Megan is a girl with a plan. Wanting a rustic, New England feel that would mimic her family’s ranch in Montana, The Red Lion Inn in Cohasset worked perfectly. The Inn itself was built in the 1700s, and it has such quaint charm… and also a kickass ballroom, so you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing elegance for an old-world feel.

(You might remember Megan and Jim from their New York engagement shoot, or from when that shoot was featured on LimnandLovely.com)

Megan and Jim added so many touches to the day:

*the ribbon monogram that was on the invitations, the wedding programs, save the dates, invites, bar napkins, and cocktail stirrers was designed by a friend who couldn’t attend because she and her husband just moved to Australia.

* another very talented friend built (!) the arbor Megan and Jim stood under during the ceremony

* She arranged for a photo of her, her mother’s and her grandmother’s wedding dresses!

*Megan had their names and the wedding date sewn in blue into the underside of her dress, and had the wedding date put on the cuffs of Jim’s shirt.

* Lentils from Megan’s father’s Montana Cattle & Wheat ranch were in the welcome baskets (Sikorski & Sons Ranch, where he grew up and the family still lives and they travel to help for harvest every year)

*The centerpieces and Megan’s bouquet had real wheat harvested from the ranch. Megan said, “I couldn’t expect all our guests to make the trek to rural Montana for the wedding, so we tried to incorporate as many details from the family ranch as possible to make sure we felt like it was a part of our day – especially since the Uncle & Aunt who run the ranch couldn’t attend due to the fact they are still harvesting and moving cattle.”

*The centerpieces were placed on large cross sections of wood from a tree Megan’s father cut down and then burned with a cattle brand of their monogram (Megan’s father even registered it with the Montana Cattle Brand organization so it cannot be used by other ranchers!!)

*There were pictures of Megan and Jim at young age (dressed up as bride & groom) on the bathroom doors

*Handpainted signs along the walk from the church to the reception were made by Megan & her father

* Megan did the calligraphy of the table numbers in little bronze frames

*burlap and muslin placecards, were made by Megan and her mother and propped on mini clothespins

*table assignments were written on antique window panes (from Megan’s 230-year-old childhood home)

*Guestbook was “Harvest to Heat” a farmer’s market cookbook for people to sign next to their favorite recipe

*No favors at the reception – in lieu of gifts, they made a donation to Make-a-Wish and to the Kellie Duggan Foundation (Jim’s cousin passed away of pediatric cancer, and Megan is a Pediatric Cancer Nurse Practitioner)

*At the top of the back stairs, there was a table with pictures of every married couple at the wedding – “shining examples of why we believe in marriage,” Megan said, adding that, “this was one of our favorite parts of the planning – compiling these awesome pictures (some of which people hadn’t dug out in years – and said it totally made their day).”

Crazy amount of details, right?! That’s Megan, right on top of it all.

BUT- the day wasn’t just about the details… it was about a beautiful wedding and an awesome party. I hope the pictures do both justice, showing the details and their importance right next to the personalities and happiness of Megan and Jim.

The Details:

Wedding Coordinator- Melanie from  the Red Lion Inn

Hairstylist – Charlotte Phinney

Makeup- Charlotte Phinney

Dress Designer(s)–Galina Signature with Sposabella Lace, redesigned by the bride&Irene Rocha

Veil Designer(s) – Heirloom – was the Bride’s mothers

Officiant – Reverend Gary Ritts

Florist – Nancy Smith

Cake – Kondeitor Meister

Limo – Ciras Photography- jk!

Wedding rings – Kent Jewelers, New York City

Band – Men In Black

Invitations: Delphine Letterpress, with personal ribbon monogram designed by Megan McLachlan

Boutonnieres – Bohemian Bouquets by Gina Pagano-Rose

I love the movement in this one!

Love this and want to know more about hiring us?! Email Heather at cirasphotography@yahoo.com

Oh my God, Megan and Jim’s wedding yesterday was amazing. The Red Lion Inn was gorgeous, the weather was gorgeous, Megan & Jim, gorgeous… well, pretty much everything was gorgeous. wait ’til you see the whole wedding.

Well, the rain held off for only a 24 hour period and we were able to take beautiful Boston wedding photos of Paula and Patrick before their Bostonian Millennium Hotel Wedding. There was even a map of all the locations we wanted to hit (Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Christopher Columbus Park all for pre-ceremony photos), so a shout out to Mother Nature for holding in that rain.

Here are a few teasers… Check out Facebook for more photos (particularly of the wedding party being awesome!)

I wonder why people thought we were photographing celebrities… two videographers and two photographers kind of cause a scene (see me in the top left!)

nothing like a big piece of macaroni to ruin your shot (file this under things I’ve never said before!)

What a view!

What an amazing day- wedding at Kings Chapel, a walk through Boston Commons and Boston Public Gardens for wedding photos, and then a beautiful sunset reception at the Omni Parker House.

The details:

Wedding Coordinator- Alison Rose – Omni Parker House Hotel

Makeup- Dani Wagener – Dani Wagener Salon – Newbury St

Dress Designer(s) – Maggie Sottero

Veil Designer(s) – Maggie Sottero

Officiant – Pastor Rebecca Turcott – Community Chapel Church of the Nazarene

Florist – Atmosphere and Floral Design by Tammy Becker – Nashua, NH

Cake – Montilios

Band/DJ – Garry – Boston Wedding Entertainment

OMG. Where do I begin? Well, we first met Cindi and RJ when they were guests at Nick and Nicole’s amazing Hawaiian wedding. After being a part of such a great wedding, Cindi and RJ decided they too wanted to do a destination wedding… and we were so excited when they contacted us about doing it, of course! We love to travel, and combining travel with our favorite thing in the whole world (shooting weddings) and it’s a perfect match. Autumn was pretty psyched about becoming an international traveler at 9 months.

Each place has its own feeling, and part of the destination wedding photography is finding what the vibe is and capturing it… the colors, the details, the happiness. The nice thing about destination weddings is that no one is driving home after, so everyone just really relaxes and enjoys themselves. No one’s thinking of grocery shopping they have to do the next day; instead everyone’s on vacation together.

Also with a destination wedding, we try and do a day-before or day-after shoot. Cindi and RJ met us early the next morning and we roamed the grounds, and got some neat photos of them outside of their wedding-day attire. Since they’re from Texas (and we’re from Boston), an engagement shoot wasn’t possible… but this still gives them some nice portraits anyway! We’ll post a couple of those photos tomorrow, so check back at 9 am!

So here’s Cindi and RJ’s gorgeous, happy, sometimes silly, always amazing destination Mexican wedding.

That's right; the guys are jumping on a trampoline!

Cindi and her father before they walk down the aisle... I love how the road leads up to them in this photo

I LOVE the look on RJ's face when he first saw Cindi

hahahahhaaa

Some details... the gorgeous bouquet and the favors: Texas vodka!

RJs a chef, so we took a lot of food details... and the bottom one is him rolling his own cigar! Having a cigar roller at the cocktail hour is an awesome touch!

For a small wedding, there was some serious dancing!

Leaving with sparklers!

Pam & Luke’s winter wedding at the Red Lion Inn in Cohasset was featured on Rustic Wedding Chic a couple weeks ago!

http://rusticweddingchic.com/massachusetts-rustic-wedding

Evan & Deanna’s wedding at the Harrington Farm in Princeton, MA was a dream summer wedding- beautiful light, happy people, warm day, and an absolutely gorgeous venue. I heart the Harrington Farm for weddings… it has such a New England laid-back feel. (You may remember Leah & Anthony’s Wedding, and it had the same vibe.) It also gives us plenty of space to wander around the grounds and get creative. Even though it was a bit on the hot side, Evan & Deanna were game for some portraits before the ceremony, and we had the time and space to get some really dramatic wedding portraits.

I don’t usually include photos of cocktail hour, but I just love the back deck at the farm… People can go inside to the bar and back out again so easily, and it feels so nice to be outside. Can’t you tell- everyone’s smiling because they love the outdoors!

The details:
Wedding Coordinator- Traci Swenson from Harrington Farm
Hairstylist – Erin Gregg Brown from Head Shop Hair Factory in Worcester
Makeup- Sharon Holston from Trish McEvoy counter at Bloomingdales in Chestnut Hill
Dress Designer(s) – Ann Taylor
Veil Designer(s) – borrowed from a friend, no clue
Officiant – Michael Smith (Deanna’s brother’s partner)
Florist – Kathy Packard from Kathy’s Flowers & Gift Baskets
Cake – NO CAKE – mini desserts from Wholly Cannoli instead
Limo – NA (we are using First Student buses for our transportation)
Band/DJ – band: Unity from Murray Hill Talent

Even monsoon-al weather (yeah, that’s right, monsoon-al is a word!) couldn’t shake Jacki and Matt’s beaming happiness. Seriously, their cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

Stay tuned for more- or see our facebook page!

Nicola & Shaw were married at Hamilton Hall in Salem yesterday. So beautiful! Here’s a classic portrait, an absolutely radiate photo of Nicola, and something artsy from the reception…

Don’t get me wrong, Boston folks are lovely ( this survey that says Bostonians are mean aside), but there is something downright loveable about Southerners. Jeannette and Frank, were all smiles and charm on the day of their Boston wedding, thousands of miles away from Alabama, their home. They fell in love with Boston when visiting for work a year or so ago, and Frank proposed to Jeannette at Mamma Maria in the North End. It seems only fitting that when they said their vows, they were at Mamma Maria again, in the same little corner where Frank asked Jeannette to marry him. It’s their own little place in Boston.

We met up with them at the Boston Millenium Hotel and wandered through Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall to get some awesome portraits. It was roughly 1,000 degrees out, but these two were resilient from Southern summers, and only laughed as Jesse and I sweat profusely! Then we walked down to the waterfront, and over to the restaurant. I wish we had this luxury with all our clients- what an awesome way to get a ton of beautiful portraits!

Here are some of my favorites from the day…

Here's to crazy locals!

the interior of Mamma Maria

first kiss!