This afternoon on Skype, I brainstormed with my New Orleans bride Annie on layouts for the Queensberry Album for she and her husband Pete chose to invest in. Screen-sharing comes in so handy! We have a great mix of flushmount and matted pages together in one album to tell the story of their day. Annie watched as I arranged photos, nudging them over millimeter by millimeter, completely customizing each layout. She was able to see the difference between a well-designed pages of strong images versus cluttered layouts that had quantity over quality. Right now, the couple is reviewing their layout proofs and will make revisions if necessary. Once I get their revisions back, I will implement them into the layouts. A final proofing will be given to them to check that each photo is exactly what they want. I also make sure my clients double check all spelling and finish options before sending the album off to the Queensberry Albums bindery in Auckland, New Zealand. From there, photographic prints are made using traditional silver halide technology on Kodak Endura Lustre stock. This means they are real photos and not press-printed. The photos are hand-checked and cut to order. Each print is added to the thick pages by hand and the covers are custom-bound to order.

Queensberry Albums Designer | The Process

Check out the video from the best album company in the world.

Want to see more photos and samples of Queensberry Albums in both Duo and Matted pages? Click here and keep scrolling down for the examples.

New Orleans weddings and second line parades go hand in hand. When Annie and Pete enlisted me to photograph their destination wedding on Martha’s Vineyard, I only learned about their surprise second line parade days before the big day. Annie and Pete reside in New Orleans and as a way of expressing the unique local flavor of The Crescent City, Annie surprised Pete and their guests with this cultural parade. Traditionally, a French Quarter wedding will have a set of “First Line” musicians where a Grand Marshal leads the guests announcing the event in celebratory song. Part of the Big Easy tradition involves second line umbrellas waived by the newlyweds along with handkerchiefs waived by guests as they follow the band to the reception location. Under a blue sky and warm summer breeze, a second line jazz band was brought to the Allen Farm Sheep & Wool Co. to play after the ceremony, leading guests up to the great big tent for cocktails and an outdoor reception.

As we approach Mardi Gras, I am wrapping up design on a bespoke Queensberry Album for this couple and I just had to share this photo with you. V. Jaime Hamlin and Sons Catering provided the best raspberry lemonade I have ever tasted, as guests were seated before the ceremony.

If you are looking for a Boston wedding venue that offers a historic farm setting, a stately Georgian mansion, and the option to have a tented reception, the Bradley Estate might be your answer. The Bradley Estate is an historic 1902 mansion sitting on 90 acres of rolling hills, landscaped lawns, farm animals, wooded areas, and formal garden. The estate is located just 20 minutes south of Boston in Canton, Massachusetts. Alex and Tim hosted their fall wedding reception at this venue and enjoy perfect weather and a jaw-dropping sunset. Their reception was tented. The Trustees of Reservations is an organization in Massachusetts that rents out scenic and historic locations for weddings. The popular spots they are responsible for are The Bradley Estate and Castle Hill on Crane Estate in Ipswich, which was featured on Style Me Pretty.

Boston Wedding Venues: The Bradley Estate | A mansion reception

An ice skating engagement session in Chicago was in order for Becky and Chris. The rink at Millennium Park was not only the setting for their first date, but also the location where they got engaged. It was the perfect location for a winter shoot. It was easy to see their personalities shine and see how well they connected with each other. After spending some time at the rink, we wandered through the iconic Chicago park and stopped at the nearby Palmer House Hotel where I will be shooting their wedding.

Queensberry Wedding Albums – Pantone loves Tangerine and so does Claire and Andrew. At their Newport wedding, they pulled off a nautical theme with a tangerine twist. Tangerine is a more radiant red-orange. It has been offered by my bespoke album bindery Queensberry Albums since before it went viral this year with Pantone’s recent love affair. I always suggest that my clients think outside of the box, and before settling on a basic black album consider the colors of your wedding day and if you’d like to incorporate them into your wedding album design.

Queensberry offers a generous array of colors to choose from, including a cherry red leather which is a classy, dark red. In addition to luxurious leather from the finest tanneries, Queensberry also offers buckrams in a rainbow of hues.

Present your wedding photography for generations in one of these world-class wedding albums.

Take a peek at even more photos of Queensberry Wedding Albums in both Duo and Matted pages by clicking here. Keep scrolling down for the examples.

Solutions to managing wedding guest photography is a dilemma that is happening right now. Of all the friends and family that will attend your wedding ceremony, how many of them do not have smartphones? Just about everyone these days is equipped with an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry. We are knee-deep in a society that craves instant gratification, which means that at your wedding ceremony whether it is during the processional or recessional, arms will undoubtedly extend these useful little cameras right into the aisle to snap the first shot of you. Someone wants to be the one to share your wedding on Facebook, and someone wants to send a photo of your first kiss to your second cousin twice removed who couldn’t make it to your wedding.

With so many guests eager to take their one photos, I have had a bride’s face blocked by a Blackberry as she walked down the aisle with her father. Everyone must have been thrilled to see this immediately on Facebook and Twitter, but this would-be wonderful photo never made it into the wedding album. At another recent wedding ceremony, a guest’s snapshot camera had gotten in the way of a ring exchange. There was one instance where an uncle of a bride stepped into the aisle during the recessional and completely blocked the shots as he got video of this moment.

While I can assure you that nobody wants to ruffle any feathers on a wedding day, your Queensberry Album wouldn’t look as fabulous when you scrap the processional photo because your face was blocked by three different arms welding cameras.

There are several solutions to managing guests’ impulse to take photos – ranging from putting a note on your wedding website or wedding program, informing folks at your rehearsal dinner, or letting ushers know to inform guests. Often times, your officiant may tell your professional photographer to not use flash, but will rarely mention use of cameras obstructing the ceremony to the 150 people sitting before them.

One of my favorite brides (who happens to run the Chi City Vegan blog) had their Chicago loft wedding on Style Me Pretty and created a clever little sign displayed at the entrance of their ceremony venue.

There’s a point in a photography career when you get to set the rules. You end up choosing greatest clients in the world as well as them choosing you. Almost a year ago, I got a request for information from a bride in Chicago regarding her Boston wedding at the Fairmont Copley Plaza:

“I’ve looked at probably over a dozen photographers at this point and you were the first I saw that I felt like, ‘wow, every single picture fits with the kind of pictures I want!!’ Aside from the groom, the photography is one of the most important elements of the day for me.”

Working with clients that have prioritized photography over many other aspects of their day means that visually preserving the emotions of the people who are the closest to you on your wedding day is an investment worth making.

Like myself and over a dozen other clients, this bride and her groom had a strong connection to both Chicago and Boston. After a phone conversation and not meeting in person, they took the plunge and became my clients. I first was able to meet them in Boston at the Oak Room. I was having an excellent day and it was made even better as I saw how excited Ian and Whitney were about their wedding, the venue itself, and working with me. They were so happy, and without planning to do so, I decided to take photos of them in Boston. When they headed back home to Chicago, a few months later I took some photos of them so that they could have a collection of images of the city they called home. The shoot was bittersweet as I knew Ian was headed overseas shortly thereafter, and Whitney was going to be apart from her fiancé for a few months until making the journey herself to settle into their new home. As months passed, I enjoyed reading correspondence about their new life in a foreign country. December finally came, and guests from all over flew into Boston. The wedding day was a joy to photograph and it went by too quickly. Soon after I presented the newlyweds with their wedding photography, I got an email that really made me smile.

From one of the greatest clients in the world:

“I am into hour 4 of staring at these photos. Is this obsessive? i don’t know… but I love every single one and some VERY distinct favorites but I can’t tag anything because I want to wait for Ian to get home to go through them together so he gets to experience first hand!!!!! Anyway, I am literally just writing AGAIN to tell you how excited I am about the pictures. I don’t know how we’ll ever be able to decide which to print, what size to make them… and you know what else??? I just did a pass through wondering which would be good candidates for B&W, and surprisingly (as I am a BIG fan of B&W) I think I love them all in color more – the winter hues in contrast with the red roses and peachy skin is just so gorgeous!!!!!!! anyway, I will leave you alone for today, but I am just over the moon. I didn’t expect as many as there are – and though I knew they would be great, I didn’t expect SO MANY to be SO PERFECT!!!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The remarks that I got from Whitney and Ian reflect results I strive for in each project and event that I commit to.

Trinity Church Boston Wedding Photography | Architectural Splendor… If you have a religious connection to this masterpiece of American architecture, you are of the few dozen couples each year that are able to hold a wedding ceremony in their sanctuary. The church was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, the creator of the Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style and completed in 1877. Getting married under 21,500 square feet of murals is a treat in itself. Trinity Church’s wedding policy notes that guest photography during the service is not allowed at the church as it distracts from both the purpose and solemnity of the occasion. All of the photos below were taken without flash.

These photographs were taken during the darkest time of year for Whitney and Ian’s evening wedding ceremony. Whitney was baptized at this stunning church so it was only fitting that the sacrament of matrimony take place there. It was so great to see so many of Ian’s friends and family from Iowa and Chicago attend this Boston winter wedding!

American Institute of Architects (AIA) honored Trinity Church as one of “Ten Most Significant Buildings in the United States.” It is the only church in the US honored as such. In 1885, architects voted Trinity Church as the most important building in the U.S. This National Historic Landmark is the only building from the original 1885 list still included in the AIA’s current top ten list.

Behind the church at the Parish House, Whitney and Ian had a first look and exchanged letters that they wrote to each other last year before their move to Naples, Italy. Because the sun sets early during winter months, the first look allowed us to have a bit more daylight to take photos with the bridal party.

If you would like to see more from Whitney and Ian’s wedding, including photography from their Fairmont Copley Plaza reception, you can get notified when it is posted by clicking here.

Useful information regarding Trinity Church in Boston:

The Episcopal Church requires that at least one of the couple be a baptized Christian, the ceremony be attested to by at least two witnesses, and the marriage must conform to the laws of the Commonwealth and the Canons of the Church. The basic fee to wed in the church is around $2600, not including musician fees or other discretionary donations. Regardless of orientation, may begin their marriage journey at Trinity. If you would like more information about wedding photography at Trinity Church, please get in touch.

Animals at weddings: Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Jamaica… they make appearances at so many destinations that I shoot at. Every year I see more and more animals at weddings both at ceremonies and receptions. You might remember Annie and Pete’s Martha’s Vineyard wedding at the Allen Farm Sheep and Wool Company, where we learned that having a wedding on a farm has its perks and quirks! Well over a dozen roosters chased Annie down a path. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was going to get attacked or surrounded. When we realized they wouldn’t tear up her gown, we paused for a quick photo. I guess the cowgirl boots come in handy.

We had full access to the grounds of the Allen Farm Sheep and Wool Company, and saw the roosters, a donkey, plenty of sheep, and horses.

At Indian weddings, its fairly common to hire a horse for the baraat. If you happen to be lucky enough to host a wedding in a city with lenient restrictions, its not unheard of to be able to rent an elephant for this once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

If you don’t have access to a farm or a need to rent a horse, man’s best friend can sometimes make his or her way into the wedding day schedule.

You never know what sort of uninvited guests show up at a wedding. I was hired as the destination wedding photographer in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and this resident peacock made an appearance.

Goats and sheep made more than one appearance this year at weddings. This photo below was from Alexandra and Tim’s wedding at the Bradley Estate just outside Boston.

The Brookfield Zoo is a popular location for weddings near Chicago. Often, couples are offered private tours and can see all the animals. Check out the dolphins!

I shot a wedding at a private residence where the groom brought out some barn kittens.

Some folks enjoy animals more than others. In this photo, the groom really wasn’t into checking out the polar bear.

On your wedding day, its your day and you can do whatever you want. In addition to being able to stop traffic for a quick photo, sometimes you can even bring your cat or dog down the aisle for your ceremony.

At this Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum wedding, this butterfly made a surprise landing.

If you know the schedule ahead of time, often times an animal’s arrival is a welcomed guest.

On occasion, you get an unwelcome wedding guest as well:

I saved the best for last. In just a few days we welcome Chinese New Year. 2012 is the Dragon, more specifically the Water Dragon. The White Elephant Hotel on Nantucket couldn’t have been a more perfect location to showcase these dragons with the ocean just steps away.

There you have it – animals at weddings from yours truly.