We got married!

Our official photos haven’t come back yet, but we did take some photos ourselves! We wanted to share a little about our experience with you from planning the big day to the after party, so here it is!

Matt and I have seen each other almost everyday since we met 4 years ago. We have been living together for 2 years and honestly, our relationship has always been more of a permanent thing than not. We started to grow a business together in 2015 despite our families and friends thinking we were crazy, but we both knew early on where we were headed. When we started to plan our wedding in early 2017 we listed out a dozen ideas, the one thing that stuck for the first few months was the word ADVENTURE! We knew that if we were going to get married, we had to do it our way. Our families were mostly supportive and very confused when we announced everything to them and started to be open about our plans. My parents were far more bummed out than Matt’s.

Soon after, we learned what was needed to do a National Park wedding and started to plan. We chose Acadia for a few reasons. It is the closest National Park to our home, we took our first trip together there and it is a place we want to go back to for years to come that will always be special to us. The obstacle with a wedding without a venue was figuring out was who to invite, how to not exclude people who are important to us and how to keep it intimate.

Neither Matt or I have any siblings making our immediate families very small so we started there. We had thought about hand selecting people to also be invited to attend, but ended up going with just our parents, aunts and uncles that we saw regularly, Matt’s grandpa and a few very close friends. We had about 20 people attend. We all stayed at the same hotel and car pooled to the weekends activities.

A lunch was planned at a vintage themed restaurant for before the wedding, the ceremony was in the park surround by mountains, a pond and our loved ones, the next morning we took everyone on a harbor cruise to see the park from the sea and then most of our guests ended up going home. Matt and I took 6 days in total to do some hiking and enjoy some time together and honestly, that couldn’t have been more perfect.

The next weekend we had a huge BBQ with our whole families invited and a bunch of friends we have made along the way. We played mini golf and tossed a football and ate way too much food. It was fantastic.

Something we learned while planning our own wedding was that no matter what people expect from you, thinking about what is important and what means something to both of you should take priority. Always plan the event that you would want to attend and focus on what your reason for getting married is in the first place.  Matt and I are together because we both enjoy being active and photography.  We found every way we could to include those two things in our party and our actual wedding.  Instead of being separate for getting ready, we were in the same room.  We kept our looks simple and were able to get dressed and do our own photos in about an hour and that gave us more time to focus on what matters most to us, making memories, because in the end that is what this event is about.  Creating a life together, making memories and being surrounded by loved ones.

How to stay warm during a winter adventure session.

 

Nobody enjoys extreme cold or cold mixed with wind, but we live in New England so we deal with it. You do have a few choices though – hide inside all winter, embrace it and prepare for it or buy a second home somewhere warm and invite Matt and I to escape for a week at a time. (I’m voting for options 2 or 3 by the way.)

New Hampshire and New England in general is a gorgeous area which offers different scenery all year round with many roads that do not close in winter. So why not make the most of the weather we have and do something you will never forget. Our winter adventure sessions are unique for several reasons. First, we live a couple hours away from the ocean, lighthouses and mountains. Some incredible vistas are roadside and others are a 10 minute walk and a few take 30 minutes to get to but we can pick a spot based on your interests and ability so this shouldn’t scare you away, we never push our couples or families to do anything that they aren’t comfortable with. Secondly, nothing in nature ever looks exactly the same the second time you see it. Third, we are avid hikers so we know so many beautiful locations that we have been to that would be a dream backdrop for any type of session.

Your body naturally builds up heat as you move and usually after 10 minutes you feel quite warm, the trick is to try to not sweat. Sweating is your bodies natural way to cool down, but in the winter, it isn’t good. The air temperature cools you down in a matter of minutes and when you are sweaty you get cold, really fast. The key here is to know when to take a break and to stop frequently and carrying your extra layers vs. wearing everything you brought from the start. You may start out cold, but it never lasts more than a few minutes. Once you stop have your layers ready to throw on. Loose layers or a blanket work so well for a quick warm up.

Part of our success during these shoots belongs to the planning and communication of plans with all of the couples involved. We picked locations based on weather and their abilities/interests, if we had a water crossing or knew we would be on ice over water we checked to see if the ice was thick enough before standing on it and we were aware of the weather conditions in the area for a week prior to the shoot. We had ropes nearby and did our best to keep jackets close and gloves warm while shooting. Not too mention the obnoxious amount of hand and feet warmers everyone had.

So, I guess all of this translates to easy steps:

1. Have a plan for safety
2. Make sure your extra clothes are easy to get on in case of an emergency
3. Don’t overdress and overheat, but have layers ready for when you need them
4. Prepare for the worst and have measures in place for the just in case of emergency situations
5. Understand the environment in which you will be
6. Communication is so important to teamwork
7. Hand warmers in your pockets are amazing

 

Ugly location challenge

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Over the weekend my cousin and her college roommate came over to help me do the increasingly popular “Ugly location challenge” that I have seen a ton of photographers do recently. My initial thoughts were how hard could it be? People went into Target, Ikea and Lowes and took photos in seemingly boring or less photogenic locations and made them into art. Turns out what is hard is not getting caught in the stores trying to take photos.

We switched gears and turned to outdoor locations in parking lots of major shopping centers in Nashua where I live and I have to say, I am loving the results. Playing with middle of the day light is always a challenge, but this forced me to think differently and really try to find the beauty of even small slabs of land that I would usually walk past without giving a second thought to.

I think the biggest thing that I learned from doing this challenge is that you can do a session anywhere! You don’t need a fancy location or perfect conditions, just a little patience and the ability to really look at the area that you have available.

Is a first look right for you?

 

Before we get into some common questions that are asked about a first look I want to take a minute to explain what exactly a first look is and what that means. A first look is a private viewing of the bride and groom on their wedding day BEFORE the ceremony. Usually the bride will walk over to the groom (who is looking away), taps him on the shoulder and he slowly turns to see his bride for the first time (in her wedding dress). This means that instead of waiting until the ceremony and seeing your spouse to be for the first time as the bride walks down the aisle, you get to savor this moment as a private, intimate and emotional moment between the two of you captured by your photographer.

But isn’t it bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony? The tradition of not seeing each other on your wedding day is from the days of arranged marriages, when the union of a bride and groom was most simply a business transaction. The bride’s father walked his daughter to the altar because the veil was completely opaque as well as to make sure she went through with the marriage. The concept of seeing the bride before the wedding being associated with “bad luck” is in reference to the bride’s father having his financial agreement ruined. Over the years the tradition has carried on and obviously lost that meaning (thank goodness) and many couples choose to follow it, regardless of when the first look happens (before the ceremony or during) you will certainly have more of a romantic moment than the old reasons for waiting.

An alternative to a first look is a hand-written letter for your partner to read either during getting ready or at a private first look. This can really help add a special moment and make it even more candid and your own!

Will having a first look change the feeling of walking down the aisle? From our experience, it will not. We have talked to many of our couples after their ceremony and they have all said that even after the first look the butterflies built back up when they saw their guests seated waiting for the ceremony to begin.

What are the biggest benefits of a first look? The biggest thing that the first look changes is the timeline. Instead of having a tight hour to do your formal photos with your wedding party and family, you can start to relax after the ceremony. Seeing each other first just means that the party starts a little earlier for you!

In addition to being able to do your formal photos earlier you will also get to spend more time with your spouse to be and your whole wedding party. A lot of people say that their wedding day goes by to fast so adding a few more hours can only extend the fun you will have together.

 

Tell us if you think a first look is right for you in the comments and let us know what you like and dislike about it!