Focus Photo Blog » Maine

Christa and Greg’s Wedding at the Nonantum in Kennebunkport, Maine

Will — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:32:58 +0000

Already this year, we’ve shot some amazing weddings, but on May 2nd, we had the most incredible wedding at the Nonantum. Christa Stetson and Greg Silva, both of whom work in the wedding and hospitality business at the York Harbor Inn, had a gorgeous wedding at the Nonantum. The weather was beautiful, warm, and sunny; the staff and service at the Nonantum were at the top of their game (amazing for so early in the season); and Christa and Greg had chosen an all-star lineup of wedding vendors, including Let Them Eat Cake, Brenda’s Bloomers, Fred Pappalardo as DJ, and the whole entourage from Focus (Lucia and I were joined by Chet and Amanda).

Here are a few of my favorite images from this amazing wedding:

Christa, the bridal party, and her parents waiting in the bar before the ceremony.

Greg and all the guys before the ceremony

Christa with her father, Mark Stetson, minutes before walking down the aisle.

The four images below best demonstrate the emotions leading up to this ceremony:
She’s Crying, She’s Pensive, She’s Laughing – all in just a few steps

Hey, real men cry at weddings, what can I tell you?

This is a shot of the cocktail party, for those of you that missed it because you were with me….

If you haven’t been to the Nonantum before, this is the back end of their property, just in front of the docks. The shot above was taken
at about 7:15 – just before the sun dipped out of the sky altogether.

The Entire Bridal Party: First, you should know how incredible nervous I was about the weight distribution on the dock.
Can you see how bowed it is in the center? I was certain we were going to lose one of the ushers at any moment,
but after bringing everyone down the ramp to the docks, no one was leaving until we had the shot.

I think it was worth it.

Here’s the same location, with just the bride and groom. My favorite image from this wedding:

Thanks for looking. I’ll post some more of the images here in a slide show for you to enjoy soon. In the meantime, here are the links to some of the amazing vendors that made Christa and Greg’s wedding possible:

The Nonantum Resort – Contact Tim or Dawn

Let Them Eat Cake – Gayle Forte

Brenda’s Bloomers – Brenda Elwell-Taylor

Fred Pappalardo Disc Jockeys – Fred Pappalardo

and of course,

Focus Photography – Will Wenzel and Lucia Razionale – Weddings at Focus Photography

Shannon and Jon’s Wedding at Mariner’s Church in Portland, Maine

Will — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 08:43:00 +0000

Here are a few of my favorite images from this Saturday’s wedding. The church was in downtown Saco (always a favorite – it’s bright, airy, and beautiful), and the reception was at the Mariner’s Church Center in Portland.

Shannon and Jon agreed to see each other before their ceremony, so you’ll see a few images from their ‘first glance’ ceremony, and that explains why the portraits with the wedding party come before the church. Had they not agreed to see each other first, all of their formal images would have been in the dark.

And here’s the gallery:

Thanks for looking – Will.

Mandy and Ryan at the Samoset – a Maine Destination Wedding

Will — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:48:25 +0000

Destination weddings, like almost all of the weddings we shoot at the Samoset, can be bittersweet. On the one hand, we get to work with whole families that have decided to go somewhere special for a wedding, and are making a very big deal out of their wedding. This is a perfect match for us – we believe weddings are a huge deal, and we want to capture the whole production. But, people that come to Maine for a wedding from say, New Jersey, aren’t people that I’m likely to run into after their wedding, and in a lot of cases, that’s a real drag.

I only bring this up because I would love to see more of Mandy and Ryan’s life together – everything about their wedding is fascinating to me. When you look at the pictures, you’ll see the bridal parties in matching Ralph Lauren bathrobes – so they’d be comfortable before the ceremony. You’ll see a boat that was hired to motor around the harbor so it would be there in pictures. You’ll see fireworks to surprise the guests, and end the evening memorably. And you’ll see two people who love each other and their families, have an exceptional, and memorable wedding.

These are my favorites, both below and in the gallery.

And here’s the gallery. Thanks for looking.

Family Portraits at the Beach

Will — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:47:36 +0000

Family,beach

Tuesday night we worked with two families from Indiana who were in Maine on vacation. They each had a young child, and the little girl (Kari) had a crush on the boy (Nolan). When we work on the beach, we get a few family groups, then some images of your family having fun together, then some shots of the kids seperately. Here are some of the family shots.

Amy’s family:

Holly’s family:

Aren’t those great eyes??? Here’s the families together:

Thanks for looking.

Mark & Shaney at the Samoset!

Will at Focus — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:47:38 +0000

If you saw yesterday’s post, you might have caught this treat – we had two weddings on Memorial Day weekend, and they were both at the Samoset! Sunday’s wedding was with Mark and Shaney. We had worked with them both last fall on a Romantic shoot, so we knew how much fun they were, and had a pretty good idea that getting them to laugh and enjoy themselves wouldn’t be a problem. Of course, we didn’t know how much fun their families were going to be…

A great wedding – the Tony Boffa band (they’re always terrific!), cocktails outside and a plated dinner in the ballroom – everything was in place for an incredible night, and Mark and Shaney’s wedding certainly lived up to it.

Here are a few of my favorites. I’ll have the rest of the images up in a week or so, and will add the link to this post. Thanks for looking – Will

Eric & Erica at the Samoset!

Will at Focus — Sun, 25 May 2008 05:16:44 +0000

Wow, okay, here are a bunch of images I absolutely love from Eric & Erica’s wedding. First, let me tell you how awesome a day this was for me. I had never met the bride or groom before – they are out of state, and our attempts to get together over the last year always failed – and I’m really sorry that I won’t get to see them more often! Really welcoming, great family, and a terrific party all around.

Eric and Erica had agreed to see each other before the ceremony so that they could enjoy their cocktail hour with their friends, and we got awesome romantic images ahead of time. As photographers, we hate seeing our clients miss their party, and the first glance (where the groom first sees the bride in her gown) is really powerful.

Okay, here’s my favorite images. You can click the thumbs for larger images like ever other gallery in the world, and you can comment on them as well. We’ll have all their images up in a week or two – I’ll post the link here then. Have fun!

Edited to change date to date of event – Will