Shauna and Bryan's wedding | Upstairs on the Square, Cambridge, MA

I've talked before about how much I love weddings. I love to casually take photos as a guest but I've never wanted to dive head first into wedding photography. I do feel now like I have aquired the talent necessary to photograph a wedding so when one of my oldest friends Shauna asked me what I was doing on November 7th I put her right in my calendar. That's how I found out she was engaged by the way..."What are you doing November 7th? Wanna photograph my wedding?"

I anticipated November 7th almost as much as my own wedding. I literally had butterflies in my stomach I was so excited. I spent the months before upgrading equipment, buying new batteries and making sure I was completely prepared. The day before the wedding I told Shauna that I'd be willing to bet I was more excited than she was.

The day had finally arrived and it was a beautiful sunny day. It was a tad on the chilly side but not horrible. Before it was time for me to leave my house I was ready about an hour early and was pacing around the house. My husband kept telling me to sit and relax. "I can't! I have to go!" So off I went to Harvard Square.

I got to the Charles Hotel where I was meeting Shauna about 20 minutes before she even got there! Once she arrived we went up to her room so she could get ready. The room was beautiful with a very nice view. Shauna's mom Sallie did her makeup very nicely before moving on to maid of honor, Alison's.

Shauna has a large, yet tasteful collection of pig items in her house. When we saw this pig we couldn't pass it by.

Once Shauna was ready we scooted out of the hotel to get some shots of her alone before meeting up with Bryan.

I love a bride who isn't afraid to make silly faces. Those are the boys in the background. They were a little late and I love the blackberry in her hand that she was tracking them down with.

That's Bryan on the left.







We went walking around Harvard Square to get some pictures. The looks they were getting were funny.

I was giddy when this couple walked in front of us.

The Harvard campus is picture perfect.

We were interrupted by a group of kids on a scavenger hunt. They were so excited to get "bride" checked off their list.

On the way back to the restaurant we were stopped by ANOTHER scavenger hunt. We could hear these guys cheering after we gave them the photo they needed.


Eventually it was time to get back to Upstairs on the Square to get married. There was plenty of time to hang out before and get some "formal" pictures and wait for guests to arrive.

This room is one of the funkiest places I've ever been in. It really was spectacular.

The joke of the day amongst our friends was how Shauna's "girls" looked in her dress. This is Joe, the one that introduced Shauna and Bryan, being silly for the photo opp.

This is another of my favorites...All of Shauna's ex-boyfriends.


The whole ceremony was very casual. Everyone stood around them as they were married by Joe. He was ordained for one day so he could perform the ceremony. It was short and sweet.

No matter how many more weddings I photograph I don't think I'll ever get another shot of a groom looking at his ring like this again.

The ceremony was followed by an amazing station dinner and lots of dancing.

I have to say the staff at Upstairs was unreal. The head honcho, Matthew was on top of everything and basically made anything you wanted to happen happen.

Shauna even had her very own personal attendent following her around with a tray of food and drink. Her tray was empty. Apparently Shauna was very hungry and thirsty. She was awesome and we all wanted to take her home with us.

Another member of the staff brought my husband and me personalized food from the kitchen after we were chatting about how we don't like fancy food. They all just went above and beyond and that was their second function of the day.

Both speeches were great and funny.

The room had a great balcony that I was able to get some great shots from. Can you find the goofball giving the finger?

When it was all over we went outside for a few more photos. The moon was an added bonus.

Just in case you were wondering why I didn't take pictures of the cake, the bouquet toss, the mother/father groom/bride dance or the place settings, it's because there was none of that. Shauna and Bryan kept it very simple and it really worked.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me this very special opportunity. I love you guys!!

Here is a slideshow of the whole day. You can click on it to take you to the thumbnails.