Carrie and Rob || Charter Oak Country Club || Hudson, Massachusetts

Ok, so I'm a bit behind on the blog, but definitely catching up! I had a great Saturday with Carrie and Rob and their families.

I loved this Marriage Certificate that was hanging up in Carrie's mom's room. My family has a similar one for my great-grandparents.

We did a few quick portraits of Carrie's on the staircase.  The light coming in from the front door was gorgeous.



Carrie's mom & grandmother were so happy for her!  They couldn't stop smiling or looking at her.


I can't remember what was so funny here, but I think we were teasing Carrie about being a bridezilla.  (Which she totally wasn't.....)



Rob and his brother before the ceremony.  Rob's brother called this the "locker room shot".


The ceremony was at the Northborough First Parish Unitarian Church. It is a beautiful church with lots of light.






After the ceremony we headed to Charter Oak. Did it rain a little? Of course it did!! Four out of the five times I have shot there it has rained!! Thankfully it didn't last, so we were still able to do pictures outside.




With Carrie's sister & husband who were just married last year, now they are all hitched!!








Floral Elegance did the flowers, and the ballroom looked beautiful. Christine Mazri from Charter Oak was there making sure everything ran super-smooth, and of course it did!


Instead of traditional favors, the bride and groom made a donation to Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts.


The cake by Enchanted Wedding Cakes looked gorgeous by the windows.


Ok seriously - do these two ever stop laughing & smiling?


Enjoying their first dance on Charter Oak's shiny new dance floor.






Rob's brother made the funniest toast with a story about how their dad used to squirrel away pastries from continental breakfast buffets when they traveled. As you can see, everyone was in stitches....




....and wrapped it up with a presentation of pastries from their parents' hotel that morning.




Dancing to Rob's theme song - It Takes Two by Rob Base. Love it.




And chocolate pretzels for the ride home!



**Update - Carrie and Rob's pictures are now online! Click here to view. Password is Rob's last name, all lower-case.

to view!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #20

Next up is Megan, another 2004 bride! I'm looking forward to seeing her again this fall at Sam's brother's wedding!


"So...about the wedding reflections. I think that our wedding planning was unique in that my sister Katelin and her husband were married 7 weeks before our wedding day. They were married in early September and we were October 30th, 2004. Both weddings definitely reflected the personal styles of each couple which was great. All of our parents were fantastic, supportive and really embraced this unique situation. It worked out so well because we were all in full-on "wedding mode" for about 11 months.

Highlights:

-Working with vendors we trusted and then backing off to let them do their thing. Whether it be the baker, DJ, photographer, florist, videographer, bagpiper, we ultimately hired artists who brought their experience, talent and insight to the day. They are the professionals who do this all the time, so we shared an outline of what we wanted and then it go. We ultimately LOVED the end result of everything.



-Given that my husband and I share a love of golf, our reception facility Charter Oak Country Club, was a perfect setting for our day. The meal was fabulous as well and my husband and I made it a priority to really enjoy our first meal together at a sweetheart table. We chose our favorite meal, a traditional Thanksgiving meal with butternut squash soup and all the fixings and we loved it! It was so nice to just sit together and take in the surroundings and all of the people who were there to help us celebrate our marriage.



-My husband and I are pretty laid back, but we did have a major concern regarding our wedding. Remember back in '04 when the Red Sox were battling for the World Series title? We had heard stories about how people were not showing up to weddings, or bringing little TVs into reception places in order to be loyal Sox fans. Game 6 was supposed to take place on our wedding night--but Thank God they pulled out the win in 4 games straight! The DJ incorporated some favorite Sox tunes and their win definitely added to the excitement of the day.

Lowlights: We didn't have any. The day was just perfect exactly as it was. We were so grateful to be marrying each other, that minor details couldn't have tarnished our wedding day.

Just a note: Sam's best man, his brother Ed, met Sara at my sister's wedding in September. They talked all night and continued to hit it off at our wedding, and will be getting married themselves this September! They will be using Nancy as their photographer as well and we couldn't be more delighted for them! Nancy was such a FABULOUS photographer and was so easy to work with. Her calm demeanor puts you at ease, and she and her assistant were always there to capture each moment. We continue to love her work!"

Thanks Megan!

fabulous/not-so fabulous - #2

The next entry is from Kelly - she has a LOT of great things to share, some do's and don'ts!

"I was hell-bent on wearing a strapless gown on my wedding day! I love my dress and would buy it again. During my fittings however, I decided not to wear a bra underneath. The dress fit me perfectly and held everything in place. Plus, I had been restrained for so many years… I didn’t need to wear a bra?! Well, the one thing they don’t have you do during your fitting is sit down. I had to sit down in the limo on the way to the church, during the ceremony at church (a couple times), back in the limo to the reception, and eating dinner. With all that movement…the dress naturally stretched just slightly and the girls started to fall a little south! I was “fixing” myself and the dress constantly. In hindsight, I should have worn the bra. Go figure! A friend of mine got married the following year. I gave her the stern suggestion to wear a bra even though she’s a bit smaller in the chest than me. She decided against the bra and surprise…she too regretted it.




The vendors…LOVED every single one except the DJ. Hated him even though several people told me they thought he was great! He played only a few of the songs I requested. He was supposed to have another system setup to play music in the cocktail reception area. When we arrived at the country club, it wasn’t set up. He did set it up after my mother argued with him about it, but wasn’t ready in time for the guests. Very unprofessional in my opinion. I thought I was getting a good deal but after I realize some things are too good to be true. Looking back, I would have researched and interviewed more DJs and even paid more money for someone more competent and dependable.


With the exception of the few don’ts I mentioned above, I would have done everything else exactly the same. But to mention a few of my favorite (of my favorite things)…

The flowers…it’s been said that you should pick a few things that are MOST important to you on your wedding day when working within a budget. For me, one of those things was the flowers and I wasn’t going to skimp on those. The room at the country club was very large so I wanted centerpieces that would take up some of that space and be the center of attention. Since most the attire was rather simple and neutral I wanted the flowers to make a bold statement without taking away from the simplicity. They were gorgeous! The centerpieces were so unique and fun with the jelly beans and the ribbons. My guests are still talking about them to this day!



The photographer of course! Nancy and her assistant photographer were fantastic! So accommodating, professional and friendly all at the same time. It was just a great experience and the pictures are proof. She captured every minute of the day. Despite the rain! In fact, the ones of us with the umbrella on the walk back to the reception are probably some of my favorites! I love the photo-journalistic shots of the guests and of every single detail. I very much enjoyed working with Nancy and feel like I’ve gained not only a photographer for life but a friend too!




I asked Andy to take dance lessons a few months before our wedding. Though he wasn’t thrilled with the idea, he agreed to go. Our instructor worked with us weekly for several months choreographing a dance specific to our song. And we performed it perfectly that day! I think it was very unexpected for most of our guests but Andy’s family mostly. They can’t believe he even agreed to go! My father-in-law told me just after the song was over that he was just in awe and was so impressed. He had tears rolling down his face. He’s not an emotional guy so that really meant a lot. Dance lessons whether choreographed or not are definitely worth every penny!




We took some heat from Andy’s family when we told them we were hiring a videographer for our wedding. They felt videographers were always in people’s face with a camera looking for a comment. That they were obtrusive. I can see their concern as I have been to several weddings where the camera just follows you around. That’s not the type of videographer I wanted. I found Lynn Valeri online and am so glad I did! She was just fantastic. No one even knew she was there. There was no commentary, no interviews. She just captured every moment as it happened. The result was an edited video to music that had both Andy and I in tears as we watched for the first time. I still cry every time I watch it. She did an amazing job. I’m so glad we decided to video the wedding. Along with the photos, it’s something we’ll be able to share with our children someday.




I asked Andy if he had anything to contribute. He said he really wished there was a way we could have slowed down the day. He blinked and it was over. Don’t we all?! Let me know if you come up with a way to make that happen!!! Haha."



I totally agree with Kelly that you should sit down when you are having your dress fitted. Make sure you are comfortable! Thank you so much for sharing Kelly!!

first entry for my fabulous/not-so-fabulous contest!

I've just started to hear from a few of you, but I know there's a lot more, so keep the responses coming! I will blog EVERY response, so everyone has a chance to win a beautiful 16x20 gallery wrap! The first entry is from Melissa. She looked absolutely gorgeous, but looking back has some second thoughts about her dress choice..........



"First, nothing was more exciting than putting on the wedding dress of my dreams. As I had my friends and family help me into my wonderful Kenneth Pool wedding dress, I felt like a princess. The beautiful satin shimmered perfectly, it fit like a glove, and I loved how the dress accented my mother's pearls going down by back. All this sounds just wonderful until I realized that I could barely fit into the antique Bentley I had rented for myself and my parents to take us to the church because my dress was so big! As my father squeezed all of my dress into the backseat (while it was raining), we configured that the only way for me to fit was to sit completely sideways which wasn't what I had in mind for the 40 min drive. I had a gut feeling at this point my dress would become a little problem for me during the day.





As the day progressed, the dress got heavier and heavier and my energy for holding it up got lower and lower. I was started to get pretty sore around dinner time because the weight of the dress was all positioned around my waist and I felt like an engine running out of steam. It was hard to move around on the dance floor, harder to eat, and harder to drink! I actually had to sneak downstairs into the ladies pampering room to take the dress off for a few minutes and breathe! I never thought I would have been in my undies for a few minutes during my wedding so I could catch a breather!!

If I could change anything or advice little brides out there on anything, it would be to pick a LIGHT wedding dress. The day is so much fun and you want to stay as active as possible! I would recommend getting a dress that doesn't weight that much. Honestly, I stepped on the scale with the dress on and I weighed about 18-20 pounds more than I normally do, eek! That's why I was so tired at the end of the day.

I wanted to keep on having fun, so I figured taking off the dress wasn't the end of the world, and I changed into sundress knowing that there had been a ton of great pictures of me in my wedding dress. Coincidentally, my dad forgot the white sundress that I wanted to change into afterwards, so I had to wear a different one.

Which leads me to my next piece of advice, don't sweat the small things that go differently than you planned. So what?, my dad forgot the white dress. When I asked him to put it into the limo, there were a million things going on around us, and he was probably just as nervous getting ready to take his daughter to the church to get married.

I just reminded myself to have fun, smile lots, and look around at all the people who love us. It's a pretty cool feeling and the best experience I have had in my life to date. "

I personally think she looks adorable in her sundress!! What do you think?

matt & melissa!

well, as i get busier and busier, it gets tougher to stay on top of updating the blog! on june 9th, i shot matt & melissa's wedding with the reception at charter oak country club. she wore her mother's pearls which looked just gorgeous.

she was a total trooper about the rainy weather!







they hid a picture of their dog under one of the place settings to determine who would get the flowers.