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Yesterday Shannon & Amanda had a beautiful ceremony at Look Park in Northampton, MA. The day was gorgeous - the light was perfect - and their celebration was filled with laughter and some tears, or course. Much more to come in the future, but here's one for now.
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After thirteen years (and a few months) of best friendship and dating - Peter & I have decided it's about time we became engaged. For those of you who don't know us...yes, thirteen years is quite a lot of time, we know, but it really hasn't felt like much time at all. We've experienced a lot of what 'life' entails...the unbelievably amazing and joyous moments, as well as the life altering experiences that have brought some of the deepest sadness we have ever known. It's all of it - from the sharing of the leftover banana stuffed french toast (my favorite) - to the sharing of many tears and lots of laughter that have made us - two individuals - become the strong couple we are today.
A lot of time and effort has been put into our relationship, but I must say, it has also been fairly easy. We just seem to fit - and, even though we fought against it sometimes, always have fit from the moment we began spending time together way back in 1997. So, it's been a long time coming, but next year we will be married. I'm very much looking forward to celebrating with our family - and friends, many of whom are like family to us. This year is going to be crazy I'm sure, but I'm determined to take every moment in and appreciate the people we have surrounding us.
*****
To honor the many friends we have in our lives we decided months ago to bring them all together for a *surprise* engagement party in NJ. Over thirteen years we have been incredibly fortunate to have so many amazing friendships - and close ones at that. Being in Boston is difficult because we don't often get to see our NJ friends - the friends who were there at the beginning of our relationship. This summer was a busy one...my business has grown (thank you to all of my clients-turned-friends who have made this happen) - and my best friend got married too. Looking at our summer calendar in early spring we realized we wouldn't have a lot of time to see people, so we decided to have our Boston crowd come to the lake for a long weekend - and have a party on Saturday night. Little did everyone know we would announce our engagement later in the evening.
Do some of you feel I'm skipping ahead a bit? I probably should tell you about the proposal. Right. So, I knew the ring and the proposal were on the way. After all, we did send out invitations to our *surprise* engagement party in April, but I wasn't sure of the exact time and location. With our August party date getting closer, I knew it was only a matter of time. I also had a feeling Peter would propose in NJ. The location was a surprise, but I did have a spot where I hoped it would happen. I would never tell Peter of course, but I secretly hoped he would come up with the same place.
One evening, while we were home in NJ Peter & I went to 'the rock'. The rock is the spot in 1997 where we sat and pondered taking our month long friendship and making it something more. We sat with stars above - the Hale Bopp in the sky - a full moon lighting up the fog on the water - and watched as a shooting star flew across the sky. Yep...a shooting star gave us the sign we were searching for - and we had our first kiss. We haven't been back since then - and I couldn't have imagined a better place to have our moment - the moment we decided to spend the rest of time we have left on this earth together. It was perfect.
My first self-portrait with my ring on taken in the window of my childhood bedroom.
I love that you can see the ring box on the bed.
*****
So, back to the party.
We kept our engagement a secret for a few days - wanting to tell people in person. We told a select few in person over the next week before the party and told them to keep quiet until Saturday night. The Boston folks began to arrive Wednesday evening and we had a fun few days of swimming and attempting waterskiing (that's another story entirely) - and just generally taking in the joys of the lake and of summer.
Saturday evening came and NJ friends started to arrive. We spent time catching up with friends we haven't seen in months, barbequed some tasty food, and kept the theme going - enjoying summer and the lake.
After dinner Kara and Bryan needed to leave, which was a perfect way to lure everyone down to the front yard where we had set up lights and started a fire for the evening's hanging-out space. I told everyone that I wanted to take a group shot - because how often to we get all of these people together!?
Things I love about the photo below: I love that you can tell Peter & I are very excited for what we're about to announce. I love that Jen, sitting in the middle of everyone has the look of knowing. I love that Kara and Bryan (3rd and 4th in from the right on top) have big smiles - and Kara's smile has the look of knowing as well. I love that our siblings and many of our friends are gathered for us...most of them not knowing.
With the group shot taken I told everyone to stay where they were (Jen has grabbed the camera by now) and I gave a toast to all of them for coming - and to summer.
Peter stepped away from the crowd to give a toast too...
and welcome everyone to our Surprise Engagement Party(!) - and everyone started clapping and screaming and laughing and....it was just wonderful. We got the exact reaction we were hoping for. Tears were in a few eyes too. It is a moment I will never forget...and I know Peter won't soon forget as well.
I do enjoy speaking in front of a crowd, and everyone wanted to know the proposal story.
Jen - thank you so much for photographing the surprise. We love them and will treasure them forever.
Tara - thank you for taking the photos below...we love them.
Thank you so much to all of our friends who were there. For those of you who couldn't make it, we're sorry to not have you present for our big surprise, but we hope you know how much you mean to us, and we look forward to celebrating with you soon.
*****
ps...I highly suggest having a surprise engagement party - or a reverse surprise party of any kind. Surprising that many people at once is one of the best experiences I've had.
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Now for the ceremony. Guests arrived at Eric's family's new home in Falmouth, which was the absolute perfect backdrop for Beth & Eric's backyard celebration. I think they should rent their home as a wedding venue...just a personal opinion - but one I think they should strongly consider. It was wonderful.
Beth is British - Eric is American - hence the two flags flying on July 4th weekend.
Beth's beautiful mother is pictured above, and her aunt and grandmother are below. The night before their wedding I was talking to Peter and my brother, saying how excited I was for a British wedding because I knew there would be fascinators in the crowd. I didn't have to explain to them what a fascinator was because I recently acquired one for myself. I just love them! However, they were both skeptical as to whether we would see them.
This is me before the ceremony speaking with Beth's grandmother and aunt about how excited I was to see their headwear!
Beth's gorgeous bouquet...
And here we go.
Eric's parents...
Beth's sister and mum...
The ceremony ended with Eric and his brothers singing the Plain White T's song "1234" to Beth. Beth knew it was going to happen, but most of the guests did not. There weren't many dry eyes left by the end of the song. And, I must say, Eric and his brothers sang beautifully...and they did it a cappella, which isn't always the easiest thing to do - especially under pressure.
The moments immediately following the kiss are always some of my favorites.
more to come!
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Get ready - this is part one of many posts. Beth & Eric's wedding was filled with so many beautiful moments it's difficult for me to narrow it all down. In part two I'll tell you much more about the beautiful day and the setting of their celebration. Right now I really want to get to the photographs.
I will say that the wedding took place on the grounds of an early 1800s (I'm pretty sure of the era, but I'll check for the next post) home Eric's parent's purchased and restored in the months before the wedding. Each room was decorated by Dawn, Eric's mom, and Beth who spent many hours combing antique stores and estate sales for great pieces (and great deals of course). Every detail was amazing and beautiful. I wanted to just photograph the house, but of course there was a wedding to focus on (pun intended)!
The next images are of Beth and her lovely, lovely bridesmaids getting ready. These shots really show how having a beautiful space with great light can completely elevate the 'getting ready' moments.
White shoes for the ceremony - blue shoes for dancing (and running...you'll see).
I just love this shot. It's one of my new favorites.
this is just the beginning.
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This coming weekend Peter & I will be traveling to the lovely town of Northampton in Western Mass...another one of my favorite places...another place that brings me peace. Amanda went to Smith - Shannon went to UMass - and the Northampton area was the backdrop for the beginning of their relationship, which makes it the perfect setting for their wedding.
To get them warmed up for the photography on their wedding day we met up at Castle Island and explored the many nooks and crannies the space offers. If you've been there before you know about the planes flying overhead with the comings and goings of Logan Airport. I often had to pause what I was saying to wait for a plane to go by. Amanda assures me the volume is no where near a beach in San Diego (right, Amanda?) where the planes are much, much louder. So naturally, with all the plane talk I had to take one photo with a departing plane in the frame.
I was originally told that Shannon was the talkative one and Amanda was a bit on the shy side. Well, my observation from the very first time I met them was that Amanda is the talkative one by far...and neither of them are shy. We had a great shoot together! With just a few days more until their wedding - I give you Shannon & Amanda...
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