geoff boka + kate wedding in middlebury ct

Last Saturday I shot Geoff Boka's wedding at a private residence in Middlebury. It was so wonderful and crazy and I could have easily posted a million more shots to tell the full story of the day- there were so many layers to it! The weather alone created such a story element, we started the ceremony, had to stop and run for cover in the garage and then go back for round two- then couldn't go to the tent for the reception so the whole wedding had to hang out in Geoff's brothers' house until the coast was clear- not your typical wedding to say the least! But everyone was so positive and fun it was great to shoot and meet people and just have a great time telling their epic story...

Miss Kate has the world's best girl friends, like, EVER. They were so attentive and kind and helpful and aware, I can't tell you how nice it was shooting with them and their incredible energy. Not only that, but they were so cool with everything I was doing, and how I was doing it. So thanks ladies for being so wonderful! Here's Katie from Dana Bartone working her magic on Kate's hair.

Geoff wrote Kate a note for her to read before the wedding, which she could hardly do- it took her a few tries- and she had us ALL in tears!

There were some cool places to hang the dress in Geoff's brother's beautiful house... so I tried the big foyer window and played up the cool ceiling hoo ha. Then....

Realized you can see the dress hanging from outside and tried that whilst hanging the shoes from the knocker...

The bridesmaids dresses were so pretty and simple. I loved the color

Kate and her Mom

Kate right before the ceremony.... sort of....



This is what the sky looked like right before their outdoor ceremony.... so one person made it down the aisle and then it started to down pour like CRAZY!

Geoff and his boys checking the status of the skies...


Despite the torrential weather Geoff looked so happy to just be marrying his soul mate

Kate's bridesmaid checking out the sky- doesn't she look like Snow White?

And so we try it again.... but Geoff just wanted to make sure

Kate and her Dad, always a favorite shot of mine to take

And then this shot, Geoff seeing Kate for the first time, coming down the aisle... it was so emotional

What a big moment with Kate's Dad... I love the look on Geoff's face

Their ceremony was chock full of laughter...

and tears...

One of my favorite times to shoot my couples is right after they walk back down the aisle and no one else is around- you can get the most raw, and pure emotion from them- they forget you are there and are just caught up in their excitement

Despite being rained on, AGAIN during our portraits these two were just SO psyched to be married nothing dampened their spirits

Kate on her way to the tent- which we weren't allowed to go into for a spell due to some lightning... but again, all smiles! And did her makeup hold up nicely! Naomi Martinez did it and it looked great!

At the end of their first dance

During their toasts I felt like I got to know them so much better after hearing all of the things that their family and friends had to say about them




Now, I think I may have mentioned that there were going to be times I cried during my weddings, it's pretty much par for the course- I am an emotional gal. But. I also knew there may be a time when I would get knocked flat on my ASS, like almost like the wind was knocked out of me and I wouldn't be able to catch my breath.... well, it happened at Kate & Geoff's wedding and totally took me by surprise. I saw Geoff having little moments throughout the night with his Mom and I felt my heart get tight when I saw them... she reminds me of my Mom so much... so I kind of felt it coming and was trying to fend it off a bit but.... when I saw them hug like this I shot it and was so thankful for the darkness of the tent because I had to disappear for a while and just let it out. Despite being caught off guard with an emotional tidal wave like that I felt emotionally refreshed, and almost like my Mom had visited me for a bit...

During dinner I popped outside to see what was going on with the sky and the tent light colors and realized I needed to grab Kate and Geoff and their video man and shoot! Those two were game for anything, it was so much fun

At the very end of the night the caterer's (Emily's Catering, who ROCKED by the way, they were SO incredible, not only food-wise, it was delicious, but they just rolled with it all and made it happen and made it FUN!) put all of the candles on the table and it just sang out to us... Geoff checked in and said, 'you got that, right?' I said yup. But not with YOU!! So we were off again shooting and having a blast with this great light


Matt Wagner and I co-shot this and had such a blast. I totally look like a wet rat, I was soaked head to toe, including equipment, thank God for weather proof D3's!!!