Tag wedding

Danica & Chris 02.13.10

September 2nd, 2010 @ 9:20 pm | 3 comments

Nothing says love, or true New-​Englander, like a Valentine’s Wee­kend wed­ding in NH :) Chris and Danica took the ulti­mate leap of faith — trus­ting the weather — for their nup­tial plans and it went off without a hitch! 

I arri­ved at the Exe­cu­tive Court as Danica was finishing up the final details. I LOVE her bou­quet — the pinks & pur­ples with the red roses and the white stepha­no­tis are so romantic!

Hi Danica! You’re glowing!

Pre­ci­sion cor­set tying 101 and a little multi-​tasking pre­pa­ring the front and back at the same time ;) 

Cute. With a capi­tal C. 

It must have been get­ting close to time because next thing I know the room was FILLED with peo­ple all making sure Danica loo­ked her best. (good job folks!) 

All these final touches can prove a tad boring for little girls who find their own fun in the jacuzzi faucet! 

And then — it was time. Chris you look sharp. I love the stria­tions in the tie! 

The whole crew was smo­kin’. Yay for bold color!

Danica’s daugh­ter was very overwhel­med by the whole thing. She had the whole place tea­ring up. And they are married!

Grandchil­dren! No lie, these kids were too cute and they stole the show. 

A few shots in the foyer of the Best Wes­tern and then 

Bra­ving the cold for some out­door shots. I’m loving these columns. 

It was time to head in and warm up — and party! More of the beau­ti­ful flo­wers and a GREAT cake awai­ted us. I just love the sim­ple and uni­que design on this cake!!

After the first dance it was time for some beau­ti­ful and heart­felt toasts.

I love that the kids sig­ned the guest book. I can only smile thin­king about sho­wing and remin­ding them of it on their parents 25th wed­ding anniversary. 

And then — it was time to get down to it. And remem­ber - I already war­ned you that the kids were cen­ter stage! 

but they weren’t the only one’s cut­ting a rug :)

love is timeless. 

Who’s having a good time!? You are!

And I did too! Thank you guys for having me at your roman­tic Valentine’s Day for 100! :)

~MelissaKoren

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Robyn & Chris 01.23.10 Part II

August 30th, 2010 @ 8:58 am | 0 comments

After fro­lic­king through the for­mals we hea­ded to the Burke Volun­teer Fire & Res­cue Firehall for the recep­tion. One of the first things I saw when I got to the recep­tion was this: A keg and goblet of Guin­ness. If I hadn’t been madly in love with these two before, that would have firmly pla­ced me in their court. A goblet of Guin­ness? YUM!

Chris & Robyn love each other with every inch of them­sel­ves. It’s ins­pi­ring and overwhel­ming to watch.

It was time for the toasts and they had a spe­cial bottle of sparkly just for them. Until Chris didn’t know how to open it and broke off to top. What do you see Chris?? ;) 

Some crea­tive uncor­king and success!

Once they’d figu­red out how to get into the booze it was time for the speeches. Sarah’s sis­ters & Chris’ brother both did won­der­ful jobs of toas­ting.. and roas­ting.. their siblings. 

Much to their cha­grin perhaps… ;) 

Yay parents! 

Taking his wife — and his Guin­ness for a swing

Thank you. Here’s your knife.

Sword.

Wha­te­ver. 

I love this photo. A lot.

I’m not sure how far she thought she had to throw the bou­quet but I love the con­cen­tra­tion on the left, and the posing on the right! 

Aw.. how sweet. 

Heh, or not so much ;) 

There’s only one guy even pre­ten­ding to get it. The guy in the pur­ple swea­ter is just dan­cing. :-D

And then. Well. And then the hila­rity ensued. It was good Robyn didn’t have a veil with all these other head­dress options avai­la­ble for her. 

Get it? He’s got top guns?

1million points to whoe­ver can guess this song.

Glas­ses are overrated! 

One of the last songs of the eve­ning. This is NOT the YMCA.. I step­ped out of the room for a moment and when I came back they were sin­ging about pira­tes and eyes and boo­ties… and hilarity. 

Party till your shoes fall apart! 

And as a shout out to my ‘superhu­man­po­wers’ it turns out that the sore throat and run-​down-​ed-​ness I thought was just stress & exci­te­ment of an all alone trip tur­ned out to be a hella­ciouis case of strep and a fever of 102. But that wasn’t to worry about and dis­co­ver until I was home and Robyn & Chris were well on their way to hap­pily ever after!

I’m pretty sure that words will never truly be able to desc­ribe the awe­so­me­ness that was this adventure. Thank you Robyn & Chris for such an oppor­tu­nity! Let’s hope it’s not another 13 years before we get together again!

Oh my lord, Melissa!! These are ama­zing.…!! You caught so many aspects of this day that I thought were unpal­pa­ble… you are won­der­ful! I would like to post something on your web­site, if that’s alright! :)
Thank you again, you really made that day so spe­cial.… and allo­wed me to relive it again when I went through those pic­tu­res.” ~ Robyn

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Robyn & Chris 01.23.10 Part I

August 29th, 2010 @ 7:04 am | 0 comments

It was wed­ding time! I hea­ded to Robyn’s room. 

The girls’ flo­wers — the pea­cock theme was amazing. 

And inte­gra­ted into every pos­si­ble place they could. Check out the fabu­lou­sity of those tights! All the ladies had them. 

Cloaks & dres­ses. Being January in DC and outside Robyn & Chris ensu­red that the gang would be ready to brave any weather.

Her mum hel­ped get her ready with care and precision.

After the dress was laced it was time to help Robyn get in her shoes. Well - — her foot­wear. AYKM!? HeckYES! 

Robyn does something top­sec­ret in NV. Ok, maybe it’s not top­sec­ret but I can’t remem­ber exactly. I know she flies jets though! After the last of the final touches we hea­ded to the Amphitheater.

I don’t know if you remem­ber all the snow that DC got this past winter. Well, luc­kily, that star­ted pretty much the day AFTER I left. The day of the wed­ding was unsea­so­nably warm and sheer per­fec­tion for an out­door after­noon wedding! 

Robyn’s sis­ters & the OMG so cute flo­wer girls.

Her dad wal­ked her down the stair­way and Chris met her at the bot­tom and wal­ked her the rest of the way to the stage. Look at their look! 

Chris’ parents & Robyn’s parents. They make me cry — so proud of their chil­dren! (and right­fully so!!) 

The Mason Dis­trict Park Amphithea­ter. Wow. 

The cere­mony was full of ama­zing sto­ries of the two of them. Having never met Chris and really only kno­wing Robyn casually it took no time at all for me to feel like I’d known these two fore­ver and to be com­ple­tely enve­lo­ped in the world that is their friends & family.

Done! I think Chris’ smile is going to leap right off his face! :) 

I can’t look at this without laugh-​crying. The ado­ra­ble red head had been sure she would help the sweet blonde. She thought she was right next to her and when she tur­ned to find her stum­bling a few steps back she was so concerned! 

Bird­seed in a park is a won­der­ful idea!

Until you rea­lize that the peo­ple you invi­ted to your wed­ding are ruth­less and chuc­king it at you full force! ;)

Maybe it was because I got to spend so much time with this group but I could not get enough of their inte­rac­tions and loving. 

Chris those are great boots — but — I think they’re sort of outshi­ned by the green bling platforms! 

I have to say that the advan­tage to being so behind in my blogs is get­ting to relive this over again all this time later. It still feels like yes­ter­day! And wait til you see the recep­tion — I wish we could do it all over again tomorrow!!

…to be continued… 

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Destination: Funville 01.22.10

August 28th, 2010 @ 2:02 pm | 1 comment

aka Spring­field, VA.

Social net­wor­king is the stran­gest thing. 

In 1998 I took my first plane trip ever to Syra­cuse, NY to visit a friend at SU. I sta­yed with him in his ‘frat house’. There I met Robyn. She was viva­cious and fabu­lous and she taught me how to drink Cider­Jack (like a champ). We sta­yed in touch via email & AIM for a little while but as with most things the con­tact dwindled.

Some­time about 5 years ago, when mys­pace was still cool, I thought I’d search her. With a very uni­que last name I was sure I’d found her and we exchan­ged OMG’s.

Mys­pace was never my favo­rite. It was too hard to do/​see/​be. Then came face­book. We frien­ded. She announ­ced she was enga­ged. I jokingly pim­ped myself out. Novem­ber 2009, I get a mes­sage, asking if I was serious and would I tra­vel to the DC area to shoot her wed­ding. In January?!

y.e.s.

So after my whirl­wind second half of 2009 I caught my breath, pac­ked my bags, and boar­ded a fight to this des­ti­na­tion wed­ding. Only I would have a des­ti­na­tion wed­ding in DC in January. I didn’t care, I was SO exci­ted. It was also the first time ever I’d taken a trip com­ple­tely alone. (yes, I was 31. sheesh)

I made it in one piece! Flight, Lug­gage, Metro, Shuttle, Hotel, Rehear­sal! (Des­ti­na­tion wed­ding fact: If the tra­vel plans inc­lude me arri­ved and sett­led by the time of your rehearsal/​dinner — I’m there & shoo­ting as a bonus!)

The wed­ding was taking place at the Mason Dis­trict Park Amphithea­ter and after a somewhat … loud & glee­ful reu­nion in the hotel lobby we hea­ded off. 

The boys

The pro­ces­sion 

The girls. 

The din­ner. Which was at a chi­nese res­tau­rant which had the best ever ‘beef candy’ I’ve ever had. Ever. I have no idea what it was but I still want it at least twice a month. 

Argh! Delinquent blog­ger stri­kes again. I know that I took this pic­ture on the left with pur­pose, there was a story. But.. uh… Bueller? 

The bride and groom. I think this is the for bet­ter or worse before and after. HAHA ;)

By the time I left I was SO exci­ted for the wed­ding. This small sam­pling of their loved ones & friends and family was so ama­zing — I could only ima­gine what the next day had to bring!

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Katie & Jed 12.11.09

August 24th, 2010 @ 12:30 pm | 0 comments

After mee­ting Katie & Jed at Kate & Mar­cus’ wed­ding in 07.08 and then taking their enga­ge­ment pho­tos on a super chilly day in 11.08, I KNEW that 12.11.09 was going to be an abso­lu­tely fan­tas­ti­cal time! 

I arri­ved at Bed­ford Village Inn as hair and makeup was finishing up with Katie’s mum.

And Katie was get­ting into her dress. I love the hands making their appea­rance in the left hand photo.

Once the dress was in the right place it was time for the veil!

And some s.e.x.y. red shoes. HELLO Christmas! 

It was just about time and Katie’s dad came in to check on her. Just look at them — and her mom & brother in the back­ground. Such an ena­mo­red family! 

Katie was BRAVE and humo­red my idea of hea­ding out on the bal­cony in the pitch black of the windy Decem­ber night. I don’t know — I’m think it was worth it. 

Then it was time. Oh Jed. I heart you. Not like Katie does though — wow-​eeee! :) 

Something about the two of them and the fee­ling of their wed­ding was just so clas­sic. I found myself loving so many of their pho­tos in black & white. 

Short & Sweet, but to the point. 

Christ­mas­time is magi­cal. Christ­mas­time wed­ding at BVI is like a Martha Ste­wart Decem­ber issue came to life. uh.maze.ing.

From the details in the bou­quet to the orna­ment place cards everything was perfection.

They dan­ced very lovely parent dan­ces, but my most favo­rite part was when Katie’s parents took the dance floor and dan­ced like it was their first dance. Katie and Jed watched them with love and awe (and perhaps making some men­tal notes ;) ) 

Then the props came out and the party got down! 

Flash For­ward! I caught Kate & Mar­cus during a slow dance and I knew it loo­ked fami­liar! I love that even without seeing their faces you can tell how in love they are. And, um, how much they are in love with the little one to be — Kate was 5 months preg­nant in this photo! (And I get to meet their CA-​UTE! baby this fall!)

But enough about Kate & Mar­cus — this is after all Katie & Jed’s wed­ding! And here they are one last time surroun­ded by friends and family cele­bra­ting them. As it should be!

Thank you thank you guys. More than you know.

~Melis­sa­Ko­ren 

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Nicole & Jay 11.07.09

August 20th, 2010 @ 9:33 am | 0 comments

After the oh so per­fect weather for their enga­ge­ment pho­tos the month before, Nicole & Jay hit the weather jack­pot once again — the most per­fect Novem­ber after­noon I can remem­ber — for their wed­ding day.

I met up with Nicole at her parent’s house as her very talen­ted friend & bri­des­maid began her wed­ding beauty régime.

Though she’s already pretty stun­ning if you ask me.

There’s a “Dum­mies” book for everything these days! 

After hair and makeup they moved over to the church to get dres­sed. She put her own uni­que touch on this per­fectly sim­plis­tic dress with the cream rib­bon & ama­zing broach.

A last minute hug and then it was time to walk down the aisle! 

This cutie did a pre­ci­sion A+ job!

I don’t know if “bea­ming” is a word com­monly used to desc­ribe the groom — but I can’t come up with a more fit­ting word for Jay upon seeing his betrothed!! 

There was an overwhel­ming amount of love everywhere! 

There was full range of emo­tion in the kids too ;) 

Jum­ping beans!

The recep­tion was held at the buil­ding where her father works. Can you ima­gine this kind of sce­nery every day? 

They are just so roman­tic! And late after­noon sun in Novem­ber? yum! 

Once inside the dan­cing began! 

This is the cafe­te­ria in the office buil­ding — seriously! I would never leave work!! 

Some chose to watch the dan­cing, others chose to make their own dancing!

I’ve seen a few grooms now do this to their moms. I won­der if my son will pick me up if he has a wedding? 

Their table mar­kers were Dis­ney cha­rac­ters done in silhouette — it was a really neat effect! 

mmmmmm cake! 

A little sweet­ness, a little bou­quet toss and it was back to dan­cing the night away as I bid them con­gra­tu­la­tions & farewell. 

Nicole & Jay! Thank you for our whirl­wind ‘courtship’! I enjo­yed every minute of our time together and I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors!

~Melis­sa­Ko­ren 

Melissa, THANK YOU!!! This was such a won­der­ful Christ­mas pre­sent!!! Jay and I got your email later in the day on Christ­mas Eve, and then had to rush around, and got home late — we loo­ked at half of the pic­tu­res that night, and then the rest Christ­mas mor­ning. I was glued to the screen! These are just beau­ti­ful, we loved them all. It’s so much fun to relive the day, and you caught everything so beau­ti­fully — thank you so much! I can’t wait for ever­yone else to see them as well — family and friends will be thrilled!!

I hope you had a won­der­ful Christ­mas with your family, and have a happy New Year!

Thanks again!

–Nicole and Jay

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Rachel & Jason Married! 10.10.09

August 15th, 2010 @ 10:23 am | 2 comments

In Rachel & Jason’s enga­ge­ment shoot post, I boldly sta­ted “Rachel may well be the best thing that ever hap­pe­ned to Jason”. I’m posi­tive that it is true. It was finally wed­ding day for these two and after I finished Nicole & Jay’s e-​shoot I clea­ned up, char­ged up & hea­ded over to the Ash­worth to meet Rachel.

Hello dress. You’re lovely!

Jason is part of the Air Natio­nal Guard so Rachel had a little sur­prise for him to go with her “something blue”. 

Strike a pose. 

The flo­wer girls were ADORABLE. I couldn’t get enough of their dark eyes & curls! This little one was very very very intent on hel­ping with the dress. She did a great job!

But it was defi­ni­tely a team effort. :) 

Per­fec­tion! And the colors in the flo­wers are just stunning.

Off they go!

And off I went and found Jason patiently wai­ting. (And loo­king very dapper!)

They were so serious about their job! The little one was so worried about kee­ping her flo­wers in the bas­ket befo­rehand she for­got to toss them when it was finally time. Too cute! 

Shiny shoes, hid­den tis­sues, and an awe­some wood ceiling! 

with this ring! 

Their parents came up on ‘stage’ to wish them well - it was a totally unex­pec­ted overwhel­mingly emo­tio­nal moment (well unex­pec­ted for me :) )

Sea­led with a kiss. Rachel is SO EXCITED!! 

The Guard was there to give them a pro­per exit — - and if you look at the bot­tom photo care­fully - a thwap on the bum for good luck! 

Sun­light in Octo­ber gets tricky so we rushed over to the pavi­lion to take some pho­tos. It was get­ting very chilly very quickly though! They all found their own ways of kee­ping warm.

I’m pretty sure Rachel’s brother is stea­ling her warmth, not kee­ping her warm! 

I’m also pretty sure that kis­sing keeps these two warm. That must be why they were doing so much of it! Right?! ;) 

The sun was set­ting fast so after some family por­traits inside the church they toas­ted and hust­led into the limo (do the hustle do do do do…ok, nevermind)

We tried to beat the sun to the beach but it just wasn’t hap­pe­ning. Thankfully, my Canon 5DMII had come in the day before and with the help of light for night cons­truc­tion on the beach & my 50mm 1.4 we still found a patch of sand to make their jour­ney from enga­ged to married by the beach complete! 

First dance! I love how they touch foreheads.  

Ok, so I pos­ted this photo on face­book as a tea­ser because it was just so sweet it made me tear up. While, as I was going through pic­king blog pho­tos and saw it again, there were full on tears. Because..well… they love this little girl SO much, you can just see it. And in 12+ weeks, they’re going to have their own little girl to love!! (ok, crying again. sheesh!) 

You may recog­nize this but­terfly mas­ked boa guy from last week’s wed­ding as the best man .. or you might not. That was pro­bably his plan. Oops, sorry Randy! 

Ok, so, after the parent dan­ces and “for­ma­li­ties” of the event were done, it got weird. Um, sir, you drop­ped your cell phone.

No — really weird — like ever­yone was kung fu fighting — - 

And this guy was on the floor again.… 

And Randy was… shuf­fling off to buf­falo? The flo­wer girls seem very amu­sed with him though.. 

Aside from all the cra­zies (and I say that with love) Rachel and Jason still found a few more moments to bliss­fully revel in their new rela­tionship sta­tus & the family there to cele­brate with them!

I’m so happy to know Rachel & Jason. And I’m so exci­ted for the new little one coming to the be the “other best thing that ever hap­pe­ned to Jason!”

Stay tuned for more from these two this year!

~Melis­sa­Ko­ren 

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