Ashley & Jamie, an Anguilla Wedding

Ashley and Jamie's destination of choice for their beautiful wedding was Anguilla. The ceremony was held at a beautiful small stone church on the island and the reception was at Cap Juluca. Ashley and Jamie truly are two of the nicest and most considerate people we have ever met - the amount of effort and thought they put into making the journey easy for their guests was amazing. The weekend's events included a welcoming cocktail party, a beach barbecue at the Cuisinart Resort, sailing, croquet, tennis matches, yoga, beach fun, a rehearsal dinner at the cozy and wonderful Blanchards restaurant, and a "thank you for coming" departure brunch at Geraud's bakery (side note: Geraud makes absolutely to die for coconut croissants... out of this world)... and oh yeah, a totally gorgeous wedding reception at Cap Juluca.

Since we were there for a week we took a lot of photos... and I mean a ton! Trying to decide on what we would share on the blog was tough. Our original selection was about 100 photos:) Could you imagine how long that post would be! So after a long time sitting here posting and re-posting trying to keep the length of this reasonable, here are some of our favorites from the wedding....

Cap Juluca from the water

Jamie surprised his groomsmen by taking them out for an incredible sail around the island

Ashley's dance partner Matthew led a yoga class on the beach

Here is Ashley and Matthew showing off and goofing around with some dance moves on the beach

The Moroccan architecture at Cap Juluca was beautiful

Jamie and Ashley's father getting ready

We absolutely love this moment caught: Ashley's father helping her with her train and giving her a kiss just before they walked down the aisle

Ashley and Jamie exiting the church

The happily married couple

This is the setting for the reception dinner. Nothing short of breathtaking.

Jamie and Ashley had a very fun first dance

Loved the fireworks!

The following images are from our amazing Day After shoot with Ashley and Jamie (and Elysium Productions).

Enna snapped this cool "behind the scenes" shot

Congratulations Ashley and Jamie - and thank you for including us in your very special wedding!

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Here's our Anguilla Team:

We also can't neglect to mention how wonderful it was to work (again) with Alexis and her husband Brian of Unique Weddings by Alexis (working hard in this photo) and Alex and Julie of Elysium Productions. There was a lot of other talent working behind the scenes to make this wedding a gorgeous success, we're just so impressed at how perfect everything was. Here's the team from left to right:

Peter, Julie and Alex from Elysum Productions, ourselves ;) - Matt & Enna, Alexis and Brian

Style Me Pretty - Hard at Work!

Yesterday I got to visit one of our favorite portrait clients and people in the world of weddings... Abby Larson, founder and webmistress extraordinaire of Style Me Pretty. We adore the thoughtful and inspiring articles and ideas that Abby showcases on Style Me Pretty.

She needed a few pictures for a magazine article about Style Me Pretty, so we did a few shots of her hard at work.

Abby has the CUTEST baby girl, shown here in her supervisory capacity:

And her husband Tate (who works at SMP too) is a total sweetheart too, just like Abby! I absolutely love their his and hers desks made from reclaimed wood. It was really cool to learn that Abby's mom also works for Style Me Pretty - she's one of their fabulous writers.... so it's a complete family affair!

Thanks Abby - you're the greatest!!!

A Season to Give

This year, we've heard from more relatives and friends than ever who are opting to make a charitable donation instead of giving holiday gifts. We think this is a great trend, and as our way of thanking all of our blog readers, we've made a donation to Heifer International (in the form of honeybees, Matt's favorite).

Are you thinking of making a charitable gift this winter season? Whether you're making a financial donation or offering your time as a volunteer, we recommend choosing a cause that is meaningful to you - this way you can follow the organization's progress and really get a sense of how your contribution helps over time. In case you're looking for ideas, here are a few causes that are near and dear to our hearts:

Heifer International
NEADS
Room to Grow
Habitat for Humanity

Your local food pantry and community arts centers are also great options, especially if you want to give within your community.

We count ourselves as deeply lucky that we have wonderful clients who make it possible for us to make a living doing what we love. Thank you to everyone who we work with, who re-blogs our photos, who offers us encouragement and advice, who refers fabulous clients to us, or who simply is a fan - we have each of you to thank for another successful year!

~ Matt & Enna
Grazier Photography

A Wedding at the Intercontinental

I recently received a phone call from a CT photographer I hadn't met before asking me to second shoot with him for a wedding planned by Josh Chalmers of Hey Cinderella at the InterContinental Hotel here in Boston. I was originally planning on going to Maine for the day with friends for a photographers shoot-out, but I love shooting weddings with other photographers and... how often do I get a chance to be a second shooter? So I had a blast shooting this wedding with Kiva Sutton. The bride and groom, Lesley & Harold, were beautiful people and everyone there was incredibly excited for them - it was great:)

Here are a few from the day

What stood out to me the most throughout the day was the amount of love and support the bride and groom had from family and friends. I loved making this image of Harold's hands being held by all the men in his wedding party.

Harold and his brother

The ladies get ready to exit the bridal suite

Lesley looking amazing in her gown

Just before Lesley left the suite I noticed the video guy had his LCD turned around and I was able to get this cool shot

The Chapel at BU

This DJ rocked! I'll have to get his info from Josh:)

I love this shot of a couple dipping on the edge of the floor

Congratulations Lesley and Harold!!! And thanks for inviting me along Kiva, it was a great wedding to shoot!