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If you've come here looking for more work after visiting our website you're crazy....just kidding, you've come to the right place! This is a place where Mike and I can showcase some of our most recent work--if you're here and the last post is from months ago just remember that our priority is always keeping up with our event editing and getting images to our clients on time! Sadly, the blog, while we love it, doesn't always make it to the top of the to-do list. Rest assured, we'll be back, we always are! In the meantime feel free to get in touch via our contact form!

Chris and Kate Collage

I’m about to go all six degrees of Kevin Bacon on you….and for that I have no apologies!  It all started back in 2008 when we shot Molly and JD’s wedding in Newport…flash forward to 2009 when we first started talking to Colleen and Greg about shooting their wedding–they found us randomly and then booked us because Colleen had gone to school with Molly and all that lead to Colleen and Greg’s engagement shoot and and then their Seaport wedding back in January 2, 2010.  From there we heard from (and please, Bentley folks, correct me along the way if I mix a detail up…please!) Jeff Bender’s mom because he was about to be deployed for a year….so that is where we met Jess and Jeff for an engagement shoot followed by an amazing wedding up at the Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont….where we also happened to shoot our first “real” wedding film.  From there things started to spread like wild fire with a tight knit group of girls (and guys) from Bentley College!  We shot, and forgive the order, Leah and Dan, Amanda and Matt, Jen and Brandon (still need to post their wedding), and we are going to shoot Maggie and Joey’s wedding this upcoming weekend with Sharon and Nick the following weekend!  There is a another little Bentley branch in there in the with Lori (who works at Bentley) and her Jeff  and she also knows Leah!

I’m laying this all out for you because in all of this there has always been this one couple…staying strong, dressing cute, matching ties to dresses and always oh so nice and welcoming to the two of us….and that couple is Kate and Chris!  I think they hands down have the biggest collection of shots of them together at weddings we have attended.  We were beyond stoked when Colleen called to tell us that she and Chris had talked and wanted us to be there, hiding in the bushes, when he proposed to Kate this past weekend….and get this…a Saturday in June and we weren’t booked!  I had originally talked with Mike about never shooting on our kiddos birthdays…and that just happened to be Emmie’s birthday weekend…but not the actual day and we were having the party on Sunday so it all fell into place and we agreed to the shoot!

Super telephoto 500mm f/4 on a Nikon D4

This is what Mike rolled in with….and then he parked himself on the warf.

In the few weeks leading up Mike and Chris exchanged lots of plans and maps and ideas….Mike knew he wanted to shoot with a really long lens so that Kate wouldn’t see him and have the surprise ruined…and I knew I was going to have to wear some kind of disguise…what I didn’t know what how nervous WE would be!  I think it was the excitement, the busy busy Warf near the Marriott in Boston, and the fear that I was going to miss them….but I had a whole big bucket of butterflies in my tummy so I don’t know how Chris could even keep his feet on the ground!  We scoped out the area a little bit early and sent some texts to Chris…and then we waited and searched for him in a dark red shirt and Kate in a black dress.  Mike was down by Joe’s American Bar and Grill with a 500mm crazy lens and I was wearing a ridiculous hat and glasses sitting amongst the other tourists out in Boston that day.  The restaurant folks wanted to know what Mike was up to and who he was paparazzi-ing…and some people were laughing (in Spanish, guess they didn’t know I took a few years of that myself) at the absurdity of the couple with the camera gear in a baby carriage.  It was nerve wracking waiting to see if they were going to come from under the arches, or along the awning along the Marriott and it felt a little like a game of Where’s Waldo.  The plan was I was going to ring Mike when I saw them so he could scan the area and be ready…but I called a few times to giggle at how I felt like CIA or to tell him about ANOTHER couple who had just had their own proposal basically right in front of me (grabbed a few pictures of them and Mike gave them a card so we could send those off) and then I saw them!!

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

The plan, because I had talked to Chris earlier in the week, was for them to sit on one of the benches where they shared their first kiss and have a little chat.  He thought he was going to throw her off the scent of proposal by then getting up and walking on to their reservations….so we snapped a few pictures of that chat.

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

 

They got up and started walking towards me and I panicked a bit but then remembered that I was wearing a ridiculous getup and that I most likely wouldn’t be spotted.  I walked away and they came up and under the arches.  Thankfully at this point I started to relax because I knew that once the proposal happened the hiding could stop.  They walked to the end of the arches and kissed, and then Chris got down on one knee.

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

This is when Kate started shaking her head no, no, no….she was in a little shock and disbelief and was saying, “No way, are you really asking me??”  But everyone at the restaurant was telling Mike that it was a no…he assured them that she was going to say yes!

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

And she did!  Big happy happy YES full of tears and laughter…they were 100% adorable and I felt safe to reveal myself when a few other people with cameras started jumping in to capture the magic moment for them (not knowing that we were hiding out getting it all!)

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

How is that for a silly looking Kate??

Chris still had a plan…and they both got to make one call.  They each called their parents, gushed, cried a bit more, happy happy tears, traded phones and talked to future in-laws…and then wiping away the happy tears we got to take the two of them off for a little impromptu photo shoot in their favorite Boston spot!

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Now this is where we parted ways and wished them well…told them we would see them this upcoming weekend for Maggie and Joey’s wedding and the following weekend for Sharon and Nick’s wedding…little did Kate know that Chris was not done with surprises!

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

They went off to celebrate with some drinks in Boston…and we flew down the highway to Kate’s apartment where Chris had planned for so many friends and family to surprise Kate with not only a proposal, but a full engagement party when they got home at 8:30.  Now this was really fun because so many of the people from that first paragraph were all together in one place…not only the couples but parents and bridesmaids, and aunts and uncles and friends that we had been at with at all of the weddings so far!  Mike looked at me and said I don’t think we’ve been in one place with this many people that we know from MKD ever.  It was pretty sweet!  So we hung out for a bit and then we were ready for them to come home.

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Everyone got really quiet and the door started to open….what follows had me in tears, too!

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Colleen who was in the second degree of all this…

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Sharon & Nick and Joey & Maggie who are next up in the wedding fun–Maggie & Joey this weekend and Sharon & Nick the following weekend!

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Colleen and Greg (and just because they have an adorable baby who came to my mini session the day before this!)

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

If you follow us on twitter you’ll know that we posted a sneak peek…this was when Kate’s roommate showed her that image!

Kate and Chris Surprise Proposal

And this last image pretty much sums up Kate’s day…I can’t even imagine packing all of this excitement into one night!  She handled it with grace, tears, laughter, the most excited smile I have ever witnessed, a side of hyperventilating and a whole lot of love!  We are so thankful that Colleen and Chris schemed this all up!

  • Sarah says:

    These pictures are amazing! You two look incredibly happy!!! Congratulations 🙂

    (June 26, 2012 at 10:04 am)
  • Joan Catrone says:

    That was so wonderful to watch. What a great way to share an amazing event. Congratulations Kate and Chris. I wish much love and happiness for you both.

    (June 21, 2012 at 10:50 am)
  • OMG! I cried the whole time I was viewing this…it’s so beautiful…Congratulations to everyone!

    (June 17, 2012 at 5:38 am)
  • Tony,Pam&kids says:

    Hey guys LOVED the photos how wonderful to capture the whole thing! We loved it! Congrats to you both! Hugs & kisses!!!!!!

    (June 13, 2012 at 9:35 pm)
  • mike and Paula Faniz says:

    Hello guys,
    We loved this so much, we all began to cry when we looked at them. Congratulations to you both, we love you and are so happy for you guys. These pictures you will cherish forever!

    Much love,
    Mike, Paula, Mia and Dominic Fanizzi

    (June 13, 2012 at 5:42 pm)
  • Meaghan R. says:

    This is beautiful! So happy for you guys, it will be happily every after <3

    (June 13, 2012 at 4:53 pm)
  • patty mongeau says:

    What a great story!! I teared up at the opening of the door shots of Kate! Great fun and wonderful photography!

    (June 13, 2012 at 4:38 pm)
  • I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this!!!

    (June 13, 2012 at 2:40 pm)