Italy [part 1]

*note* My apologies for the small photos. Since I do not have my laptop, we will have to settle for smaller photos than normal but I will replace them when I return to the states. In the meantime....

It's nearly 1am and I am exhausted. There will be more stories to come but we are hitting Florence hard tomorrow *early* morning so I need to try to catch up on some sleep. I just had to blog before too much time went by!
There truly are some beautiful sights to see... For now, though, the first two cities we saw... Lake Como and Cinque Terre.

The Lake Como Towns ::

Varenna



Menaggio (where we stayed)



Belaggio



Villa Balbianello on Lake Como. For all you Star Wars or Bond lovers, you may recognize a few of the scenes ;)

Star Wars :: Anakin and Princess Amadala's balcony

The end of James Bond : Casino Royale was filmed here.

The best Gnocchi I have ever had. Come on, I'm in Italy... I HAVE to take pictures of my food. ;)




The brother Mark and I

A quick shot I grabbed before leaving Cinque Terre this morning

It has been non stop since we landed in Milan on Tuesday.... More to come but for now, Buono Sera.
:]

Sweet & Spicy | bridal shower

Up in the historic little town of Portsmouth, NH sits the cutest lil' letterpress & invitation boutique. Gus & Ruby opened up shop last year and have been taking the letterpress world by storm... I love paper, cards, and girly-fabulousness so trips to their little storefront are most definitely a treat.
Samantha, (co-owner) just happens to be maid of honor in a wedding this coming weekend, so when she threw her bestie, Lauren, a bridal shower last month, it was sure to be plethora of themed letterpress awesomeness........and indeed it was!

The theme was Sweet & Spicy. Guests were requested to wear pink or red and the event itself was held in downtown Boston at the Eastern Standard.

Well done Sam.... you are a wonderful MOH. ;)

The invites were lined with dried chili peppers.

favors were containers of cinnamon and sugar!

Guests had a choice of name tags declaring "I'm a little sweet" or "I'm a little spicy"

A quick little sequence of the bride's surprise after the blindfold came off...

Fun little mini portrait sessions with props!

and perhaps my FAVORITE of the day. The bride's Grandma was quite the little firecracker.

(ps) This saucy shower was just featured on 100 Layer Cake Blog :)

Sarah + Cedric | DIY Wedding

I am DIY. I thrive on the opportunity to create something exciting out of nothing. Or turn something antique into a modern treasure. Give me glue, paper, glitter, a hand saw, a gum wrapper, and a candlestick and I'll make you a wedding dress or even a bomb. :) Needless to say my hero is part Martha Stewart, part MacGuyver. If you could peek into my RSS reader, you will see 1/2 photography or business related blogs, and the rest are blogs like....

Design Sponge
Talk Crafty to me
The Crafty Bride
My Hands Made It
Honestly...WTF?

It's definitely a disease. :)

All that to say, I was super excited to shoot Sarah & Cedric's wedding. Sarah is the crafty-woman extraordinaire.... Everything was created by her. The garland made of antique handkerchiefs that she collected since she was a kid, the hair accessories and necklaces worn by her bridesmaids, the boutonnieres, her customized shoes, her veil... EVERYTHING. She is a one woman show. :) And to top it all off, She is downright adorable... a beacon of southern charm and darling-ness.

See?....

I shot the shoes on the bar where Sarah and Cedric met. It happened to be right down from the salon so the bartender kindly let me take a few photos.

A classic game of Croquet

And the corn-bag toss game created with silhouettes of the B&G as a wedding gift from groomsman and bridesmaid, Jeremy and Angelika. You may remember these two from their wedding I shot a few years ago. Remember the helicopter? :)

The cake was made by one of Sarah's bridesmaids... Sarah.

Sarah's young adult sisters were the ring bearer and flower "girl" ;) Both of the items below were made by the bride.

Cedric always calls Sarah his little "sassafras" so the wedding favors were, of course, bottles of sarsaparilla!

And, like I said before, everything you see below...The flowers, the boutonnieres, the hair clips...all made by the lovely bride.

Sarah runs the most adorable little boutique in Winchester, VA called The Purple Fern. I spent quite a bit of time there the day after the ceremony. She also has an Etsy store for all you out-of-staters ;)

Elyse + John | Chebeague Island Wedding

Allow me to begin by saying I don't cry at weddings... I just dont.
But this one, this one got me.

John and Elyse's engagement was the first proposal I ever shot and their epic "she said yes" moment has remained one of my favorite photos to date. Their engagement session remains a favorite as well... Only one of two on my website.

And now, the day finally came.

And I cried.

The celebration took place on Chebeague Island at the Emery family property. The same island John's parents met on. John even wore the same suit his father was married in. It truly was the perfect setting to see these two marry.

E & J, Thanks for the honor of allowing me to be a part of your lives, your relationship, and now your marriage. You two truly make me smile and touch so many with the message of your love.

xo.

The groomsmen took a quick trip to the dock to jump in :)

And lastly.... my favorite :)

OH! and there is a slideshow too.... **click HERE**