Erin and Tony had such a perfect summer day for their wedding! They were married last Friday and had a beautiful outdoor ceremony and their reception at the Topsfield Commons (www.topsfieldcommons.com) which is a phenomenal location and definitely one of our favorites on the North Shore!
Erin and Tony decided to actually see each other and have a private moment before the ceremony! This is something that we’re seeing alot now. Every couple we’ve talked that has gone this route always tell us how happy they were about doing it because it gives them the opportunity to see each other privately and actually take a moment alone to just truly enjoy that special moment. And another bonus is that they also get to attend their entire cocktail hour this way, too. It definitely helps to keep the hours from speeding past you in a flash when you actually get to mingle with all of your guests and enjoy your entire cocktail hour before starting the reception! We always love when couples decide to go this route, too, because nothing compares to that first moment when you see each other and then actually get to enjoy it for a few minutes instead of experiencing it as everything else in the ceremony is happening. And I’ll admit, it’s a bit for selfish reasons, too, because the photos that we’re able to get from those first few moments alone are always just so amazing!
Erin and Tony decided to do the same thing and asked us to help them arrange that moment when they first saw each other. Since they were having their ceremony right at the Topsfield Commons, Tony waited at the front of the ceremony site and when they were ready, Erin began to walk down the aisle to meet him. Between the anticipation and the excitement and the nervousness, it was just so emotional for everyone! This first image is just before Tony turned around to meet Erin. You can just see the emotion and anticipation on Tony’s face since he knows she’s getting close. He’s trying REALLY hard to keep it together here. This is absolutely one of my favorite moments:
And then just seconds later as they saw each other for the first time:
There is a whole series of photos that we were able to get from a distance and it was torture for me to just pick out a couple! I can’t wait until we have their entire website up so they can see the rest! After spending some time together alone, we joined the rest of their families to take their formal photos and then got to spend some great quality time with Erin and Tony alone, too. There’s this big beautiful barn just next to the Topsfield Commons that we’ve been wanting to use for so long now! And finally, thanks to Erin and Tony, we were able to play to our heart’s contents and get some images like this one:
One thing about Erin and Tony is how much they love to laugh and have fun with each other. We just love photographing these two so much! Not only are they both just incredibly gorgeous, but they make it all so easy because they’re so completely into each other. It was just so much fun!
Here’s an example of what I mean. After the formal photos were done, we went back inside to wait for the guests to arrive and be seated. I loved the lighting in this particular hallway and since we were just waiting around anyways, I wanted to get a few images of Erin here. As I was trying to see exactly where I wanted Erin to stand, Tony just started chatting with her and whatever he said made her just crack up and before we knew it, we were able to get some incredible images with her amazing laugh. They’re a great duo, these two!
The ceremony itself was something we won’t ever forget either. Their ceremony was completely personalized and just so beautiful to watch. We just feel privileged that we were there as well. Erin’s uncle officiated and Tony and Erin actually wrote their own vows to each other and they were both so personal and so funny and so touching all at the same time. As you can imagine, they were both very emotional throughout and how can you expect anyone in the audience to hold it all in when the bride and groom are having a hard time fighting the tears right in front of you? For the first time in my entire career, I actually teared up during their ceremony. It was that amazing! They had some great readings, too. Our absolute favorite was one that we never heard before. It’s called Love is Like Owning a Dog. This is so very appropo for Erin and Tony and we just loved it to pieces! You can read the entire poem here: http://www.taylormali.com/index.cfm?webid=14
But back to the photos! Here’s a great image that Rene took of Erin and Tony during one of the readings. You just know from their expressions that THEY know what they’re thinking, but I know I have no idea what it was:
And finally just one more or else I’ll turn this into the longest blog entry yet. This was one of my favorite images from their first dance. There’s really nothing else to say about it except that it was just another great moment between the two of them that we feel so honored to have been able to get.
Believe me, we could go on and on posting these images. As it was I picked out 15 to post but Rene helped me narrow it down to six so we could keep working on the rest of their website! And speaking of, the rest of their website will be up soon!
