Thanksgiving at Hidden Villa Farm

I have no doubt that I was in good company yesterday: absolutely stuffed!

I went to Hidden Villa Farm with Coye and Julie to spend Thanksgiving with Andrew, Julia, Becca, and Lorena.

We had a fabulous evening of fantastic food, frisbeeing, farm animals, and conversation (sorry, just couldn't keep the alliteration going).

Here's a taste of yesterday!











With the amount of food we brought, you'd think we were feeding an army. I'll just try to list the made-from-scratch dishes we had for seven people: brie/blue cheese and crackers, deviled eggs, spinach artichoke dip, turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, green beans with lemon vinaigrette and parmesan breadcrumbs, sweet potato shuffle, salted baked kale, sloppy janes, cauliflower with brown butter, pears, sage, and hazelnuts, and spiced apple cider. And that was only dinner. Somehow we managed to collect 5 different desserts: apple cranberry pie, chocolate chess pie, fudge covered brownies, butternut squash pie and some delicious pumpkin pie with ginger crust and a meringue topping (that took 9 eggs and almost ruined Thanksgiving).







Hope your Thanksgiving was as tasty and delicious as mine!

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
Harriet van Horne

Betsy & Mitch: A Halloween Wedding in New England

Betsy and Mitch's wedding was the kind many wish they could have. It was perfectly intimate and devoid of pomp and circumstance. It was more like a festive family get-together that just happened to be celebrating a very beautiful bride and groom.

Betsy and Mitch married on Halloween in Betsy's family's stunning New England backyard. There are so many details to talk about but I'll try to let the pictures do the explaining…


As I mentioned, it was Halloween and the hair stylists at Betsy's salon were dressed up for the occasion. Betsy had her hair done by the notorious Cruella deVil while "Freshman Fifteen" cut hair close by.


I just loved Betsy's gown from April Rose in Guilford. It was a beautiful halter neck lace number with a café colored velvet ribbon and a brown and yellow gemstone brooch.



As you can see, Betsy is gorgeous. She has oodles of freckles that I just love.


We took time before the guests arrive to take some pictures of them by the lake. I'm still amazed by the colors. Everything was so vibrant and wonderful.





The back yard slopes down to a beautiful lake. I have forgotten to mention that the rehearsal dinner was spent carving pumpkins to serve as decoration for the wedding day. So there were 15 pumpkins lining the walk down to the ceremony site. Betsy's aunt arranged the flowers in the white pumpkins that stood near the stalks flanking the couple. Guests sat on bales of hay. The colors, the weather, the setting, everything came together so perfectly and looked utterly spectacular.



Betsy and Mitch had basically eloped a few months earlier and took the day to say their vows in front of their closest family members. Rather than a bouquet, Betsy and Mitch came down the aisle carrying cattails and roses which they handed out to the men and women in attendance.



They toasted with hot spiced cider and ate barbequed shrimp, steak, and veggies. They had decorated the wall with old pictures from both families.




One of the wedding gifts was a scrapbook with all of the old family pictures inside. Everyone was encouraged to write notes about the people in each picture. What better way to pass down family history? There was plenty of room for Betsy and Mitch to continue with their own pictures.


Rather than the traditional cake, Betsy and Mitch shared pie with each other. They had three different pies with plenty of ice cream and whipped cream.


It was such a lovely wedding day. There was such a strong sense of family that day and I was so honored to be a part (as the only non-family member) of the celebration. I really felt completely included and just like another family member. Both families (now one!) are so loving.

Thank you to all of you and congratulations, Betsy and Mitch! All the best from here on out!

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true
Rascal Flatts "Bless the Broken Road"

PCPhoto Contest Entry

I've entered another contest and this time the winner is chosen by the general public. The grand prize winner will get some goodies as well as having their picture be published in the March/April 2009 issue of PCPhoto Magazine. There were over 3000 submissions narrowed down to 100. Strangely enough, that same picture of Emma ("Little Dog Blue") was chosen as a top 100 contender. This is the full version of the picture, by the way.

If you have a second, vote for my picture in PCPhoto's This is My World Photo Contest.


Click on the image above or go here to vote for me!

Thanks,
Lindsay

Stephanie & Adam: a winery wedding in Gilroy, CA

Other photographers out there will know what I mean when I talk about client crushes. Photographing a wedding is a very intimate process and you're practically stuck on the couple all day long so it's incredibly important that they like you and you them. Some couples, however, just go above and beyond and are incredibly kind, inclusive, and accommodating to even the lowly vendors. Stephanie and Adam are one such couple. They exude warmth and are so relaxed and fun. You may remember them from our engagement session not long ago.

They had a beautifully fallsy wedding last month in Gilroy, CA at Fortino Winery.




Take a look at that sweet invitation.


Stephanie got her master's in women's studies and I thought it was beyond awesome that she had brought Bitch magazine with her that day. She and Adam had personalized Chucks for the wedding day (Stephanie changed into them after the ceremony). Hers were white and his were black. Their wedding date was stitched to the sides of the shoes.


They very wisely chose to see each other and take the formals before the ceremony.



As a wedding day gift, Stephanie gave Adam his own engraved pocketwatch.


The day was beautiful. Stephanie and Adam walked each other down the aisle. The light coming in from behind the trees was gorgeous.



We took time to wander around the grounds a bit before heading off to the reception.





The crisp oranges and browns at the reception area looked marvelous set against the red and golden vineyard behind it. Everyone chipped in to set up. The favors were designed and built by Stephanie and Adam. They featured some of the very best images from our engagement session and held little pins and a CD of their wedding songs. It looked extremely professional.



I thought the cake and flowers looked wonderful. Flowers were done by Expressions Floral Events in Gilroy (ExpressionsFloralEvents@msn.com) and each of the boutonnieres were different. The alstromerias, roses, berries, and daisies blended together so perfectly. Cake was by Edith Meyer.


Stephanie and Adam danced their first dance to "I Love How You Love Me" performed by Jonah Matranga just for them.




The rest of the night was just a blast. It got really cold once the sun set but Adam (who plays guitar for the band Desa) rocked the ipod and kept the dance floor going.





The day couldn't have gone better and I was so honored and pleased to have been a part of it. Stephanie and Adam, you rock!

I love how your eyes close
Whenever you kiss me
And when I´m away from you
I love how you miss me
I love the way you always
Treat me tenderly
But darlin´ most of all
I love how you love me
"I Love How You Love Me" written by Barry Mann & Larry Kolber

p.s. If you didn't sign up to see the pictures at the wedding, send me your email at info@lindsaydocherty.com with a note letting me know that you would like access to their images. They will be up online very soon.