i met Katie and Erik the day after Thanksgiving at the Empire Grill, a quintessential Maine diner that makes me feel like i am back in my small coastal town …i can hear the comfortable conversation before i sit in a booth, and the coffee is always good, and even if it isn’t, it doesn’t matter. the company is good. and that is how i felt when i first met this couple. just pure comfort and a familiar humor. last week we met up on a day threatening rain, but we were blessed with beautiful morning fog over Kennebunkport instead. there is less than a month until their special day and i just cannot wait!

there is only one page left to write on. i will fill it with words of only one syllable. i love. i have loved. i will love.

::the.time.travelers.wife::

daily mantra: “i want to live my life with the volume on full…” eddie.veddar

don’t get me wrong…i just love photographing and being a part of wedding ceremonies. every detail is just so well thought out by my couples, and every emotion is real and raw and beautiful. but, what i love most is getting to see them have fun after months and months of planning and saving and more planning, and spending. the reception just yields a relaxed atmosphere of it’s own…still with tradition, but also with a breadth of creativity and joy. Caroline thought of every, single detail…even for the reception. her cake was a masterpiece by Sweet Sensations, and matched her theme perfectly.

can you tell i loved the flower girl too…

Nate was a seriously awesome dancer….as you can tell.

sigh…i just LOVE living in Maine…

i met my amazing couple, Caroline and Nate, in a coffee shop in Portland. from the beginning we had so much in common. we grew up in the same area…a little mid coastal pocket of towns held closely by its oceanic industry, its people, and of course, its pure quirkiness. i was so delighted when they chose their wedding location to be ‘home’…nothing seemed to fit more right. this wedding will come in two separate posts! the photos of the reception were just so overflowing with personality, emotion, and fun, i wanted to give it its own entry…so first, we have the preparation and ceremony shots, and Friday will be the receptions shots!

if you have been watching this blog a while, you know i have a distinct obsession with 2 things. the color pink, and shoes. and Caroline brought me both….

Caroline’s dress was the princess dress fantacy of every little girl and grown up girl alike, but perhaps the most heavy one also. it was a hot day, even with the soft breezes coming of the harbor…but Caroline and the dress held up beautifully.

i met the bride and bridesmaids in the beautiful Camden Amputhere before the ceremony…

the only other girl more important than the bride herself is, of course, the flower girl. and she took her job VERY seriously…

{caroline.and.nate}

daily mantra: morning without you is a dwindled dawn…emily.dickinson

don’t get me wrong…i love light houses. i do. and Portland Head Light is really stunning…while it’s rare that it isn’t fogged in, or misty, it is always pretty. but really, for me personally, going to the Portland Head Light pales in comparison to what is right on the same grounds, and that is Fort Williams. with its neat structures and history, it is a rich photographic opportunity. Dana and Danielle are one of my September couples and they were so fun and up for anything…just a truly gorgeous pair inside and out.

daily mantra: “the best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts, and brings peace to our minds…”

{the.notebook}

time just flies. what i like and don’t like most about the first year of life is just how much and how fast every thing changes! in one, single year of life your sweet little babe goes from being a scrunchy, cuddly newborn, into a walking, talking, little person who fills your life in an entirely different way. i love to see my families grow, and Emery has just changed so much in the 6 months since i saw her last…what hasn’t changed…her LOVE for the camera, and her amazing spirit.

all of these photographs are taken at the amazing and beautiful Gilsland Farm in Falmouth, Maine. anyone who has not been there, i highly recommend it…it is just a stunning nature reserve overlooking a salt marsh.  we are so spoiled here in Maine with all of our great, hidden treasures and this place is one of them.

babies grow best with love {that is what my Grammy always said}…and Emery is just a girl that is overflowing with love….

Happy 1st Birthday sweet Emery. . . here is to another year filled with change and growth, and of course, {LOVE}