I can say the love in this family is real in every moment.

Jayna & Ken,

I feel so lucky to be able to watch your family grow, and to be part of moments that are so filled with the stuff that makes the world a beautiful place…

Kate and John are one of these couples. Their love is a reminder of everything that is completely right.

Kate and John,

Thank you for the beautiful tour of Nantucket, for the nostalgic step back in history, for the glass of water without ice, for the sunset, and for sharing your hearts with me.

It’s a wonderful feeling to be around people who are in love…even though the love exists and is directed between the two of them, it somehow spills over, makes me fall in love with them, with the world around me, deepens my love for my family and friends. Jen and Ramon, watching the two of you together widens my heart and fills it right up to overflowing.

I love the movement from this moment…to this moment…

Jen & Ramon,

Thank you for sharing yourselves and this lovely day with me.

To start the day as strangers and then to be invited in to see the beauty that can transpire between two people- I’m inspired by the possibilities. There are looks, gestures, hugs, moments, that poets spend their whole lives trying to put into words…so I will leave you with this poem…

Oceans

I have a feeling that my boat
has struck, down there in the depths,
against a great thing.
And nothing
happens! Nothing…Silence…Waves…

–Nothing happens? Or has everything happened,
and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?

by Juan Ramon Jimenez

Pure joy…one of my personal favorite human emotions :)

Joanna & David,

Your love inspires me- it is so deep and yet right on the surface at the same time. I can see really good things in your future :)

Let’s start with my favorite portrait of the day…

I’m such a country girl at heart…even in the middle of the city, I manage to find a little nature to get lost in…

Joy!

I wish I danced like this at least once a week…

Ann & Dave,

Much love to both of you and happy adventures :)

And look what that can create: a family full of love.

Cameron is a boy with one thousand expressions…each so unique and full of feeling.

If this image doesn’t fill your heart, then I don’t know what…

Baby Quinn just days old…

I am a proponent of jumping on beds…

I think this is my favorite from the day…I love creating images that are just a single moment but speak of the way things are…

When I start a family some day, I’m excited about the idea of siblings. I love watching how they interact, how they treat each other, how they discover the world together.

Katie & Seth,

Thank you for showing me what family means…you’ve got something pretty beautiful going on…

These images warm my heart…

Ann + Dave,

I have so enjoyed getting to know you both and discovering what you share.

I thought I’d also share the piece we had published last season in their magazine…one of my favorite weddings (I know I say that about every wedding, but I can’t help it- I work with such lovely people). So excited that spring is almost here…warm weather brings all kinds of new adventures…

Those curly cues get me every time.

Something about this image makes me think of how a momma bird helps it’s baby bird take it’s first flight from the nest.  Parenting is such an interesting balance of holding close and letting go…

Ben’s mom spoils me- she bakes things for me that are amazingly delicious.  We went inside for a treat…I think we tuckered him right out. It’s funny how the pictures don’t really show it, but I think we all ran about 3 miles during our session :)

Ben,

As much as you’ve changed over this last year, your sweetness stays the same…

It is so exciting to have images of Mike and I that just melt my heart. I feel so lucky to have found someone who not only has a huge, caring heart, but also helps support me being able to live out my dreams. Sometimes I forget to be super grateful that he has adopted some of my dreams as his own and that we get to work together in this beautiful little business we have created.

What I loved about our photographer,  Jose Villa, was that I could just be myself- there was a comfortable space he created for us, an ease and a lightness that matched the day. I look at these pictures and see *me*. Real, honest, authentic is important especially when you count on these images to be part of your memories in years to come.

We had a lot of fun putting together the details for our wedding day.  Most of the decorations were either handmade or borrowed from my parent’s attic or my cousin’s farm.  Many loving hours of work and many helping hands…

Seating cards hung on an antique clothes drying rack…

Wildflowers picked by my mother…Probably her favorite job amongst the millions of things she did to help.  She is a wild gardener.

We had a little photo booth area set up with a Drop It Modern backdrop, a Fuji Instax camera and a dresser full of fun hats. I knew my friends would like this idea, but I had no idea how much all of our guests would enjoy it, right down to my 98 year old great aunt.  It really bridged the gap between different groups of people- I have crazy, fun, laughing pictures of cousins and family friends and little kids that had never met each other before but became instantly friends.

The centerpieces may be the truest sign of how much Mike loves me.  And my sister and her husband.  And another one of my friends. These were a labor of love to say the least.  I wish I could share a behind the scenes picture of what Mike looked like every time he headed out into the woods to cut down branches and saplings, covered from head to toe in protective gear from mosquitoes and poison ivy, drenched in sweat on 90 degree days. I must admit I liked the idea when working on centerpiece number 5 more than on number 20… But aren’t they so pretty?  Along with the lanterns, they gave the wedding such a wooded-fairy wonderland kind of feeling.

For our favors, we had little muslin bags printed from Etsy that said “All You Need is Love.”  Inside each were a few treats, including a kazoo and one of a collection of favorite poems that were in the spirit of celebration and enjoying life.

Ro-magical is a term I have taken to using quite a bit these days…

I know this post is growing and growing, but it’s kind of become a public way for me to thank and show my appreciation for those closest to me and  I couldn’t leave my brother out. I chose this picture, even though it doesn’t show how devilishly handsome, charming and funny my brother is (always making me laugh), but because it reminds me of how thoughtful he is.  Just seeing his handwriting brings back memories of all the little notes and letters he used to send me in the mail when he was little. He has a way with words of getting to the heart of a thing while making you laugh your way there. I now have that piece of paper stashed away in my treasure box of things that make me smile.

My best friends from high school and college…more kindred spirits.

Great Aunt Flo makes the blog because she is 98 and she can still soul-train. I hope to have half the spunk she has at that age…

And my dad.  Cried like a baby all day long. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I think I’m just getting to a place where I can start to understand how parents really do give everything they have to their children. I can see it in that bottom picture.

We really were able to have complete creative freedom in planning our wedding just the way we imagined- partially because we had it backyard style, but mostly because our parents let us be ourselves and didn’t impose their ideas on us.  They gave so much and didn’t really ask anything of us, until my dad made one request.  He wanted the chicken dance.  I tried to explain that he hadn’t been to a wedding in a while and people don’t really play the chicken dance much anymore- I don’t think I’ve heard it since I was about 13 at the roller skating rink.  But how could I say no to the one, most simple thing asked from us? So I surprised him and played it right after our dance together.  And it is really pretty fun, especially when you discover you randomly have a chicken costume in your dresser drawers.

And my mom again.  Because it really does always start and end with her. She is everything I know, everything I have to be thankful for, everything I love.

What a wonderful way to start our life together.

All our love to our family, friends, and our clients and readers (most of you fit in more than one category :)

~ Katie + Mike