The First Baptist Church in Pittsfield, Maine was overflowing with Michelle and Justin’s family and friends. As is typical on a wedding day, everything was a little chaotic during the getting ready portion, but I always love this, it’s my favorite part of the day. I was so glad the weather was nice (although a little windy) so that we were able to have the pictures outside. I thought the bright tropical blue color of the dresses and the beautiful flowers looked just gorgeous outside. Michelle and Justin were so cute and their smiles were contagious! Everyone celebrated at the Millenium. Congratulations and enjoy the **SLIDESHOW**

Mary was the first one to respond to my post about a Trash the Dress session, so she wins the free session! Mary is actually one of my clients and her wedding is August 11th, so we will obviously be having her trash the dress session after her wedding;) She said she is “up for anything!” It’s going to be so much fun! I can’t wait for their wedding and then to trash her dress:)

If anyone is interested in a Trash the Dress session, please contact me for more information.

Everyone’s heard of a wedding gift registry, but what about a honeymoon registry! This is such a cool idea:) Brendan and I are huge travelers and this is what I would do instead of having a gift registry. We don’t need all that stuff, but having our guests help us experience our dream vacation would be an amazing gift. My dream vacation would be an African Safari. You can set up your whole trip on this site and your guests can buy different things for you… one would be a hot air balloon ride over the African plains…how cool would that be! This is one website that offers the service The Honeymoon: Because Memories Last a Lifetime

Imagine treating your Vera Wang wedding dress this way! New York Times Article (you have to log into read this article) I LOVE IT! This is a new trend in wedding photography and I would LOVE to do one of these sessions. There was also a segment on Good Morning America recently about the trend. There is even a website devoted to it: www.trashthedress.com

I would love to do one of these sessions, although it doesn’t have to be as extreme as some of these pictures:) I just want to go to some cool locations and not have to worry about getting a wedding dress dirty or wet. The first person who emails me and wants to be adventurous and trash your dress gets a free session along with an 8×10 of their favorite image. It doesn’t matter if I photographed your wedding or not. So if you want to pull your dress out of that box and do some really fun stuff, email me.

Aimee and Alex had the most joyous and happy wedding day and the bright sunny weather just added to the bright pink and green colors of their wedding. Aimee and Alex had an 11 a.m. wedding, so “getting ready” started bright and early at 7 a.m. at the 210 Hair Salon in downtown Portsmouth and the Sheraton Portsmouth. They arranged for their guests to take a green school bus (so cool) to take them to the ceremony location at Clay Hill Farm in York, Maine, so no one had to worry about drinking and driving. Clay Hill Farm has the most beautiful grounds! Aimee and Alex put some special touches to their wedding day, including a “first look”…. I just love this moment! They designed the ceremony themselves which was guest interactive with a water ceremony. They started their first dance off with a slow dance and then cut into Saturday Night Fever choreographed dance, and finally since Aimee is from New Orleans they added a little New Orleans tradition with a 2nd Line Dance, which was fun for me since you normally don’t see that in New England:) You’ll have to check out the **SLIDESHOW** to see some of these special touches.

Kelly and Matt got married at the Migis Lodge in South Casco, Maine on one of the most gorgeous days of the year so far.  The Migis Lodge is located in a stunning location right on the shores of Sebago Lake.  The girls got ready in one cabin while the guys got ready in another, and by the way the cabins are beautiful.  Kelly walked down from the lodge and along the shores of Sebago Lake with her father to the ceremony site overlooking the lake.  All I can say is WOW!  Everyone danced the night away thanks to their DJ, Joe of Dionne Entertainment.  Enjoy the **SLIDESHOW**

Tara and Pradeep got married at the Mill Creek Country Club in Geneva, Illinois on a gorgeous sunny day. Tara is my cousin so it was even more of an honor to photograph her wedding and capture those special moments. She was such a beautiful bride and I could just tell how happy and in love her and Pradeep are. I also got to see family that I haven’t seen in years, so I had a wonderful time!

Tara got ready at her parents home and then headed to the country club for a “first look” with Pradeep before the ceremony. They did an amazing job planning their wedding. One of the touches that I really liked was their guestbook which had a picture of everyone attending and you got to sign by your picture. All I could think of was how much work they must have put into collecting and organizing the pictures. Their reception was absolutely amazing and I’m not being biased:) Her sister and maid of honor, Courtney, made a slideshow and from the reactions of the guests it was amazing. (I actually didn’t watch the slideshow, it’s a great opportunity to capture the expressions of everyone watching.) And they had the most amazing DJ I have ever seen!! If you are getting married in the Chicago area I highly recommend Monastero Entertainment. If you are looking for a DJ that is not your typical wedding DJ, Roberto does an amazing job mixing dance music. There was no Electric Slide or YMCA, just awesome dance music that rocked the house!! I felt like I was in a dance club and the floor was packed. Congratulations!! Here’s a **SLIDESHOW** of some of my favs.

I spent the afternoon with Tara and Pradeep taking some pictures of them before their wedding on Friday. I had so much fun with them…they are such a cute couple. It’s going to be so much fun photographing their wedding!! Thanks for lunch and I can’t wait for Friday:)

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon exploring some of Chicago.  The Art Institute is a great musuem and has the most amazing impressionist collection, which I just love.  There was also a cool photography exhibit “Earth as it Was” which has some amazing photographs by Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter and William Clift.

The view of Chicago from the top of the Sears Tower.  Up the elevator 103 floors in less than a minute…wow!

The hotel had to move me to a new room because the hot water was barely luke warm and they couldn’t fix it.  That’s ok though, because I ended up with a nicer room:)  This is the coolest door knob I’ve ever seen and it’s on the door to my bathroom.

I’m currently out of the office and in Chicago for Tara and Pradeep’s wedding which I am so excited about!! Tomorrow we are doing a photo shoot in the city and then Friday their wedding is in St. Charles. So make sure to check back for some pictures:)

I arrived late last night, of course my flight was delayed because of the terrible weather, but I did finally make it. I didn’t realize my flight was going to be on a regional jet (although slightly bigger than the ones I’m used to). As a photographer I really hate these flights because of the carry-on limits and of course my camera gear, which I carry in an awesome LowePro rolling bag which meets the airline carry-on baggage requirements, had to be gate checked! Ugghh, this is a nightmare for photographers…did my bag actually get on the flight??? will my gear survive the baggage handlers??? Of course gate checking is better than actually having to check the bag, but still… I’m happy to report that everything is ok!

My hotel is an awesome location! I’m right on Millennium Park and near all the museums and Lake Michigan. Although the hotel is older, you can’t beat the location. Today I’m looking forward to going for a run in the park and visiting the Chicago Art Institute (and doing some work in between).

I will be checking my email, so please email me if you need to reach me. On a side note, Chicago is where I was born but haven’t been back since I was little, so I’m looking forward to exploring the city.