This past weekend, we were happy to be back at the Chocksett Inn for the wedding of Celeste and Tim. With the rain coming all day before and the morning of, all we could do was hope for a break in the weather. As the ceremony came to a close, the sun peeked out! Celeste and Tim joked that the moment they said, “I do!” the blue sky came out! It was true.

I have lots of images to show if this wedding because I could not decide which to post! I picked lots, but you have to see how adorable Celeste is, how gorgeous the flowers were, how elegant the cake was, and how Chocksett Inn helped make the day perfect:

Celeste’s bouquet received lots of compliments! All the flowers were designed by LadySlipper Florist, and owner Natalie was there to make sure every thing was perfect!

Celeste before the ceremony at her parents’ house:

Silhouette of Celeste:

All the girls before the ceremony. The colors in the bouquets and in their gowns were amazing:

Each of the girls’ bouquets were slightly different and all very vibrant and gorgeous:

Skipping ahead to the ceremony ending. Here’s where the sun began to come out!

With Chocksett Inn in the background, a romantic shot of the newlyweds!

The girls bustling Celeste’s gown in Chocksett’s bridal suite:

Reception details included centerpieces designed by LadySlipper. Each table had a different arrangement:

The cake was designed by The Cake Lady, Diane Rockwell. We love her cakes! Steve was especially happy to see that one of the layers was his favorite: Mint Chocolate Chip!

Natalie from Lady Slipper Florist also had designs arranged for the cocktail hour, just outside the Laurelwood ballroom:

First dance:

Celeste’s bouquet at the sweetheart table:

Lighting up the gazeebo at night, and asking Celeste and Tim to kiss one more time… (they didn’t mind!)

We want to congratulate Celeste and Tim and their families! The ceremony was beautiful, and the party at Chocksett was definitely a fun time! Everything went perfectly, and we were happy to be part of your day.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to yesterday’s Open House at the Chocksett Inn. With their new Laurelwood Ballroom and beautiful cocktail area, the Inn was full of excited brides and grooms and also some of our favorite professionals in the wedding industry:

First and foremost was Chocksett Inn’s manager, Paula. She helped make the afternoon a successful event, and she was there to answer questions and to meet with her 2008 and 2009 couples:

The room was decorated with different themed tables, but all had flowers provided by Holmes-Shusas, a well-known name in the wedding industry! Here is one of the many centerpieces:

…and a beautiful hand-tied bouquet:

Allan from A Perfect Limo was also part of the event. His newer vehicles were a big hit with the brides looking to shuttle guests from various locations:

A favorite spot of ours that afternoon was right beside our friend and cake professional Dianne Rockwell, The Cake Lady! Her samples were appreciated, and her work is beautiful! Stay tuned on our blog for a visit to Dianne’s kitchen!

Want a closer look at that gorgeous cake?

Those are white chocolate twists adorning the cake surrounded by edible sugar flowers:

The ladies at a salon called The Claw Shop out in Leominster were happy to pose for a photo. I was excited looking through their brochure and will soon be visiting for a manicure! They do travel for services on location, so keep that in mind for your bridal party!

Here is one of my new best friends, Frank. Frank is the Executive Chef at the Inn and is raved about often. Being vegan myself, I was very excited that Frank has wonderful vegan and vegetarian options!

We enjoyed being part of the Chocksett Inn’s Open House and even meeting up with couples whom we will soon be photographing! We thank Paula for inviting us to such a fun and elegant event. If you have not seen the new Laurelwood Ballroom and cocktail area, definitely call the Inn. Tell them that we sent you!

I believe I was the first person to register for the photography seminar offered by my favorite celebrity photographers: Mike Colon and Bob Davis. Their free-style photography and their fun personalities were obvious to me in their work and on their Websites. I jumped at the chance to sit with them for 9 hours in a conference called “Master Your Craft.”

The conference was more than expected. I enjoyed seeing and hearing about their celebrity photo shoots like Oprah’s galas and Eva Longoria’s wedding. They also provided some technical camera information that they use and also some beautiful lighting options for inside churches or in a dark reception area during the party. I loved seeing how much these two photographers truly enjoy what they do. If I were a bride (and happened to have $50,000 for my wedding photography…) I’d hire one of these two men. Beyond their amazing technical abilities, they are fun to be around, are humble, and genuinely nice.

Bob Davis, Candi Wolley, Mike Colon

Mike pointed out something very important to me: Pricing is important as it does equal quality, but choosing a photographer is more than that. Couples are choosing you because only *you* can provide your style, vision, and personality. These are unique to you, and in that regard, there is no true competition. If people connect with you and find something in your style and personality that they relate to, then it’s a great match. Our couples can also see that we love what we do, and that’s important to us.

It was definitely memorable to meet my favorite professional photographers at the seminar and learn from them. I even enjoyed meeting new photographers from Connecticut and Massachusetts and seeing familiar faces, like Scott Metzger from Boston. You can tell who truly loves what they do and wants to always improve and learn all the time. It was a great group to be part of, and I hope to join in on more of these conferences throughout 2008!

Thank you to Mark Willand, owner of Willand Video Productions, for including us on the BostonWeddingTV.com site! Steve and I happy to be featured Boston photographers, and we love the slideshow of our Hyatt Harborside wedding! (Please wait for the above video to load.)

It was a pleasure working with Mark at that wedding, and if you’re looking for a videographer for your day, we highly recommend that you contact MarkWillandVideo.com.

With the ending of 2007 comes the excitement of all we have to look forward to in 2008. For us, this means … weddings! We are very excited for our upcoming year and to find ourselves in locations like The State Room in Boston, The Providence Biltmore, and Tuckerman Hall. Within those weddings we will photograph next year, we will undoubtedly find ourselves working with many talented professionals who work side by side with us to help your wedding day come together perfectly.

One of the more prominent professionals we worked with last year is DJ Kevin Whitney. We will be seeing him lots in 2008 as well, as he is one of the more popular DJ’s in this area and in Boston and Newport and beyond. It’s a pleasure working with Kevin and the crowd always enjoys his professionalism and his great attitude. He is fun to work with, and he understands a very important point: your wedding day is about *you.*

Over the past year, Steve and I have collected a few images which we will show you here of Kevin hard at work! We’ll call it: 2007 Kevin Sightings!

Kevin at the Harding Allen Estate:

Cyprian Keyes:

Kevin will not be dancing at your wedding, unless lured for a photograph:

Hyatt Harborside, Boston. Preparing for the day with videographer Mark Willand. What they are pointing to is only understandable to them:

Taking requests at Union Station:

Can you tell he loves what he does? We highly recommend him as we know you will be very happy with your party with Kevin as your DJ. He is very easy to work with and always gets along with all the other professionals who help make your day perfect as a team.

Thanks to Kevin for all the amazing ceremonies and receptions we were at together in 2007! We look forward to the 2008 year knowing that we will all be part of that wedding day team again many, many times.