Real Maine Weddings features Riley Photographic

Have a look at the Real Maine Weddings blog.  We have been featured, and are very excited.

 

Victoria and Sean at The Inn on Peaks

Victoria and Sean were married last weekend at The Inn on Peaks Island.  When you choose to get married in the middle of January in Maine, on an island, you’ve got to have a love of both winter and more importantly a love of the coast in winter.  That combination can prove to be both raw and unforgiving.  For this couple it was the perfect day.  The weather gave us a slow flurry of snowflakes and a gentle west wind all day.  The ride out on the ferry in the morning had an intense and mystical sort of feel to it. In many ways it set the tone for the entire day.  The snow never amounted to anything of significance, but gave us just enough to cover everything in a beautiful white blanket.   Inside the inn was a different story.  The day was full of the warmth of friends and family and of course the love and excitement between these two.  An elegant and simple ceremony joined them and they spent the rest of the evening enjoying the tasty delights of the inn, dancing, and toasting to the beginning of their new life together.   A huge congratulation to Sean and Victoria!  Enjoy your time in Hawaii!!Okay Friends and Family, here is your chance to hook this couple up!!  Leave a comment on the blog about how awesome they are or how much fun you had at the wedding.  If they get 30 comments by next Wednesday I’ll send them an 11×14 enlargement of my favorite image from the wedding day.

Katie and Darren at Grace Restaraunt, Portland Maine

Katie and Darren kicked off 2012 in probably the best way possible – they got hitched at Grace Restaurant in Portland Maine.   It was a fantastic night with all of their family, and best friends surrounding them.  New Years eve is usually a lot of hype for not a lot of fun – not for these two.  For eternity they will have more than enough reason to make the turn of the new year something to celebrate!!  Congratulations to you both.  I had a lot of fun and was super excited to spend New Years Eve capturing a fantastic wedding and a great party!!

Okay friends and family – show them your love!!!  Comment on the post, tell them how much you love them, how much fun you had, and wish them luck on a life of fun and happiness.  If they get 25 comments before next Wednesday I’ll send them a free 11×14 of my favorit image from the wedding.  Show ‘em some love!!!!!!

 

Jake and Elise’s Engagement session

Last week I spent some time with this very cool couple at one of my favorite spot near the coast. We had some fun, laughed a little and got some adorable photos of the two of them. I’m super psyched for their wedding next summer!!

Comment Contest: Here’s the time when all you friends of Jake and Elise get to send them a little love!! Post a comment about them, or what they mean to you. If they get to 25 comments by Friday I’ll send them an 11×14 of my favorite image from the session.

Jess, Damon, McKinley, and ???

Last week I spent an hour or so with one of my favorite customers of all time. Jess and Damon got married back in 09 and they are one of my customers that has made good use of their lifetime portrait credit. It’s a lot of fun to spend time with them every 6 months or so and see how their family and lives are evolving. Here are just a few from our session together. Thanks guys – always fun to hang out with you.

Jason and Lisa. Boston Commons Engagement session.

A couple weeks back I ventured down to the big city to meet with Lisa and Jason. I like Boston a lot, I however despise driving in Boston and the fact that there was a major movie production going on downtown with just about 1/2 of all the streets shut down in the center of town only added to my driving angst. After managing to pick my way through the chaos I was lucky to get a great parking spot and find Jason and Lisa. They were pretty chill and quickly defused my driving anxiety. Lisa was excited, Jason was a bit suspicious. We kept it light, we kept it fun. We laughed a little, we talked about life, I made corny jokes, and got them to laugh at how dorky I can be. Hey… whatever it takes!! After about 25 minutes the camera became an after thought and we had some fun. We even got a handful of fun photos. Thanks guys – can’t wait for the wedding!

Comment Contest: Okay folks here’s the deal. Add a comment to the blog post. Say something about how cool these guys are, what your connection to them is, or how excited you are for their wedding… whatever.. put it out there. If they get 25 comments before Friday I’ll send them a free 11×14 of my favorite image from our session. Show these guys some love!!!

Finn and Loryn. Boothbay Harbor, Maine

This wedding season was really wonderful for a lot of different reasons. One of those was that it seemed to be the year that I got to shoot weddings for people that I have known for a long time. Each one of these was unique and special in its own way, and each was incredibly different from the others. One of the things that people ask me often about my job is if I get tired of the same thing every weekend. It’s funny and many won’t believe me, but when you get past some obvious similarities between all weddings each is quite different and rather unique. That is what keeps it fun, engaging and exciting. Add to that a group of people that I’ve known for many years and with whom I’ve transitioned from the carefree days of post-college to full-blown adulthood, and you’ve got a recipe for a great deal of fun. I’ve known Loryn for about 12 years. I can’t remember the first time we actually met, but what I do remember was the countless hours spent in a certain kitchen eating really good food(that she made!) and talking about all of the ups and downs of our lives. When I met Finn I’ll never forget one of my first conversations with him. We were doing the get to know you conversation and I asked him what he did in life. “I support Loryn” was his answer. It was a perfect answer and it spoke volumes about his character. Finn is full of life, full of love for those around him and loves adventure, the outdoors, and most importantly Loryn.
Loryn is gifted in the kitchen and made the cake for my wedding, so it was especially cool for me when she called with the news of her engagement and asked if I would shoot her wedding. I was honored to be asked. When the wedding day came it brought with it some classic Maine weather. We woke to rain and gray skies and although the rain eventually gave us a break, the clouds and fog hung low throughout the day. When I showed up in the morning I wasn’t sure what to expect and was anxious about how the weather would affect the energy of the day. My fears were for nothing; Loryn couldn’t have cared less and was determined to have a perfect wedding day. She did. She married the perfect man for her. They exchanged very unique vows in a service officiated by a dear friend, in a tiny little stone church so close to the ocean that the waves often lap the road during high tide. They listened to sage advice from a few elder members of the community. They exchanged handmade wedding rings and began this new phase of life with a kiss. The party that followed was full of the things most important to them; great people, elegant food, good wine and lots of cheer. Thanks so much Finn and Loryn for asking me to capture your day. Congratulations!!

Comment Contest: Okay friends of Loryn and Finn’s, here’s your chance to show them a little more love. Post a comment about how awesome these two are. If they get 25 comments in the next couple of days I’ll send them something special as a thank you for being such cool people!!

Chelsea and Dylan’s Engagement session

One of the things we offer for all of our customers is an engagement session. Not everyone has the ability(due to location) to take advantage of the offer, but for those that can make the trek up to Portland or Augusta for a few hours it always proves to be a lot of fun. This particular session had some special meaning because I have known Chelsea since she was about 13 years old. At 13 she was a cute kid that I saw on the ski mountain every weekend as she was tearing around on her snowboard. Between her and her sisters they were no shortage of teenage girl energy when they were around; I always had a lot of fun bantering with them and watching them grow up. Fast forward 13 years and she has grown into an accomplished woman with a great legal career ahead of her and she’s found a great guy to spend the rest of her life with. I had a lot of fun with these two last Friday and I’m excited for their wedding at Point Lookout next summer!!

Comment Contest for all their friends and family: Post a comment about these guys and if they get 25 before the end of the day on Wednesday I’ll send them an 11×14 of my favorite image from the session. Come on you guys – show these two some love :)

Jenna and Brian at the Church Landing, Mills Falls NH

Once again I find myself behind on my blogging and for that matter on many things on my to do list. I think that it is the nature of the time of year; everything comes to a head in the fall. Alas I could not let another minute elapse without sharing a few images from a most spectacular wedding. Jenna and Brian are pretty cool individuals. They are straight forward, honest, humble and very warm people to be around. We did our engagement session last fall and had a blast together. I love having a great engagement session with a couple; it makes the excitement for the wedding day that much greater. After spending a weekend with their parents and friends I understood a lot more about how they came to be who they are; they have wonderful families! They both also have great tastes and put together a wedding celebration to be remembered. Church Landing is one of those building that you would think has been around for centuries. It has that kind of old New England charm that you don’t find very often anymore. It sits on the shores of Lake Winnepasauke, yet tucked into a nice little bay and has a distinct feeeling of intimacy. The rooms are decorated with exquisite New England decor and are adorned with lots of bare aged wood, hand hewn bed frames, and old school shaker furniture. The wedding day was perfection! Blue skies, puffy clouds, a Sperry Tent, a fantastic band, wonderful food, and a crew of friends/family that wanted to have a lot of fun. The crew at the Church Landing was also a pleasure to work with. This is my second wedding at The Inn & Spa at Mills Falls and Stacey and her team attend to every detail with precision, courtesy and a smile. They do a fantastic job and it’s a great place to have a wedding.


Thanks Jenna and Brian!! It was a great day and I was honored to be there to capture it.

Comment Contest: If Brian and Jenna’s friends accumulate 25 comments about this awesome couple on the blog before the end of the weekend I’ll give them an 11×14 enlargement of my favorite image from the day! Come on friends and family – give this couple some love :)

Caitlin and Rob at the Union Bluff Hotel

Rob and Caitlin were married on the coat-tails of Hurricane Katia at ST. Ann’s in Kennebunk. The reception was at the Union Bluff Hotel overlooking Short Sands Beach. This wedding was all about being in close proximity to the ocean. In the days leading up to the wedding the coast was blanketed by rain and was awash with large surf. I know this because on the day before their wedding I was enjoying the swells brought to us by the storm and hoping that the hurricane would move out to sea the next day and grace us with the kind of post-storm weather that we often get this time of year. They were very fortunate and the storm took the perfect track to the Maritimes. Their wedding day was graced with cyrstal clear skies, deep blues, and light winds out of the north. That the ocean was still active seemed rather salient and appropriate for these two; Caitlin holds a degree in Marine Biology and Rob is a career Coast Guard man. Clearly these two have a connection to all things oceanic. With boats sailing by in the background and surfers enjoying the waves at the nearby beach they exchanged vows in front of an intimate group of close friends and family. The reception at the Union Bluff elegant, and the food was fantastic.

Rob and Caitlin were a lot of fun and I enjoyed my time with them and their families. Thanks to you both for having me there to capture the day!

COMMENT CONTEST: If they get 25 comments on their blog entry from friends and family before the end of the weekend I’ll send them a free 11×14 print from the wedding day. Come all you wedding guests – show a little love for this awesome couple! :)