspectives without moving around and being distracting. for this ceremony, gail hung out in the balcony, and i sat up front to get a more intimate perspective.the grandma. i LOVE this picture.this one was all gail; she was practically hanging out the car window to get it while i navigated the chinatown traffic.

chinese weddings often have a lengthy break between the ceremony and the reception. in our case, this worked out wonderfully, as there was PLENTY of time to explore boston and get some killer portraits. naomi and paul did their homework; they knew EXACTLY where they wanted to go. we started off at the boston public library. the security guard told us we couldn’t go in, but deigned to allow us a few minutes in the outer lobby.

but naomi was NOT having that. when we were done using that space, she said, “let’s walk around and try the other side.” which, of course, made me want to hug her.

i was kind of afraid of the security guard, i’m not gonna lie, but we had absolutely zero trouble getting in through another entrance…and i am so glad we persevered! the image on top is gail’s, i believe, and the one below is my perspective.

after making good use of the stunning boston public library, we had time to grab a few shots in chinatown that showed off the interesting architectural details. then it was time to head back to the reception.

shooting the rings is one of my favorite things to do at every wedding…it’s such a fun challenge to find interesting colors and textures in what is available in the immediate area. the above picture makes use of one of their bamboo centerpieces. in the bottom picture, the sparklies in the back are from naomi’s bracelet, and i set them all on some stainless steel catering equipment in an area of the restaurant that wasn’t being used…i love the reflection!

at asian weddings, it is customary for the bride and groom to go to each table to greet their guests. each table chooses a representative who presents the couple with gifts and reads words of support and wisdom.

another interesting practice i’ve never seen before was…games! this is the tail end of an epic musical chairs battle. they had (pretty awesome) prizes for the winners.

vendor information
church:  sacred heart parish in quincy, ma
reception venue + catering:  empire garden in boston, ma
DJ:  rob ferraz, five star entertainment
cake: ivy’s fine cakes and pastries
wedding emcee:  athena phan
photographer:  gwyneth colleen photography
2nd shooter:  gail werner

ashlee + jesse are amazing and awesome and some of my favorites.  (i have a lot of favorites, bc i firmly believe that only awesome people hire me.  which, y’know, i’m pretty much fine with!)  also, i highly, highly recommend them as friends…esp getting beer and tacos at agave on monday nights.  they have THE BEST STORIES EVAR.

ashlee got ready at the always fabulous hawthorne hotel, they were married at jesse’s alma-mater st. john’s prep, and they had their reception at the peabody-essex museum, which is truly fantastic!  the day was coordinated flawlessly by unique weddings by alexis, the florals were executed by flowers by darlene, alan with elegant entertainment kept the dance floor hoppin’, and everyone’s favorite part of a wedding…the cake! came from montilio’s.  and i can’t forget sam!  samantha of every little moment photography came all the way from utah to help me capture this awesome day.  thanks sam!

this is one of my favorite ring shots EVER!  i love it.

marie with her dad preparing to walk down the aisle.

doesn’t marie look stunning?!

their bridal party was a good time.  :-D

and…what could be more fun than a saber arch entrance into your reception?

a LIGHT SABER arch entrance!

i LOVED the floor in the bar at the salem waterfront hotel.

due to time constraints and weather, we didn’t get to take many portraits of just the bride and groom prior to the ceremony, so we went out and had some fun with the nighttime light in salem.

wedding days that were rainy at the start but clear up for evening…are lots of fun to play with.  i love how light bounces off of wet sidewalks and streets and creates a magical and romantic atmosphere.

marie + rob…sorry i’m such a delinquent blogger!  i had lots of fun at your wedding…and i hope married life is (still) treating you well!

so brainstorming with the two of them, i suggested…give me a list of ten words that describe you and your relationship…so they did, and we used it as a springboard for awesomeness at their session.  and then…well, check out their super adorable guestbook…i don’t know if i’ve been prouder of a guestbook since i started photographing weddings.  i think it’s cute, quirky, unique, fun…and best of all…really captures sarah + zach.

(i traveled with them when they were living in canada…i can totally attest to the hungry!  :-D)

the book was a big hit at their wedding…which you’ll see here fairly soon!  it was AMAZING.

we started off at portland velocipede…i met josh & gillian…its charming owners…a few months back in my european-style-bicycle obsessed haze.  i knew they’d be up for helping me do something fantastical for sarah & zach’s session…they didn’t disappoint!  they are always SO helpful and do their utmost to make sure your riding experience is nothing short of amazing.  even knowing we were just borrowing the bikes for a jaunt around the block, josh filled tires and adjusted seat heights for zach & sarah.  (i took one out, too…that was a frame size too big and the seat was probably too high, but i didn’t really give him a chance to do any adjustments!  and even on the wrong size bike…they just ride better in europe.)

dunno if you can see it, but sarah’s cream and purple pashley sonnet bliss perfectly matches her outfit.  couldn’t have planned it better if we’d tried!

they also tried out some of the cargo bikes portland velocipede just got in…i believe this one’s a bakfiets.  when i was in copenhagen in may…i saw entire families in/on one of these babies!

while we were riding, josh even hopped on a pashley guv’nor and came to check how we were faring.

sarah hadn’t been on a bicycle in years…and was wearing a skirt and platform heels…and it took her all of 10 minutes before she was proclaiming that she wanted to take the sonnet bliss home with her!  (another brief plug for portland velocipede before i move on…go visit them.  ride a bike.  connect with them on facebook or twitter.  they’re awesome.  also, they have their first tweed ride coming up on nov. 7!  my new pashley britannia hasn’t been shipped from england (sad face), or i’d be there with tweed on!)

after a fun ride around old port…we set off on foot for another of my crazy ideas.  (some of this crazy will make a LOT more sense in part 2.  some will probably still just be crazy!)

sarah likes kissing zach better than kissing a silver stripe…

after a brief staring contest…zach proved to be more open-minded.

i think i’ll leave the others for part 2…

first up in september, january and i flew to PA to be with lindsey & brian.

the next weekend i was up in maine at sebasco harbor resort with ben & debbie.

had a weekend off to prepare for the NEXT weekend…

friday i was surrogate shooter for christa who couldn’t shoot her best friend’s wedding because of being matron of honor…i know…weak excuse.  :-P

saturday morning i was up bright and early to photograph leah’s bat mitzvah…the party was at the portsmouth pearl, which is a super cool venue i’d never even heard of!

first wedding of october was my beloved jess & pete.  oh how i love them.  and we had some lovely light there by the three chimneys inn in durham…

didn’t even have to wait a full week for the next fabulous fall wedding…jess & seth got married on friday at the willowdale estate…another amazing venue i’d never worked at previously…(but fully intend to again!)

saturday morning up bright and early…earlier than i would have liked for sure…to catch a flight to key west for alanna & bobby’s wedding part 1.

i feel like the only way this could be more key west…is if i’d found her some drag queens to pose with.  :-D  the parrot is a little more photogenic, though…

had a rather more…adventuresome…trip home than i’d have liked…(upshot to getting stuck in miami overnight:  friend you haven’t seen in over a decade…and yardhouse happy hour.  but then this past saturday was sarah & zach’s big day…i was so excited for this one…me love them long time…and sarah, well, she is so ridiculously stunning.  i told her if i didn’t love her so much, i’d hate her.  (her other friends totally agree.  :-D)

so…today’s another crazy busy day, so i’d better quit blogging and get back to work!

beth has a totally great story about this dress…it’s a vera wang (right, beth?) which she preselected before seeing it or trying it on.  she found a listing on craigslist and went, by herself, after dark, to chinatown to purchase it.  totally worth the trip.  it was gorgeous.

beth got ready at the ADORABLE inn at camden place.  i don’t think i’ve ever ever ever seen an inn that was so lovely and simultaneously homey and inviting.  walking through the halls, it really felt like i was walking through a home…with the modern amenities and privacy you look for in a hotel.

this photo of beth’s ring also has significance.  beth is a self-professed candy-a-holic, and as it was her birthday two days before her wedding, i bought her some gummy bears to help mark the occasion.  and, of course, had to use a couple to showcase her beautiful ring.

and while i was shooting the ladies, the ever talented tomme hilton, who flew up from SC to help me capture this wedding, was photographing the handsome groom and his men.

their flowergirl was RIDICULOUSLY cute.

after the ceremony we took a little drive up the road to this abandoned barn i’d noticed on the way in.  the colors and the wildflowers growing in front perfectly matched the feel of beth’s aesthetic and details…gorgeous and effortless.

and what would a wedding in maine be without a picture by the sea?

i loved how they brought both of their cultural traditions in to their celebration…from the lebanese cookies as a favor, to circling up to do the hora later on in the evening.

but i’m getting a little ahead of myself…ahead of their beautiful first dance.

back to the hora…josh dancing with his sister.

beth + josh, thanks so much for inviting us to celebrate your decision to join your lives together…i’m so glad i met you both…and beth…i’ll see YOU for lunch on monday.  :-D
(and another thank you to tomme for doing such brilliant work and having lots of fun with me while doing it!)

jessica insists she’s not photogenic, but…ladies and gentlemen of the jury, i will present sufficient evidence that you will see that claim is patently absurd.

aren’t they so cute?

there are so many apple images…well, yes…because we were in an orchard…but they also requested that we get a variety of images featuring apples so that they could be used for table numbers.  i know it’s a little dorky…but we had an isaac newton inspired moment.  :-D

seth & jessica, i had SO much fun hanging out with you two…it’s obvious how much you love each other and and how much fun you have together…i’m looking forward to your wedding in LESS THAN A MONTH!

i am an enormous sucker for cobblestone streets…if they were an option for home decor…i’d probably have really uneven and uncomfortable floors.

being able to see stuff like this is one of the reasons i adore living in new england so muc…just walkin’ around and, oh! there’s an old tall ship. sweet.

hello fierceness! (sorry, america’s next top model just started up again…)

finding this spot to shoot made me want to jump up and down and squeal and…all KINDS of other embarrassing things!

i’ll get their wedding blogged yet! by hook or by crook! (no? well…it was in salem…i guess i was feelin’ the piratey, witchy jargon. please forgive me.)

a couple weeks ago i went and hung out with alanna + bobby in newburyport.  they. are. so. FUN!  they’re getting married exactly ONE MONTH from today!  in key west!  yeah…it’s going to be sheer TORTURE going down to florida to photograph their fabulousness with their families.  please…wear black and pray for me and all those other things you do in solidarity and mourning.

we met at maudslay state park…i’ve photographed there before…it’s a big, sprawling nature reserve (word to the wise:  if you’ve gotta pee…do it at the facilities near the parking lot…rather than, y’know, setting off walking for miles without heeding nature’s call.) with LOTS of options…beautiful stone walls, waterfalls, views of the merrimac river, gardens, and there’s even archeological ruins!

this session, though, was all about the light.  you’ll see what i mean.  without further ado…

this may very well be my absolute favorite image from the entire session.  i love seeing alanna be herself…and bobby unable to get enough of it.

in case you haven’t seen from all the other photos…alanna’s eyes are UH-MAZE-ING.  amazing.  totally gorgeous.

a + b…see you in paradise in ONE MONTH!  can’t wait!

(and the coolness was definitely upped by having one of the COOLEST photographers i know come shoot with me. thanks again, mike!  also, disclaimer:  where i remember, i have noted which shots are his, but there are probably some that are his that i’m just not sure about.)

she bought her (cool) dress off etsy.  they had vegetarian asian food with disposable bamboo dishes.  and chopsticks!  pretty chopsticks.  i dunno, it was just…cool.  see?

site of the ceremony…ridiculous, no?

(i think this one might be mike’s…)

so…i have to give jen some MAJOR props…kudos…accolades…whatever vocab word you want to use, she deserves them all.  the part of the park i wanted to shoot in?  yeah…it wasn’t so much “open” as it was “gated and chained with a padlock.”  HOWEVER!  no problem!  just climb through these bushes, and down these enormous boulders, onto a beach, and then back up some more boulders and voila!  we’re there!  and jen was totally up for it.  and…the resulting images are SO worth all of our clambering around.

(this is DEFINITELY one of mike’s…i love it!)

i couldn’t get enough of those bridges or the skyline!  so amazing.

(i think this is another one of mike’s…so beautiful.)

ok…i will try to tear myself away from the gorgeousness that is alex + jen, and move on to the gorgeousness of the location they chose.

i love father-daughter dances.  :-D

i’m about 98% sure alex is playing air guitar, here.

as our time was wrapping up, we took the bridal party outside for a couple more fun shots w/ the ny skyline behind us.  and the result is…HELLO CAST OF LOST!  (well, *i* think it looks like that, anyway.)

i love all my clients, but houston + christy are special. i was introduced to them by one of my besties…and they welcomed me into their little community down in montrose. i joined them for their new year’s eve celebration…i saw houston practice his mad bar tending skillz…(let’s be honest…i drank the fruits of said practice.) i’ve met their kitty…slept in their spare bedroom…i did christy’s hair for their engagement session…was there the morning she had to go see the seamstress about getting her dress altered. when i say they invited me to join in their celebration, i mean, i really became a part of it…i become friends with most of my clients, but some become friends for life. houston + christy fall into that category.

they chose to see one another before the ceremony, and it was beautiful. tensions run high on a wedding day, and these two’s cares visibly melted away when they saw each other. “oh, it’s you.”

we then had time to do portraits of the smokin’ hot (hobbit) couple…as all their friends call them. (hey! i can say it b/c christy and i are the same height!)

anyone who knows houston will laugh, because this is just SO HIM. and christy is just…stunning.

christy and her best friends watching all the guests arrive.

christy’s father was ill and unable to be there, so houston went and met her halfway, and they continued to the altar together.

they took communion as part of their ceremony, and christy forgot that she was doing this in front of a hundred plus people and pulled a nice healthy bite of bread from the loaf. the assembled guests then waited very patiently while she chewed. and chewed. and chewed. (and giggled quite a lot in between.) moments like this…the unscripted “mistakes” are often the parts of the wedding day that people hold most dear in their memories.

i like to remind grooms…”when you kiss her, make it count! a quick little peck doesn’t work for photos!” houston’s response? “don’t worry; i’ve done this before. kissing! that is.”

this couple got married just a couple weeks after christy + houston, and they said this is their favorite picture of them ever. i’m hoping that’s not true anymore, now that they’ve got wedding pictures! capturing moments of connection between friends and family at the party contributes to telling the story of the entire day.

houston’s grandpa. don’t you kind of want him to be your grandpa, too?

(thanks to the guys who decorated their car for setting me up for this one!)

yesterday’s wedding was uh-mazing. no…that’s not extreme enough. it was AMAZING.

here’s one of my favorite shots from the day…but there are LOTS of other incredible photos.

today i met up with jess & matt who’re getting married in a couple months in maryland. we wandered around and enjoyed spring in NYC.

i’ve gotta give props to both these fantastic couples…jen hiked over some rather sizable boulders…in her wedding dress! (she agrees the photos are SO worth it, though) and jess & matt didn’t blink when i suggested we ignore fences…and hop up on a vintage truck that was waiting around to be on a movie set. YOU ALL ROCK.

and now. i think i will go to sleep.

when i got there, erin was pretty much ready. i didn’t mind, as it gave us time to get some amazing photos before we headed off to the church.

can you believe this amazingness? no? me neither.

i love this image of erin’s parents/grandparents singing during the ceremony.

man and wife, say man and wife! (sorry, i just recently read “the princess bride”…and then followed it up by watching the movie. btw…the book is highly recommended!)

this may be one of my favorite bridal party pictures EVER. however…let me just tell you what i was doing to GET this image. 1. i was straddling the other side of the bride. i think most of those guys were on the balls of their feet ready to dash across the bride to grab me in case i looked like i was going over. (they were being overly cautious. benefit to being short: awesome center of gravity/balance!) 2. holding the camera OVER my head to get enough space between the subjects and the lens to fit them all in there. this was one lucky snap. it’s hard to frame something when you can’t SEE it! anyway, i think it was all worth it, don’t you agree?

another behind the scenes look: (which will not be surprising to anyone i have photographed before) i was laying on the ground to get this shot. my hs volleyball coach used to yell at me for diving for the ball instead of moving my feet, but…it’s working for me NOW, isn’t it miss strain!

how much do you love the seersucker suits? (correct answer: SO MUCH!)

one of the problems with being a delinquent blogger is you sometimes forget the story behind the photo…like, there’s a reason they’re drinking beer (i want to say it’s because…they really like beer. and they were thirsty, but it MIGHT be more meaningful…but i am a delinquent blogger, so i can’t remember.) also, the 2004 sign on the bridge is perfect, because that is the year they met. or got together. something important. (see: delinquent blogger.)

isn’t she beautiful? erin, you’re beautiful. (and tom, you’re very dapper!)

i’m just gonna say…there’s a reason why certain songs are always played at weddings.

and last but not least…the ring shot.

does this really need a caption?

they’re getting married in (less than 2 weeks! jen–3 more days till your wedding day is on the 10 day forecast!) in DUMBO, and i could not be more excited and inspired to capture their wedding day… the original plan was to do their engagement session the day before the wedding…revisiting the tulip garden in central park-where alex proposed! but they got to thinking and realized, “oh, hey, the day before our wedding might be just a LITTLE insane.”

so i made a whirlwind trip to the city that never sleeps and spent some time getting to know these two…and their delightful mountaineering cats, penny and portia.

i love both of these next two…the first one was shot with a long lens (100mm @ 2.8) and the second was shot closer with a wider angle, faster aperture lens (35 1.8). i love how different they are…when all i did was switch lenses and take a couple steps forward. i think the 2nd one is my favorite from the whole session…and that’s saying something! it is just MAGICAL to me.

it felt great to get out there and be shooting people in love…and to be blessed with such adorableness in such an inspiring city…it was well worth the whirlwind trip! see you again soon, guys!

(this one might be my favorite from our time at the museum…)
houston used to volunteer at the lone star flight museum, so the location was extra meaningful to him. unfortunately, “his” plane…WHICH HE HAS ACTUALLY FLOWN! was in an area which was off-limits to us, so we were unable to utilize it for any photos.

after the museum, we headed toward downtown galveston for a few more images. christy was SUCH a trouper…she was in intense pain and was scheduled for a root canal the next day, but she persisted and smiled through her agony!

aaaannnndd….roll credits.

they started day 1 of their “happily ever after” last saturday, so their wedding will be up here before too long! it was a glorious day full of love and joy and community.

jonathan is jeff’s brother…so i first met jonathan & caroline at halida & jeff’s wedding in june 2007. (and of course, halida & jeff were at this shindig…it’s always great to catch up with past clients and see how they’re doing!)

anyway, jonathan and caroline had a casual and elegantly playful (can something be elegantly playful? i’m pretty sure it can) affair at the picnic house in brooklyn’s prospect park.

i loved the little name tags on each bouquet. the florist paid such wonderful attention to the little details.

this stuffed crab was given to caroline as a child by a very dear family friend, and it weathered lots of life’s ups and downs with her over the years…so of COURSE it had to be present on her wedding morning.

this shot of the bridal party and close friends so perfectly encapsulates the ESSENCE of who they are together, and how much fun they have…

caroline’s nephew was impossibly adorable…

caroline and her dad (who, if i recall correctly, is a high school principal) tore it UP on the dance floor.

i really enjoyed being a part of their celebration…it was beautiful and very representative of who they are as people…and, of course, it was a GREAT party!

florist: emily white
dress: wai ching
venue: prospect park picnic house

(please forgive the formatting errors; i’ve been fiddling with it for quite a while, and i can’t work out the kinks…soon we’ll be back to more recent weddings where the images are formatted for my current blog dimensions. )

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.