Church: St. Mary's of the Sacred Heart Venue: White Cliffs Country Club Dresses: Meredith's Bridal Boutique Trolley: Kenny's Coach Cake: Veronica's Sweetcakes Florist: Cedar Grove Gardens

Perfection. It’s such a weird word, but I love it. I use it all the time. I use it to describe photos that I love. I use it to describe the weather on a warm fall day. I used it to describe my brownie sundae at On the Border last night. And as much as I used to think my sister was the perfectionist in the family, I’m embarrassed to say I’ve morphed that way too, and in the past few years I have been utterly devastated if I leave a wedding not feeling like my work lived up to my definition of perfection.

Webster’s definition of Perfection: The condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects.

From the moment I met Jenn and Joe, their relationship seemed perfect. They understand each other. They complement each other. Their personalities fit together and they make each other laugh. They look good together, they make each other smile, and they bring out the best in each other. So I was so excited to photograph their wedding this past weekend in Plymouth, and when I saw Jenn looking perfect, I knew that was pretty much how the rest of the day was going to be :) After the beautiful (and funny!) ceremony in Hanover, we headed to White Cliffs Country Club for the reception, and to take some photos of Jenn and her newly minted husband Joe. But when we got to White Cliffs, it was windy. Let me rephrase that. It was WINNNNNNNDY. It was warm, luckily, and the rain didn’t come until much later, but the wind was BAD. We started taking formal photos and I had to do a ton more shots than usual because hair was whipping everywhere and people had to shut their eyes more frequently. It was not ideal. But still, Jenn and Joe wanted to brave the beach and get their pictures together done down there, which I was of course thrilled about. We headed down to the private beach and started taking pictures, but the wind was still pretty bad. I kept shooting through it, but I could see the excitement in Jenn’s eyes fading as the wind literally whipped her hair and veil all around her on the beach. I stopped, told Jenn and Joe to take a few minutes to talk to each other and just be alone together, and then we would start pictures again. Jenn later joked that “they were being bad and I put them in time out”, but I knew at that moment that what Jenn needed was not my lens in her face, but her husband at her side, with no one else looking. I also knew that Joe would know the perfect thing to say to make Jenn happy again. I have no idea what he did say, but I’m sure it was something about how much he loved her, how beautiful she looked and how perfect things were going to be from that day forward. When I came back to start pictures again, the change in her face was visible, and we had a BLAST. And I realized, things don’t always go perfectly. Whether we’re talking about wedding days, or photography, or the weather… things don’t always go according to plan. There are things we can’t control no matter how hard we try. And it’s who is standing with us and loving us in our times of imperfection that is our true testament to life.

As Robin Williams said in one of my favorite Boston-based movies:

“You're not perfect, sport, and let me save you the suspense: this girl you've met, she's not perfect either. But the question is whether or not you're perfect for each other. That’s the whole deal.”

And now, onto my favorite pictures from Jenn and Joe's wedding day!

Jenn's veil. Can we say AMAZING??

Oh hey gorgeous!

Time to get hitched...

Love this picture of Jenn and her dad!

Down the cliffs to the beach...

I love tented receptions!!

Jenn and Joe, thank you so much for having me at your wedding! I wish you nothing but happiness, and yes, perfection, as you start your new life together!

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Jenn and Joe: White Cliffs Country Club