Krista Photography Blog » dancing

Annika’s Bat Mitzvah

Krista Guenin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:56:00 +0000

This past Fall, I had the pleasure of photographing Annika’s Bat Mitzvah at the Museum of Science. It was such a cool location for a party! I got there early and spent some time wandering around the museum, and capturing some of the details planned by the lovely & talented Nathalya Mamane…

Flowers by Sarah’s Garden

Linens by Be Our Guest

Food from the amazing Catering by Andrew

This was basically the coolest spot in the place! Fine dining under the T-Rex – how awesome is that?!

Then the family arrived and we had a little time for some quick portraits around the museum.

The beautiful Bat Mitzvah girl

The whole family

Annika’s parents are such a fun couple! When I first met them cutting it up on the dance floor at Julia’s Bat Mitzvah, I knew they were going to be great to work with!

They kicked off the party with the Horah! Always my favorite part :D

This family loves to dance!

I think Annika had a great time!

Annika, it was so great to meet and work with you and your family. What a great party! Congratulations once again!! :)

Julia’s Bat Mitzvah

Krista Guenin — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:14:00 +0000

Wow, it’s been a couple weeks since I posted on the blog!! I hope you all weren’t worried ;) It’s been a busy few weeks with a sinus infection just in time for my parents to visit, and then a lovely bout of vertigo just in time for my birthday. Trust me, it’s been a blast (insert sarcastic tone here). But, I’m feeling better, finally blew out my birthday candles, and am back in business!

So without further ado, I present photographs from Julia’s Bat Mitzvah!

The lovely Bat Mitzvah Girl

And her wonderful siblings

Julia’s Dad, Andrew is one of the best caterers in Boston. I was absolutely honored to photograph this special event for their family!

And what an event it was! The party was huge, everything was so colorful, the decor and the details were so gorgeous, and of course the food was amazing! Special thanks to Nathalya Mamane, flowers by Carol Silverston, and Rentals Unlimited!

The dance floor was definitely my favorite part of the whole day. This was one of the most energetic dance floors I’ve ever photographed. I got knocked over, feet jumped on, and bumped all over the place – it was totally awesome! Music by the Nafshenu Orchestra out of New York.

I LOVE the Horah!!

More dancing…

And what’s a celebration without a few toasts?!

Thank you Andrew and family for having me as part of such an important day for your family – and for such a great time and an awesome party!!

To see more, check out the longest slideshow ever…

Noah’s Bar Mitzvah

Krista Guenin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:40:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I photographed Noah’s Bar Mitzvah in Brookline. This fabulous event was planned by the talented Nathalya Mamane, and took place at Veronique Boston. Noah and his family had recently returned from a trip to China and the whole party had a Chinese theme. It was beautifully done, and the party was so much fun! Here’s a look…

Some of the gorgeous details… Flowers courtesy of Carol Silverston of The Original Touch, Cake by John at Party Favors.

Noah reading Torah

Noah’s grandparents. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a cute little old man!

Noah’s aunt holding his very shy, but very cute little sister

I’m always so entertained by the games at Bar Mitzvahs! The light coming into the ballroom was just about perfect, and mix that with a bunch of girls hoola-hooping, and I was having a blast!

I wasn’t the only one fascinated by the hoola-hoops…

The Hora is one of my FAVORITE Jewish traditions! It makes me want to have a Jewish wedding someday. Though I doubt my Irish-Catholic family would quite know what to do… ;) Noah was loving it!

His Mom was a little scared at first

Dad was getting into it though

As was Noah’s little brother

Even his little sister had fun with it!

More games… Coke & Pepsi, anyone?

Fun on the dance floor

One of the things I love about Bar Mitzvahs is when the adults get in on the fun and let themselves be kids for a little bit

Noah’s birthday cake was AMAZING! One of the coolest cakes I’ve ever seen, for sure! (check out the detail collage at the top to see some more of the front of the cake)

this is what a 13-year-old looks like when he’s making a wish

All in all, I think Noah and his friends had an awesome time!

Congratulations Noah! Thanks so much for having me as part of your day!

Liana & James’ Wedding!

Krista Guenin — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of shooting Liana & James‘ wedding. These two are such a fun, sweet, wonderful, not-to-mention-gorgeous couple and I had a BLAST spending the day with them and their friends & family! I shot over 4,600 images that day!!! I told you, I had a blast :) Not so much fun was the editing process of going through all of those images, but I’ve finally narrowed it down and am super excited to share some with you!!

The day started as I met Liana and her bridesmaids at her parents’ house up in Nahant. It was totally exciting, and definitely overwhelming, to walk up the steps to the door and have a gaggle of bridesmaids all waiting there to welcome me! They were all soooo excited to “get started”! So started, we got…

Liana opening her present from James – a gorgeous bracelet

Checking out the dress with her sister, and maid-of-honor, Jamie

Waiting at the top of the stairs to go down and see Dad

And this would be when Dad started crying, and when all the rest of us started crying!

Stylist from Peacock Alley putting on the veil

A few shots of the girls outside the house

There’s something about the way that bridesmaid is standing in the background that makes me LOVE this shot!

and there she is again…

The ceremony was at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Weston, MA.

This may be my favorite shot of the day!

There were tons of moments like this one throughout the ceremony. I couldn’t help but smile watching these two whisper and smile at one another the whole time. They got an especially good laugh when the ceremonial crown got stuck in her hair, but we’ll leave those pictures for the proofs ;)

Married!

They don’t look happy at all, do they?! ;)

A cute moment in the Bentley on the way to the reception. I love tagging along in the car!!

We arrived at the Saphire Estate just in time to capture some portraits outside, and to get Liana & James down to the lake for the sweet pre-sunset light!

Careful, these next two are HOT!

The happy couple!

Then it was back up to the reception! I loved the centerpieces by North Shore Fruit & Flowers.

They choreographed their first dance, and it was AWESOME! And you guys were nervous! ;)

The Father-Daughter dance

My favorite thing about this wedding was the party! These guys had one of the most packed and energetic dance floors I’ve ever seen at a wedding! Everyone was dancing and having a great time!

The band, OnLine, really knew how to work the crowd! They were especially good at getting James pumped up ;)

There were also some sweet moments on the dance floor…

But for the most part, it was high energy! Liana’s Dad was cracking me up!!

And this series really just sums up the whole day… very sweet, very fun, and very James & Liana!

Thanks again you guys, for everything! Your wedding was awesome and I’m so glad I could be a part of it!!

The Flip Flop Regatta

Krista Guenin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing a big fundraiser for The ALLY Foundation. The ALLY Foundation was established in memory of Alexandra Nicole Zapp, who was murdered by a repeat sex offender on July 18, 2002. The Foundation, founded and run by Ally’s mother and stepfather, has a mission to prevent opportunities for violent sex offenses, to educate the public and advocate for necessary changes in culture, attitude and policy. For the past six years, her friends and family have celebrated Ally’s life and raised money for her cause by combining some of the things she loved – sailing, celebrations, and flip flops. The result has been the Flip Flop Regatta.

I wasn’t able to actually photograph the race that weekend, but I did get to shoot the Mount Gay Rum Tent Parties on both Friday and Saturday nights. Both events were so fun, and I’m so blessed to have been a part of it!

Friday night’s party got off to a very, very wet start…

But the The Cocabanana Band was great and helped keep everyone’s spirits up, and feet moving!

The event chairs, John Ricci and Koryn Okey (formerly of Boston Weddings Magazine)

Ally’s mother Andrea, step-father Steven, and sister with a friend at the party on Friday night. Andrea and Steven were two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. It’s really amazing what they’ve done with this tragedy in their lives, and the hope they’ve been able to see through it all.

Me and Koryn at the end of the night :)

Saturday turned out to be a PERFECT day for sailing!! Not a drop of rain, and plenty of wind and sunshine.

After the race, everyone came back to the Tent Party for some more fun, as well as a silent auction. There were some amazing items up for bidding!

There was also some delicious food & drinks provided by PapaRazzi, Hot Tomatoes, and SoulFire.

Saturday night’s festivities included a brief address from ALLY Foundation founder, Andrea Cassanova. There was a lot of excitement about the event…

…and a lot of emotion. The regatta is a fun time and an exciting opportunity to raise money for a great organization. But for those who knew and loved Ally, it’s also a reminder of why they’re doing this in the first place.

One of the winning teams from Saturday’s race

And on to some fun from the dance floor!

I ran into my friend Tiffany, of Alternate Angles, that afternoon. She was having a blast!

The dance floor was rockin’ all night long – thanks to the awesome band that night, Infractions!

A final shot of Steven & Andrea

And the view from the pier on Saturday night… amazing!!

Thank you, Koryn and Andrea and Steven, for inviting me to be a part of this event! Thank you for making me feel so welcome and so appreciated. And a special thanks to the sponsors of the Flip Flop Regatta: Mount Gay Rum, Vineyard Vines, Sperry, Atlantis, US Sailing, CleanHarbors, Island Issue, SmartWater, Long’s, Fairmont Copley Plaza, and Papa Razzi. This was a great event, and they couldn’t have done it without your help!

It was a fabulous weekend, and I’m so glad I could contribute to such a great cause! If you’d like to learn more about The ALLY Foundation, or make a contribution, please click here!

If you’d like to see more of the photos, click here.

Evan & Kelly’s Wedding!!

Krista Guenin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:48:00 +0000

Wow! It’s been WAY too long since I posted anything on this blog of mine! I’m sure you were all checking back each day wondering what the heck had happened to me. I hope you weren’t too worried ;) I have so much to blog about, but I definitely wanted to get this wedding up before anything else!!

Evan & Kelly got married a few weeks ago, on a beautiful sunny day in Cambridge. I started the day with Kelly at the Harvard Faculty Club where she was getting ready. It’s such a cool old building, and I was definitely excited to shoot there for the first time! One of the first things I got to see was the room they were staying in at the Club. It had the coolest window, and I just had to shoot the dress in front of it!

Then it was back downstairs to spend some more time with Kelly and her family. Kelly was a little anxious and definitely wanted to get the show on the road! She just couldn’t wait to get down that aisle and marry Evan, which is the best reason to be anxious before your wedding!

The ceremony was held just a block away at Harvard Memorial Church. The ceremony was so nice, and Evan & Kelly just looked so happy!

After the ceremony, we walked back to the Faculty Club, and made a few stops along the way for some casual portraits.

Are they cute, or what?

Back at the reception, the guests were mingling and enjoying the day, while I was eying the cake… Don’t you just want to pluck off those little flowers and eat ‘em?!

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way… My assistant, Melissa, totally busted this kid trying to snag a bite!

The first dance as husband & wife…

All day long, you couldn’t get the adorable kids off of the dance floor. Not even during the father-daughter dance!

After a bit of dancing, Evan & Kelly were toasted by their loved ones. The toasts were awesome…lots of tears are the proof!

I love this series! It totally makes me cry because you can just see how close Kelly & her sister are, and how much they love one another. Sisters are awesome!

The Best Man got a few more laughs than tears…

But Kelly’s Dad really takes the cake. I have looked at these images at least 5-6 times now throughout my editing, and I have cried EVERY TIME!! He’s a total crack-up, so I was expecting a really knee-slapping kind of a toast. But, then he starts talking about how when he was a kid he loved the movie Peter Pan (the live-action one w/ Mary Martin – which is a totally great version, btw). And then he goes into this long description of the part where TinkerBell almost dies – and he actually starts crying just talking about it. Which makes all of us cry, of course. I can’t exactly remember how he worked it all out, but in the end he had us all clapping for Evan & Kelly the way kids over the generations have clapped for Tink. I’m telling you, it was the best Dad toast, ever!

Did I mention the adorable kids?

The happy couple enjoying the last dance of the day!

Before the afternoon ended, there was one shot that I HAD to get. I’d been dreaming of it since we visited the Faculty Club during Evan & Kelly’s engagement shoot. The club just has the best staircase, you see…

Evan & Kelly, it was such a wonderful day! You are surrounded by love, and it was an amazing thing to witness. Thank you for trusting me to be a part of your wedding. And thanks for sticking it out to the very end to get my dream shot :) I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you both over the past year – and I look forward to working together to design the perfect album to tell the story of your day! I hope you LOVE the photos!!