As much as Jesse and I love living in upstate NY, the one thing we have found to be most difficult to deal with are the winters, especially as wedding photographers. As with most photographers in this area, the wedding season tends to have considerable down time during the colder months. Knowing this, we’ve learned to prepare ourselves, allowing some time to regroup and to think of new ways to get creative for the following year. I personally tend to function poorly during the cooler temps anyways so I’ve come to really appreciate this time period more & more every year. This winter’s regrouping and creative thinking yielded some amazing results that I want to share with you, our readers!

In the back of my mind for some time now, I have had ideas brewing for organizing a styled bridal shoot. While there are in fact a few bridal shops around our area I could have collaborated with, unfortunately none had ever seemed to be the right fit for me or were just too far away. I wanted to work with someone local, someone that I really got along with and that had the same vision and style I had. Enter: True North Bridal and Katee Scoblic, the owner of this brand new amazing shop fitting this exact description!! Right in the heart of our very own Hudson sprung a new bridal boutique she opened in November 2014. Jesse & I couldn’t believe it…this was news too good to be true!!! In February we managed to schedule a meeting with Katee. I felt like a little kid in a candy store! It was amazing how beautifully she had converted this historic space on Warren Street, just minutes from our home. It was at this meeting, all of us knew something special had to be arranged. We were beyond delighted when she agreed to work with us on my vision to create an outdoor woodland/boho themed bridal shoot once Spring had sprung. It was agreed that we needed the warmer temps, plus time to coordinate the whole shoot with other local vendors in our area in an effort to showcase all the talent surrounding us.

We were over the moon with excitement how everyone we asked jumped at the opportunity to work along with us to help bring this long awaited vision to a reality! After months of planning, coordinating & putting together ideas, the day finally arrived. I have to tell you, I lost quite a bit of sleep preparing for this day. Everything had come together as expected & the weather couldn’t have been more perfect!! There are so many beautiful & amazing locations to select from, but I knew right away I wanted to do it at my sister in laws property, Owls Hoot Barn in West Coxsackie. This is an absolute ideal location for the vision I had and knew it was the place to host, no doubt. If you are looking for a barn wedding or event location in the Hudson Valley area, this is definitely worth looking into for sure!! So while the girls did their magic (Heather from Headspace Salon & Lisa of The Blush Sparrow)  with hair & makeup beautifying our bridal looks, I spent this time helping set up the tables cape & dessert buffet with the owner of the venue, Kerri along with Erin, owner of Rosery Flower Shop who provided the beautiful table centerpiece & bridal flower arrangements. I couldn’t believe how awesome it all had come together! It surpassed anything I had dreamt up in my mind. Mostly in part to the awesome pieces provided by Matt & Joanna, owners of North Country Vintage Rentals. If you are ever in need of renting anything for an upcoming wedding or event, these two more than likely have the right pieces for you. It was hard to narrow down what items to use for the shoot as they have so many wonderful treasures to select from in their shop.

Once everything had come together, it was time to start shooting…this is when I got really scared. This was the moment I had truly been anticipating…this is where the real magic was about to happen. Documenting my vision & showcasing all the amazing talent that had so willingly jumped on board with me. Would I be able to successfully accomplish all I had set out to achieve? Would I have enough time to capture it all? Could I keep up with all that was in front of me as I was 35 weeks pregnant?! (Wait, did I not mention this fact yet?!) I don’t recommend taking on such a huge task this far along in your pregnancy. There were a lot of people involved and I wanted to make sure they were all included properly and would be happy with the final results. I honestly have to admit, when I got home that night I crashed like I’ve never done before, just from complete mental, physical & emotional exhaustion. When I woke up the next day, I then cried for an hour or so because I was so afraid to look at all the images, in fear I hadn’t captured everything the way I had hoped I would. As usual, and as Jesse always tells me, I don’t give myself enough credit and always doubt myself. I’m definitely my own worst critic…in a BIG way too!!! But after resting all day and then taking a deep breath, I decided to look at all my images carefully. To my surprise, I realized we had accomplished everything I had set out to do!! No, every detail may have not been perfect or done exactly how I envisioned, but I had achieved the biggest personal project I had ever taken on myself. I couldn’t have accomplished any of this without having my trusty sidekick with me (my amazing husband & business partner, Jesse) and the awesome people who all went above and beyond what I had asked of them. We truly are surrounded by some amazing talent in our local wedding industry and I’m so thankful to know them.

I hope everyone who reads this can take away a little bit more of who I am and what makes me absolute most happy in life…photographing from my deepest self and getting to share a piece of that through my photography. Please enjoy perusing these images and if you feel so inclined, please share a comment with what you thought of them. It would mean a lot to me & Jesse. (Keep an eye out as well for a future behind the scenes video he will be sharing from this project)

I also wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to our amazing models who played a big part in making these images as magical as they are. You 4 ROCKED it like nobody’s business!!!!

Venue: Owls Hoot Barn // Bridal Gowns: True North Bridal // Dress Designers: Elizabeth Dye & Lindee Daniel  // Rentals: North Country Vintage Rentals // Flowers: Rosery Flower Shop // Menswear/Jewelry: Hudson Clothier // Cake/Truffles: Verdigris Tea // Makeup: Lisa from The Blush Sparrow // Hair: Heather from Headspace Salon // Invitations/Menu: Jenny C Design // Models: Montgomery Frank Mercado, Samantha Robinson, Melissa Guzman, & Grace Rugen