ali + anthony wedding at st. clement's castle

Friday's wedding at St. Clement's Castle with the Wooten - Tantillo clans was the beginning of the double header weekend that me, Mike and Miss Laurie Crutchfield had. And a big thanks to Mother Nature for keeping us on our toes!
When I first met Ali, we sat and chatted for over two hours, she was almost late to work! Our conversation was so easy and fun, and we just loved talking about all of the details of their wedding and about life. The thing I love about Ali is she knew what she wanted from the beginning. Some people get engaged, start doing research about wedding photography and are like, 'WOW, I didn't know it could be like THIS!' But Ali knew. And she trusted me and Mike to do for her and Anthony what she knows we do best. So Mike and I pulled up a chair and ate, drank and laughed till we dropped!!

:)

No. We shot. We saw things that we had to shoot, things that challenged us and things that made me all teary eyed and emotional. Mike brought his A game and got some terrific stuff. And Miss Laurie Crutchfield was there, watching us shoot, shooting right smack in the middle of a giant D3 sandwich, working those tricky light situations and cursing Canon the whole time! OOOOoooohhhhhh!!!! Say you weren't! ;P

I love the many hands busy at work on Ali's hair

I should make a hat like this and make Mike wear it, huh.


Tiny jacket. Giant jacket.

Ali's dress was just all buttons, as far as the eye could see...

Miss Ali should add being able to walk in these (one of THREE pairs of shoes she brought) as one of her skill sets!! It added about a foot to her height, which was necessary, Anthony is 6'4"- I think she subconsciously motivated me to finally learn how to rock my very own heels...so thanks sister!!

The flowers, the flowers, the flowers! Wildflowers in Tolland rocked it! Can you say FIDDLEHEADS? Did you know they are edible?

Slowly working my way into the room. I love how this bridesmaid was just hanging right outside the door...she thought I wasn't shooting her...but I am one tricky lady!

I loved the bridesmaids dresses- floor length brown with pink sashes

Ali's makeup was great- but she really is such a natural beauty with the best cheekbones!

The dive!

Ali & Anthony opted for a first look, but it happened kind of spontaneously and man did we have to think on our feet! Anthony was actually heckling me here, and making me laugh!

I just love the sunflowers in the bouquets, so super pretty

Since the weather bit it, we shot our bridal party in the art gallery room where the ceremony was going to now be. Yeah it's dark but Mike and I weren't worried. I heart Nikon.



Ali's a big horse lover, and I am a big shoe and foot shot lover. Mix the two? You get this!

There was a really cool old tyme carraige that brought them for a spin right before the ceremony and then after- once they were done they gave guests rides!

Yes, Anthony JUST SAW ALI like TEN minute ago and he was still super pumped to see her come down the aisle!! I love his smile

The ceremony room was super tight, and I was practically on top of Ali when I shot this. But I still felt like a ninja and am confident that I looked like one too ;)

I have such a soft spot for Ginny, I loved watching her watching her daughter on her wedding day- I'd catch her eye and send her support and a smile...she really got me choked up all day

Ali and Anthony catch up with their little guy, AJ after the ceremony- he was in such good spirits all day

Miss Laurie Crutchfield working it!!

I feel like this could have almost been taken a hundred years ago

Even the driver looked the part!

OK, OK! I know I have a thing for this shot- but I just love the brides arms thrown over the grooms shoulders...!

I caught this sweet moment towards the end of the night- AJ, with his Mommy and Gigi- he was still in a great mood!

End of the night comes...




Thank you Ali, Anthony and your families for letting us in and just putting it out there...!

Be sure to check out Mike's fantastic shots HERE!

xxoo

Goal Number 56! CHECK!

May seem silly. But. I have a shoe problem as many of you may know. Now, what's a shoe fetish if I can't even wear the shoes that I covet??? What kind of mess is THAT. I ask you this.

So.

I have decided to train my feet to be able to wear heels!!! So all day today I am wearing these hot little red heels that I just got at Target, which look amazingly like my very own Barbie shoes!! I have to say I am doing pretty fantastic.

I may even add this to my workshop itinerary.

sneak peek + special visitor

Ali & Anthony got married at St. Clements castle yesterday in the crazy rain and it was AWESOME!! I just had to post a quick peek before Mike and I (and the incredible Miss Laurie Crutchfield back for more C 10ike mentoring love!!) headed off to our second wedding of the weekend in the Northwest Hills of CT!

Check out my team!


We had so much fun yesterday despite the weather and we are ready to roll today...let's see what we come back with tonight!

lauren + jamie wedding at harkness park in waterford

On Saturday Mike and I shot Lauren and Jamie's wedding at Harkness Park in Waterford, which is such a great place to shoot- it's easily one of my favorites. We had the best weather, clear blue skies and no humidity and everyone was in high spirits for the wedding.
I got a little bit of a taste of my own medicine for part of the day... I had the Fantastic Face First Films aka Jeff Reilly with Bob 2.0 filming Mike and I! It was a lot of fun, mostly for the mics on us- Jeff could hear everything I was saying- so I talk to myself a lot anyway but this time I'd hear a laugh way off in the distance and then that would make me laugh! I can't wait to see Jeff's interpretation of how Mike and I shoot a wedding!

Keep in mind I had no idea that Jeff was THIS close to me until I saw this shot of Mike's- this guy is STEALTH!



One of my favorite things about Harkness is the bridal suite- it's just flooded with this soft beautiful light and they have this really cool mirror

Now Miss Lauren is a singer and songwriter... and I had been hoping she was going to have her guitar with her so that I could shoot her rings on it, and of course she didn't let me down!


She has a beautiful voice and can rock that guitar like nobody's business.... here she has lyrics taped to the side of her guitar for a song that she surprised Jamie with!

Everything about Lauren fit Harkness- her hair, her dress, her SHOES for the love of God were so freaking pretty! Here she was trying to track Jamie down... she was so anxious to see him

Here they are, the shoes. So. Super. Pretty. Simple, elegant. Love them! Things happened kind of quickly once we got in the room to get ready so I combined a detail shot with an action shot of Lauren and her Mom and ladies helping her get dressed.

Once Lauren was dressed she was REALLY excited to finally see her man!

I loved Lauren's bouquet- all white dahlias, I have never seen that done before and man her florist knocked it out of the park!

Here her bridesmaids check on the status of the guys, who were right outside the window.

And we're finally off!

This was right as they saw each other, Jamie couldn't keep her at arms length for even a second and just embraced her. I love how his brow is all furrowed with emotion. Man, I love this guy!!!

We spotted this spot with this pretty light and just had to shoot it up

My trusty second, Mike, letting me scope out the flare situation

The groomsmen watching for Lauren and her Dad

The cuteness factor was running pretty high all day!

This was right when Jamie first spotted Lauren at the end of the garden

And here she comes....

And there he goes! He started to lose it a bit, and I just wanted to squeeze him

The hand off, father hug- one of my favorite moments. I love her Dad's expression

Here Lauren has a moment during her vows- and Jamie? Just reaches across the way and holds her arm... I got you, is what this says to me

Jamie composes himself right before starting his vows. I love this somber moment in the middle of the laughs and tears

During their first kiss the flower girl wanted to make sure she could see, it was pretty cute!

I love this moment-here Lauren is hugging her brother and Jamie is hugging his sister- nothing like some sibling love!

The bridesmaids bouquets were pretty dope as well!

This bridal party was pretty attractive, no? Look at the ring bearers suspenders and that big ole smile!!

I absolutely loved how Jamie and his boys interacted, they were like a bunch of puppies, all wrestling around and punching and then throwing in a hug here or there... it was not only funny to watch but to shoot!

Lauren and Jamie just tapped into my shoe fetish BIG TIME, right?

Heading back inside to the reception....


...sort of! Lauren wanted to stop and shoot a bit in this field, I was ALL over it!

Casualties of the day.... :( But still super pretty

During their first dance... these lights were CRAZY pretty. So I got down and dirty, literally, and shot up

Getting bombarded by some c 10 ike LOVE


Lauren and Jamie- Mike and I had such a great time- thanks for EVERYTHING! You both made us so comfortable and so did your families and friends.

Have fun in Indiana this weekend!!!

Be sure to check out Mike's shots HERE (be patient he has a new baby ;)

xxoo