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**

Annemarie + Brett | Firestone Winery Wedding

The honor of shooting peers within the wedding photography industry is such a sweet gift. Being trusted with the memories of those who have a sea of people to choose from is like being pinned with one of those lapel pins that flashes it's blinky red lights.
You know the ones, right?
They are usually adorned with ribbons and draw the attention of anyone within the vicinity while silently screaming HAPPY BIRTHDAY or I'M OVER THE HILL or CLASS OF 2010!.
Sure, you may think them obnoxious and perhaps even tacky but I LOVED them as a child. Don't worry internet- I am WAY more mature now.
I mean totally.
Anyway... I proudly wore my imaginary pin and smiled every time I caught a blink out of the corner of my eye at my sweet gift from the future Bollmans.... But then it hit me. This couple is friends with several other wedding photography, which means those friends will be at the wedding. *gulp* It was then that I understood that that flashing pin puts me on display in front of many of my peers. I quickly threw my lapel decoration in the drawer and prayed to God that I wouldn't make some big wedding photographer fopaux.
Well, the wedding is over and aside from DJ calling me out for not making a slideshow at the reception or having something posted the next day, It went off pretty well. ;) But now I have to actually SHOWit - the images that is. (and a cheesy plug at Brett's job - be nice, its 1:30 am and I'm on a red eye.)

Anyway, thankfully Brett and Annemarie know how to rock the camera and made my job super easy.

So now I humbly present you a gazillion pictures of the fabulous Brett and Annemarie Bollman!

Slideshow:
www.shylaphotography.com/slideshows/annemariebrett

SO much emotion. Annemarie kept trying to hide her tears behind her bouquet.

A beautiful rainbow to usher in the ceremony.

I simply adore the look on Brett's face! He reminds me of a giddy lil' school boy.

Fourth o' July

I live in quite possibly the most perfect town :) Every season makes me feel like I've walked into a Norman Rockwell painting and The fourth of July was no exception. It's the weekend that this town comes truly alive.
This year our community of friends walked in the Horribles parade and I had the pleasure of making the costumes. 10 little lobsters! And since the parade has political references, we had a little fun marching to some kid...err, LOBSTER friendly protests. ;) (special thanks to e-man for his witty slogans!)

And now for some iphone-alicious shots!

no offense to all my canadian friends.... I love you all.

and thanks to the texican for building our boat-float!

I was in charge of making desserts for our BBQ and I thought they deserved to have their picture taken! "sparklers" for the kids and Panna Cotta with rasperry sauce for the adults. Yum Yum.