The Witzkes

“Of course life has changed since Alivia was born, and it has been for the best. Before Alivia was born our lives seemed so busy sometimes we would forget to stop and spend time doing things together. Now, we’re even busier, but always find time for the three of us. This summer we spent evenings and days off riding bikes to the beach and to the park, swimming in the pool and just playing outside. We absolutely love every second we can spend time together.”

I met up with the Witzkes a few weeks ago in the magical flower patch below for a few shots of this beautiful family. Her father isn’t kidding when he talks about his little girl, she is absolutely adorable!

jessie + robbie

“Five minutes that I would like to relive are when Robbie and I were finally able to sit down and eat. We just looked at each other and all of our family and friends and felt so grateful. I also remember thinking to myself, ‘Wow, I can’t believe we did it and I pulled off all of this planning.'”

I got the opportunity to photograph this extremely fun and gorgeous wedding that Jessie put together (with some help, of course) and it couldn’t have gone more perfectly. The food, the decorations, and the location was stunning. I’m so happy I could be a part of this day and am so excited to finally share some highlights below!

 

bridget + donovan

 

“You know how when you hit a certain age you seem to forget how to be completely carefree?  It’s almost like as adults we have to set time aside to be spontaneous.  Once I had Donovan any hope of having a regimented schedule in my life went completely out the window and I have been grateful for that change every day. Of course there are things like work and day care, but on our down time together we live on his schedule. Being on his schedule has made me find that last bit of childhood that was buried deep down in me I wish I had never put away.

This summer D and I have watched more sunsets, thrown more stones in the bay, smelled more flowers, blown more dandelions and had more races through the park than I have in the past ten years…”

Scroll below to see some highlights of Bridget and her ridiculously adorable son, Donovan, from our day hanging out on the beach.

 

 

jill + pete

“From the moment I woke up that morning I felt calm and full of joy; the day was perfect.  I was never nervous, just excited to see Pete standing at the end of the aisle. I remember pulling up outside of The Pridwin and seeing all of our family and friends waiting to see us get married – that’s when the butterflies started (the same ones I got when I first met Pete). I was getting ready to walk down the aisle with my dad when I took a deep breath in hopes not to cry.  He said, “You ok?” I replied with an overly confident ‘Yea, I got this.’  As the music started I walked more confident than ever down the aisle, knowing my best friend and love of my life was at the end.  The song choice, “I can’t help falling in love with you”, couldn’t have better expressed how I felt as I was walking.  I got to Pete and he quietly whispered, “We forgot the rings.”  All I could do was laugh, as I saw my friend Ike running towards us, ring box in hand.  It gave me a few extra minutes to savor the most perfect moment.  After we said “I do”, I grabbed Pete’s hand, threw it up in the air, and gave a game day yell.”

Scroll below to see some highlights from Jill and Pete’s wedding!

christina + adam

Christina reached out to me when I was living in Italy this past spring. When I told her I unfortunately wasn’t available, she ended up rescheduling her shoot so that I could do it. Christina, Adam, and I met up for a cocktail a few weeks before the shoot to get to know each other and I immediately got the feeling we could all be friends. Christina was one of three sisters, like myself, and Adam had also lost his mother. Three sips into my Spicy Pineapple Agave Rita, I knew I liked these two and was extremely grateful Christina had gone through the effort to ensure I be the one to capture some of the love these two have for each other.

The morning of our shoot Christina shot me a message that our time slot at Citi Field (which we had thought was 12-1) was actually 11 -12. In a state of panic I grabbed my camera and jumped in the car within seconds of receiving her message, knowing how important this location was to the two of them. It was where they had met, and where, on the Shea Bridge, Christina offered Adam a french fry. And now, many more games and fries later, they were celebrating their engagement. Despite the rough and rushed start to the day, this ended up being one of my favorite shoots to date! I parked and jumped into their car at the Ronkonkoma train station and we drove the next thirty minutes to Citi Field together. We got to walk all around the stadium and even around the diamond. It was extremely exciting, even for a girl who isn’t the biggest sports follower. After we left Citi Field we headed over to The Meetball Place for one of the most delicious lunches I’ve had in a while, and then finished up with a few photos on the beach. It ended up being, despite its start, the perfect day. Enjoy some highlights of these two lovebirds below!

 

 

 

candice + mike

“It’s hard to tell you why Candice is the girl for me. It’s not just one thing that made me fall in love with her. It is a combination of 100 little things that she does when we are together that keeps us going. First off, she is normal. That’s extremely important. She cares. She puts others first before herself. She also always puts my food in the microwave before her own…”

I told Candice and Mike to meet me at Fifth Street beach in Greenport, NY for our shoot and shortly after suggesting the location found out it was actually where Mike had asked Candice out for the first time! These two are the sweetest and I am so excited to be able to come back to NY this coming April and document them celebrate what I know is going to be such a beautiful marriage!

 

amanda + chris

“My mom had this little tradition when we were little. At Christmas we would get to open one present on Christmas Eve. Then the craziness of Christmas Day would follow the next morning, running from one house to another, fitting in both parents and multiple sets of grandparents. But the best part of Christmas was Christmas night. After the busy day wound down and everything was quiet again my mom would come tuck me into bed with one last gift to open. This wasn’t my favorite moment because of the gift but because of the quiet time I got to spend with my mom alone, just the two of us. She wasn’t distracted by all she had to do or the things she had to plan. Her focus was on me and we would talk about what our favorite part of the days had been. I never told her that that was my favorite part. I am not sure she ever knew how much I treasured that time with her.”

“My dad was always there for me. I dated a guy once who was a hockey goalie at UCONN and I wanted to go see one of his games. My mom wouldn’t let me drive that far by myself so my dad drove me all the way to see the game and we sat and watched it together. Anytime I needed a ride somewhere my dad was there. I was living in southern Connecticut at one point and driving home to western Massachusetts. My car had started acting weird so I had to pull over on the side of the highway. The car was shaking and sputtering and I didn’t know what to do. I called my dad and he drove two hours to come get me, of course by the time he got to me my car was working fine but just in case he drove my car all the way back to Massachusetts and I followed him in his car. I could always count on him to be there. He was my “rock” in so many ways.”

“One of my many favorite memories of my mom was a time we went snow tubing. It was right after a big snowfall, maybe four feet. We didn’t have many hills in our yard but I was determined to go “sledding” so I grabbed some inflatable tubes and geared up in my snow gear and dragged my mom and sister outside. I found one spot on the side of our yard that had a short steep hill. Since I was the bravest of the 3 of us, I went first. And since it was fresh fluffy snow I ended up with snow in my face and snow all inside my jacket we all erupted in fits of laughter. When it was my mom’s turn she screamed the whole way down the two second ride down the very tiny hill and fell off her tube at the bottom. The episode threw us all in to fits of laughter again. We went up and down that little hill for what seemed like hours until we were so cold that we couldn’t feel our fingers and toes anymore. But that moment will stick with me forever because I can always play it back in my head and hear my mom laughing and see that huge smile on her face. She had the most wonderful laugh.”

“It’s hard to put into words how I knew Chris was the one. It was a feeling. I just knew. There was this comfort I felt with him almost immediately. He makes me feel safe. He makes me smile and laugh and feel truly loved. He challenges and supports me.When I lost my dad I felt like I had lost the only stability in my life but I found that same stability again in Chris. I am sad that my parents never had the chance to meet him, but I know they would have loved him…”

kristin + jason

“Jason and I met during our junior year of high school. Two of our mutual friends introduced us and we quickly became friends. After a few months of hanging out, we went on our first real date to Build a Bear and I remember he kept me laughing the whole day. I still have the bear sitting in our guest bedroom and it makes me smile every time I see it. During our first year of dating I remember Jason telling me he was going to marry me one day and I thought he was crazy…”

Ten years later, here we are! These two tied the knot at CowFish in Hampton Bays this past June and it was absolutely beautiful! Enjoy some of the highlights below of a few of my favorite moments!

morgan + cj

“I can’t wait for our wedding because that is the day I officially become Mrs. Morgan Kate Gevinski. It is the day we exchange vows to each other in front of everyone we love and care about and our life together officially begins. A day two families become one.”

I met up with Morgan and Cj for the first time a few weeks ago in Orient at the Nature Preserve. One of my favorite moments was when Cj commented on how beautiful Morgan looked. Morgan told me she never dresses up like she was at the time, so it was like a treat. It reminded me why I love doing engagement shoots – they are perfect excuses to dress up for each other. They can also provide a quick and necessary pause from all of the stress that might be involved in a wedding to take some time to just be in love and remember what your wedding day is really about.

Enjoy some highlights below of these two lovebirds!

 

 

 

leah + mike

“I was working at Founders Tavern while finishing up my master’s degree and Michael started coming in for lunch now and again when his work was slowing down in late fall. He was always polite but shy and I was usually busy so we never really had any in-depth conversations. Months passed until one busy Friday night in February when I was working and all of a sudden there he was! He looked so handsome but was with a woman so I deemed him unavailable and continued on with my night. I was so busy running around the restaurant when I barreled out of the kitchen into the bar room and I tripped and fell right into Michael! I was so embarrassed he basically had to catch me, but he played it off just fine. In that moment he finally introduced himself to me and to the woman he was with – his cousin, Anna. We talked and joked each free second I had that night and planned to meet up again soon. Life and my teacher certification exams quickly got in the way and I fell off the map. Michael kept in touch though, offering a kind word or a reminder that he really wanted to see me again. After I finally submitted my practical in April, I decided to give it a shot and said yes to a date. This guy had actually waited for me! When we finally went on our first date at Cowfish in Hampton Bays, I was just so excited to get to know him. Right from the beginning he made me feel so comfortable. It was such a freeing feeling to just be my passionate, glittery self and have someone appreciate and enjoy my company as much as I enjoyed his. He was so quiet but interested in every aspect of my life. As the night went on, Michael surprised me with tickets to a Yankees game! We had talked about our mutual love for baseball and football in a text and he just took it and ran! After that date we were inseparable. I remember coming home after doing a tasting at Sparkling Pointe with him and actually crying to my mom about how much I liked him. I was just completely overwhelmed by the feeling and I haven’t stopped smiling since then.”

I met up with Leah and Mike a few weeks ago at one of their favorite spots in Jamesport. Moose, their dog, joined us for a few of the shots before we popped open some champagne and finished our shoot with a beautiful sunset. Scroll below to enjoy some of the highlights!