When you arrive at a wedding location to find the bride’s mother assembling local flowers from the market in vases, her baker cousin putting the finishing touches on mini cupcakes in the communal kitchen, her brother setting out the table cards, and his girlfriend hanging delicate Chinese paper art, you know you’ll be treated to a homespun, family centered affair that’s sure to be touching.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that my cheeks hurt at the end of the night from smiling so much as I photographed Moira & James’ wedding at Pioneer Valley Cohousing. Maytal Saltiel did a beautiful job officiating their heartfelt ceremony- they were both glowing, and their joy radiated out to the family and friends who gathered outside in the warm late afternoon light to see them exchange vows that they wrote themselves.

The food was delicious! Hillside Organic Catering out of Bernardston, MA provided mouth-watering dishes (Javanese salmon, chicken piccata, portabella and porcini cheese stuffed ravioli….mmm…). I’m going to recommend them to my future couples because I want seconds of everything they served. Moira’s cousin Loren from Simply Sharon’s made the delicious and adorable mini cupcakes that people gobbled up.

And the dancing! I cannot believe the spirit and stamina this group maintained all the way to the very last song, Closing Time by Semisonic. The photo of Moira’s brother suspended in the air behind her and James was not Photoshopped- he was airborne!

Moira & James, it was an honor!

Who can endure driving through hours of stop-and-go traffic while an infant screams at the top of her lungs and still remain kind, cool, and generous? A real keeper, that’s who!

The backstory: in 2009, I photographed the wedding of a college friend in New England, and Sarah was a bridesmaid in the wedding. My then 3 month old daughter was too young to leave at home with Dad (we lived in New Mexico at the time), so she and a friend/baby wrangler came along for the adventure.

Sarah had just begun dating Jenny, and they were adorable together! I clearly remember them stealing glances of each other over the breakfast table at the inn where we all stayed. After the wedding weekend was over, Jenny offered me a ride to the airport, and what a ride it was! My daughter’s hair-splitting screams were relentless, but Jenny and Sarah were nothing but kind to me.

Fast forward 3ish years, and I received the kind of e-mail that makes a photographer dance around the house with giddiness: “Ever since Sara and Devin’s wedding I’ve been waiting to send you an email like this! Jenny and I just looked over your website again and we loved what we saw.” Seriously, getting inquiries from guests of past weddings I’ve photographed is the best, and I was thrilled that it worked out for me to be their photographer (and fly out to Oakland sans kiddos this time!).

For Sarah and Jenny’s engagement session we visited two fantastic locations in Oakland that they enjoy often as a couple: Oakland’s Lake Merritt, and a nearby cozy spice shop, Oaktown Spice Shop. Notice how they still, years later, like to steal glances of each other!

Sleepy Baby R was a delight to photograph! His mom is an avid knitter, and the little owl hat and cocoon were so adorable. Baby’s older brother was equally fun; I often spend as much time photographing older siblings as I do newborns because the early days of a sibling growing into the big brother or sister role are momentous as well. I think my own daughter grew a foot overnight when I first saw her next to my son! Thank you so much for inviting me into your home, and I look forward to catching the little guy awake come spring!

If I asked you and your partner to write down the specific location where one of your first special dates occurred, do you think your answers would match? I’m talking about the date when you just knew that you’d found your match…maybe when you started to have an inkling that this person with the twinkly eyes would be the one to grab onto.

For Moira & James, Georges Island in the Boston Harbor Islands was that special spot. I love going with my wedding couples to places that have significance to them, and I was fortunate enough to have a husband willing to watch the kids just a little bit longer on a wedding weekend so I could tack on an engagement shoot or what I like to call an Adventure Together Portrait Session for them one Sunday morning. And what an adventure it was! We journeyed by car, the T, and then a ferry out to Georges Island, getting to know each other along the way and sharing stories about mutual interests like Wellesley College where Moira and I graduated from and Charley Harper, a favorite artist of mine with ties to James’ hometown in Ohio. I got to hear about the plane that flew right over them on their date, and like I had planned it, we were treated to a plane leaving Logan Airport as well!

Georges Island has incredible views, secretive-feeling trails, and moody tunnels that made this photographer wish she could have spent hours exploring all of the fort’s nooks. I was literally shooting up until the moment I turned and sprinted to catch my ferry back, shouting over my shoulder that I couldn’t wait to see them in October for their wedding which you can see here!

I could photograph Baby’s S’s big brother all day. The faces he was making while feeding his new sister are hilarious! Opening his mouth to show her what she needed to do, grimacing when a little squirted out, the look of, “Yeah, I got this!” when she took the bottle….

Though they are called “newborn photo sessions,” the interactions between the newborn and her/his parents and other family members are perhaps what I focus on most in a session. Of course, the documentation of teeny tiny baby parts that are so fleeting is also super important. The photo of the back of Baby S’s neck gets me- I can remember sniffing and kissing my own babies right in that spot like it was yesterday!