Caitlin & Tom were the perfect start to my 2011 wedding season.  I have to admit a certain amount of trepidation going into it – although I’d been shooting nearly non-stop events, portraits, and head shots and even attended my first, AMAZING workshop, in the preceding months, it had actually been 8 months since Ron & Linda’s 10.10.10 California Wedding.  In the week leading up to it I started to have the pre-season nightmares.. forgetting, forgetting and more forgetting.

My fretting was all for naught as everything about the day was as smooth as silk.

I first arrived at the hotel to find the girls just finishing up with their fabulous makeup artist.

 And then, Caitlin showed me her shoes. And I swooned, and wished desperately I could wear heels.

 Stunning.

 The flowers were all done by Tom’s mom – she owns a flower shop in Reading, MA – my original hometown!

 Once I arrived at the church, they stashed Tom up in the balcony so he wouldn’t accidentally sneak a peek of the bride arriving.

 But I wonder if he heard the chaos of the limo not being able to get close to the church and two of the groomsmen, who also happened to be Reading Police, stopping traffic so that the limo driver could very adeptly back in!

 Perfection!

 I love the old fashioned feel of the room where she signed the marriage license.  And the minister holding her flowers for her.

 And then, it was time to get married.  And Tom was smiling from ear to ear.

 The minister recounted the tale of the earlier traffic shenanigans, and how touched he was that the police department wasn’t going to send them a bill as part of their wedding gift.  While perhaps you had to be there to get the full effect, let me assure you it was hilarious.

 Those two in the middle – they’re the heroes.

A first for me – ringing the bell!

 Then it was off to Stage Fort Park for photos.  And I tell you, I was photographing this fun, laid back couple and I kept thinking – they look like they just fell off the pages of a catalog.   Come to find out – Caitlin works for a catalog and sometimes has to stand in as a model. Duhtown!  I know a natural when I see one! 😉

 Ah! Look at that awesomeness!!

 hi.lar.i.ous.

 And breathtaking. All in the same minute.

 I don’t usually post these shots, but this one makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.  😀

 Have I oohed and aaahed enough about the colors yet? Because it was like a technocolor dream world.

 After a fabulous time with the ‘formals’ (for the record, I hate that term – I’m nothing remotely close to formal when I shoot the group photos.. we have fun, we laugh, poses are often regarded with hilarity, and sometimes we’re even inappropriate. nope, nothing formal about it.) But anyway, whatever you call them, we finished them up, laughing the whole time and headed off to the reception!

Details!

 The Cruiseport was gorgeous, full of interest and LIGHT!

 A toast, complete with a few tears.

 And then one of the more crazy centerpiece giveaways.  I love when the group embraces the ridiculousness of the situation and RUNS AWAY WITH IT.

 Caitlin, you look gorgeous, but perhaps a little too knife happy…. 😉

 And the dancing began –

I wish I could remember now, even though it’s only been a month, how long this amazing couple had been married. I want to say it was 54 years, but they don’t seem that they could be old enough for that!  I love the style of anniversary dance when the other couples who are “disqualified” don’t go back to their seats but simply continue to dance on the sidelines and the newlyweds stay on the floor the whole time.  This picture speaks volumes to me.  Love, support, past, present and future.   It was the perfect way to end my time with this crew, who I KNOW continued to dance the night away!

Thank you Caitlin & Tom for having me at your spectacular day.  I couldn’t have asked for a better kick off to the 2011 wedding season!

Hi Melissa,  I am SSOOO excited about the photos. They look fantastic! I get a little giddy when I flip through them. You really captured the day and the joy. I absolutely adore the slideshow! Thank you so much for being a part of our day. You were so fun to work with and help to make our day perfect. Tom and I couldn’t be happier with the photos and can’t wait to share them with everyone. Just so you know, I am SUCH a fan of your work and will continue to “stalk” your Web site. I feel like the people in your photos are my best friends and I love reading their stories. If anyone is looking for a photographer I will not hesitate to recommend you. You are so fantastic! Thanks again! Caitlin

I know this post has been a long one – but there’s something new on the MKP blog and I’m excited to share with you some info from the couples point of view on the big day!

 [scenes]

• Getting Ready | Rockport Inn & Suites
• Ceremony| First Parish Church, Manchester, MA
• Formals | Stage Fort Park
• Reception | Cruiseport Gloucester

[sounds]

• Processional | Trumpet Voluntary/Prince of Denmark (played on the organ) It took a while to pick a song. I wanted to do something completely non-traditional and contemporary, but then I decided that was too much to ask of the organist to learn a random song I selected (especially since the aisle was so short and he wouldn’t have to play it too long). So then I just picked a happy song that wasn’t Cannon in D or something the every bride uses. Actually, the song the moms walked down to was more important to me. I picked Sheep May Safely Graze because my mom and I both love the song. I would have used it …
• Recessional | Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. This was an easy one. They use it in every movie as the recessional. I guess i wanted it to feel like a movie! we wanted to be movie stars!
• Reception Introduction | Accidentally in Love by the Counting Crows It was happy and fun. Again, Tom and I wanted something a little different from every wedding we had been to, but a song people would know. This song actually took longer to pick than any other song we had to pick. Tom kept trying to pick songs that were too slow and I kept telling him that people needed to be happy to walk in happy to it. It’s not a funeral. Unfortunately, most of the songs we love are slower songs. But finally I suggested this song and we both agreed it worked.
• First Dance | “You and Me” by Dave Matthews Tom is a huge Dave Matthews fan and I’m a fan, too. This song came out while we were dating and we’d listen to it often in the car and we love it. We love the lyrics. Again, a running theme in our music selections….we wanted something we hadn’t heard at any of the 12 weddings we’d been to in the last 3 years. I guess when you go to so many weddings (I’m sure you notice this too) you start hearing the same songs all the time.
• Parent Dances | Tom picked the Long and Winding Road for his dance with his mom. He was not aware that this was actually the same song she danced with his dad with at their wedding. His dad passed away when Tom was a baby, and it was really an emotional moment between Tom and his mom. I danced to My Little Girl by Steve Kirwan with my dad. After months of trying to get my dad to pick a song I finally sent him 5 songs to pick from. This was his favorite. I had hoped he’d pick it because it was a “my little girl” song without making it sound like I was still 10 years old.
• Last Dance | It’s a Love Thing by Keith Urban. My brother, Zach and Andrea used an upbeat song to end their wedding and it was really nice, so I thought I’d do the same thing. I like the message of the song…that we’re together because we love each other, and all the other things aren’t all that important. The wedding, our new shared name, and everything else is things we’ve chosen to do, but we love each other and that’s most important.

[support]

• Dress | David’s Bridal
• Wedding Party Attire | David’s Bridal in Horizon Blue
• Hair | Kate Amiro from Shear Action in Beverly
• Make-up | Brea from Make-up by Brea  She was so nice and did a great job!
• Cake | Andover Cakes Delicious!
• Caterer | Vinwood Catering (We were required to use them at Cruiseport. But we were very impressed and they actually made the shrimp dish per my request. The chicken dish was off their menu but was also delicious.)
• DJ/Band | Greg Gates
• Florist |  My Personal Florist – Tom’s Mom’s business. (and were they ever gorgeous!)

[sentiment]

• What was the most memorable moment from your day? | Entering the reception. It was so great listening as the wedding party was announced and then to round the corner and see everyone and everything.
• Any advice for future couples getting married? | Do as much as you can as early as possible. We were engaged for 14 months and managed to really spread the “workload” out across the entire engagement so when we got down to the last month or so before the wedding we weren’t stressed at all.
• Funniest moments from your day? | The kickline! Everyone was funny to watch.
• Where did you go on your honeymoon? | We started with 4 nights in Disney World then went on a Carnival cruise to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. (It was fantastic!)

[story]

• Together since | February 2007. Our friend Sean (one of the groomsmen) introduced us. I went to high school with Sean, and Tom went to college with him. So Sean introduced us a few years after college when Tom and Sean moved in with each other.
• Engaged on | April 4, 2010
• Occupations | Caitlin is a buyer for NorthStyle catalog.  Tom runs the marketing department for a construction company.
• Proposal Story | It was Easter morning. We had slept over at my parent’s house. I had gone downstairs to get ready for church. When I went back upstairs to wake up Tom he had set up an Easter egg hunt in my childhood bedroom. The ring was in the very last Easter egg I found! We aren’t certain i even said “yes”….I just ran out of the room and said “I have to show my mom!!!

Congratulations again!