Weddings are almost always viewed as the beginning of a beautiful life with your partner. It's exciting and special, and most of the time our imaginations build a spectacular day full of sparkle. But our imagination rarely takes into account the stress leading up to the day or the cost of that dream wedding. Both stress and money together can lead to a lot of heartbreak throughout the planning process if you aren't well equipped. Tonight's blog is about strategies to remaining sane when you are in the thick of planning. A few of our brides touched on this topic, and I found it fascinating how each couple dealt with things differently. From organizing finances to just remaining calm, the advice in this installment is very unique to the couple that wrote it. I must say, though, one of the common factors across the board is that at the end of the day you are marrying your perfect person. Even if the cake gets dented, or there is an accident which backs up traffic and delays your wedding, you still get to say "I do" and start your new beginning.   April & Corey "Really consider your dream wedding plans. It's so easy to feel pressured to find things that fit your theme, but really think about it because halfway through the planning process that probably won't matter to you anymore. Really all that matters is marrying the person you love."  ...

Every photo of Shawn and I is important, but the photos that we cherish and love the most are our wedding photos. We look back on our day and see the family that was present along with the memories that were created. Our love for each other and for the day itself shines in every single image. They are a wonderful representation of who we are and why our marriage is special. Those feelings we have for our photos are what motivates us to be our best possible selves for all of our couples. This past year we were able to photograph 17 amazing couples coming together in marriage. Each wedding was unique to the style of the couple, and every single marriage announcement, I teared up. Shawn and I got to do our first out-of-state wedding in Massachusetts, and because that was such a fabulous experience, we now hope to get more out-of-state nuptials! The best part about this year is that from these weddings, we came out with new friends that we are so excited for and are cheering for every single day. Gathering the images for this post was something that I wish I could do all of the time. Seeing these days unfold again was beautiful. Shawn and I are incredibly grateful for every opportunity that we have been given. We have really grown as partners and photographers so much over 2015. It was no surprise to me that I started tearing up at...

Hold on to your seats people, this post is going to be a long one. Lindsay and Stephanie were married on a gorgeous November day in Topsfield, Massachusetts at the breathtaking Willowdale Estate. Fall was still in effect in the Northeast with colorful leaves still filling the trees. The pops of royal blue and granny smith apple green showed up in their gorgeous flowers and fun Converse Chuck Taylor's. I could talk all day about the wonderful moments the wedding day contained, but the most impactful was when the officiant, Priscilla Gearney, pronounced Lindsay and Stephanie as wife and wife. The room exploded with cheers and applause - it was spectacular. I know I had a difficult time working through the happy tears that were clouding my vision, haha! "My fiancee & I are looking for a photographer to do our engagement photos as well as our wedding photos. Too bad we live in Massachusetts :(. Thank you again for your beautiful captured moments in time <3" This was from Lindsay in 2011, which was a year when this Britney Clause Photography thing was just a pipe dream. I had no style, no direction, my watermark was a layered paint brush in Photoshop. It wasn't pretty and if you go time warp in the blog there may be some of that left over. Yikes! However, through all of that "figuring stuff out" phase, these two women believed in me when I didn't even believe...