I FINALLY made it up to photograph my nephew Graeme. Yay! This kid has developed such a little personality over the last few weeks. Oh hey handsome, how you doin? Tummy time! Rosenthal eyes + Dunbar head = The cutest and most adorably fuzzy floor baby of all time. Happy boy! Big sister Claire Catherine joins the party... My sister is an amazing Mother. These pictures makes my heart happy :) Until next time Rosenthals!
Happy Friday!! I've been working on this post for a while. Apologies in advance for how long this will probably end up being. A girl only gets married once you know! Here goes: Quick backstory - when Joe and I first got engaged, we had doubts about whether we wanted the "traditional" type of wedding. There were a bunch of ideas flying around. Small ceremony and dinner with family and open bar with friends somewhere after (the look of horror on Jan Dunbar's face quickly convinced us NOT to do this). Getting married at a castle in Ireland. It was all out there. The main things holding me back from the typical Long Island wedding were the expense (OHHHH THE EXPENSE!) and my feelings of self-doubt. Simply put, I just couldn't imagine myself being a bride. One night while at my parents house, my Dad said something that resonated: "You only get married once, just make sure whatever you decide to do, you won't have any regrets." My Daddy-O. Ever the voice of reason. That night, Joe and I drafted up a budget for the Long Island wedding I didn't know I wanted. It was ON like Donkey Kong. Most of the pieces fell into place easily. When I was first dipping my tippy toes into the wedding photography scene 4 or 5 years ago, I was assisting a photographer out East at a venue called The Old Field Club. When I walked in this place, the chorus in my head started singing and I thought "If I ever get married, I want to get married HERE." Surely enough, it was the only venue we visited. There were three decisions that I collectively consider the most important wedding-planning decisions we made. Old Field Club was #1. I literally cannot say enough about the level of service we received and the compliments are still rolling in. It has a very "non-Long Island" feel. A beautiful barn ceiling and hanging chandeliers, plus full service catering? No other place like it on Long Island. Ben and the gang got it going on. A fun party was always super high on our priority list. Work hard, play hard people. Again, we weren't interested in the typical "wedding band" type of band. I credit my husband with the initial idea to contact Drop Dead Sexy...and what an idea it was. Important Decision #2! When we were in our early-to-mid twenties (and actually left the house on weekend nights) we used to frequent the Nutty Irishman in Farmingdale. We happened upon the most infectious suck-you-in-whether-you-want-to-be-sucked-in-or-not cover band EVER. Drop Dead Sexy. These guys are so high energy and so much fun. Fast forward 8 years and it turns out, they DO play weddings! We were pumped but not prepared for what followed. Our expectations were exceeded at every moment. Paul was SO awesome leading up to the wedding and completely willing to entertain our thoughts and ideas regarding songs played, brother humiliating tactics etc. We have gotten more compliments about the music at our wedding than all other aspects combined and the dance floor was packed the entire evening. DISCLAIMER: Ladies, if you have any intentions of NOT looking like a sweaty, drunken disaster by the end of your reception, probabbbbbly don't hire them :-) This leads me to the big one. The most-asked question. But WHO will photograph YOUR wedding!? Easy answer: Morgan Trinker Photography. Decision #3. I have known Morgan would be my wedding photographer since before I got engaged. We have been photogafriends via email for quite a few years now and I look up to her and everything her business is about. Just having her there (and meeting her! I was completely starstruck...loser alert!) would have been enough, but she is the sweetest person ever. EVER. While manically looking through my wedding photos for the first time, there were shots that literally took my breath away. And made me cry. She listened to my concerns about my body-image issues beforehand and wrote back a heartfelt and caring email with similar experiences leading up to her own wedding. Main point? She made me feel beautiful. She made me LOOK beautiful. Girls, if you are getting married and live in the Birmingham area, you are CRAZY if you don't hire Morgan. The rest of the planning was filling in the spaces between #1, #2 and #3. Centerpieces, flowers, invitations, limos, hair, makeup, hotels galore. I can't take all the credit. My one and only Marmy was such an amazing co-conspirator. I feel so lucky to have shared this Mommy-Daughter experience with her. Most importantly, and I feel like this can get lost too easily in the planning process, I got to marry Joe. 10 years after we met in a college dorm room, we stood on an altar in front of the most important people in our lives and made promises to each other. If I could extend one word of advice to clients, potential clients or ANYONE currently planning: THAT is what a wedding is really about. One of my favorite memories from the entire day is Joe whispering (screaming) into my ear on the rowdy dance floor: "Look around babe...just look around!" To which I responded "How did we get here!?" His answer? "I led you here sir, for I am Sparticus." Joe Dugan NAILS it with the impossibly obscure movie quote. Oh, how I love that man. Here are some additional photos (a first draft of our album, to be precise) to take you on a visual tour of the best day of our lives. ***ALL photos in this post are courtesy of Morgan Trinker Photography***
Here are 30,000 pictures of our Ireland honeymoon. I tried to make them less boring by adding in some music (courtesy of an amazing Dublin musician named Stephan Fagan, who we were lucky enough to see on our first night) but I'm still aware that probably the only people who will make it the whole way through are my parents. When Joe and I first started talking about where we wanted to go on our honeymoon, we threw around the idea of laying on a beach somewhere for 10 days - and believe me, there were a few times on this trip where exhaustion set in and I wish we had - but ultimately we settled on Ireland. We are both from Irish descent and it just felt right. From driving through Dublin on the wrong side of the road (and on the wrong side of the car) to having a dance party at 2 a.m. with my Great Uncle the last 10 days were a GRAND and BRILLIANT adventure. It truly was the trip of a lifetime. I'm having a hard time verbalizing my love for this country, so I'll let the pictures do the talking: Hi Friends! Wowie it has been a LONG time (probably my longest silence ever) since I last posted - but I've been insanely busy.... First and foremost, I got married! I plan on writing an entire entry about our magical wedding day and sharing more images etc but here are a few of my favorites for now... ***IMAGES COURTESY OF MORGAN TRINKER PHOTOGRAPHY** After the wedding we celebrated Christmas and New Years (nbd) and then promptly jetted off for our Ireland honeymoon. We just got home today and I am too mentally and physically exhausted right now to elaborate but I will say that I left a piece of my heart in that country and I don't think I ever want it back. Again, a more thorough Ireland post to come in the next week or so but here are a few of my favorite pics so far... Oh, and on top of all of this I am in the midst of a MASSIVE rebranding and website overhaul project which I am SUPA DUPA excited about. Stay tuned for more details on all of the above and THANK YOU for hanging in there during this long lull. I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season!!! xoxo It has been a LONG time since I shared anything personal here on the blog, so I figured I'd post an entry with a quick update from my world: I'M GETTING MARRIED ON SATURDAY!? Hah - I don't think I've really mentioned much about the wedding since first posting our engagement well over a year ago. I remember when we first booked the date with our venue I set up a countdown on my phone and it was 500andsomething days away. I literally cannot believe (and it hasn't really sunk in yet) that it is now less than a week away. The passage of time is funny like that, it always seems to sneak up on me. When thinking about our wedding months ago I had all these high hopes of channeling all my super-chill brides and being one of those girls who is all laid back and whatnot. I cannot lie, these last few weeks I have been a BASKETCASE. As my Mother (oh, God Bless my poor Mother) says, "Catherine, you aren't a bridezilla, you are just a Nervous Nelly." Truth be told, I am literally phobic about being in front of a large group of people...combine this with my lifelong battle with weight, tomboy tendencies and a non-existent self esteem and I am one dress fitting shy of a straight jacket. How's that for keeping it real? As I've said many times to the recipients of my hysterical rants, the only thing I'm *not* nervous about is marrying Joe Dugan. So on Saturday, whether I feel like a "bride" or not, that is exactly what I'll do :-) I'll post a few pictures from the big day when I get them (oh, and my most FAQ from the start has been..."who is taking YOUR wedding photos!? Are you taking your own photos?"....MORGAN TRINKER, my photography idol will be there, all the way from Alabama, to capture the memories for us :-)
Gregory is back! I've been photographing this not-so-little guy since he was a teeny tiny peanut. SO much fun to see him again this morning :-) Happy boy! I'll see you next year wild man!
Kate and I grew up playing soccer together. Then 20 years later I shot her wedding on the MOST GORGEOUS DAY TO GET MARRIED that there ever was. This is the last wedding blog of the year so soak it in people!!! Yay Kate! And also, Sue Paulinkski!! Oh hi BEAUTIFUL bride-lady...how you doin? STOP. I swear on all that is holy these pictures are *barely* edited. Meanwhile, Matt and the gang were keeping it lax... Dapper dude! MARRIED! When we got to the venue, there were leaves upon leaves. These guys were happy. Quick story: While the guys were rounding up for the next picture I glanced over and saw this. I pray to the photography Gods to get ONE shot like this while shooting a 1-2 hour long kiddos session. And this just happened. Miraculous! I have since amended my contract to include a forewarning about my ridiculous reaction to dead rodents while shooting. Swooning. Party party party! Kate and Matt - congrats to you!!! Thanks for having me along :-)
I met up with cutie-boy Dev and his parents at their Upper West side apartment. Here's Dev and his Mommy reading some Cat in the Hat... Angry birds! Happy boy :-) Then we headed out to the local park. It was such a gorgeous morning for a stroll. Beautiful family! Swing! We headed back to their apartment and Dev started to get ready for naptime... Jessica, Anish and Dev...it was so much fun hanging with you guys!!
I LOVED shooting this wedding. Andrea's older sister Ursula and I played bball together back in the day and I remember Andrea being around the court during our practices. Fast forward 4 million years and she and Joe are getting MARRIED. Say what!? This veil was epic. Nothing more to say about it. GORGEOUS. Just gorgeous. Meanwhile, my second shooter Angela hung with Joe and the guys... Joe reminds me so much of my youngest brother. Same goofy sense of humor. Same dapper looks! The big ole' Catholic church in my hometown was the scene of the ceremony. I am OBSESSING over these two shots Angela grabbed of Drea waiting to walk down the aisle. MARRIED!! Super fun bridal party = happy me :-) Skinny arm! Way to go, Doug! This fall has yielded the most beautiful and long-lasting foliage of.all.time! Like, seriously you guys? The colors!! We were done shooting portraits. Joe and Drea were walking to their limo. The clouds parted and this amazing stream of sunlight came outta nowhere! I dragged them back and oh boy am I glad I did. Love this.. Party party party! Andrea and Joe - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, it was such a pleasure being a party of your wedding day!
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