Kate & Reid
OK here we go folks! This is a big one!
On August 21, 2010 my husband Dan and I were married in a little town in Central New York. It was a strangely cloudy Summer day, it threatened to rain, but miraculously stayed dry until 2 am when the party was winding down and the kegs just got tapped. Friends and family of ours came from all over to celebrate with us in Dan’s parents’ giant red barn. On the morning of that amazing day, while I couldn’t wait to see my dad and my grandmother and my soon-to-be-husband, duh :), for some reason, I was insanely, I mean SO excited about seeing my good friend Reid from college. And low and behold, as I popped out of the car a few minutes before the ceremony, there he was across the road, grinning from ear to ear. I have the picture in my head so clearly. Reid was not only at my wedding because he was a dear friend, I know now that Reid was there so that he could meet my sister. Gorgeous, tall, wearing a deep purple satin dress, she looked amazing, how could he resist?? And so it went. They danced the night away, emailed, texted, stalled, eventually visited each other in their respective cities, Kate not so subtlety uninvited me on a trip she and I had planned to go visit him over Christmas, hahaha…
Flash forward a year, my sister is really dating my best friend, WEIRD. But despite myself, I came to realize how amazing they were for each other. The more I thought about it the more I realized there could be no one else better for my sister, and no one else better for such a dear friend. So when Kate and Reid sat Dan and I down and told us they were planning a surprise New Year’s Eve wedding, we were absolutely thrilled. I had been helping Reid find the perfect ring for months, but I had no idea what tricks they had up their sleeves.
So those of us in the inner circle (Kate, Reid, me, Dan, Reid’s sister Erica, and our other good friend Cam) started planning, but mostly started trying to convince our families that “Wouldn’t a family vacation in San Diego be so fun??” We would all get to meet each other, go surfing, relax, and at least for my family, be able to send Kate off to her new life in California in style. Krista soon jumped on board, as well as Allana Taranto, as soon as I told them that Kate originally wanted ME to shoot it. They had pity on me thankfully… So I continued to avoid my parents, plotting in the background with Kate and Krista, writing my speech and writing the ceremony. And after two days of torturous silence in San Diego, the love birds finally told everyone “Surprise! We set a date! It’s tomorrow! Oh and we brought photographers, too!” So there is where we will start, I’ll hand it over to Krista now…
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Could you love the idea of a surprise wedding in San Diego any more?! Probably only if you live in New England :) I was SO excited to be enjoying slightly warmer weather and some fabulous sunsets over the ocean!
Surprise!! The wedding is tomorrow!! And p.s. Krista & Allana are lurking on the front porch, they’re going to photograph the whole weekend! Hooray! :)
Everyone was so excited for them!! A lot of families might have been upset or sad that they weren’t prepared, that they didn’t get to invite anyone else – but this family was just so thrilled to be there! They knew full well that Kate & Reid could have just eloped all by themselves, and it was actually really sweet that they included their entire family in the fun!
Rehearsal Dinner at Sushi Kuchi… Time for some Sake Bombs!!!
That would be CoCo’s Dan on the left… he’s totally my favorite part of this photo!
After a bunch of Sake Bombs, and a good night’s sleep, it was time for the wedding!! They pretty much did everything themselves, so CoCo was in charge of doing Kate’s make-up. No sooner did she start, she began crying like a baby! It was the sweetest moment!!!
Meanwhile, Reid was working hard to finish writing his vows! He’s thinking SO HARD! The next few shots of the guys are by Allana.
Once the vows were written it was time for beers, and fish tacos, and learning how to tie a bow tie on youtube…
Meanwhile, with the girls… It was time to get dressed! I love this shot Allana captured – pure joy!
Once they were dressed, it was time for the First Look!!
Reid would totally not open his eyes until he kissed her! He kept saying “I’m not going to look!”
Once they’d had their First Look, we invited the family out to start the show!
CoCo’s brother, Austin, was in charge of video! [He’s studying film at RIT, and even made a film that won him & CoCo a trip to Sundance!!! Super jealous…]
Walking down the aisle, by Allana
CoCo & Reid’s best bud, Cam were in charge of the ceremony – yes, Cam is wearing his graduation robe so he’ll look more ministerial…
Mr. Coco rocking the shades :)
Aw, CoCo’s crying again!
Gorgeous shot by Allana! Kate, you’re so beautiful!!!
Reading the vows off the Droid… why not?!
Love this series by Allana
CoCo’s reaction is PRICELESS!
This is what it looks like when your Best Friend marries your Sister and becomes your Brother, for real!
Their location was so great, we just had to walk across the street for portraits!
CoCo & Dan, our celebrity couple for the day. [Now, we just spent the last five minutes coming up with a celebrity couple name for them… Mr. & Mrs. CoCo, CoDan, DanCo, DoDo, The Boardmans… what’s your pick?!]
That’s one happy bunch of people!!!
Sunset silhouette by Allana, loving Reid’s laugh!
LOVE these two! The palm trees were making me so happy!
I keep telling my second shooters not to photograph my butt, but they keep doing it anyway… ;)
Gorgeous sunlight!
Totally a favorite!!!
Had to shoot by the cranes some more!
Then it was time for the Reception… EVERYONE gave a toast! It was SO sweet!!! There were SO many tears!!!
Aw, Dad!
“This is the reason we became friends!” Such a sweet toast by CoCo! I was crying…
Dancin’ in the kitchen… love these cuties!
Time to cut the cake! I am loving those bibs you guys!
First Dance… pretty sure it was Beauty and a Beat, haha!!
Get down!! ow!
Then they told me to put my camera down and enjoy the evening, but I HAD to shoot the silly string spectacular when the clock struck 12:00! [well, when the clock struck 12:00 on the East Coast – we were all to tired to stay up til midnight West Coast time, haha!]
Allana got this one – that’s me shooting photos and spraying silly string at the same time! You’ve got to multi-task! ;)
Happy New Year!!
How much did I LOVE this wedding?!?! Kate & Reid – thank you so much for bringing Allana and I out to San Diego to be a part of your fabulous surprise!!! It was so great getting to know you and your families finally, after hearing CoCo talk about you all for so long! I couldn’t be more excited for you two!! xoxo – Krista
To see more of this gorgeous Southern California Wedding – check out their album on Facebook!