Oooh. La. La. (Part 1)

Love and a fair amount of wine and chocolate was in the air Saturday night at Chamard Vineyard in Clinton, CT.  The site of a brilliantly executed event by Sarah True of True Event, it was the perfect way to spend a chilly winter night with a friend or your main squeeze. We have SO MANY photos to share that this is just part 1–you’ll have to wait for part 2 to see the beautiful details from all the creative participants. But I couldn’t keep these crazy photobooth participants waiting for a minute longer, so here’s a few highlights–more on Facebook.

This darling couple told me they hadn’t been photographed since their wedding. We made up for it.

Someone said there would be wine.

This tech-savvy bride found me through Twitter, love it!

True Event + Chocolate Creative Design=True and Wesson

All in red shoes, of course.

Erica of Jonathan Edwards Winery and Mike of Buzz Media Company showing the love.

Smooch!

The evening wouldn’t have been nearly as pretty without Josie and Heidi from Beneath the Gown (and without all their lace and ruffles, too!)

The fabulous Maggie and equally fabulous Chelsea of CJStyles, fresh off the runway.

Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the Shore and her hunky hubby Mark.

Loved this cute pair! We took a million pictures.

Erica from the-E-List.com brought her main squeeze and got framed. All good things on the shoreline, indeed!

This August 2010 bride and groom traveled from north of Boston to enjoy an evening at Chamard. (THAT’S how good CT wedding vendors are!)

Tiffany and Yumiko from Hana Floral Design whoop it up!

Guess the sign worked.

Josh Chalmers of Hey Cinderella and Sarah True of True Event.

Our gorgeous runway models and one of their biggest fans.

Moi and my partner in crime for the night, Melissa.

Erica of Adeline & Grace, Mike of Artistic Wedding Video Group and Kristin Love of Details With Love brought the fun from Newport.

Erica showed us a little project she’s been working on.

The always delightful Jennie of Jennie Fresa Beauty Library.

Sarah True and her posse from Power Posse.

So Graceful

Sweet baby Grace, who we met on her first day of life, is now one month old and more than ten pounds! How quickly the time does go.

But she is still a sweet and delicious newborn, inclined to snooze the day away just as the activity around her reaches a fever pitch.

And I said to Grace’s lovely mom, Maria, and my photography associate Melissa—fancy backdrops and studio lighting are completely unecessary when you capture a moment like this! My favorite of the day.

But I can’t close this post without a glimpse of the first born, my little friend Tommy, who is turning three in just a few days. What was I saying about the time going so quickly?

Tommy is wearing Henry’s “worker” goggles right here, and clearly working hard. (We adjusted the goggles for breathing safety just after this photo was taken.) And if you’re wondering what the gray blob on the side is, well, that’s the drill bit coming directly towards my lens! Duck!

And so 2010 begins

I’m so excited to share all the shooting opportunities I’ve had already in 2010, from a fantastic lighting workshop with one of my favorite and inspiring photographers, Carla Teneyck (preview on her blog here), a wedding, a gorgeous newborn, another wedding next week…and it is still January.

Today I’ve got a preview of one of my 2010 wedding couples. If the groom-to-be looks familiar, it’s because he was one of the two male models in the December vintage winter wedding shoot I did with Lucinda Wesson of Chocolate Creative Design and a team full of inspired CT wedding vendors at Island Farm (Elihu Island) in Stonington this winter. The shoot was featured here in Style Me Pretty, and now I get to photograph this model and his real-life bride, who just happens to be a real-life model. Tough work, but someone has to do it.

Katie and Jayson

Photographed at Elihu Island (Island Farm), December 2009.

Happy love, K & J–so excited for September!

What the world needs now

More half-birthday celebrations.

Because six months is much too long to wait for more cake and candles.

Bride’s Connecticut, a custom wine label and a complete detour to Scrabble

This fun little feature  and accompanying image is in the spring/summer 2010 issue of Bride’s Connecticut, and was the result of a creative summer collaboration with Lucinda Wesson at Chocolate Creative Design, Sarah True at True Event and me.

The wine at Chamard Vineyard is delicious and inspiring, as is the location—a gorgeous vineyard venue for weddings and special events, with Sarah True as your coordinator. And thinking custom wine labels are just right for your vineyard event or a gift for a wine-loving friend? Call Lucinda for this custom touch!

The image is from a May 2009 wedding on Nantucket, and my creative client Antonia hand-painted these dolls as cupcake toppers. As soon as I saw them, I knew they would be perfect for ring shots as well—if you look carefully, you can see that Bill’s ring slides down around his likeness, while Antonia’s delicate band ring rests on top of her likeness, like a miniature bridal headpiece.

And yes, those are bananagram tiles, and I knew they were my perfect clients as soon as I saw them in her room.

Some people might not know my nerdy Scrabble background (who else do YOU know who has been in Real Simple magazine for playing Scrabble with friends?), and while I am not the player I once was (two children and a business will do that to you), I do offer all my booked wedding clients the chance to take $250 off their package if they can beat me at Scrabble.

P.S. I’m really not that good, but it means I actually get to play once in a while!

How to Charm Me

Henry, age 3 1/2.

Tell me, “Mom, you’re the cutest thing in the whole wide world!”

Okay, Henry.

If you say so!

What a nut!

Hot Mama

Last week I got to spend a chilly day in NYC photographing this smoking hot mama-to-be, and what a fantastic day it was—the session was a 30th birthday gift from her best friend who joined us, and it was a great girls day of champagne, celebrating baby and beautiful bodies and an engagement the night before.

And before you ask, she’s 34 weeks pregnant, no, she isn’t wearing maternity clothes and yes, she really does look that amazing in person. Oh, and lest you think she must not eat to look this good, ask her about her chocolate and challah French toast habit!

We ended the day with a sizzling boudoir session as a celebration of her gorgeous curves. Sorry folks, the sneak peek ends here!

Happy baby, mama—can’t wait to hear your wonderful news in just a few weeks, and happy love, Meghan—congratulations! Thanks for sharing your girly day with me, ladies!

Happy New Year!

This year finally seemed to slow down around December 30, and we’ve been enjoying lots of (rare!) snow, hot cocoa, fires, home projects (also rare this year!), more fires, visitors and, of course, good food.

Our New Year’s Eve was all the brighter with my college roommate in town, a culinary professional who brought with her a good bottle of wine and the fixings for this delicious dish, a simple pasta carbonara with fresh homemade pasta and mushrooms. We added our delicious Cobb Hill bacon. YUM.

For dessert we continued working our way through the delicious gift of Grater’s ice cream from a lovely family of clients and friends. Hard work, but someone’s got to do it.

The new year is starting fast and furious for us next week (you too?) but we got another weekend snowstorm on a day when we had nowhere in particular to go, and it will be a nice lazy memory to sustain us in the weeks to come.

Happy new year! Welcome 2010!

Haley Farm Family Session

Loved these sweet cousins and their parents earlier this winter, and loved this local state park in Noank, my first time doing a portrait session here–but definitely not my last! The light was amazing, and made these fair blondies positively glow in the early winter light.

Four hours old

Grace

Born December 30, 2009 at 8:12 a.m. Photographed at 12:15 p.m.

7 pounds, 13.8 ounces

19 inches

Dear Grace,

After all these months, what a joy it was to meet you today!

You are as beautiful as I suspected you would be, and so advanced, too. I can hardly believe the gorgeous eyelashes you are already sporting, and you actually found your thumb and put it in your mouth when you were just a few hours old! (You’ll be dining out on that story for YEARS, kid.)

Your loving family was agog with your beauty and brilliance and the amazing miracle of new life, right there in their arms. You are awfully lucky to have them all around, as your brother Tommy already knows.  I heard some future adventures being planned when you were nestled in your auntie’s arms—stick with her, kid, and you will be outfitted in STYLE and have fun doing it.

Your loving and eager grandparents passed you around the room while your proud and exhausted parents beamed. Your mom and dad—well, they are both pretty much dynamos.

You may have trouble keeping up with them, but you’ll have youth on your side. Use it to your advantage, but remember, your mom will always be able to survive on fewer hours of sleep than you.

And you didn’t hear it from me, but I think you’ve already got your father weak in the knees. I’m just saying.

And as for me, sorry about the big black thing. It’s called a camera, and I wish I could tell you I won’t have it the next time I see you but, well, you probably just ought to get used to it. Because if it isn’t me, it will be your mom and your dad, and your grandparents—I am pretty sure you will be a heavily photographed young lady. There are worse things.

I also apologize for the long and chatty phone calls I will have with your mother while you cling to her ankles, citing Important Needs.

Instead of trying to get her attention while she is on the phone, use that time wisely—she’ll be distracted, so it would be a perfect time to try unrolling some toilet paper all over the house or something equally interesting. Check with your brother on this one—he may have some ideas.

Sweet baby Grace, I hope you are sleeping soundly right now while your mom and dad hold you and gaze at the absolute wonder of you. Welcome to this world–we’re so glad you’re here.

Love,

Anna

Happy holiday week

We’re having a great week–hope you are, too!

Sparkle and shimmer

This time of year, snow or no snow, just seems to have an extra bit of sparkle and shine to it.  And today, with a rare Christmas snowcover here on the coast, the whole world is sparkling in the sunshine right now.

Hope you have a sparkly backdrop to your day, no matter where it is!

Bouquet by Hana Floral Design for Chocolate Creative Design