Melanie and Austin – Engaged!

Meet Melanie and Austin – they are getting married in May and I can’t wait for their wedding!  We met up along the Charles River this weekend to take some engagement photos.  I didn’t really have a concrete plan since I knew the area was beautiful, so when Melanie and Austin suggested heading to the playground I was thrilled!

What a beautiful place and time of year for the photos (although it was a bit on the cold side and I, as usual, was dressed for the wrong season).  The leafless trees were really graphic, and made for some great backdrops.

This next shot is one of my favorites from the day – the color in the trees is just exquisite.

And finally…

I had a great time during the photo shoot, and commend Melanie and Austin for braving the cold and for being awesome people who want to take photos on a tire swing!

p.s.  Don’t forget to become a fan of Leah LaRiccia Photography on Facebook!

Christen and Tuck’s Wedding at the Chatham Bars Inn

Christen and Tuck got married on Halloween at the Chatham Bars Inn on the Cape.   The sun was out, the sky was blue, the temperatures were record high – it was the perfect day.

We started our portraits off at the beach….

… and then made our way towards the ceremony by way of many lovely white fences!

The Chatham Bars Inn is a photographer’s dream!  So many places to shoot – the beach, little roads, fences, fields, and horseshoes!!!   I could have taken Christen and Tuck’s portraits for ten hours straight.

The ceremony was indoors (who would have predicted that it would have been nearly 70 degrees on Halloween?) and overlooked the beach.

Then it was time for the reception!

Dancing!

Here’s a photo of Christen dancing with her twin sister!

No Halloween wedding is complete without a little “Thriller” dancing!

Thanks Christen and Tuck for choosing me to photograph your beautiful wedding day!

p.s.  Don’t forget to become a fan of Leah LaRiccia Photography on Facebook!

Jen and Matt’s Wedding at The Highfields Country Club

Allow me to introduce you to Jen and Matt:

Jen and Matt got married this past weekend, and because it was a weekend in 2009, it rained!   Luckily The Highfields Country Club, where the reception was to be held and where we met up before the ceremony, had a lovely bridal room for us to take photos in.

Their ceremony was held at Our Lady of the Angels in Worcester and it was absolutely beautiful.

After the ceremony, we headed back to The Highfields Country Club for the reception.

The best man’s toast involved a roll of toilet paper!

Thanks Jen and Matt!  Your wedding was SO much fun!  Hope you enjoy your photos!!!

p.s.  Don’t forget to become a fan of Leah LaRiccia Photography on Facebook!

Christen and Tuck – Engaged!

Christen and Tuck are getting married this year on Halloween!  They decided that they wanted to incorporate both Halloween and silliness into their engagement session, and this is what we came up with!

This is Christen and Tuck dressed up as people who are going to the prom.

I love the big glasses!

This is Christen and Tuck dressed up as people who are dancing at the prom.

Dianna and Ryan’s Wedding at Mountain Meadows Lodge

Dianna and Ryan got married this past weekend at the Mountain Meadows Lodge in Killington, VT.  The foliage up  in VT was absolutely stunning, as was the wedding day.

I have resisted doing an entire blog post of Dianna getting ready.  I had more time than I usually do to take getting ready photos, and with Dianna being such a beautiful bride, it has been nearly impossible for me to pick a few to show you.

I think these next two are my favorites, but I can’t really decide.

Here are two of my favorites of Dianna with her wedding party.

There were animals roaming about the grounds, and this horse almost ate my flash (unfortunately I don’t have a photo of it because I was too busy taking photos while my extra flash was on the grass waiting to be eaten by a horse).  It was awesome!

SO ROMANTIC!

How cute are they!?!?

Dianna and Ryan win the award for most hard-core bride and groom of all time.  It was so so SO cold and SO windy on their wedding day and yet they remained dedicated to making portraits!  To get down to the dock in the following photo, Dianna wore a blanket (that she removed for the photo even though it was probably like 40 degrees) and Ryan carried her over the swampy terrain to get to the dock.

After we finished outside in the freezing cold, we went back into the lodge to warm up and take some fun photos in the game room!

Here are a few of my favorites from the reception.

Dianna and Ryan – thank you so much for having me at your wedding!  It was great fun, and I hope you love your photos!

Breighton and Justin’s Wedding at the Hardwick Winery

Breighton and Justin got married this past weekend at the Hardwick Winery in Ware, MA.  As usual with my weddings, there was a threat of rain – but it did not rain!  At all!  It ended up being a perfect day, and one of the most fun weddings I’ve ever photographed.  In fact, it was probably one of the most fun weddings I’ve ever attended!

Breighton looked gorgeous, so here are two photos of her.

Breighton’s sister (and maid of honor) sang during the ceremony.

Her voice was absolutely beautiful and had everyone in tears (including me).

Yay!  Married!

The wedding party!

Now on to the reception!

Cupcakes!!!

I got cupcake all over my shoes after this:

And now the dancing!

After having karaoke at my own wedding, I now believe that every bride and groom should have the opportunity to sing at their wedding!

Thanks Breighton and Justin – I had an awesome time photographing your wedding!  I hope you’re having a great honeymoon, and I hope you enjoy the photos!

p.s.  Don’t forget to leave comments and to become a fan of Leah LaRiccia Photography on Facebook!

Nell and Chidozie’s Wedding at Mepal Manor and Gedney Farm!

Nell and Chidozie got married last weekend on what was probably the most beautiful Sunday we’ve had all year!  They started off in Mepal Manor in New Marlborough, MA.  Nell got ready at the spa while Chidozie got ready in the manor.  I love the color in the next shot.

Here are two shots of Nell helping Chidozie with his boutonniere.

We took all of the photos at Mepal Manor before the wedding.

Nell was so happy all day.

PARASOLS!!!   In orange and pink, which are my two favorite colors!

Chidozie had some fun ideas for photos!

The entire wedding party!

Here’s Nell and her wedding party heading up to the wedding knoll for the ceremony.  I love the lens flare!

Here are a few of my favorites from the cocktail hour.

Some of my favorites from the reception.

There was a ton of dancing at this wedding.

I don’t know where parties or karaoke would be without Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, as evidenced below.

Thanks Nell and Chidozie!  Your wedding was great fun and absolutely beautiful.  Congratulations, and I hope you both enjoy the photos!

p.s.  Don’t forget to become a fan of Leah LaRiccia Photography on Facebook!

Nell and Chidozie – Rehearsal Dinner

Nell and Chidozie’s rehearsal dinner was held at Mepal Manor last weekend, and it was beautiful.  The sun was setting, the light was golden, and all of the guests were in great spirits!

I don’t know what these drinks were, but they looked delicious.  I have decided that they were cucumber-based, because how wonderful would that be on a beautiful Saturday night in September?

After dinner there were lots of speeches!

It was actually hard to take photos at times because the speeches were so funny.

Stay tuned for photos from the wedding!

Adena and Ben – The Wedding!

As promised, here’s the post on Adena and Ben’s wedding day.  This post = hardest blog post ever because I am in love with every single photo from this day.  I would love to show you everything, but that would be ridiculous.  Perhaps later this year when wedding season has died down I’ll do a third post with my favorite photos of guests from the wedding.  Many of them were in theme outfits so you definitely want to see them (mullets, chain maille, and pirates – oh my!).

So, as you might have guessed, there was rain on Saturday.  Lots of rain, in fact.  So much rain that the fair (and demolition derby) were canceled.  Plan B was to get married in the (pink and white striped!) tent where the reception was scheduled to be held.  Except that didn’t work out because, well, the tent flooded.  So… Plan C went into full effect at around 4:30 for the wedding which was scheduled to start at 6:45.  Christy and the folks from The Marshfield Fair pulled the wedding together in a barn that is used to house awesome award-winning vegetables.  Seriously, people, they devised and set up the whole wedding in less than two hours.

The new plan: bring the derby cars INTO the barn.

Here’s the wedding party waiting outside the barn to walk in!

Adena and Ben waiting to walk in.  Ben walked in to “Welcome to the Jungle” and Adena to “Here Comes The Bride” (and no, I don’t know the real name of this song – bridal march?).

Getting married on top of a demolition derby car in a barn with exhibits about farming.

Everyone watching the ceremony – these chairs all had to be moved from the tent in the pouring rain.

The plan was for all of the guests to eat fair food (awesome!).  When the fair closed down, one vendor was generous enough to stay open so that the guests could eat.

Adena’s excitement about her cake was unrivaled by any other bride I’ve seen!

The first dance.

Dancing!

Adena’s parents dancing!

I am very jealous of this rainbow dress.

My guess is that this next shot was taken during “Living On a Prayer.”

I call this next shot “Of Weddings and Vegetables.”  Hah!

Thank you, Adena and Ben, for letting me a part of your spectacular day!!!  This was an experience like no other, and I am so happy I was there to document it for you.

There’s a great artcile in the globe about the wedding, so if you want to know more, click here.

And if you want to follow Leah LaRiccia Photography on Facebook (you know you want to!) click here.

Adena and Ben – Day Before the Wedding!

So Adena and Ben were planning to get married at the demolition derby at The Marshfield Fair this past Saturday.  It was going to be awesome – Adena and Ben drive onto the field in painted demolition derby cars, get out of their cars and jump onto the hoods, and then get married in front of everyone in the stands!  It was particularly meaningful because their first date was at this very demolition derby seven years ago.

On Thursday things were looking distressing as it is apparently hurricane season in MA.  We were all in a minor panic as the entire wedding was scheduled to take place outside, so I suggested going to the fair on Friday afternoon (when the sun was allegedly still going to be out) to take some photos just in case the weather refused to cooperate on Saturday.

This turned out to be a good idea, because we ended up with way more time than we would have had on Saturday.  So we went crazy taking photos!

We had access to everywhere in the fair.

And yes, Ben miraculously managed to get into (and then out of!) this little pink car!

Here are the stands from which the demolition derby is viewed.

Adena’s a great shot.

It rained a bit during our shoot, but we were prepared with a giant golf umbrella I purchased the night before.  Special thanks to Christy of C.A.K.E. Weddings, wedding coordinator extraordinaire, for pointing out to me that golf umbrellas can be purchased at golf stores.   Who knew there were even golf stores?  Not I!

On the demoltion derby track!

Crazy little bike!

It wouldn’t be a complete set of fair photos without a carousel!

PINK BUMPER CARS!!!

And now… the corn dog series.

Note to photographers: riding a ferris wheel with a camera in front of your face is really, really surreal.

I have to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the wonderful people at the Marshfield Fair for helping us out and letting us do anything we wanted!  It was one of the best shoots I’ve ever done.  I am so lucky – I really have the best job in the world.  I got to climb all over rides while hanging out with a fabulous couple on the day before their wedding.

Stay tuned to find out what happened at Adena and Ben’s wedding on Saturday!

And don’t forget to become a fan of Leah LaRiccia Photography on Facebook!