Wayside Inn

The Wayside Inn, is a rustic setting for a rehersal dinner or Wedding located at 72 Wayside Inn Road   Sudbury MA   01776

Purple Pianos, Pink Animal Prints, and Wild Zebra Stripes

• When you think of your wedding do you think of purple pianos, hot pink animal prints, and zebra stripes? If you do then Up Stairs on the Square is just the place for you!
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• Havard Square
• We took a walk around and found some great sites for wedding photos in the Harvards Square area too.
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Spring Inspiration

This might not seem like it has anything to do with weddings, but it so does!

Here is a little inspiration for anyone thinking of a springtime wedding.    The colors, the textures, maybe it will give you some interesting ideas for your wedding to incorporate spring into your wedding without relying on pastels.

I love the texture of the moss,  I would love to see some spring of 2009 weddings that use some moss, or earthy colors. 

Branding the tone of your day, create a great first impression

It has been said before that a wedding invitation should set the tone of your day and reflect how you want your wedding to be perceived. With this in mind choosing your invitations is a BIG decision!

Letterpress, everyone loves Letterpress!
To help get an understanding of what Letterpress is, I met with Megan from Megan Creates After meeting with her and really seeing the process, (which is fascinating) all I can say is, WOW! Do I ever have a new appreciation for the art!

These are thin plastic “plates” made from the
original design. This plate goes in the press and gets inked by rollers. The plate gets pressed into the paper, leaving behind an inked impression. Although it’s not considered proper, if you pack the press, you can make the plate bite deep into the paper, particularly when the paper is thick, soft, and cotton. This impression can be seen and felt. This form of printing is particularly popular right now for note cards, weddings, birth announcements and the like. If you run your fingers over it, you can feel the impression in the paper and even see it if you look closely.

• 1. Once you have a design, you send out for plate making (1 plate per color) and this can take about a week. In the meantime, cut the paper to size.
  
• 2. Mix your ink or use a pre-mixed Pantone color (rubber based ink)
  
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• 3. Put a dab of ink on the ink disk and the rollers spread the ink evenly across the disk until it’s a nice even coat covering it.
  
  
• Here she is spreading the ink out evenly.
  
  
• Pieces and parts of the press
  
  
  
  
  
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• 4. Put the plastic plate onto the base, and put the base in the chase. The chase goes into the letterpress.
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• 5. Take an impression and see if it’s straight (adjust the plate accordingly until it is perfect). Also check the ink is even and the print is even all across.
• Make adjustments as necessary until print is perfect.
  
• Each card is printed one at a time by hand and inspected closely for quality. It’s a true art and very time-consuming, but the results are outstanding and well worth the efforts. The resulting paper treasure becomes a keepsake prized by the owner, hidden away in a box or tacked to a wall. It’s just too nice to toss away! When you write special note on a letter pressed card hidden under a pillow or tucked in a lunch box, you can know that it will be treasured and saved for a lifetime.
  
• 6. Put each piece of paper in and print one at a time, until all pieces have been pressed. (this takes the longest). This is also the part that is dangerous. The machine is heavy and goes fast, watch out for those fingers if you want to keep them!
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• Cleaning
• 7. Clean the ink disk and rollers and then repeat above steps if there is a second color to print and then clean it all again!
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• Storage - Boxes of Beautiful Crane Paper!
• Megan creates… uses Crane’s Lettra paper as it’s house paper. It comes in 3 colors: Fluorescent white (a bright crisp white), Pearl White (a soft ivory shade)
  and Ecru (the most yellow of the three–the color reminds us of French Vanilla ice-cream). This paper is soft, fluffy, and luxurious. It’s 100% cotton and
  a favorite for letter-pressers and paper-lovers all over. It feels like it’s been brushed…it has a soft tooth to it making it feel almost fabric-like. As a paper-
  lover, Megan finds herself rubbing her cheek against this paper with happiness. And it takes a beautiful impression from the press…the recipient
  will be in awe of your stationery not just because of the fabulous design, but also the amazing paper!
  
• Maintenance
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• Other Tools of the Trade!
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• The old letters
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• Letterpress is hand-crafted. Each piece of paper is put in one at a time. Each color is done separately. I recently printed a 2 color business card (150 cards) for someone and it took a total of 5 hours to
• print when I count the little adjustments and issues that popped up. That doesn’t include design time, time for ordering plates, paper cutting, expenses for the plates, paper and ink, shipping fees etc.
• Letterpress is NOT for the small budget for these reasons. I call it the “Rolls Royce” of printing.
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• Offset printing is what we know printing to be today. Big presses are loaded up with your job and shot out at lightning speed. The results are
  true to the design and the ink sits flat on the paper. You can’t feel it. The colors are vivid, smooth, and true. Most everything is offset
  printed these days…the flyer’s in the mail, mass-produced greeting cards, magazines, advertising, brochures…the list goes on and on.
  Offset printing can cost less than letterpress for small projects…it is a fine choice when your budget is a concern.
• Thermography: to quote Wikipedia: “Thermography printing is also a post print process done immediately after printing. It can be done inline or
  offline as long as the ink is wet. Thermography powder is applied to the sheet of paper after it leaves the printing press. The sheet is then vacuumed
  or shaken to remove excess powder. This leaves powder only where there is wet ink. The sheet then travels through a heat tunnel; there the heat
  causes the powder to melt which leaves a raised effect. It is commonly used on letterheads, business cards, greetings cards, gift wrap,
  packaging and can also be used to print braille text.”
  It looks and feels like engraving. You can run your fingers over the letters and feel that they are raised up off the page. They have a shiny look to them.
  This technique is used when you need it to feel “more special” than just using regular offset printing. Megan creates… teams up with a great vendor
  for offset printing, engraving, and thermography if you so choose to use these techniques instead of letterpress. Prices will vary and time must be
  alloted to work with the vendor for such projects. It’s all up to you!
• Some Other Ideas. These invitations are some other creations from Megan for clients that were looking for something other then letterpress. These are her offset ink creations
  
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  Inspiration
  
  
• The puppy!
  
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• More great ideas from Megan can be found on her blog
• Reasons to hire a designer. To me one of the most amazing things about working with a designer is how they can help you take your ideas and help you implement it. A designers job is to think beyond your first idea and make sure your idea goes beyond cliché. One story Megan told me about is when she was going to school for advertising an assignment was to take three triangles and come up with some unbelievable amount of combinations. The real point to this was that the real good ideas could be idea number 33, or idea 62.
• What a designer is going to do is to work with the budget at hand and create the best most innovated work, as opposed to a cookie-cutter approach. People who tend to call a designer are looking for something that really sets them apart. Makes an impact on their guest. The brides that are going this extra mile want their guest to go to the mailbox and have that “Wow” factor. “The whole reason I am coming to a designer is that I want my guest to know that this was done custom, made just for me.”

• Amy ABCD designs

• Artist, designer and newly married stylist living in New York City. Amy says she delights in telling a story through collections of lovely things. She considers her blog a digital sketchbook of sorts - images will come, go … and evolve into perfect packages to be sent through the post office.
• Here are some Words from Amy about her designs.
• Invite people to share in lives most memorable moments.
  • Weddings - New Babies - New Homes - Big Announcements
  • Each milestone in life sets the tone.
  • All invitations and announcements created by papercupp will reveal more than just who, what, and where, they will create the first glimpse of your wedding day and more importantly leave a lasting impression for years to come. By quietly telling stories and capturing your memories papercupp designs will become a personal token to mark a special date – your memories made permanent on paper.
  • Papercupp truly believes in this world of e-vites and e-mails there is a place in the postbox for a beautifully designed keepsake. Each invitation suite is a work of art to be packaged and placed in the post. An object d’art that your loved ones will cherish long after the party is over.
  • Many papercupp enthusiasts choose our style of envelope art for the mailing process. By decorating envelopes with custom rubber stamps and personalized postage stamps, each envelope becomes a mini work of art. Perfection is in the imperfection. Each time you press the rubber stamp onto the envelope you get a slightly different image than the last time you stamped. By repeating the image you get a collage effect that is simply stunning. There is nothing more exciting than getting a papercupp envelope in the postbox!
  • To get started…
    If you are located in New York City or the surrounding area, I would be pleased to get together and show you examples of papercupp designs. At that meeting we will discuss your event in detail. Our Greene Street Studio is located in the center of lively Soho. Sipping champagne, espresso (or both!) we will discuss your big day surrounded by turn of the century architecture, velvet pillows and vintage posters. Really, what could be better?
    If you are located in the United Kingdom, I work from Central London six times a year. Why not e-mail papercupp and we can get started on your suite from afar? thirsty@papercupp.com
  • If you’re not local - it is no trouble … Thanks to modern technology papercupp is available to work with any bride or event planner no matter where you are in the world. Since most of our interaction can happen over the phone or through email, we are able to work together on your time. We will work in a way that fits with your schedule and lifestyle. As a matter of fact, I just finished an entire wedding suite where I never actually spoke with the bride-to-be! I don’t prefer to work that way, but sometimes that is just how it works out.
  • This also brings added convenience for the clients located in New York or London who may have limited time to meet in person. Of course, if you are visiting or located in one of these Cities and you would like a personal meeting, this option is always available.
  • How does papercupp work?
  • Each person, each couple, each life event has its own story to be told. My design work is very hands on - I delight in telling your story through the custom wedding stationary that I create from the tales you tell me. Each Wedding Suite, Baby Announcement, and Invitation is unique because the designs are based on your story and style. Papercupp uses traditional images to evoke a turn of the century feeling and updates them with a clean esthetic, eye for detail and energetic graphics.
  • For Weddings, I have a simple questionnaire that I will have the happy couple fill out - it will give me a feel for the mood you want to create on your wedding day. In our initial meeting we discuss colors, mood, and all other details. At this point the bride and groom are welcome and encouraged to provide any magazine tares, fabric swatches, inspirational images, wording and other items that may evoke the mood they want to create.
  • A word about Pricing …
  • A deposit of half my design fee is required to commence the design process. Once we have a completed suite and it is ready for print, the second half is due. Papercupp will walk through the printing process with you. I will be on site for press checks and deliver the suite in a perfect package.
  • Design fee $1000
  • An offset printing package with 150 printed includes 7 pieces (wedding invitation, celebration invitation, directions/information card, belly band, rsvp card, printed rsvp envelope and a thank you card) start at $1500.
  • A side note: Papercupp makes no money on the printing. I simply want them to have the most delightful stationary possible at the most reasonable price - comparable companies lump in the design fee with the printing and will say custom stationary starts at $2500. I have simply broken it down.
  • Papercupp is also available to to the envelope decorating, stuffing and labeling, postage stamp sticking (custom from photostamps.com, of course!) and send them in the post (hand canceled from New York, New York) for an additional fee. Stuffing, packaging, labeling, decorating fee $500
  • On timing …
    At papercupp there are no templates. There are no cookie cutter designs where we simply plug in your name event date. We design truly bespoke stationary fitted especially for you. For this reason, we need at least 8 weeks from our first meeting to deliver your custom wedding suite. Ideally, four months before your mail date is the best time to get started. You should have your invitations in the mail 6 months before a destination wedding and at least 2 months before a local wedding. Other announcements and invitations can be ready to mail in 2-4 weeks.

    • Engagement Party

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    • Engagement Party Thank You

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    • Reserve the Date

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    • Wedding Invitation in order (for real this time!)

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    • Invitation to brunch

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    • Backside of brunch card

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    • Invitation to Shower

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    • Thank you for Shower

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    • Program/Menu/Place Cards/ Table Names - Traveled to 23 places before the wedding, and named each table after a trip together

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    • Wedding Favor Bag and Thank-You Cards

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    • Change of Address

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    • Christmas Cards

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    • New Years Eve Cards

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      Southern Comfort Style
      
      
      
      
      
      First Comes Love, then Comes Baby
      “Sew Proud”
      
      
      
      Kate is Showing and Glowing, Baby Shower Invitation
      
      
      Wheelie Excited
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      Amy’s Business Card! ( How cute! )
      
      Details I LOVE !!!
      
      
      
      Even the Box they came in was cute!
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Music

The quest for wedding music ideas never ends for me! Today I was checking out what UTube had for wedding music. Expect more to come in the wedding music video department!

Evite Ideas

Ummmm.   I just happend to stumble across the evite blog, and found they have a wedding section.   There were some really fun ideas there.   How super cute is this for a bachelorette party, or the bridal shower.    I am going to keep this in mind for the day  (unfortunately for me no time in my forseeable future),  but I think it could be so adorable for a baby shower or kids birthday party.

They call it a  party personality, you can design the character add then add a voice!   You can have it say anything!  Jokes, Movie Lines, Songs, a Personal Message.    Endless possiblities here!

Some must see photography!

Since I look at wedding photography all day long, I thought I ask some of my all time favorite photographers if I could feature them here.   I gave them all the same list with 20 questions and asked them to answer 5 out of 20 questions and send me 5 of their favorite images.   I asked three female photographers and three male photographers.    The girls were much faster at getting the interview questions and images back to me.   Since I am still waiting on the guys, I figured I would split them up!   Why let those guys slow us down!    

• Tina Carter

One of the first people I thought to ask was Kristina Carter.   Tina recently launched her new website, which if you have some free time, I highly suggest checking out.   One question I think I wished I had asked Tina was about her name, Vrai.   Maybe she will leave us a comment and tell us where the name comes from!

Here are the pictures and interview from Tina: 

1. What are 3 words you would use to describe yourself?   True Energetic Adventurous

2. When did you become interested in photography?  I became interested in photography in high school. I was always in love with art and artistic expression but no other medium was quite working for me until I found photography. I knew right away this would become a way for me to see the world and share what I see with others.

3. What is your biggest selling point?  My biggest selling point is my unique way of seeing that gives my clients a way to see their wedding from a witness perspective that they can enjoy for years to come. More than likely through the chaos of the day, they won’t be able to see or remember all the reactions, expressions and details of the day they had been planning for months or years and it is my job to make sure they have those storytelling moments that will take them back to that feeling every time. My background in behavior has trained me well in being a keen observer and to document reactions, emotions, and the nuances that make up a wedding story.


4. Is there an inspiration for you, past or present when taking your pictures?  When I shoot a wedding, the couple is my inspiration. I really enjoy getting to know them through the initial meeting, the engagement session, and times in between. I really try to be aware and tuned in to who the important people are, what little details can say about them, and where the mini stories are within the larger story of the wedding itself. Their love and excitement inspires me and reminds me how special and unique each wedding really is.

5. If there is one thing I can say to aspiring photographers, that would be to trust yourself and be yourself and you will end up shooting weddings for people who are like you and appreciate you and what you can do for them. That is the most rewarding thing in this job, showing the couples their photographs and seeing their reaction or hearing their testimony and knowing you captured the day the way they want to remember it and they couldn’t be happier. One of the ways to ensure this result is by having clients who understand and trust what you do. So if you stay true to yourself and believe in yourself, they will believe and trust you as well and the result will be amazing.

• Justine Ungaro. 

Justine Ungaro, who writes multiple blogs such as,  Justine Ungaro Photography Blog and The Unbride,  recently started a new blog, unveiled society, which links wedding-related blogs.  I stalk her website and her blogs because I love her work and style.   (ok there might be days I secretly wished I was her!)   So you can imagine, when she wrote back about the unveiled society, I couldn’t believe her email was in my inbox! So of course I wasted no time in asking her if she would mind being interviewed here!  

So here is what Justine had to share with us:

Q: What made you decide to become a professional wedding photographer and how long have you been in the industry?

A: I am the daughter of a wedding photographer so I have been around the business for a long time. I started working with my mother a little bit in high school and then about a year and a half out of college, I absolutely hated my corporate job and I wanted out. Luckily I had started assisting my mother part time on the side and I absolutely fell in love with shooting weddings. I felt like there was so much excitement and emotion happening all around me that I never had to really orchestrate anything, I just had to have an instinct about where to be and what to look for and it just felt very natural. Soon after that my mother decided to retire from weddings so I just stepped right in to fill her shoes. That was at the end of 2002 so it’s been 5 1/2 years that I’ve been doing this as a full time career.

Q:  What kind of wedding photography do you offer?

A;  I try not to classify myself into a specific genre because I really just photograph a wedding the way that I would want my own to be photographed. I give direction if my clients need it in order to create some fun, interesting portraiture and I look for moments that are happening all around me. More than anything I want to create images that have impact and that are timeless. I try to stay away from anything that is too trendy but at the same time I also try to stay very current and modern. I think that clean and classic is usually the best way to go.

Q:  When shooting a wedding, what provides your inspiration for that unique event?

A;  I get my inspiration a lot from the venue. You can see in my work that I use a lot of architecture as backgrounds in my portraiture. I think that the venue is one of the most important aspects of a wedding because it really expresses the taste of the couple and they have chosen that particular place for a reason. Plus it’s always fun to explore little nooks and crannys to find interesting places to shoot…even in locations that might not be considered traditionally beautiful.

Q:  Would you ever turn down a job, and if so, for what reasons?
A:  Absolutely! If I felt like I couldn’t deliver what a bride was hoping for or if I thought our personalities were a mis-match, I would rather refer her to another photographer than have an unhappy bride on my hands. The style of work that I do is not for everyone and that’s great because there are plenty of different types of photographers for all of the various types of brides who are out there.

Q: What was the funniest thing that happened to you while shooting a wedding ?

A:  My funniest wedding experience was actually as a guest at one of my friend’s weddings. Her wedding was a few years ago at a place in Virginia called Locksley Manor. It is an old historic mansion and it’s a little sparse in terms of restroom facilities. Anyway, at the end of the cocktail hour I was looking for a restroom. There was a long line for the one near the dining room so one of the caterers told me that I should go to the other one in the pool house out back. It had been raining all day and it was a little bit soggy and very dark out but I was okay with that. So I walked through the backyard towards the pool house and I stepped into the deepest puddle of water ever, all the way up to my shins. I thought to myself, “great, I’ve just ruined my cute heels” and I looked down. I was standing right smack in the middle of the pool that was covered with a plastic tarp. I didn’t start to sink until I actually got out to the middle. I freaked and I ran back to the side as quickly as I could. But then I realized that my shoes were still out in the middle of the pool submerged in 3 or 4 inches of water that was now settled on top of the pool cover. So there I was running around the backyard barefoot and alone and freezing cold trying to figure out what to do next. Then 2 guys came wandering down looking for the bathroom also. Luckily one of them was a close friend of mine. I pointed to my shoes out in the middle of the pool and he asked why had I gone and thrown my shoes out there? I told them the story and they laughed and laughed, they could not believe that I had gotten all the way out there without falling completely in. Then we tried to figure out how to get my shoes back. The guys playfully suggested that if I had walked out there once, I could probably do it again. There was no way I was falling for that. Eventually, we found one of those floaty noodle things in the pool house and managed to scrape my shoes back to the safety of dry land. Within 5 minutes, everyone at the wedding knew that I was the girl who had fallen into the pool…until 3 other people did the same thing later in the evening.

-     A Note from Me   -    Justine,   That is a really funny story!     Hysterical in fact!  
  

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• Lauren Killian   - Person and Killian Photography

Being  in Boston there is no way you could not have heard of  the amazing work from Person and Killian Photography  I saw the photography they did for the Veronique Love Story  when I was planning my own wedding.   Really Amazing!   Since I met Lauren a few weeks back,  I felt brave enough to send her an email to see if she would let me interview her.

How did you become interested in photography?
* I took a photography class when I lived in Florence, Italy & Fell in love!
 

What made you decide to become a professional wedding photographer
and how long have you been in the industry?

* I have been a professional photographer for the past 5 years. I was drawn to the idea that I could provide people with lasting memories. It feels good to be able to do this for others.

Do you have any advice for those who want to someday become a
professional wedding photographer?

*Follow your dreams!! I always try to encourage others to shoot as much as they can and to work with & assist as many different photographers as possible. I think experience in this industry gives you confidence. As well as a true sense of your style.

Describe yourself in three words.
*Ambitious, creative & loyal.

What kind of wedding photography do you offer?
* The main goal of Person + Killian photography is to capture the emotion of the day! We also pride are selves on being as unobtrusive as possible. It’s not about us; it’s about the client and capturing moments.

Lauren’s Honeymoon Choice: Cinque Terre, Italy

Lauren’s Honeymoon Choice: Cinque Terre, Italy

 

With a bottle of wine from a neighboring Tuscany region, you sit on the rocks watching the last slice of sun sink below the turquoise water. You look around to see a few others enjoying the warm summer evening, sipping on a glass of wine and eating a classic thin crust pizza. The last of the kayaks have just been put away and the scuba shack has just been closed.

One would think that there is no place for a honeymoon couple in this region of five terraced villages.  Where is the international hotel or the recognizable restaurant chains we are so used to and expect when we think of a honeymoon?  But if you are looking for something different and exciting, Cinque Terre may be just what you are looking for.  Nestled in the honeycomb of colorful buildings are surprises that will startled the senses and lead to a memorable experience for newly weds.

After leaving the hustle of Florence or one of the neighboring cities, you can hop on train and make the journey to the northwest part of “the boot”. As you begin to enter Cinque Terre, the tunnels that you pass under by train reveal flashes of light through small cut outs in the rock cliffs. Finally, as the train slows down, the light turns into clips of the Mediterranean sea and reveal the first of the five villages, Riomaggiore. Once the train drops you off, you will be greeted by different people waiting to sell you quarters to stay in, but I would suggest that you take your time to walk further into the village before you make your arrangements. There are many beautiful and relatively cheap accommodations to find in each of the villages. (Depending on date of travel, it may also be helpful to book accommodations ahead of time.)

           

Now that your accommodations have been taken care of you are free to enjoy all of what these small villages have to offer. Let your senses experience all the vibrant colors, smells and tastes of Cinque Terre. There are many things to do once you have settled in. Each village it connected by a walking/hiking trail that leads through the beautiful grape vineyards above the towns. I suggest that you start at the furthered village and hike back stopping at each unique terrace as you go. If hiking is not for you, but you still want to see each village and enjoy each beachfront, you can also hop on the train or use the ferry that transports you from one village to the next.

            After a long day of exploring the villages, sunbathing on the beach, swimming in the warm crystal clear water, or enjoying some quiet time, it is time for dinner. There are several different restaurants, pizza shops, markets, cafes, and gelaterias that make dining a treat. Cinque Terre has incredible seafood dishes that are very fresh and unlike any other Italian food you have had before. And don’t forget the local wines.

Once you have filled up on all of the adventures you can for one day, it is time to sleep, for another exquisite day is just around the corner. Cinque Terre is the perfect place to let you create your own personal honeymoon memories that will certain last a life time.

A Few Little Ideas Found at a Bridal Fair

Who they are

Last Friday I was helping out Jeremy from Boston City DJ’s by taking their headshots for their new website.   So thought I would share the pictures here.   Just don’t ask me ask me all their names!  That would be putting me on the spot, because I don’t know them all!    Boston City Dj is a good company if you are looking for a very upbeat party!     At the Boston Bayside Expo, I couldn’t keep up with them!

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