jolly + gina in maine

gina's dad had said to me on the phone a few days before the wedding,

"i've never had more fun in my life than getting ready for this wedding. our other daughter was in town this past weekend from DC, and to hear those girls laughing and planning. i'm a lucky man. this has been the most fun i've had in my life i tell you."

we knew right then that this wedding would surpass all expectations. we'd already gotten to know the couple and we were smitten but the happiness we heard in mr. gabel's voice was excellent foreshadowing of how happy everyone would be just to be there.

aah, maine:


on the 4th of july:

a nautical-themed affair:

(here's one more from friday's rehearsal dinner, hosted by gina's aunt and uncle . . . this is their sea-coast facing back porch. sooooo lovely!)

and did you know you can catch starfish, in your HANDS? -- here's chris's neice friday afternoon at the rehearsal gathering:

and hee, hee, those same little hands about 24 hours later:

i always start these entries with the best of intentions to get right to the great pictures of the couple, but to me, wedding memories are just so much more. there's just so much richness, so many many ways to get side-tracked, so many things we want you to know. like how wonderful it was to stay with the wedding party in this b+b in camden, the whitehall inn:

and how every little nook + cranny of this smith home was so so perfect. look at this. as the girls got dressed (see that cute nautical touch of ribbon - love it!) there's a nautical-themed curtain on the door behind them and a place sign over gina's shoulder. wow.

the little church on isleboro was so charming:


as were these lovely, lovely people:

you may have seen this one earlier, but be warned, we may just post it every week for the next few years. we love it THAT much.

you've seen this one, too.

but here's some more to the story. while i was creating the above, look what kim wade saw from her angle (yum!)

chris + gina are so great together. i swear to you, wherever they walked the sun seemed to be shining upon their faces.
it was a beautiful thing!



and speaking of beautiful things, oh gina's relationship with her sister so touched our hearts.

and one of the girls most favorite people? their terrific + inspiring grandma (who'd just sent gina a text shortly after we arrived; transportation was trickey since it involved a ferry or two and grandma was the mastermind behind it all!)

what an amazing weekend! and we haven't even mentioned the food yet:



hooray, indeed!


wouldn't it be a great time to introduce a highlight slideshow?
well here's the deal, soon, very soon gina + chris will be having a back-home reception; reception guests have to see the highlights first, right! ~ but we WILL post it; just not quite yet . . .

with many, many thanks for this opportunity,
kim + amy

a bit of pooh, Pooh that is

"If there's ever a tomorrow when we're not together, there's something you should remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you." Author: Christopher Robin - Pooh's Grand Adventure

stumbled onto the above just now. and just love it.

there's so much we have to be happy about; and heck so many great pictures to share. you'll find some of them here. this is the family session i'd just shot when i came home and heard about my friend sarah becking.

it, too, involved cancer.

fu@$%$# cancer.

(have now received word from sharon that as of yesterday morning, her dear ted, the grandpa those kids love so much is on to bigger and better things. all of which reminds me of how important celebrating those we love truly is. after seeing her family's slideshow, sharon found the time to email this, thoughts that truly touch my heart:)

Amy, you captured so much of what our family is; Ted remembered nothing of that day but somehow, someway you got some memorable shots of him and some wonderful expressions on everyone's face. I am so thrilled with what you accomplished . . . have emailed the website to half the world (almost) and just want to say thank you for capturing those moments to give us many happy memories for the years ahead.

~ sharon

best wedding party picture EVER:

not sure if this picture can ever be topped, but oh what fun attempting such a feat will be.
remember: you saw it here, first. ;)

giddy about showing you more from Maine,
amy + kim

"hold that hug" ~ random thoughts on a Sarah Becking tribute

nothing official yet on this. 

plans may change quite drastically, but here's a nugget of a thought kim came up with.

thinking about it gives us something constructive to do with our sadness and frustration.

and as i sit here tonight thinking so much about sarah becking (obituary in today's columbia tribune, but to get a sense of sarah and jason and their family . . . and what a true MU fan looks like, you should jump over to jason's blog)

anyway, am just overwhelmed with thoughts and just decided ...hey why not share:

we're brainstorming about a drop-in family photo shoot open to every family we know at stewart park one bright crisp afternoon this fall. every family everywhere welcome with "family hug" pictures created for each family who comes by . . .

we're envisioning it as as a service to families (and as a cool neighborhood thing, sarah and jason's house is just down the street) and maybe a fund-raiser in honor of sarah becking, too . . . and as a chance to get together with old friends and to take pictures making sure that EVERY kid has a picture taken WITH THEIR MOM, not just BY their mom.

sarah had e-mailed me in the fall about getting together for a becking family shoot.

and me and my silly, petty little to-do-list never followed thru. 

thought about it dozens of times.

never made the call. 

i can't tell you how horrible i feel about that.

sarah becking's death hits hard. 

she was as kind and creative and positive as any person you'll ever meet. if you have young kids this next part goes without saying, but, part of what's so awful is that there are these great little people who love their mom and oh did their mom love them. guess that's why this "hold that hug" tribute idea resonates with us. we'll keep you posted.

in the meantime, here's what i did do today besides pondering and crying and hugging and taking my kids out to lunch at taj mahal (we LOVE that place; even zoe had 4 plates of food) -

1. peeked again at the pictures from maine. i'm not quite up to editing yet. (sorry gina + chris.)

tomorrow i think i'll be ready; but here's as far as a got today; a peek and then this series caught my eye. these are the georgia jolleys ~ a simple hugs + kisses series:

2. created some "story boards" ~ swim season has nearly come to an end and these 4 coaches have been amazing.

it really does take a village, doesn't it.

printing these out as 16 x 16 and millers will mount them, too before team kids and parents will be invited to sign. then comes the framing and presenting to 4 remarkable young people who make our lives easier, healthier and more fun.

trying my hardest to treasure each moment, amy

a very sad day . . . Sarah EM Becking 1972 - 2008

walked in the door from a family shoot this morning and heard the news that our photographer friend sarah becking (age 36; magnificent mom; marvelous photog) died yesterday. 

damn it

damn it

damn it

have been either screaming or crying or just plain numb ever since . . . the feeling of broken heart

an outstanding photographer, sarah created LOTS of amazing MU images . . . a regular feature on many a sideline. 

i remember the very first time i met her at a local photo lab years and years ago and have loved her (and her work!) ever since. we pass sarah + jason's house everyday on the way to school.

cancer ~ it sucks, oh it sucks, but never did i hear HER complain. 

stuff looked really bad 2 years ago and each day since she's treated like a gift, making memories with her kids, and making images that make memories for others. isn't there a saying about you might die tomorrow, plant a tree today . . . sarah really knew how to plant. 

whoa, kim and i will both really miss her; so many will miss her including sarah + jason's kids:  adelaide (age 5, . . . a very good friend, comrade + partner-in-crime of miss sophie's) and young jack; and of course, jason, her husband, a saint of a guy on pretty much every count (unless you're cheering for the wrong team) 

jason's closing:

I close this e-mail the way I've ended most phone conversations, go hug your friends and family.

 

Sarah loved you all, and I appreciate that love flowing back toward us now. ~ Jason

 

from this post, and www.becking. com, this pic of sarah In The Zone. 

(photo by Bill Carter)

when in maine . . .

oh la la . . . we're back and we're in love:

what beautiful country. what terrific families! what an experience!!!

wow. oh we can't wait to share these images from gina + jolly's seacoast wedding.

yum!

we're just starting to process images, return phone calls, catch up on email (and, for that matter, laundry) but we're home and can't wait to get some of these gorgeous pictures online soon ~ amy + kim

kourtney + joey: seeing each other through

Let's talk about TALENT, ok?! First off, Kourtney + Joey have an amazing talent for pulling people together AND for putting on one heck of a party. Their wedding took place in Kourtney's father's backyard (with lake and dock and chairs and tents and roses and sunset). Beautiful!
And I know I've said this in a blog post before, but here goes again: I just love it when a bride gets ready at home. Kourtney was surrounded by friends and family while she dressed . . . so personal and relaxed and lovely.



and Joey, on a different floor of the house . . . getting ready with friends:
Ok, back to that talent theme. Kourtney is an artist. She just graduated from college with an art degree (which included organizing her own art exhibit) AND one of her paintings is hanging in her dad's house . . . take a look:
And musical talent runs in the family too! Kourtney's stepdad, Jim, sang while Kourtney came down the "aisle" with her father.
And Kourtney's brother-in-law, Justin Hodges, performed a song during the ceremony that HE WROTE. After hearing his voice...i had my suspicions...and yes!...it turns out that Justin is a professional singer-songwriter. I was blown away! You've got to check out Justin's website (click here). He has an album coming out this year, and I just downloaded his latest single, "Blink of an Eye," from iTunes. (You can too!)

And shh....don't tell Kourtney or Joey 'cause it's a surprise: their wedding slideshow is set to the song, "See You Through" that Justin performed during their wedding.
But wait there's more, Kourtney's sister, Lisa, sang during the reception,
and Justin jumped in for an impromptu duet:
The reception was jam-packed and blazing. But my favorite part was Kourtney and Joey's first dance with each other and with their parents. Take a look (and check out the crowd reaction):And while we're on the topic of talent. I've got to rave about SilverBox assistant photographers, Karen and Jennifer. Both assisted me at Kourtney and Joey's wedding, and they both made beautiful pictures that day. Their images are scattered throughout this post, but I wanted to highlight a couple here:

~this shot that Jennifer took of Joey and Kourtney's mothers embracing is GREAT wedding photojournalism...perfectly composed and a perfect moment:
~and this shot by Karen, who found great spots from which to document the processional and the ceremony. I love the horizontal and diagonal lines of this image along with Kourtney's placement in the frame:
And I've also got to mention Kasey, Kourtney's sister, who arranged to get me a copy of Justin's song for the slideshow. I was inspired by how incredibly close she and Kourtney are . . . their love for one another affected us all during Kasey's toast (hurray for sisters): And in between ceremony and reception, we took a spin around the lake with a few stops along the way:
Come take a peek at Kourtney + Joey's wedding slideshow. Congrats to Kourtney, Joey and their family on a homegrown-hometown-heck-of-a-fantastic-wedding!
~kim