gwyneth colleen photography » portland, or wedding photographer

jess + matt: engaged|NYC wedding photographer

April 23, 2010 posted in:engaged, travel

jess & matt are getting married in maryland this june…but they live in NYC.  i was already going to be in town for alex & jen’s wedding, so we decided to make my trip count!

they were very patient with me as i was totally late.  most new yorkers know and love (and rely on) hopstop.com…which totally and completely let me down.  to the tune of walking 10+ minutes in the wrong direction to the WEST version of the street they live on…not EAST.  (which, incidentally, was a not-even-two minute walk from the subway.)  hop stop fail.  but, after crossing over all those famous streets…park avenue, madison avenue, the streets that seem like they don’t REALLY exist…they’re just for movies and books…yeah, i crossed over them TWICE…and finally made it to their place.

we set off to explore their little neighborhood (a friend who lives in NYC tried to tell me NY is just a bunch of small towns.  i did NOT believe her.  dover…dover, nh is a small town.  it is a delightful and small town.  there is nothing small about NYC.  but i digress.)  jess is one of those people who pays attention, and i love that.  she remembered a certain fence that had hearts in it, so of course we made that one of our stops.

we also checked out madison square park, which is just RIDICULOUSLY beautiful this time of year. (also, the line at the shake shack was pretty ridiculous.)

aren’t they smokin?! i basically want all of jess’s clothes. she works in the fashion industry, and the coat she changed into for the 2nd part of our session…well, i won’t tell you how many hours i’ve spent googling, hoping i can find a rift in the space-time continuum and buy it before it’s sold out.


matt made me PROMISE i would tell you guys that it was HIS idea that they stand in the middle of the road and get the view behind them. i would have given him his props anyway, but let me tell you something else…we grabbed dinner in the middle of our session, and i had an ordering FAIL, and was kind of pushing my food around on my plate, and that SAINT OF A MAN volunteered to give me his tasty food and eat what i didn’t want. for picky-eater-gwyn, that is like…i don’t even have words. he’s in my good book for FOREVER. also…duly noted, i don’t like pesto.

jess & matt, i had a great time hanging out with you…thanks for trespassing on the park lawn for me and my harebrained schemes…i can’t wait for your wedding in just a couple months!

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Gail29 April 2010 - 15:14

OK, how AWESOME of a couple are they? I’m still stuck on the fact the guy gave you his dinner! WOWZERS

And as someone who walked for 35 minutes on Friday to arrive at an address we thought was 545 Broadway, only to find it was 545 WEST BROADWAY…I.SO.FEEL.YOUR.PAIN.

houston + christy: married|houston, tx wedding photographer

April 21, 2010 posted in:travel, wedding

this might be a record: blogging a wedding the same week i sent the images to the clients! (ok, no…i HAVE done this before, but i’m a delinquent blogger, so i haven’t done it ENOUGH.)

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!)

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Christy Farris21 April 2010 - 20:02

My wedding day was everything I ever dreamed it to be. I married my best friend and felt like a pretty princess bride at the same time, now that’s success. Unfortunately as wedding days go, it was very fast and one big blur to us both. It wasn’t until I got my pictures from Gwyn that it all came together for me. I got to slow down and see the moments she captured, and they took my breath away. Not only am I taken aback by how beautifully Gwyn took the pictures and how lovely everything came together…but she also captured “us”, our personalities and our love for one another. I spent two hours looking through these photos and cried by how touched I was from all the moments, glances, and emotions that were present that day and Gwyn was able to capture. I couldn’t imagine them any better and I am eternally grateful for Gwyn’s gift and utter genius. 🙂 Also, I made a new friend and she’s just lovely! When you know your photographer you feel safe and you can ejoy it. Gwyn made us feel like we could do no wrong! I loved it.

jess21 April 2010 - 20:25

Gorgeous, G!

B. Gresham21 April 2010 - 21:53

Love, love, love the portraits under the trees! Such awesome spring color!

Nick22 April 2010 - 09:42

Beautiful work, as always Gwyn!

Brianna27 April 2010 - 18:56

I love your couple shots! All of the shots along the metal fence and with those beautiful flowered trees. Great job 🙂

Cat29 April 2010 - 12:42

Gwyn,

I just gotta say again that you rock. I just love all of Christy and Houston’s pictures.

feedback + photo i love » gwyneth colleen photography6 December 2010 - 19:21

[…] houston + christy got their album this past week…it was a STUNNER (i wanted to get to the post office before it was dark, so i didn’t take any pictures of it before sending it off)… […]

NYC trip sneak peeks!|NYC wedding photographer

April 19, 2010 posted in:blogging, engaged, travel, wedding

i’m sitting in my hotel room in brooklyn (not sleeping when i SHOULD be; i have a long drive home tomorrow.)

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.

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erin + tom: married|white mountains, nh wedding photographer

April 11, 2010 posted in:wedding

erin & tom got married last august (yes, i’m still working on catching up) in littleton, nh and had their reception at the AMAZING sunset hill house in sugar hill, nh. i was drooling over the grounds and views…every direction i turned was amazingly beautiful. and then, of course, there were erin & tom and their incredibly good-looking friends and family. all in all, it was a pretty much perfect day.


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?

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melissakoren12 April 2010 - 11:38

Love it. With a capitol L. And the grandparents!? *tear*
and I so hear you on the delinquent blogger front. Forgetting the story when you know it was a good one is the worst part every time.

Jen17 May 2010 - 20:53

Um? Favourite wedding EVER. I love how you caught this one.

And no. no it does not. That photo is AWESOMENESS 😀