I pulled up to The Holbrook’s Back Bay apartment on a warm spring day around 8am, a time that we decided would work best in terms of lighting as well as Sawyers schedule. It was so great to hear that newborn baby cry once again… It’s such a distinct sound that makes you feel so happy, a smile immediately crossed my face.

Luckily for me they had an awesome sun-filled patio that was a perfect backdrop to tell their story.

Without further ado, I present you, Sawyer Holbrook!

Peace, Love & Giraffes, Owls and Bears – Oh My!,

April K

I know I’ve been going on a lot of rants about my personal life lately, so I appologize if you’re sick of me by now. Don’t worry, we have some awesome shoots coming up real soon… but in the meantime I’m going to share the other half of my office space, Sienna’s nursery.

I’m very proud of this nursery, hence why I feel the need to share it. I dreamt of a space that’s dazzling with color and bursting with creativity for our little girl to grow in. Who better to fill the space with love but our very own friends and family!? They say it takes a village to raise a child, and “they” are absolutley right! In the midst of Sienna’s daily development I want to teach her to have a very LARGE imagination. I feel that creativity and imagination are vital in raising a child who possesses great character, so here’s to trying!

As a gift from our gal pal, Gaby, we received 5 commissioned artworks from Sienna’s cousins who range in age 8 to 2. The young artists were given the task {before Sienna’s world debut} to draw what they think Sienna will look like. These are truly gems and so much fun to look at. Sienna’s Crayola Portraits were placed in bright and bold frames which really set the tone for the vibe we were going for.

Our friend Kate, who is not only a very talented snowboarder, but also a skilled water color artist, painted the most beautifully vibrant and colorful peacock. She can shake that paint brush like it’s no bodies business! I would someday like to transfer that beauty onto a snowboard for Sienna! How awesome would that be.

Our girl Lauren who is a crafty little crafter sent us the letters that live above the crib. Spelling out SIENNA in an artsy yet fashionable way, we love these colorful pieces. My long time friend, Megan {who the heck knew she even had this skill? Not me!} made the pink elephant who watches over the room. And our friends Lisa & Thahn commissioned Lisa’s sister, Kristen {who is an awesome illustrator} the painting of bunnies in a hot air balloon floating through the fresh mtn air.

We are so fortunate to be surrounded by such creativity and love all day long.

Peace, Love & The Handmade Nursery,

April K

Nursery Artists:

Peacock watercolor by Kate Wynkoop
Knit Elephant by Megan Bochette
Sienna letters by Lauren Badger
Bunnys in Balloon Painting by Kristen Cavallo –  http://kristenleecavallo.blogspot.com/
Drawings Of Sienna by: Kyleigh, Cohen, Addison, Lily & Quinn {My nieces & nephews}

I must admit, shooting children is very challenging for me, even more challenging than a wedding! Yup, I would rather shoot a full blown wedding than photograph little kids. Why? Because little kids have an agenda of their own, they do what they want and they never stop moving… forget about trying to get them to look at the camera or be comfortable in front of a completely “strange lady”. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE children, but they’re challenging as most of you know.  Some photographers find children to be much easier than a wedding, I am not one of them… yet!

I will say though, I have trained my nieces and nephews from day 1 to love the camera. They know that I am going to chase them around and that there is no escape until I have something I like. Because of this, they actually listen to what I want them to do, I get the shots I want {and then I give them candy} and everyone is happy! They’re my favorite little people on the planet, I love them as if they’re my own and so it just makes me so happy to be able to give them the gift of their childhood memories.

I recently had a little photo shoot with my nieces {and glam girls} Addison and Lily. Such big personalities for these little bodies, I can hear their little voices as I look through these pictures. I know it’s cliche to say that “they’re getting so big so fast” but it couldn’t be any more true. Much like weddings, capturing babies and children is so important to documenting your families story.  Yes, custom photography is a luxury, but it’s a timeless heirloom that you’ll have forever and ever!

Peace, Love & Little Cheeks,

April K

Erin & Dave were the first couple to hire me as a wedding photographer, on my own. Up until their wedding I had only been an associate shooter for several photographers around the Saratoga, NY region. They hired me for my very unique skill set… I could 1. take great wedding photos, but more importantly 2. I could snowboard {and take pictures at the same time!}. Yes, Erin and Dave are snowboard enthusiasts, in fact they have about 15-20 snowboards lining the walls of their house! {killer decor!}. Naturally they had a snowboarding wedding and I was just the girl for the job. I will never forget Dave and all his groomsmen bombing down the hill in their tuxedo’s and Erin gracefully carving back and forth in her wedding gown. It was a beautiful day.

I was honored when Erin contacted me to take pictures of their new family, specifically Logan. He’s a cutie with a character! Dave already has set up a backyard snow park for him, I can’t wait to see this little guy tear it up in years to come!

Peace, Love & Growing Families,

April K

Remember yesterday’s blog post about my girl, Kathryn the Event Designer? Well, besides the wonderful flowers and tablescaping, her family was celebrating her mom, Betty’s 60th birthday.

SURPRISE!

It was such a fun and happy energy that filled the room as Betty walked in and saw all of her closest friends and family there to celebrate with her.

And to top it off…as if 40 of your closest compadre’s wasn’t enough… her twin sons flew in from California to surprise her! Every mother’s dream, a beautiful family together again.

Happy 60th, Betty… (I hope I look that good when I’m 60!)

Peace, Love & Surprises,

April K

Meet Event Designer, Kathryn Yee.

(Below with her Dad)

This tablescaping & flower design mastermind was the influence behind the flowers & tablescaping at my wedding AND the visionary behind Kathryn Yee Design.

What is tablescaping you ask?

Tablescaping is the aesthetic layout of a table (usually weddings or parties) including the centerpiece, color of linen, napkin folds, china and flatware, etc. This has become an ever growing wedding trend around New England and beyond.

When I was planning my wedding I was really concerned with flowers and how the centerpieces were going to look… yes I know, I didn’t even have invitations picked out and all I could think about was centerpieces. I was scouring every wedding blog and pinterest and I had the general idea of how I wanted it to look. I met with one florist who just didn’t get it, I was so frustrated. After meeting with Kathryn and explaining what look I was going for,  she cleaned up my idea and added the extra details it needed.  Kathryn has the gift of visualizing extravagant and beautiful arrangements that will liven up even the most mundane situations. I highly recommend her for any wedding or event.

Here are some detail shots of the surprise party she planned for her mother, Betty at the Harvest in Cambridge, MA. From colorful invites to soft yet vibrant flowers to flags and cupcakes… she covered everything!

Peace, Love and all things Visually Delicious!

April K

Many of my brides have been asking me who I’m using as my wedding vendors and I’m here to share! First of all, let me clarify that I will not put up with bad customer service (there is just no reason for it) so all of my recommendations are HIGHLY recommended.

If you didn’t know, we decided to move our wedding date up 9 months to January 28th, 2012 (original date: September 29th, 2012). Why? you ask… Why not? I was sick of waiting and decided that since Justin and I met in the winter and got engaged the winter after meeting, that it’s only fitting to have a Winter Wonderland Wedding!

(Below: Our first picture together on the ski trip where we first met… yes… we didn’t know each other… or did we!? hehe)

When I was searching for invitations I wanted something that represented our personality as a couple, not just words. What did we like to do together? SKI & SNOWBOARD of course.

I checked out Wedding Paper Divas and the Paper Source for inspiration. I browsed the web everyday looking for the perfect invite and while I found some pretty neat invites, nothing spoke to me. I then began my search on Etsy and it wasn’t long before I found Loo Bird Press. I emailed the owner, Katy, expressing interest, but letting her know that invites had to go out ASAP because I just moved the date up. “Not a problem” Katy replied and worked to get me the finished product within a week. She was so easy to work with and provided a great end product that really shows our vibe.

Since the invites had to go out before our food tasting, we had to put the bare minimum food description!

I love stamps…and snowflakes!

What did I learn from the invitation process?

1. You should really hire a calligrapher or someone with exceptional handwriting. Since I was in a rush, my mother&sister-in-law helped me, and while we did an OK job with the tools we had, I would really recommend a professional or a printer!

2. Make sure you proof read your invites 10 times, at least! There is nothing worse than spelling your own last name wrong on your wedding invite!

3. I found it helpful to research different Typography to get a sense of what style appeals to you and what look you’re going for.

4. MAKE SURE YOU PUT POSTAGE ON THE RETURN ENVELOPE!!! Talk about embarrassing, Justin and I had a bit of miscommunication and our invites got mailed out with no return postage!!! Mortified, I emailed all of my friends and family letting them know I wasn’t being cheap and that we made a mistake. Luckily they’re the greatest people I know and everyone laughed and totally understood.

Learn from my mistakes

Unfortunately we were limited on the number of invites but if I could invite you all I would!

Peace, Love & Photography xo

I often get asked the question “what are you like at a wedding?” Besides the fact that you can’t wipe the smile off my face and that I LOVE my job, I’m vivacious, jubilant and love to capture your energy and spirit.

My theory is, you can never look bad when you’re having fun and I can pretty much always make you look good!

Here is a little home video Justin took while I was shooting Aaron & Alycia’s wedding.

As a photographer of love, my main goal is to capture the spirit of a couple and the love they that they share.

With Al & Sarin this was no challenge at all, they are such warm hearted people {clearly}. They are light spirited and within one conversation with them I could tell they enjoy life as much as each other (note: yes they are actually rolling around in the grass in their fancy clothes = LOVE!).

{Passionate. Happy. Fun. Classy. Chill.} These are the immediate words that come to mind when I think of Al & Sarin.

I always make sure my clients are happy and having fun when I’m documenting their moments together, but this time was different… I didn’t need to entertain or loosen them up. I asked them before hand to pretend they are on a date and to ignore me as much as they could! Clearly this was no problem for them and I captured some truly beautiful moments.