What a gorgeous day Shannon and Justin had! Super sunny, warm, and perfect. The bride was nervous yet composed and not to mention STUNNING! I loved the couple’s classic nautical style and wonderful attention to detail which made their guests feel right at home.
Oh man, if you thought this wedding was beautiful before, just WAIT ’til you see all their woodland details at the perfectly urban chic Artists for Humanity Epicenter.
Alright, let’s get to the gorgeous details from Laura and Dayna’s early spring wedding at the wonderful Willowdale Estate! Even when it’s not quite green, this place is still amazing, one of my favorite venues.
Laura and Dayna (best name for a groom ever!) were married on a beautiful brisk day in late spring, they braved the slight chill in the air for as long as they could and it was SO worth it for the chance to walk around outside and to witness their ceremony on the gorgeous patio of the Willowdale Estate. Laura was perfectly nervous, everyone was excited, the weather held off and just wait til you see Dayna’s face when he saw his bride for the first time…
GUYS! I can’t even TELL you how excited I am to share this wedding! You may remember Nora and Kevin from their snuggly, beer-induced, winter engagement session. These two are an absolute favorite around the studio, I was so excited to see them on their wedding day, and true to form they laughed, they cried, they snuggled, it was SO. FUN.
We are SO excited to be actively preparing to hold our THIRD annual Forever Family Portrait Day!! All the necessary details are below, please let anyone in your life who has adopted (or is in the process of adopting) know about this FREE portrait opportunity!
Who may participate: Any family that has adopted or is in the process of adopting one or more children.
What do you get: A brief portrait session to capture a nice portrait of your Forever Family, with one of our professional photographers. One or more of the best images from your portrait session will be edited and uploaded to our proofing site, www.shootproof.com, where you will receive a $35 credit towards the purchase of prints or digital downloads of your photos. Additional prints may be purchased a la carte, but are not necessary. [e.g. $8 for 5×7, $15 for 8×10, and $35 for digital download with rights released]
When: Saturday, November 21st from 9:00am-2:00pm – the day after National Adoption Day!
Where: GENESIS – 35 Olympia Ave, Woburn, MA 01801 (Right off of 95 at the Washington Street exit).
How: Families must register via Eventbrite to reserve your spot. Please sign-up by purchasing a FREE ticket for one of the 30-minute time slots available – ONE TICKET PER FAMILY, regardless of the number of people in your family. We ask that you arrive at the beginning of your scheduled time slot. Families will be photographed on a first come, first serve basis and we will do our best to take families within the 30 minute window for which they have registered. Due to space limitations, portraits will be limited to 8 people per family (if you have a larger family, please contact us directly to work out an alternative). Last year we had an unusual number of last minute no-shows, so if you are unable to attend, we ask that you please give at least 48 hours advance notice so families on the waiting list may attend.
Why: We truly believe that adoption is one of the most generous acts of humanity, and we want to bless your new family with the gift of capturing your Forever Family in a photo that will last for generations! We are so excited to be able to offer this special event and cannot wait to meet you!
**Please note, while we appreciate how important the furry members of your family are, we are unable to accommodate pets at this event due to liability issues**
Our first Forever Family Portrait Day was such a success, we did it again. :) You will likely recognize MANY of these faces – we had a lot of repeat visitors (which we LOVE!) and repeat volunteers (who we ADORE!)
It was just about two years ago that Krista and CoCo told me about an (awesome!) little idea they had been tossing around. Krista is always looking for ways to give back through her photography and CoCo had a friend actively trying to adopt in another state – together they wanted to do SOMEthing for the amazing people who make the incredible decision to add to their family through adoption. My background, as you may recall, is in social work. Specifically working for the state in child protective services. I have had the privilege of being present for many adoption finalizations over the years and I LOVED the idea of bringing these two worlds together!
From there our Forever Family Portrait Day was born! With a WHOLE lot of help and support from fellow photographers – who photographed families, assisted one another, documented the behind the scenes of our day, loaned us lighting and equipment, and so. much. more…
… and volunteers – who got families checked in, entertained children while they waited and answered LOTS of questions – we were able to photograph nearly 100 forever families!
Our very first family could not have been more perfect for kicking things off! Zoey’s adoption had been finalized just the day before, on National Adoption Day, and this family was SO full of love and excitement! You can actually read more about their adoption journey here.
There was PLENTY of goofiness at every station!
Not just in front of the camera!
Amazingly, this was not our largest family!
So much joy!
And so much sass!
Waiting so patiently.
There are SO many more families that we would love to share, unfortunately adoption can be complicated. Some families have foster children – kids who are every bit a part of the family, but not yet legally so. Others have adopted through the state DCF system and chose to remain private. Still others are simply fiercely protective of their children and prefer we not use their images. We fully respect these families’ decision to keep their images private and have only shared images of families who gave us permission to do so.
We must give a special shout out to the incredible photographers who donated their time and talents: David DiNisco, Kris Rae Orlowski, Lisa Seidel, and Emily Tebbetts. You all rock!!
Stay tuned for another post soon about our second annual Forever Family Portrait Day!
If you would like to know more about adoption and the MANY children in Massachusetts who are waiting to find their forever home, the best place to start is with the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange.
Five years ago, this fun, kind and talented lady came into my life – and changed it forever. CoCo moved to Boston and reached out to me about assisting, right when I needed help the most. She started interning and assisting at weddings, and before too long I had to hire her so she could help me out more days a week. I joked with her that I was basically hiring her to talk to me because it was so lonely working by myself all day. But for real, she became someone I could really talk to. Someone who I could bounce business ideas and problems around with, and someone I could share the life stuff with too. Plus, she was an awesome Photo Editor and jack-of-all-trades around here! Then, she got so good at assisting & shooting that I couldn’t bear to be without her at weddings… but I had to acknowledge that she was too awesome to keep just assisting me and second shooting all over town. She was ready to do it on her own. And I was SO glad she wanted to stick around and keep working as a team, and she became our Associate Photographer! And in so many ways, that turned out so great, and really saved both of us during a season when photographers were quitting left & right because bookings were so low. It’s been awesome to see how she’s grown as a photographer over the last couple years and how happy she’s made her couples (and how much they love her!). And now, she’s ready to spread her wings again, to try something new and grow some more.
Today is officially CoCo’s last day working in the office, and it’s crazy bittersweet!
It’s sweet because she’s off on new adventure working for a North Shore design company and she’s gonna learn so much and get to do so many new things!
It’s bitter because I won’t get to see her everyday!!!! I’ve spent more time with this woman over the last 5 years than almost anyone else in the world! There’s just gonna be a big gap in the office, and in my life, and it’s gonna be sad for a while.
But it’s also SWEET because she’s not leaving all together!!! She’s still shooting weddings as our Associate Photographer! She’ll still have to drop by every once in a while to drop off images, and do portfolio reviews, and help us find stuff, and to eat pad thai. She’s totally still gonna second shoot with me, and we’re still gonna have lots of Saturdays to spend together this year (and the year after that, and the year after that, and… you get it).
This is a GOOD change, and I’m so incredibly excited for her and just can’t wait to see what comes next for her!
I’m gonna miss her silliness…
…and the fun ways she makes me laugh…
…the ways she squeals while she edits…
…and her super-modelly ways.
I am NOT going to have to miss the way she keeps me smiling on wedding days!
And we’re certainly not going to have to miss her being an awesome photographer :)
And thank the Lord, I’m not going to have to miss the way she is like the glue that sticks this little team together! (or headlocks the team together…)
But even still, all of us in the office are basically just trying to get through the day without ugly crying! (and tooootalllly failing).
CoCo – we are all going to miss you SO MUCH! I am going to miss you SO MUCH! Life & work just won’t be the same without having you here with us each day! But change is good. And I know this is going to be a really incredible new chapter in your life!
I’m proud of you, I’m thankful for you, and I love you, my beautiful friend!
You come back and visit us ALL. THE. TIME. got it?!
Taylor, Pete, and I had the chance to get together for my favorite kind of meeting: one with beer! Which also happened to take place on a sunny 60-degree afternoon in San Francisco, in DECEMBER! I was in town for Christmas, they cut out of work early (shhhhh don’t tell…) and we had a great time getting to know each other, going over wedding day plans, washing down some delicious food with an Anchor Steam, and we even took a few pictures along the way!
Ain’t they cute?!
Hahaha!
Now THAT’s a blue sky.
Then we decided to stroll over to Pier 14…
…where there was a GREAT view of the city!
And some beautiful light!
I just LOVE these two!!
Soooooooo pretty!!
Woohoo! Taylor and Pete I am so glad we got to hang out! You guys are AWESOME, I can’t wait ’til September!
Follow along on the Krista Photography Facebook Page for ALL the pretty.