Tag: Wedding Photographer

Categories
Weddings

Kaitlyn + Doug’s Alpaca Wedding

Kaitlyn and Doug’s wedding sparked a tsunami of creative fireworks in my heart. I mean it was an ALPACA wedding! Alpacas everywhere. You can’t top that. Baby alpacas, giant alpacas, and one insatiably curious alpaca that is near and dear to my heart now and kept photobombing their wedding photos with an open mouth full of grass.

From a wedding photojournalism perspective this was as inspiring as it can get for me. The bride even got to hold a baby alpaca named Speedy for their wedding portraits. That’s normal. In fact, I want this to be my new normal, shooting weddings at the Vermont Wedding Barn at Champlain Valley Alpacas in Bridport, Vermont.  I think Kaitlyn has a natural alpaca mothering aura because Speedy hung around in her arms for a really long time and gave me tons of time to take photos.

It also helped that Kaitlyn and Doug are one of the sweetest couples I’ve met, super easy-going, full of fun and laughter. Their families and friends were all cut from that same cloth. Doug, who is a native Vermonter, moved to San Francisco on a whim where he immediately met Kaitlyn at work who hails from the Los Angeles area. The two now live in VT.

They had this amazing outdoor ceremony that completely teased them with rain. The drops started to come down right as Doug was walking down the aisle. It really seemed like the sky was going to open up and you could see the look in everyone’s eyes. And then suddenly it all just stopped and they had a completely gorgeous ceremony complete with dramatic clouds. At the end of their ceremony the alpacas escaped as they were walking down the aisle and raced along the road with them as they processioned onto the reception area. These alpacas were very mischievous that day and that was such a treat. I loved everything about this exciting, inspiring and quirky free-spirited farm wedding in Vermont.

Kaitlyn and Doug, thank you so much for having me come along for the adventure!

Wedding Photographer: Cat Cutillo Photography & Video
Wedding Venue: Vermont Wedding Barn at Champlain Valley Alpacas

Officiant: Patrick Leene
Catering: Southern Smoke BBQ
DJ: Two Sev (Jamie MacLeish)
Rings: Connie Coleman (Alchemy Jewelry Arts Gallery)
Flowers: Joint effort with friends
Cake: Pratt’s Store
Cake Topper: Etsy SugarBlushStudio
Bridesmaids dresses: JJ’s House
Wedding Dress: Mother’s wedding gown altered by Evelyn Grant of Fine Threads, Anthropologie topper
Groom’s attire: TheBlackTux.com
Groomsmen attire: TheBlackTux.com

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Categories
engagement

Kristen + Kevin’s Apple Picking Autumn Engagement Photography

I can’t believe I get to photograph the wedding of these two fun-loving people tomorrow at Saltash Farm in Shrewsbury, Vermont. It seems like just yesterday I met Kristen and Kevin for their fall engagement photography at Shelburne Farms and Shelburne Orchards. What an incredible time we had picking apples and using the cider donuts as a ring prop. They hit the absolute peak foliage in Vermont for their engagement shoot. I especially loved the backdrop at Shelburne Museum that we swung by to capture color. This couple is full of so much love and smiles, I know their fall wedding in Vermont tomorrow is going to be perfect.

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Categories
Weddings

Julie + Dave’s Backyard Vermont Wedding

Julie and Dave’s backyard wedding in East Dorset, VT, was the stuff that dreams are made of. Their wedding was such a pure reminder for me of why I became a wedding photographer and what a life-changing experience it is every time I get lucky enough to witness and document a couple’s journey. Julie and Dave are naturally unforgettable people and their wedding was a reflection of that. It was full of glowing light, rustic orchards, hand-made hearts, a rope swing, yellow fields and views, views, views expanding in every direction. There was magic and inspiration everywhere. I was struck by how beautiful and authentic Julie and Dave were throughout their day and how much love surrounded them.

Everything about their wedding had so much depth, history and meaning and at the same time was full of regrowth, rebirth and excitement for an unchartered future. Julie’s dress was a recreation of her grandmother’s original wedding dress that her friend (a professional seamstress) worked with her to reimagine. Their rings were passed down from their families, the metal melted, and recreated and given new life for their futures. Friends came forward during the end of their ceremony to sing Julie and Dave down the aisle. And each table went up to the microphone before dinner to say a poem, sing a song or choreograph a dance performance. It was unlike any other wedding I’ve ever photographed. The entire concept of what it means to have a wedding was reimagined and new life was breathed into that. In fact, this day was Act II of a three-act wedding. Act I had already taken place near Sacramento, where Julie hails from, and Act III was planned for Boulder, where Dave grew up.

When we met last spring, they told me how they wanted their wedding day to be about their friends, their family, their community, and that is exactly what their day was, a beautiful moment in time that brought me back to my own photojournalism roots and reminded me how fleeting and gorgeous one moment can really be. Thank you so much, Julie and Dave, for picking me as your photographer. I will never forget how authentic and beautiful your day was and how much of an impression it has left me with.

 

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Categories
Weddings

Basin Harbor Club Wedding, Smooth Like Water

Torrey and Colin planned their wedding at Basin Harbor Club in Vergennes, Vermont, from their new life on the west coast. As two east coast transplants, they loved the idea of having a wedding in Colin’s native Vermont. The week leading up to their wedding, the weather forecast looked like it would be non-stop rain. But when I looked at the forecast on the morning of their wedding, it looked like we were going to dodge that rain. Minutes after I said, ‘Wow, we really got lucky with the weather,’ a crack of thunder erupted and the sky opened up. This coincided with Colin standing on the dock waiting for their first look. Luckily (and miraculously) Colin stayed dry and the wedding plans shifted. We decided to have the first look at the main lodge instead under that gorgeous green vine. As Georgi, from Basin Harbor, was driving Torrey over to the main lodge from the cottage, where she got ready, he said, “When you have rain like this on your wedding day it means your marriage will be smooth like water.” I absolutely loved the way Georgi put it. Their outdoor ceremony was moved inside, but halfway through the ceremony the sun started pouring in and by the end of the ceremony, they had a gorgeous day and were able to stay with their original plans to celebrate under the tent near the docks. The day was filled with so much love and music. Colin’s dad, a professional musician, performed during both their ceremony and reception. And Torrey’s sister and father also hit the stage, where Torrey’s sister delivered one of the all-time best (possibly only) speeches-by-song I’ve ever heard. Congratulations Torrey and Colin! It was an amazing, beautiful, and definitely exciting day–I’m so glad I got to capture it! And as Georgi says, it marks the beginning of a marriage that will no doubt be smooth like water!

Categories
Weddings

Michelle & Jimmy Elope in Vermont: Basin Harbor Club Vermont Wedding Photographer

A heatwave hit Vermont during the week of July 4th this year, but that was nothing for Michelle and Jimmy, two Texas natives who eloped in VT on July 5th at the Basin Harbor Club. Michelle wore a lemon-love wedding dress that was straight out of a color-on-color sunshine dream come true for me. She sent photos of the dress to Basin Harbor Club’s floral design team ahead of time so they could create the perfect bouquet to match. This will go down as one of my all-time favorite wedding dresses. Michelle’s son and their parents were part of their intimate ceremony in the gardens at Basin Harbor officiated by Pat Johnson. After the ceremony we headed to the dock to take some portraits against the magical, sparkly blue backdrop of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. Then we zipped up the hill in the golf cart to capture photos against that gorgeous green vine and gardens. Wandering through the garden, we found the perfect yellow flower to capture some close-up macro lens moments of their rings too. While we were doing this, Jimmy told the best story about how he carried the ring around in his shoe all day waiting to propose to Michelle while they were traveling in Colorado. What a perfect day you had, Michelle and Jimmy! I loved getting to meet you two and your family. Thank you so much for letting me capture your wedding story!