Monthly Archives: September 2007

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We’re moving!!!!

We have some incredibly exciting news to share with everyone! WE’RE MOVING!!!

Many of you know that our current office and studio is located adjacent to our home. Recently, though, Rene and I happened upon an ad for some space that was available and it almost sounded too good to be true. So not expecting too much, we made an appointment to go see it and we completely fell in love! After thinking about it for a little while we decided to make the leap and sign on the dotted line. So we are so excited to announce that we’ll soon be opening a brand new studio in downtown Peabody within the next few weeks! We’re in the middle of trying to get everything ready and between the construction and painting and furniture buying and decorating our heads our spinning a bit!

We’re so excited about getting started and thought we would start a little studio diary in our blog to keep everyone up to date! The studio will be in an old mill that was built in 1880-something. (I know that’s shameful.  I promise to brush up on my history and let you know…)  It was recently completely restored and we now have a space that showcases the gorgeous exposed beams of the original mill and an exposed brick wall as well. We can’t wait for everyone to see it! So in the meantime, here’s a sneak peak of our “before” photos. These were taken when we first visited the studio-to-be:

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When we first saw the “studio-to-be” we both immediately thought that it really had - as they say - a lot of potential and we just couldn’t wait to get started! We’ve already started construction and moving in some furniture so it’s already beginning to take shape. We’ll have a enough room when we’re done for all of our workstations, a projection area and even an indoor studio for portraits.

And of course we’ll keep you posted on our progress as we go along right here on the blog, too. We’ll announce our official grand opening date as soon as we have it and fully expect you all to drop in to say hello!!

We’re so excited and nervous and giddy all at the same time and I wish it was all done already. But patience grasshopper… I know, I know. :)
–Melissa and René

Andrea and Chris on Cape Cod

We have a LOT of images to share from last weekend’s wedding! Andrea and Chris had an incredibly gorgeous wedding on Cape Cod and we by the time we ended their personal portrait session we were on a complete high already. I think we all skipped to the waiting trolleys because of how excited we all were. Wait until you see why!

I started the afternoon at Andrea’s parents’ home and soon after she got dressed in her beautiful gown, I had to sneak her away for a couple of portraits. Andrea told me she wanted some of her wedding images to be works of art, so seeing as Andrea is absolutely stunning, I though it would be very appropriate to make her into a work of art. After finding an everyday sliding glass door in her parents’ bedroom, I brought her in there and had a little bit of fun showing off her amazingly gorgeous self:

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Then, after a beautiful ceremony at the Holy Family church in Duxbury, MA, we followed the trolley that Andrea and Chris had just for their wedding party to a very cool beach - also in Duxbury. Even though it rained that morning (a little bit), and even though it was cloudy at the end of the ceremony, Andrea and Chris made the call to go to the beach anyways. And what a great idea that was! By the time we arrived at the beach, the sun came out and the sky was a gorgeous deep blue with little fluffy white clouds. It was PERFECT!

So we photographed their families and their wedding party on the beach, then we let them all either head over to the reception (at the beautiful Ballymeade Country Club) or enjoy and little time out on the trolley. That’s when we spent a lot of time having fun with just Andrea and Chris (our favorite part!!) Here is just a sample of our favorites from their session. First, I love this very cool image of Chris and all of his guys:

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And now for the rest of our favorites! Andrea and Chris were so fun and ready to just completely enjoy the session and completely throw themselves into everything we did. We had SO much fun with them! This first image represents for us everything we love about Andrea. She was so happy and excited and gorgeous and I think this really shows off how amazing it all was to have all of those emotions come together at the same time:

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This next image was so fun. Andrea and Chris laugh so much together. We took a very relaxed, beautifully romantic image and after we were done, I’m not exactly sure what Chris said or did, but the next thing we knew they were both laughing hysterically which let us capture this real moment: (Thank you Chris!!!)

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Once last thing I had to share was one of the coolest details I’ve ever seen. Andrea and Chris had a cupcake cake. But also had a little “top tier” cake for themselves to cut. The coolest part was that the top of the little cake had their initials on it - and so did all of the little cupcakes as well! It was all of the little details like this that they remembered which made everything so perfect!

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Congratulations Andrea and Chris! We can’t wait for you to see the rest of your gallery!!

Olivia and Adam - Celebrating love in Harvard Square

Contributed by Carl Hollins

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Every September day should be so perfect. The temperature on Sunday was near 80 but the air was refreshingly crisp – a perfect combination to usher in another New England fall season and snuggle up close to the one you love.

We left the news stand at Harvard Square setting out to explore the area our stunning couple call home…within minutes after we had started, passersby were congratulating both Adam & Olivia on their recent engagement. Their beaming smiles & love filled eyes spurred me on. Our day was going to be about a time honored tradition, love and laughter… we will have to save ‘play’ for May.

Congrats!

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Amy and Brian - Old Orchard Beach, Maine

We got to spend an incredibly beautiful Saturday with Amy and Brian all the way up in Old Orchard Beach, Maine! They had their wedding at the Dunegrass Golf Club just this past weekend and it turned out to be a perfect summer day.

One thing that we especially loved about Amy and Brian’s wedding were all of the great unique details everywhere! It was so much fun finding all of these great little touches everywhere we looked. Things like:

Amy’s gorgeous shoes:

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The programs for their wedding that doubled as an adorable fan perfect for an outdoor ceremony!!

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And take a look at this perfect cupcake “cake”!

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Amy even thought of the best little details for her accessories. She found her earrings and bracelet months before the wedding because they matched her dress perfectly. And instead of wearing a veil, Amy had a beautiful orchid in her hair. It was just gorgeous! We had a great session with Amy and Brian after the ceremony and we didn’t even have to go far! The country club had a perfect setting just behind the clubhouse and we took total advantage of it. Here’s one of our favorites of them:

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Amy and Brian are also on their honeymoon right now and so we’re just waiting patiently for all of our couples from this past weekend to get home so we can share all of the rest of the images from their wedding!!

Lindsey and Jon

We have lots of images to share from last weekend’s wedding!! Lindsey and Jon were married last Friday at the gorgeous Indian Pond Country Club. We always love photographing weddings here because there are so many different locations that make for some beautiful settings.

Lindsey and Jon had their ceremony on the beautiful back lawn of the country club overlooking the perfectly manicured rolling hills. They also had a very unique and special part to the ceremony that we had never seen before. Lindsey and Jon both privately wrote a letter to each other before the wedding. They then brought the letters and other special reminders of their relationship to the ceremony and then during the ceremony, they sealed the letters and placed them along with the other special items into a beautiful carved wooden box. They locked the box together and then will open it on their 10th anniversary. It was a time capsule of their relationship! Here are some details that Rene took before the ceremony. It’s the letter that Jon wrote for Lindsey along with a CD containing the song that Jon specifically wrote and sang for her (Jon is in a very talented band!):

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Lindsey and Jon also had an incredibly fun wedding party! We had a blast with these guys all day long. The girls all arrived at the country club first so I took advantage of the fact that the boys were not around and we found some great out-of-the way spots for some “formals” (we hate that word!!). It turns out the country club has this little wine cellar/alcove complete with rolling ladder. I have to give a special shout out to Kate McCabe, our bride from July 16, 2005 who specifically called me up to tell me about this little hidden spot which she found on a later trip to the country club for dinner. She knew it would be just the kind of location I’d love to use the next time I was there. And man was she right!

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We also had a ton of fun with the guys!! We loosely set up this pose and when the guys really started hamming it up for us, it turned into one of my favorite groomsmen images ever!

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And now we get to show off some of our favorite portraits of Lindsey and Jon! A lot of you may already know that one of our favorite parts of the day is the time that we get with just the bride and groom by themselves. It’s when we really get to have fun creatively and capture some gorgeous moments between the two of them. Lindsey and Jon are a really beautiful couple and we knew they were determined to have fun with their session, so here are just a few of our favorites:

First my absolute top fav that I feel like submitting to Calvin Klein for their next ad right now:

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Lindsey also has the most incredibly clear blue eyes and Rene was really determined to focus the attention on them for this next image:

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That’s the REAL color of her eyes! Gorgeous! Then we decided to sneak outside for a few more portraits after dinner while it was dark out so that we could have some fun with a video light. And here’s what happened!

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Lindsey and Jon are in the middle of a two week honeymoon right now! So they won’t even be able to see this sneak peek of their wedding or even the entire website until they come home next week. We can’t wait to see them and hear all about their trip and we definitely can’t wait to show them the rest of their images!

Liz and Jeff’s (whirlwind!) perfection

So let’s stop for a second and think about what a wedding is all about. What makes a wedding special to you? Is it the vows that you solemnly and earnestly recite to each other? Is it seeing the pure joy and love on the faces of your family and your close friends? Is it the opportunity to have everyone together in one place for the happiest moments in your life? Is it the pure love and elation that you feel for each other and the feeling that it just doesn’t get any better than this? All of those things?

Well, Liz and Jeff sat down and answered all of those questions with an absolute “yes” and then decided that they just didn’t want to wait to experience it all. You see, Jeff proposed Liz only six weeks ago! When it came time to pick a date, they saw no reason why they should wait a year, two years or maybe more. Why not get married now? We know what we want, we know what’s important to us, so why should we wait? And so it was decided!

They met with us only 2 weeks before the big day! We were actually still available and there was no doubt when we met them that we wanted to be there at their wedding and that we would stay in touch with them for a long time. We just hit it off immediately and spent much of that afternoon laughing and chatting. We thought they’d be a wreck with only two weeks left for their wedding. Instead, they were completely excited about getting married and they told us, “What’s done is done, what isn’t, isn’t.” How beautiful is that?!?!

To top it all off, their wedding was an absolute dream wedding. They invited their closest friends and family and put together the most elegant and intimate wedding! Their ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful Chatham’s Bar Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts. Rene and I loved it here so much that we’re already making plans to go back and spent a few days for some r&r very soon!

Enough chatting, though, let me tell you about the rest of the day with with some images! Rene and I split up as soon as we arrived, as we usually do. When I found Liz in her room, she was not sitting in a chair getting her hair and makeup done and everything else that goes along with that. Instead, I found her sitting crossed legged on the bed with her laptop in her lap and her cell phone in her ear. So calm, collected and just getting last minute things taken care of. I loved it! Rene then found Jeff in his room getting dressed:

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Poor Jeff was already so nervous at this point that he never did get that tie on. His mind was just in a million different places so Rene (being the only other person there with Jeff!) finally tied it up for him. Liz on the other hand was the picture of calm while the stylist and makeup artist made her even more gorgeous that she already is every day. Her dress…. ay ay ay… her dress. Heart stopping. And guess who picked it out? Jeff!!! Let me tell you, Jeff knows how to pick out a gorgeous gown as you’ll see in the next few images. As for Liz…as soon as her dress went on and she took a step back, it hit her all at once. SHE WAS GETTING MARRIED! The nervousness and excitement and pure anticipation that had already hit Jeff finally caught up with Liz and suddenly she just couldn’t sit still. So what better moment than to let Liz and Jeff see each other for the first time and have a private moment alone. It was exactly what they needed and the images from that moment are just so special. After that, we took a little bit of time to have some fun with them as well. The result?

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(Look at that dress!) Liz was just perfection - she and Jeff are such a gorgeous couple! And they’re just so happy and content with their lives that we were so happy to just be around them! The ceremony was held just outside the Inn overlooking the ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking. One of my favorite moments from the ceremony was when the minister mentioned that if anyone knew of any reason Liz and Jeff shouldn’t be married, they should speak up now. This was the warning look that Jeff shot back to everyone behind him:

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The result was the entire wedding breaking out into laughter. It’s classic Liz and Jeff! After the ceremony Liz and Jeff and Rene and I headed down to the beach as the sun set for a fun sand-filled session. A few of our favorites:

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Both Jeff and Liz have the most incredible eyes - so mesmerizing! And another…

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Liz and Jeff are now enjoying a fun (and relaxing!) week on Nantucket while they plan for an even bigger trip at the beginning of the year. We couldn’t fit all of the images that we wanted to on the blog, so we’re just so excited for them to see the entire gallery as soon as they get back!