Have you noticed that when you move, you find it’s a great time to go through all of your stuff and consolidate? You get rid of broken, duplicate and unwanted or unnecessary items.   What happens when you don’t move for 90+ years? Three generations later – behold: my attic and basement. They are bulging at their respective seams with *stuff* others may have thrown or given away years ago.  This is both a huge burden and a huge blessing.  Having spent some significant time in the attic trying to sort and organize, it has felt more like a burden lately.  However, we have made use of many of the items in the house that most would have gotten rid of: dining room table, chairs, antique dressers and mirrors, the door to my Great Uncle Roy’s dark room (what can I say, photography runs in the family!) is now my desk that I sit at as I type.  And that is a beautiful thing.

SO! What has prompted all of this? I was searching around the scary dark eaves to the attic and came upon an amazing surprise: a PRAM! Let’s refer to Google’s definition: “baby buggy: a small vehicle with four wheels in which a baby or child is pushed around.”  A baby buggy! It’s a perfect photo prop and I love that it was used by someone I love.  I’m not sure who’s it was or who was in it. I’m assuming it was not for play, but there was a doll in it. Let’s be honest, the entire experience of finding an old pram in the deep dark crevices of your attic wouldn’t be complete without finding a headless doll inside to scare the bejesus out of you.

I will be sorting through old family photos to see if I can catch a glimpse of it somewhere along the way.

I have dusted it off and taken some quick photos of it. Of course there’s a cat in it. There always is.

:: Monsieur L’Orange in the Pram ::

:: It is navy blue, and wicker ::

The back, or front. Not sure. I think there may have been another piece here judging by a quick Google search.

Have you ever heard of the Good Wife’s Guide?  If not, it’s high time you did.  The Good Wife’s Guide was supposedly printed in a 1955 issue of Housekeeping Monthly and is full of all sorts of amazing tips on what a wife can do to keep her man happy.  There is a lot of hilarity on this list, but this tip epitomizes the Guide for me:

Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first – remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

What better way to celebrate upcoming nuptials than to pay homage to the 50′s housewife?! Because well, I am so far from that person (and quite frankly, there was probably never a woman alive who was this person) and also– the Mad Men craze was/is in full effect with all of it’s fabulous clothing and hair styles!

I don’t think I would have wanted a shower at all unless it included all of the following things: pink + teal, martini’s, amazing 50′s outfits, red lipstick + nail polish, curlers, aprons + a fantastic game thought up by the dream team that is my Maid of Honors.  The game was dubbed the “Housewife Relay” and it tested your skills at dust busting, beating an egg, diapering (a teddy bear) and folding a stack of clothing.  The one thing missing was a cigarette hanging out of our mouths while completing these tasks.

Oh! And I grew up in Chelmsford, MA.  It just seemed fitting to have the shower in (what used to be and I still refer to as) the Old Town Hall (what is now actually called the Chelmsford Center for the Arts).  It was the perfect location, providing plenty of space for the photo booth and stage for the housewife timed relay and fit well with the theme.

VISUALS! The centerpieces were hot pink flowers wrapped in light pink tulle, put into blue “vases” (plastic cups) tied up nicely with pink polka dotted bows.

:: (L) Tower ‘O ‘Tini Glasses (R) Yours Truly in my Grandmother’s 50′s garb I found in my attic. I’m in the photo booth here, scroll below for some more amazing shots from the photo booth that night ::

:: No party is complete without a photo booth. Setting it up below ::

:: How well do you know the Bride? A “social mixer” game ::

:: Fantastic prizes included: Tide detergent, pinup Mad Libs, Martini Shaker, broom + dust pan, dish washing gloves, etc. ::

:: Housewife timed relays! How long does it take you and 3 friends to dust bust, crack + beat an egg, diaper a teddy bear and fold a stack of clothing? ::

PHOTO BOOTH SLIDESHOW!
:: Check out a few of my favorites (there were hundreds) from the photo booth ::

As a disclaimer, I refuse to go into the real facts of the decade including the very real the oppression of women at the time, and actually how close to the truth some of those expectations may have been on wives.

Fast forward a year or two. I’ve moved to Paris, lived in Paris, learned in Paris, loved Paris. And then left Paris.  I believe at some point after I returned to the US I noticed a high school friend of mine (CGD) was ‘friends’ with Mary Kate McKenna on a certain social media website.  I’m no statistician but someone please- what are the odds? I don’t think I hesitated a moment before I friended her and hoped she didn’t think I was insane for wanting to be her friend.  I’ve asked for her professional opinion and help on more than one occasion and she has been more than happy to help.  Over the next couple of years I watched her grow as a photographer and I watched as my jaw dropped lower and lower. Her work is full of beauty, emotion and creativity. SOLD.

I suppose another key element to this story is that somewhere in there I feel in love with LG and we decided to get married.  Bliss, bliss, bliss. Then the planning began. Planning, planning, planning. Voila! MK booked and a big smile on my face!

Check out her blog for latest work: http://mk2weddings.blogspot.com
Check out her website: http://www.mkmckenna.com

:.: Meet MK – Who has her own wedding coming up :.:

.:: Photo by Jamie Windon of theblondephotographer.com ::.

YES!

Check out a better before and after version, get some close ups of this shot at and see some rockin high end beauty retouching at qretouching.com.

I don’t think you know how good it feels when someone looks at your photo and sees a story in it. Validating. Appreciated. Talented. (Although there LITERALLY are 100 shots I took that day that I prefer).

The owner of the bag company sent me an email regarding this photo:

“Stark, girl in elegant dress, on elegant settee, in somewhat of a drab room with her ‘art’ hung on the wall. She looks like she doesn’t have much except that she has high quality style.

Her bags are so precious she uses them as art. She looks like she is waiting for someone(?).. maybe a little sad that “he” hasn’t shown up yet.

Beautiful color balance, and the lighting is great. [... ] That shot belongs in a high end glam magazine.

[...] The whole look is real interesting.”

Special thanks to Katie, Karla & Kristin & dress by Ari.