For us here at Dias Photo, this is one of those wedding that just steals your heart; this couple is sweet and fun loving, we are just so happy for them and their wonderful families. It is a true ‘boy meets girl and the rest they say is history’ sort of story – from meeting in high school, to finally going on a first date in college, to the unexpected proposal by the reflecting pool at the Prudential Center, to a whirlwind wedding celebration full of personal touches, favorite dishes, and lots of family and friends.

Michael and Rebecca were married on August 20, 2010 and what a fantastic day for a wedding it was; the sun was shining, the landscape was lush, and smiles were bright. Becca, as she is known, was stunning and statuesque in her Priscilla of Boston Vineyard Collection gown crafted of ivory silk, satin and chiffon.  Her array of accessories was impressive– Manolo Blahnik heels, vintage jewelry, and white feather fascinator found on Etsy.com – and helped create an image of elegant simplicity.

Her attendants wore simple silk taffeta, cocktail length JCrew dresses in Fawn color, a great neutral to compliment the flowers and other accents of the day. Their jewelry, given as presents from Becca, was a mix of gold, pearls and rhinestones, creating cohesive look for the bridal party. Michael and his groomsmen were decked out in classic tuxedos with a super special touch in the footwear department.  “Mike is an avid sneaker collector and bought Nike Air Jordan 4’s for himself and each of the groomsmen to wear to the reception.  It was a cute and very personal touch!”

The reception took place at the Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy, MA, chosen for it’s fabulous view of the Boston skyline and its spacious, elegant ballroom.

The theme of the day was drawn from the couple’s love of Cape Cod and Nantucket. “Every summer, we love going to Cape Cod and Nantucket so we really wanted our wedding to have a classic, New England summer feel.”  We integrated this theme by using a color palette that included blue, white & sand.” Hydrangeas are found all over the island and were the inspiration behind the color palette and centerpieces, a great way to carry a theme throughout the celebration. Cala lilies, roses and orchids were added to the array of different sized centerpieces for a slash of texture and visual interest.

“It was also very important to us to integrate some personal touches to the wedding.  We love food and worked very closely with Linda and Gourmet Caterers to ensure that the menu really reflected our style.  They did a great job of executing our vision, right down to the salad, which was inspired by one of our favorite Boston restaurants, Giacomos!  Other “personal touches” included using Charlie Tickets as place cards for guests and each table was named after a Boston neighborhood that had special meaning to us.”

In keeping the celebration light, fun and all about them, the couple decided to have cupcakes instead of a traditional cake. Half of them were frosted in sand and blue colors with handmade chocolate seashells on top and the other half was decorated with the Celtics team logo and their High School varsity letter.

As Michael and Becca started off the night with their first dance to Into the Mystic by Van Morrison, they remembered a piece of advice to them given during the planning process.  “Arlene Cronk at Invitations & Company gave one piece of advice: make sure that we took a moment together on the wedding day to “take it all in”, especially after the year of hard work and planning!  During our first dance we remembered her advice and did exactly that.  Despite the fact that everyone was watching us, it was a quiet moment together to look around the room and see our vision come to life before getting caught up in the excitement of the reception!”

Thank you to Mike and Becca for allowing us to be a small part of such a big day. We wish you a life full of love, happiness and lots of laughter.

Thank you to Mellissa de Oliveira from de Lovely Affair for helping put this story together.

Hello Friends!  Check out this wedding we photographed at The Villa in East Bridgewater.  The venue was great, the construction was new and fresh.  I’m a big fan of the dark wood floors.  It was also especially nice to see all the hand made details that the bride put together.  You also may remember this couple from the “floating groom” photo!  Fun stuff.

Christopher and Maura are such a fun couple and were a joy to work with on their wedding day. Their love for one another was so obvious that taking their pictures was a breeze. I adore their love story: they met as camp counselors, had a typical first date movie and dinner  and were engaged in spectacular fashion, the kind that makes for a great tale for your children.

As Maura tells it, “I really wanted a good story to tell when people asked us, “How did he propose?”  I certainly got it!”  With the help of Maura’s friend, Chris secretly sent his soon to be fiance on an Easter hunt, gathering lettered eggs from various family members posted at strategic landmarks around Washington DC. As you can guess, the eggs spelled out MARRY ME and after following the last clue to the Jefferson Memorial, Maura found Chris down on his knee with the final golden egg containing a ring!  Cheered by onlookers and family alike, of course she said yes.

Chris and Maura were married on July 3, 2010 in Essex, Vermont at the gorgeous, accommodating Essex Resort and Spa, under a simple chuppah made of birch branches and long flowing fabric.  The day was perfect for a wedding, bright and sunny, and full of promise.  Maura wore an ivory Marisa gown with a satin sash and added an intricately embellished silk and organza flower pin made by Sara Gabriel for a touch of elegance and whimsy. The bride carried a hand-tied bouquet of white peonies, tulips, freesia and mini-green hydrangea accented with a bright tangerine ribbon, which perfectly matched the silk shantung dresses of her attendants. The groom and groomsmen looked slick in their black tuxedos with black herringbone vests, white tuxedo shirts and black bow ties.

After the kiss, Chris and Maura showed their fun, relaxed, and really in love side which made this wedding such a joy to capture.  The grounds were amazingly lush which provided a sunny green, woodsy backdrop.

An important element to this wedding was color, says Maura, “I knew I wanted something very fresh, clean, and summery.  Our colors were shades of whites, creams, light yellows and light greens, with punches of tangerine.”  They also wanted it to be fun, from their unique Ben and Jerry inspired Save the Date magnets to the clothespins and  escort cards to colorful Chinese lanterns hung in the reception hall. Each table featured low groupings of candles and blooms on a base of woven ribbon in oranges and yellows. Tulips, hydrangea and peonies were clustered in different sized vessels, adding dimension and visual interest to the centerpieces. “I wanted really flowers that were lush and in season and that would compliment each other.”

What is your most cherished memory of your wedding celebration? Maura: Chris and I wanted to be creative with our wedding and do something people hadn’t seen before.  Instead of just walking into the room like many couples do, we decided to spice up our grand entrance.  We wrote a rap for our entrance summarizing how we met and the progression of our relationship to the music from the TV show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  We worked with the DJ to make sure our entrance was just right.  He did the typical introduction, “Now for the first time as husband and wife, Chris and Maura!” and the staff at The Essex open the doors from the patio.  The DJ did this three times and played along, making it sound like something had gone awry.  Then he did the “remix” sound and we walked in the other set of doors.  Chris had on bright green slotted sunglasses with a gold money sign chain and I had on bright pink slotted sunglasses and a clock on a chain around my neck.  We came in rapping and finished our routine on the dance floor.  All of our guests were shocked and later told us that it was the funniest and best thing they had ever seen at a wedding.  Chris and I loved this moment of our wedding.  The DJ then transitioned with the Black Eyed Peas song I Gotta Feeling.  Our rap energized our guests and we had everyone on the dance floor having a great time.

It was a great night indeed. Thank you for letting us share in your special day!  Also, special thanks to Mellissa de Oliveira of DeLovely Affair for helping with this post.

Hello, and welcome to my all new favorite baby photo!  This was so much fun.  Thank you for the inspiration  Adele Enerson.

What’s going on here!?  Well… these are photos that I took for True Story Theater.  I donated my time to this non-profit, improv theater company that my wife is a member of.  True Story Theater promotes social healing by listening deeply to people’s stories and transforming them spontaneously into theater.  They are revamping their website and needed a few photos.  Here’s what we came up with.

I love art!  I love weddings too!  We just photographed a wedding at the Hampshire House by Boston Common.  It’s a charming and quaint venue at the foot of Beacon Hill; Michelle the wedding coordinator that night did a great job as well.    Mike Ritter who co-taught a photography workshop with me last spring, married a wonderful woman who has been working in the fine art world for quite some time, and is no stranger to the scene.  It was flattering and almost nerve racking to shoot another photographer and artist’s wedding.  This day was about LOVE though, and I got to be part of it with them.  Mike and Meredith were one of those couples whose love for each other was so apparent.  Their loving gazes of amazement, the smiles, the coyness: I was really honored to witness it.  Good luck to them both and best wishes  : )

I hope you all aren’t tired of hearing about  publications that our photos are in… because here are 2 more.  Check us out in the current issue of Gala Weddings pg. 94 and Southern New England Weddings Magazine on pg. 179.

I’m so happy to share that we’ve won the Wedding Wire, 2011 Bride’s Choice Award; 3 years in a row!  This is an extra special accolade for us because this award is chosen by bride’s (and grooms).  A very special and warm thank you goes out to all of you who rated my services on Wedding Wire.  Yay!

We just recently had an e-session at Fanueil Hall in Boston.  This young couple  is set to get married this year at Wachusett Mountain, it’s a cute place, check it out if you’re still looking for a wedding venue.  We also photographed across the street at Christopher Columbus Park which was lit up beautifully with blue and white holiday lights.  I have to say that the Christmas Tree in Fanueil Hall I think is the biggest in he city, it’s enormous… right?

Anyone partying yet?  Today is the end of the first decade of the new millennium… NEW YEARS EVE!  What a difference a 10 year span can make.  Chances are most of you were in college or just started working 10 years ago.  Now you’re getting married, growing up and moving on to new chapters…how exciting!?  I got married too this year.  So, I feel  your pain in planning a wedding, managing details, and tending to family members… fun stuff.  In 2010, we had about the same amount of weddings. 25 or so.  We started doing senior portraits and continued to do more family, baby and pregnancy photos with our traveling studio.  Check out tour Year in Review Slideshow, hope you like it.  Have fun tonight and be safe!