Chelsea + Matt's E-Session!

I squeeeeezed in an e-session with Chelsea and Matt a few days before their wedding day at the end of July. I was delighted that the weather held out because it was completely wonderful to spend some quality time with these love birds and some of their family and friends who had arrived in town for the wedding.

Chelsea and Matt were high school sweethearts in Virginia and chose Vermont as their destination location because of family ties to the area. We met at Chelsea's parents' beautiful new lakeside cottage and had fun exploring around the neighborhood for their session. We ended back at the cottage and I had so much fun visiting with all of them. By wedding day, I already felt like part of their family. Chelsea, Matt and company are extra special people!!

Now I have a funny story to share...
Andy had been waiting to post their e-session slideshow until I blogged about it. I had to blog about back to school yesterday and promised to get it done today, so in anticipation of it all, put their slideshow link up on the website yesterday. The link wasn't active yet, but according to our blog stats it had been clicked over 100 times!! He felt so bad for all of the folks waiting that he posted it last night and it has been watched now over 300 times!! I love the enthusiasm!!



























up next: The fabulous wedding of Meagan + Joe!!

Back to School!

Every year on the first day of school, the Deluca girls have invited all of the neighborhood kids to a cute little party at their bus stop. It's a great tradition because eating powdered sugar doughnuts with your pals takes away those first day jitters.

As always, young children (and their parents) shed a few tears as they take their first trip to kindergarten. And this year I noticed that there were several kids missing and then I realized that they were off to their first day of high school. Scary because I remember the way each one of those kids looked when they were similar in age to my wee ones. Well, I guess mine aren't exactly wee ones anymore since Baxter is starting 3rd grade and Summer is now attending the middle school in fifth grade. (Whining ahead...) And get this...she didn't even care about a new outfit for back-to-school. She already knew what she was wearing and it didn't involve a shopping trip. WHAT?!? It breaks my heart I tell you!!

Ok, I can't even talk about that anymore, you can just go ahead and see for yourself how grown-up they both are...
The Mamarazzi!!
We had to take this group photo over about 5 times as more kids showed up. Baxter is at the far left and Summer is the second from the end on the right.
Be afraid...very afraid...it's the new face of Cujo!
Every time I turned around Baxter would have his mouth stuffed with those doughnuts.
The goodies...
Baxter with his traditional first day of school powdered sugar lips. This time with the new vampire teeth...
hugs and kisses as the bus door opens...
the line-up...
Bob, the best bus driver....EVER!!
Get some sleep while you can baby Thomas, because in 5 short years you'll be hopping on the bus too!
Waving good-bye. And hey...wait a minute...is that the world's biggest first grader stepping on to the bus?? Nope, that is Lauren Ober, reporter extraordinaire. She attended first grade all day...complete with story time, school lunch and a game of octopus tag. She stumbled off the bus at our house and the poor thing was so pooped that we had to fuel her back up on popcorn and soda to make sure she made it home to write her story. Click HERE for her story!!


next up...Chelsea and Matt's e-session!

xo

E-Session: Brandi + Marty

I'd like to introduce Marty and Brandi, the king and queen of adorable! We ran around at Shelburne Farms recently for their engagement session.

It started out as a perfectly sunny evening and just as we were going to head over to the water, these dark, ominous clouds rolled in and it started pouring rain!! We hid in the car for part of the storm and since we happened to be parked in Heidi and Ave's driveway when the storm broke loose, they invited us in. (Because that is how totally awesome those two are!)

During our visit, Ave insisted that Marty have a beer to help him through the rest of the session and that just cracked me up! And here is a little secret...when the rain passed, and we headed down to the lake, Marty was all smiles. So guys, take it from Ave, a beer helps!

Andy and I are totally excited to photograph their Adirondack wedding at the end of the month in Lake Placid!!

p.s. Brandi, aka Ms.Bliss, has a super cute blog about her wedding plans, which you can check out HERE!!

Amanda + Jeff's Lake View Wedding!

Amanda and Jeff a.k.a. "Jeffanda" were married on the most perfect day in July on a hillside overlooking Lake Champlain. I was extra excited for this wedding because over the last year and a half since I met Amanda, she has become a special friend and blossomed into a very talented photographer. I adore her and her family and friends and have loved watching her take flight with her photography business. She is simply wonderful and she and Jeff are made for each other!
I am delighted to finally share a (big) handful of my favorites from their day...

a little spritz of perfume...
Amanda's dress was custom made in Burlington, so the fittings gave her the perfect excuse to visit her beloved Vermont many times before the wedding.
Jeff prepares for the day...
details, details...
and more charming details...

the finishing touches...
The cutest ring shot of all times!!
Amanda and Jeff opted for a "first look" before the ceremony. I love this moment that Andy captured as Jeff waits for his bride-to-be.



We had a little time for some relaxed portraits before meeting up with the wedding party. I love these...


A little sun flare magic...
polka dots and seersucker and other things blue...
The ceremony begins with Amanda and her dad and a little teardrop...Jeff awaits her arrival...
oops...a little veil snafu!
The tree canopy was so beautiful!
Strider, the dog of honor, rests his eyes because ceremonies are very long in dog time.
sweet.


Notice the paparazzi during the ceremony! More about them later. :-D



Amanda's dad blesses the rings as they are passed in a circle of loved ones.

The kiss!
Mr. and Mrs. Herzberger!!
Strider congratulates his mom!
family time
just stunning!
so dapper!
The paparazzi and my fun and fab new pals: Justin + Mary Marantz, Carla Ten Eyck and Mike Romano
The first dance
Amanda and her dad
Fun with "Granny"!
The perfect ending to a perfect day!


I love you A+J+S!! xox

E-Session: Kristen + Garrett

I drove around in circles a bit, but I tracked down the super-fun Kristen and Garrett at his uncle's camp on Harvey's Lake near Barnet, Vermont, for their e-session in July.

This area has special significance because Garrett spent childhood summers on the lake. It was also where he asked his soulmate Kristen to join her life with his. For their session they wanted to follow the footsteps of that very special day.

Oh, and Garrett mentioned a fascinating tidbit about Harvey's Lake, so I googled it and found the following on the town of Barnet's website (complete with spelling error):
Harvey's Lake was the lake that famous French oceanograher Jacques Cousteau first experienced underwater diving. Cousteau visited Harvey's Lake as a child. Jacques-Yves Cousteau died on Wednesday, June 25, 1997. He was considered by many to be "the father of the enviornmental movement".

From the camp we drove up to the hiking trails in Peacham where Garrett brought Kristen for a picnic and his top-secret proposal. The path was kind of dark to start, but it opened up to this spectacular vista!







Garrett's blue steel...









we had to make a pit stop to snap up a photo of these cows...
We wrapped up our session back at the lake.






I can't wait for their September wedding at the Round Farm Barn in Waitsfield!!

On deck...Amanda + Jeff's wedding!!

Megan + Tony's Wedding at the Hawk Inn!

The completely wonderful Megan + Tony tied the knot on July 5th down at the The Hawk Inn & Mountain Resort in Plymouth, Vermont. This couple is head over heels in love and are blessed with wonderful friends and family who traveled far and wide to be with them for their big day. Oh, and they have the cutest dogs too...Dasher and Layla. You'll meet Layla in a moment.
On with the show...

Megan and her girls prepared for the day at a lakeside bungalo, so I went with the camp theme for her dress and other details...
the hair...
the makeup...
The dashing groom and his boys were at the inn...
I swear this dog is smiling!
getting dressed...
I'm not exactly sure what Megan's mom is doing, but it made for a fun moment!
the gorgeous bride!
Megan's color choices were so pretty! The bouquets and arrangements were made by the always smiling Alison with FLORAL ARTISTRY.
Megan and her dad walk down the aisle...
Tony spies his bride...
some sweet ceremony moments...



Husband and wife!!

Some quiet time with the kids (Layla and Dasher)
Layla is irresistible!!
What a ham!
fun with the group
More fun details! The cutie cupcakes were made by Donna's Custom Cakes.
Megan and Tony were so worried that they weren't photogenic. Well these two love birds can have one less worry! Our photo session with them was so fun and relaxing since they built extra time into the cocktail hour.





so romantic!

Happily ever after...


M + T: We had SO MUCH fun with you on your wedding day. You were an absolute dream to work with and I wish you lived in Vermont!! xoxo

The Death of Film

Light-Works in Burlington, my favorite local lab, officially stopped processing film last week. Instead of pouting about it, Marty Feldman, the lab owner, sent out an invitation to Vermont photographers to eulogize the lost medium. It was fun to hang out with my photo pals and meet some new ones. Certainly the most enjoyable "funeral" I’ve been to.

WCAX, Channel 3’s own Bianca Slota reported on the event. To watch it CLICK HERE!

And to check out the SEVEN DAYS online article (with a group photo taken by Matthew Thorsen) CLICK HERE!

We wrote epithets on strips of film...
...and placed them in this little coffin. The collection will be used in a display in the annual South End Art Hop.
The darker sides of Gordon Miller and John Williams
this really has nothing to do with anything, but I saw this cutie Pez collection while wandering around the lab.
Channel 3 hard at work...

The next few photos were taken by my kind of cockeyed pal John Williams.
Me and Barrie Fisher
Glenn Moody and Michael Riddell
The eulogy that Marty gave was anything but sad...
we are all about recycling in Vermont and film bags make great beer coolers...
Marty, 2nd from left, and some of his original Light-Works crew. Check out the poster of them just behind...nice hair everyone!
Glenn Russell and Marty. (Glenn is the most senior photojournalist at the Free Press and one of the biggest wiseguys ever.)
The sky that evening was just proof that there is life after death...

Hotel Bischlep

The tradition started a long time ago when Andy was a professional bike racer...

We would host a bunch of his teammates in our home when the big mountain bike races were here in Vermont and just north of us in Canada. It was in the days before kids, so we would always have very big festive parties for whoever was in town and our local pals. Things are a lot quieter now, but we’ll still get some riders this time of year. This time around, Adam Craig from Team Giant (who will be racing in the Olympics in a couple of weeks) stayed a bit, as did a bunch of Trek Team Riders. They are always low key and really fun to have around.

During this time there is another yearly tradition…the “meet the pros night” at the weekly mountain bike race series at Catamount Outdoor Center here in Williston. This year Team Trek hosted a BBQ and, of course, we had to join in the festivities.

Pictured from left: Jeremiah Bishop (not a cousin, but a darned good rider!), Lea and Sabra Davison, Andy, Laura (Trek team soigneur), Caitlin and her squeeze Zach Vestal (Trek team manager), and I can't forget the mini Bischleps.
Lauren Ober gets beat up by some "Little Bellas". She's a rider and a writer and we joined forces on this article in Bicycling Magazine! (I kind of forgot to tell you about it when it came out...oops!)
"Little Bellas" founders and sisters: Lea and Sabra Davison.
Andy speeds by lightning fast on his brand new bike, which was a gift from the Davison sisters for being such an awesome coach!
Michael Riddell and Andy hang with the kids, some theirs, some not.
Summer and Madison have been friends since before they were born. Well not really, but her mom and I are great friends!!
Summer makes her way around the kiddie course. I think we should raise her seat a bit!
Here comes Baxter!
This little girl, Sophia, seems to be sponsored by cupcakes. I want to be on this team!!


On deck...the death of film and the beautiful wedding of Megan and Tony!!

Feeling FEIST-Y!

Last month when my niece, Camille, was visiting from Michigan, she strolled into my office one day and said something like: Aunt Daria, we definitely need to go see Feist! So I said something like: OK!

Fast forward a couple of days...we found the perfect spot right up close to the stage, enjoyed the free Ben & Jerry's ice cream and our little picnic dinner and had a super fun time!!

The girls...
Don't worry folks...my niece isn't a gang member...




p.s. I'm from the Sesame Street generation so I find this Feist video extra adorable!

Sarah & Aaron's Wedding at the Bates!!

Sarah and Aaron were married in a beautiful flower garden before their closest friends and dearest families and Cody (who you'll meet in a moment) at the Bates Mansion in Cavendish, Vermont. The rain this summer has been a challenge to work around, but fortunately, the skies waited to open up until just after the ceremony finished. Very lucky!
This extra special couple and their guests could have cared less about the weather; they enjoyed every minute of the joyous celebration!!

The estate is so beautiful and was the perfect spot to host their guests for a fantastic Vermont wedding weekend.

Sarah started her day with some pampering at The Castle Resort & Spa in Cavendish, just down the road from the Bates Mansion.
Andy met up with Aaron and the boys for their pre-wedding adventures.
sweet details were everywhere.
the gorgeous gown...
Sarah's mom gives the veil a spin as she passes it on to her daughter.
Sarah and Aaron jetted off to Italy after their wedding. That Andy is too clever!
The completely adorable Cody gets a little snuggle time while Talia from Signature Style Salon works on Sarah's hair.
Aaron prepares for the day.
The groomsmen wore these fab ties!
Cody hangs with the girls.
Stunning!
cute.
Sarah is escorted by her parents down the aisle.
can you stand it??
Cody wastes no time getting the rings to the alter!
Sealed with a kiss!
Congratulations Sarah and Aaron!!
this must be one amazing photo!!
Sarah receives some help with the bustling.
I adore peony bouquets! The flowers were arranged by the very talented Blomma Flicka Flowers.
Ooh la lovely buttons!
We took advantage of the slight break from the storm to do some relaxed portraits.


The gorgeous girls!
We snapped a few photos of the boys in their very dapper seersucker suits as the rain started up again, then it was off to the reception.
How could I not include a French girl twirling in a polka-dotted dress!
The first dance...
One of my favorites for last...


S + A (+ C) we adore you and loved every second of your spectacular day!!
xxoo