All In the Family - Kevin and Lisa's Nantasket Beach Resort wedding

Way back in the day when I first moved back to Boston and was trying to get my family portrait business started, I photographed a young woman named Ellen and her two amazingly fun daughters. About three years later I received an email from Lisa. She had told me that Ellen was her soon to be sister-in-law and that she had recommended me to photograph their wedding. So I arranged a meeting with Lisa and her fiancée, Kevin. They came to my house and we ate and drank. My kids even crashed that meeting (OY). Before I knew it, we were all hooked on each other. We had a blast during their engagement session and I had a feeling I was going to have the best time at their wedding.

The wedding was on a gorgeous fall day in October. My second shooter, Joe Gonzales-Dufresne, went with the guys and did all the getting ready stuff with them. Kevin & his groomsmen were beyond hilarious, hamming it up every chance they got for Joe (including letting him take some action shots in the bathroom). At the same time, I was with Lisa and family at her childhood home.The vibe was super relaxed, there was even a Limoncello toast. Watching Lisa get into her dress surrounded by all the memorabilia from her youth was pretty amazing, especially because of how close she is with her family. We did some formals in front of the house and then her father arranged to have this fantastic classic orange Galaxy 500 to pick her up while the rest of the bridal party headed off in a huge trolley.

The ceremony at Saint Agatha Church in Milton, MA was quite traditional but they were still able to include lots of personal touches. Once it was over, we headed over to the Nantasket Beach Resort in Hull. By the time we arrived there, the weather was very overcast, which was a dream for me in terms of lighting. We all ran directly to the beach and started bridal party formals, which went on and on (I love lots of time for portraits!) Between Joe and I, we knocked it out of the park. Some of the wedding party suggested going in the water, but we held them back. (Although for a brief moment...I really wanted that to happen!) I loved that Kevin and Lisa played frisbee on the beach with some groomsmen and everyone ran around having fun, posing anyway I asked. I mean the wedding party was up for anything and everything!

From there it was party time. The reception at the resort looked beautiful and I loved all their details. There were so many amazing moments - Kevin loves all things golf so we did their ring shots on custom golf balls. Lisa was super connected to her grandfather and when they had their dance to "When I was 17" by Frank Sinatra, I shot a bunch and then had to bolt out of the room because her grandfather looked just like mine and I burst into tears. The music was bumping, thanks to DJ Dig Doug of DJ Artisan Productions, with tons of dancing and I have to say, it was the perfect way to round off my wedding season.

This was my official last wedding of 2013 and I couldn't have asked for a better one to top off my year. I just loved everything about Lisa and Kevin. This wedding was a true collaboration for all of us.