Dave and Alyse {Engagement}

I met Dave and Alyse over a lavishly delicious meal at Cuchi Cuchi restaurant in Cambridge, and the three of us talked a mile a minute for three hours. They are both leading whirlwind busy lives, but are placing exteme importance on their autumn nuptials...We talked about everything: school, careers, their travels, their families, their "story," the way in which they plan to honor their Jewish heritage at their Stevens Estate wedding, their detailed search for the perfect venue (and vendor line up :), their ideas for wedding photography (yes! I am especially excited about a couple who places importance on the wedding photos, and goes into the process of working with creatively!)...We had good food, good wine, and awesome conversation--and after that first meeting, I had already fallen for these two, and could hardly wait for our enagement session adventure...And sure enough, it was one! We wanted to achieve the full gamut of backgrounds, so we first got our "waterfront," fix at the wonderful, unique setting of Boston Piers Park against the Boston skyline (water--check!, urban--check!). After we got our fill of warehouses and boats and sea scupltures, we made the last minute call to hop in the car and drive (at rush hour) all the way out of the city, to Danvers...And we reached the lovely grounds of Endicott Park and Glen Magna Farms just as the sun had reached perfection in it's descent...Dave and Alyse jumped out of the car (in new gorgeous attire) right into golden glistening October light (rustic gardens, check! Stone walls, check! Historic mansion grounds, check!)...Alyse and Dave brought along an array of fashions, and even some cool props (their Red Sox caps, the sweet memory book in which Dave cleverly popped the question), and were absolute champs, performing multiple costume changes in less than ideal locations (mostly backseat of car), climbing rusty, dirty dumpsters, and wading through thorny brush...and I think their energy and sense of adventure paid off in the photos that follow. Thank you two for your enthusiasm, for looking so fabulous, for bringing your A-game (and sense of romance), and for being up for anything, even losing an hour to rush hour...it was worth it, and I can't wait to romp around the grounds of the Stevens Estate in four months!  

Alyssa and Barry {Engagement}

Funny enough, my story with Alyssa and Barry is its own "how we met" tale, serendipitous and comedic, fraught with failed attempts at making plans to meet, and forces of nature interfering--but with everything working out picture-perfect in the end (quite literally)!...Essentially, we were "star-crossed." Storybook. "At first email." When Alyssa first wrote to me, describing briefly her love story with Barry, and how after much searching they found St. Clements (where Matt and I were married seven years ago!), the perfect place to hold the wedding--I didn't even finish reading the email before declaring, "this one shall be mine." I was already planning a late July weekend in CT before I even wrote back to her! I can't describe it. I just recognized something familiar in her--we are both romantics, teachers, and word-divas (we both use cheeky, decadent language when we write, and thus, our emails are elaborate and colorful, if a little long-winded). Luckily for me, she returned the enthusiasm, and long before we had a chance to meet, long before we had a contract, or even had a dialogue, it was settled that I would document their July wedding day. At first we planned to do an initial meeting, but as the months passed, and hectic schedules interfered, we soon settled on a meeting/engagement session rolled into one: "we'd meet, we'd greet, we'd shoot." So a February date was in place--but as fate would have it, it turned out to be the very same day of the Blizzard 2013! Engagement session Take 2 dawned frigid, windy, and cloudy, but we were determined to make it happen no matter. As I mentioned, Alyssa and I were already penpals--email BFFs really--before we even met. So when I showed up in a coffee shop for Engagement Session Attempt 2, and there they were--Alyssa like the ray of smiling sunshine I knew she would be, and Barry fitting the "tall, dark, handsome" bill adorned by an adorable English lilt (that I barely managed to hear because Alyssa and I usurped every second of the conversation with our incessant gabbing), it was just as I knew it would be. Like I had known them for years. And within seconds of our "at long last" meeting, I had dragged them out into the Boston Commons (toward barely-there rays of filtered sunlight) and was firing away before they even had a chance to catch a breath. Aaaand now that I have so selfishly droned on and on about MY love story with Alyssa and Barry, I suppose I should at last give the stage over to rightful stars of this show, and to THEIR love story, to THEIR beautiful, fun, sweet, adorable, perfect romance!!! And of course, the best way to do that, is with the photos! They powered through their session like ROCK STARS, despite bone-chilling temperatures and blustery-to-the-point-of-painful winds. Alyssa charmed my lens in her sassy eyelet dresses despite the cold, bravely transforming her look by changing her outfit (and footwear/scarf/jewelry)...Of course, her finest accessory was her dashing co-star, who was quietly rocking it out himself(especially in his mean leather jacket, I want one for Matt!). So without further ado, take a peek at this fashiony, fun, sweet, and so-in-love pair, my penpal Alyssa and her charming English beau!