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Andrea & Toto Part I 08.08.09

After their awe­some enga­ge­ment ses­sion, I was more than a little exci­ted for their wed­ding cere­mo­nies. Part I hap­pe­ned on the most beau­ti­ful of August mor­nings. I arri­ved at their house and was gree­ted by sweet­ness everywhere I loo­ked. Andrea was giving and recei­ving finishing touches, meanwhile her youn­gest daugther Eva was all ready to go!

In the other room the bri­des­maids were hel­ping each other tie their sashes on. I love the blue/​cream combo.

After her hair was done she went up stairs and put on her *stun­ning* gown. 

We all drove over to Great Island Com­mon in New Castle, NH for the cere­mony. The guys had got­ten up very early in the mor­ning to get to the gates and reserve a prime spot, they were 5th in line and could not have had a bet­ter location!

There was no real pri­vacy though so wal­king from the car to the site the girls were trying to hide Andrea — a bys­tan­der offe­red up their pic­nic quilt and it made things much easier (and more amu­sing) :)

I love these — Eva was being kept com­pany by one of the bri­des­maids daugthers — they were ado­ra­ble. Deja was chec­king on her mom, trying to help calm her nerves. 

Andrea was wai­ting in the tent they’d cons­truc­ted for her. I grab­bed this quick shot of Toto and his girls and I LOVE it! 

A few more shots while we wai­ted for the last of the guests to arrive.

There was a lot of last minute cram­ming of their vows in the last moments before the ceremony.

Then it was time to begin! 

Toto had a lot of to smile about. The girls, his bride, and his father-​in-​law follo­wing clo­sely behind carr­ying the little one.

Did I men­tion that Toto found the BEST spot? I may have unders­ta­ted. It was lite­really pic­ture perfect.

That’s the wha­le­back lighthouse so nicely deco­ra­ting the backdrop.

And the kiss! They’re married! For these high school sweethearts it had been a long time coming! They were ecstatic.

We took some group shots — and we had fun with it.

Then we wan­de­red around the park to take some newly-​wedded pho­tos! There are so many great loca­tions on that island!

As we were wal­king back from our shoot another family stop­ped us and wan­ted to have their pho­tos taken with bride and groom. It was super sweet and Andrea & Toto hap­pily obliged.

The mor­ning was pretty much over at that point — Eva had chan­ged into her tra­di­tio­nal thai out­fit, prac­ti­cing for Part II — and they had this yummy cup­cake tower out with their home made bufett.

Just before I was set to leave they remem­be­red they wan­ted to toast! Well Toto got a little over zea­lous with the sha­king and neither Andrea nor I were expec­ting it when it “went off!” Unex­pec­ted but fully delighted!

 

I can’t wait to share Part II with you — a tra­di­tio­nal Thai cere­mony and then a roc­king recep­tion for nearly 400 people! 

~Melis­sa­Ko­ren

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Rachel & Jason E-​pics 06.04.09

Rachel may well be the best thing that ever hap­pe­ned to Jason. And I say that because Jason and I went to HS together and although I barely knew him then, I’m quite posi­tive he’s more him­self now than ever!

After being rai­ned out over and over we made last minute plans to meet at the beach just before sun­set one after­noon because the sun was shi­ning THAT MINUTE and we were hope­ful it would hold out an hour or two more.

Well it most cer­tainly did and we had a great time traip­sing along the beach & the strip!

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I love the retro fun feel to this one!

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Catching the sunset…

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We pas­sed this great wall of tapes­tries! I couldn’t resist.

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This is Rachel’s favo­rite. I told it was because it was quin­tes­sen­tial New England.. a Dun­kin Donuts on every corner!

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This one just speaks for itself I think.

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check & mate!

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And here’s where I found their true trust and com­mit­ment.. to me. We pulled over on the side of the road and traip­sed inside this field of daisy’s that was just a trian­gle divi­der in the road. It looks like we’re off somewhere fabu­lous and roman­tic though!

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My abso­lute favo­rite of the ses­sion. I would make this a big canvas!

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My other favo­rite — Rach just looks so pea­ce­ful and happy!

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Not only did we get sun, we got sun­SET! Happy Day! Take that rain!!

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I adore Rachel & Jason — the second they got enga­ged Rachel came down to our local tavern and wal­ked in and said YOU’RE GOING TO BE OUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER. How could I say no to that!!??

I’m defi­ni­tely loo­king for­ward to their Octo­ber wedding!

Hi Melissa!.. The pic­tu­res came out really good!!! There are a cou­ple that we really love!! Thanks so much for the great time! Can’t wait for the big day! ~Rachel

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Stephanie & Mike 05.02.09

I met with Stepha­nie & Mike last spring, they were already so exci­ted about their wed­ding plans. We met (on the col­dest day ever) in Novem­ber for their enga­ge­ment pho­tos and had a great time so I was very much loo­king for­ward to their wed­ding. I had no idea how much I was going to love every last second of it!

I sho­wed up just as Stepha­nie was get­ting into her dress. Her mother was already dres­sed — and did I ever cover that AMAZING dress!

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Steph’s flo­wer girl was textbook!

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As was Stepha­nie — abso­lu­tely breathtaking.

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The moment it sets in — Steph is watching out the win­dow as all her guests arrive and take their seats.

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Lovely!

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I LOVE how these two were in step — all the way down to the end!

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Steph & her Dad reach the end where Mike is glo­wing and ready for her.

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The set­ting, the peo­ple, the spring time, the weather — everything was inten­sely perfect!

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From the other angle — still perfection!

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Fabu­lous­ness.

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A great loo­king bri­dal party!

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The sce­nery and grounds at The Dock­side in York, ME are just amazing!

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Candy bars are all the rage these days — Stepha­nie & Mike scat­te­red words of hap­pi­ness around theirs — it was a great touch.

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I’ve seriously run out of adjec­ti­ves to desc­ribe how ena­mo­red I was with this wedding.

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And how ena­mo­red I am with these two! Their joy was abun­dant and contagious!

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I love her parents loo­king on — their whole first dance was ama­zingly emotional.

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More Details

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Stephanie’s dad pop­ped the cham­pagne — the cork went nearly to the cei­ling! You can see it in the top middle right of this shot.

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Caught with their hand in the candy jar!

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Their wed­ding was the same day as the Ken­tucky derby. The guests kept snea­king into the bar to see what was going down.

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Even more emo­tio­nal was when Mike’s sis­ter stood in for their mother who pas­sed away. That’s their father next to Steph in the back­ground. The whole room was in tears, myself included.

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too cute for words! (glad I had a camera to desc­ribe it instead!)

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My night ended with a full on Para­dise by the Dash­board light throw down. I SO love my job!

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Stepha­nie & Mike, thank you so, so much for let­ting me wit­ness your spec­ta­cu­lar affair. You and your guests went above and beyond in your con­cern for me in my full on bronchitis-​ness! I wish you all the hap­pi­nes­ses that life can bring.

Hello Melissa! Thank you for the pic­tu­res. they are beau­ti­ful! I’ve orde­red the DVD! ~Steph

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Life’s a Beach.

Last wee­kend we deci­ded to take the came­ras on a little outing. Unfor­tu­na­tely, the weather deci­ded to get cold, and fast. So we only shot a few chilly pho­tos and then pac­ked it in. 
Nichole had a great time with our new 18 – 200 lens.
The­ses icic­les are han­ging off our apart­ment — they’re coming from every where!

Keep Warm!
~Melis­sa­Ko­ren

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Molly & Drew 10.04.08

Molly & Drew are enga­ged. And stun­ning. Seriously, what a beau­ti­ful cou­ple! Molly con­tac­ted me after she was refe­rred by a friend — I was super exci­ted to meet them on Hamp­ton Beach for some enga­ge­ment shots.

It wasn’t exactly warm that day, espe­cially with the ocean breeze, but they were total troopers!

I was also super exci­ted because Nichole came along to second shoot with me — she got some fan­tas­tic shots!

Then we hea­ded back through Exe­ter to find some foliage — This tree was just so glo­wing and warm!

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are fabu­lous. I love the black and white pho­tos! My favo­rite!! Oh I am just so over the moon. I wish you could do our wed­ding! ~ Molly


Molly & Drew– you were an abso­lute blast to work with! Thank you for being up for anything and full of smi­les! I wish that I was able to do your wed­ding too!! All the best — and I’ll hope­fully see you around town!

~Melis­sa­Ko­ren

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Kris & Jerrod 08.22.2008

62 days to per­fec­tion! Kris and Jerrod had a whirl­wind wed­ding plan­ning period, from incep­tion to com­ple­tion it was only 2 months — and although Kris grew up on NH, they live in Bal­ti­more so it was a des­ti­na­tion wed­ding none-​the-​less!

You never would have gues­sed though — everything was so detai­led and gor­geous and somehow Kris even wran­gled the weather into coö­pe­ra­tion and had a per­fect sun­set wed­ding on the ocean.

A good friend of the family lent their home for the pre­pe­ra­tions and mum & gram hel­ped her get ready. 

With the tiki torches per­fectly set, the sun set­ting, and the crowd gathering - 

Jerrod wai­ted (a bit ner­vously) for his gor­geous bride to be escor­ted by her father.

Yay! They did it! 

NH is of course, on the east coast — but there’s a bit of coast­line here and there where they sun sets on the water — but also the power plant. Kris & Jerrod wan­ted a shot of them hol­ding all that nuc­lear energy in their hands — but I don’t think they need it — they’re totaly ener­ge­tic enough!

The recep­tion din­ner was amazing - 

Kris’ brother’s wife is an extre­mely crea­tive artist and she made the cake top­per. A lobs­ter and a crab hol­ding claws. The lobs­ter is meant to repre­sent Kris and the crab repre­sents Jerrod, who is a Mary­land native.  

G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S!

Melissa!
Thank you so much! The pho­tos are abso­lu­tely won­der­ful! We can not thank you enough! I war­ned you I usually take terri­ble pic­tu­res - I nor­mally hate all pho­tos of myself — but you took some ama­zing pho­tos that even I can admit that I look great in them. I think you really cap­tu­red the energy and love of the occasion. I have no idea how we are going to pick just a few from so many great pics! We are going to have to make some tough deci­sions when put­ting together the albums! 
It was such a plea­sure to work with you! Seeing these pho­tos brings everything back (I can not believe it’s already been a month!)- you really capa­tu­red the love and fun and energy of the evening. 
We can not thank you enough!
Love,
Kris & Jerrod

Kris & Jerrod — Beau­ti­ful peo­ple! I’m glad that you can see that in your pho­tos! What an ama­zing group of friends and family you have the love and fun and energy was com­ple­tely abun­dant! It was an honor to be invol­ved in your wedding! 

~Melis­sa­Ko­ren

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Kris & Jerrod’s Engagement Session

Oh what can I say about Kris & Jerrod?!
Fun loving — Adven­tu­rous — Up for anything — Hila­rious.. I could go on.

Kris emai­led me about her Fri­day night wed­ding on the beach — - she’s from NH, he’s from Bal­ti­more where they now live. They wan­ted enga­ge­ment pic­tu­res but weren’t going to be in town until the week of the wedding.

No Pro­blem!!

p.s. Kris — you’re GORGEOUS. And kudos to you for the flo­wers, they’re a great touch :)

We met up Mon­day night before their wed­ding and roc­ked it. I had so much fun mee­ting them and their friends and family. By the time we par­ted ways I was so exci­ted for Fri­day I could barely wait for the week to be over! And with just cause too, their inti­mate wed­ding din­ner party was a blast — coming soon to a post near you!

Kris & Jerrod are still on their honey­moon, but I got a fun note from Kris’ mom after I sent the pho­tos — -
Hi Melissa, This is Kris’ mom.… She is on the phone with me and I’m loo­king through the pic­tu­res. She doesn’t have inter­net access at the moment, as she is on cape cod. Howe­ver, she is saying how much she loves these pics! Won­der­ful job. What talent you have! Kris is deligh­ted with them. She had a good fee­ling about your enthu­siasm and talent right from the begin­ning, and is just thri­lled! Take care. Kris will con­tact you when she gets back to civi­li­za­tion. Thanks for all! ~Donna

Upon their return, I got this:
Melissa,
We LOVE the pho­tos! Thanks so much — we had a blast! I can’t wait to see the wed­ding pho­tos — I knew you were going to be awe­some. And thanks for step­ping up and taking charge on the beach right after the wed­ding — I was somewhat con­fu­sed and not get­ting very much accom­plished.
We really appre­cia­ted how enthu­sias­tic and fle­xi­ble you were. Once I boo­ked you, I didn’t have to give a second thought to the pho­to­graphy b/​c I knew it was hand­led. For a bride plan­ning a wed­ding in just 62 days, that was VERY impor­tant!
We will defi­ni­tely recom­mend you to anyone who will lis­ten to us!
Thanks a million!
Kris & Jerrod

Thank you for your won­der­ful words!

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