Elizabeth & Jeffrey

Elizabeth and Jeffrey married in the very quaint town of Nahant, Massachusetts, a 1.6 square-mile community just north of Boston. Liz grew up here, so her marriage at St. Thomas Aquinas is sure to be one of her favorite memories of home!

The day turned out gorgeous--weather forecasts called for heavy rain showers--and the sun shone happy and bright. After the ceremony, everyone headed a little further north to the Danversport Yacht Club, a great place on one of the many waterways, where they celebrated their reception late into the night!

Liz and Jeffrey are incredibly sweet and genuine people and it was such a joy getting to know them and documenting their amazing day! I wish them every happiness in their future together!

The fun and funky spot where the gals had their hair and make-up done...

Notice the napkins...it was also Liz's Birthday!!

Liz hugs her adorable niece and flowergirl...

Look at the little princess...

Liz & her mom, Jeanne, had the most beautiful smiles!


The peony bouquets were fabulous...

Coming out of the church as newlyweds!

Soulmates...

The beautiful bride...

The handsome groom...

Some fun with the wedding party...

The live music was fantastic!

An extremely proud and loving dad!

Besides the cake, they had an amazing assortment of desserts!

Music to my ears

The kids had their end of the year piano recital last week. Last year’s performance was very informal in a small room at the school, packed to the gills with families and their little musicians. This year, their awesome teacher, Mr. Arnzen, arranged for it to be held in the school’s auditorium to give everyone plenty of space. Each of the 50 or so kids had to walk up on stage, introduce themselves and announce the song they would play, make their way across stage to the the piano, perform, and bow or curtsy when they finished. I started to feel nervous for them because they are so little and the auditorium is soooo big. So I was so proud when they walked up there with confidence and did their thing. It was beautiful!

I have to tell you a cute story about this first photo...For some reason, Baxter has been asking for a tie since he was a toddler, but we have rarely an occasion to get gussied up here in very casual Vermont. So I thought I would surprise him before the recital with his very first tie. He was so thrilled that it melted my heart. The audience “awwwwed” when he walked on stage. We just had to laugh when he paused for a moment to soak it in. Well guess who wanted to wear the tie to school the next day. What a ham!

"Hello, my name is Baxter Bishop and today I will be performing "Egyptian Dance" by Camille Saint-Saens, arranged by James Bastien."


"Hello, my name is Summer Bishop and today I will be performing "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by James Bastian."



Following the recital, I thought it would be great to do a couple of quick photos of the kids since they were already dolled up. I knew the ice cream truck was heading down the street and I promised a treat if they would cooperate. But it isn’t as easy as you would think to take photos of your own kids. Even when you’re a photographer. My kids always see me with the camera, so while they tolerate being photographed, it's rare that I request a little more formal set up. So I thought it would be fun to show the evolution of trying to get a decent photograph of my kids…




Oh well, who needs a formal photo anyway? this is far more fun!




We did it! We all deserved an ice cream cone when we were through!

Ariana + Mike

Ani & Mike married recently at the Loch Lyme Lodge, a beautiful camp in Lyme, NH where Ani's family has been going for 30 years! A number of friends and wedding guests were other campers they have met over the years.

The two of them met on the first day of Freshman Orientation at Amherst College and became great friends throughout their college life. A number of their super fun alumni were on hand to celebrate!

Following the ceremony, we headed back over to Vermont for a fantastic reception at the beautiful Woodstock Inn.

Ani and Mike are so animated and fun-loving and it was so wonderful to be a part of their special day.

Enjoy some of my favorites from the day...

this was in a scrapbook at the reception...
the beautiful bride...
a proud papa...
a funny moment during the ceremony...
weddings are long for flower girls...
it's obvious how much Ani loves Mike...
a perfect day to be married...
in front of the Woodstock Inn...
kissing under the covered bridge...
the happy groom...
a sweet moment...
departing the ceremony in style...

A Quick Hello

Hello all!

Andy and I are down near Boston to photograph a wedding this afternoon. It's a beautiful day, which will be great for a waterside reception. I will definitely post up some photos from it soon!

I have so much to share with you, from a beautiful wedding in New Hampshire/Vermont last weekend, to my kids in a piano recital, but as you probably know it was a difficult week for us. I worked a ton for the newspaper, so it was a good distraction. The most difficult moments were at home when I kept expecting Molasses to greet me as I pulled into the driveway or when the bus arrived and I would call out to her. I suppose it's all part of the process. I promise to get you all caught up this week.

I wanted to thank so many of you for all of your kind and thoughtful emails and phone calls during the past week. We have really appreciated it!

xo daria

ps...We are full swing into designing albums, so to you fabulous clients who are waiting...it won't be long now! And it will be worth the wait!!

Best Dog in the Universe

It is with a very heavy heart that I share the news that our beautiful, sweet, silly, smart, amazing dog Molasses has passed away. She died quickly and peacefully in our arms last evening and as painful as it was to let her go, we were so happy that we were all together with her.

Later that evening, we sat outside and reflected on her life and as we all commented on the spectacular sunset Baxter added, "Thank you Molasses."

Our puppylove was with us 12 out of the 16 years that Andy and I have been together and was such an important part of our family. We will cherish all of the wonderful memories from our years together. She made friends everywhere she went and will be missed by so many.

Today Summer said, "Molasses was the best dog in the universe. If we ever got another dog they would never take the place in our hearts that we have for Molasses."

So true.


So tiny and cute at 8 weeks old...

Our puppylove...

Peeking out from her favorite birch tree...In recent summers she would spend the days watching the world and ready to greet the school bus, delivery trucks or neighbors walking by.

She loved winter and would bury tennis balls in the deep snow and dig them out with her tail wagging wildly. If there was a big snow storm she would wake us up at the crack of dawn to go outside to play...

She was crazy for tennis balls...especially new ones! If there was an olympics for dogs, she would have captured the gold in fetch!


We're really going to miss you Molasses! We will always love you!!!

Up, Up, and Away!

On Saturday I woke up before the roosters to watch the balloons launch at the Vermont Balloon and Music Festival, one of the cool events that my buddy Steve Mease organizes for the Champlain Valley Exposition.

I spied Steve cruising around with a cup of coffee and after chatting for a moment he asked me if I wanted to take a ride on Piko, my favorite balloon. Yahoo! I know Piko well because I rode on him 2 years ago when I covered the festival for Vermont Magazine. Piko is from Quebec and his owners organize a giant balloon festival up north called the International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

I am so lucky to have a friend like Steve. :-) You can check out some of the awesome events Steve is involved with and see some of his great photography HERE!

Enjoy the photos from my beautiful balloon ride...

Preparing Piko for the flight...
Here's Steve!
Steve took these next 2 photos of me and he very generously let me take them for the blog...
Can you see me up there snapping away?



Captain Denis...

Isn't Piko adorable?
Packing up quickly in the rain...
spectators...
how cute is this little guy?
Part of the tradition of landing is to share some bubbly with the land owners (at right) and the balloon passengers. Don't worry...it's sparkling cider.
Marie is part of Piko's flight crew. She chases Piko around to rescue him from fields. Here she is with the post flight bubbly...
Thanks again Steve!