Brianna & Jack : Intimate Wedding in Gloucester, MA shot on film
All you need is your family, a couple dogs, and a day of great weather for a beautiful intimate wedding ceremony. This is exactly what Brianna and Jack decided to do for their elopement. I met them and their family at Jack’s parents beautiful oceanside property in Gloucester, MA and it was the one of the mose relaxing wedding days ever. I shot the entire thing on film, focusing on 120 film for the formal family portraits. After finding out Jack’s grandmother used to work with Edwin Land (The founder of the original Polaroid Company), I knew I was in good company with fellow film lovers! They got ready quiety at home, with Brianna's sisters helping with her hair and makeup. We did a little first look on the porch with the whole family there. Everyone was looking through old family film photos on the porch together and it was magical.
After the first look, everyone headed down to the ceremony site except Brianna & Her mom, who walked Brianna down the aisle. Brianna’s dad officiated and was having a BLAST doing it. All the flowers were done by Jack's mother. It was such a special and intimate ceremony with tears and laughter all around. Afterwards, everyone gathered to pop some champagne and bask in the sun next to the seaside. One of the benefits of this type of wedding is the amount of TIME you have to just observe. It was a delight to get to see this family interacting and not have to rush family formal photos at all. 
After everyone had a chance to soak in the moment we did a fun round of family photos, including the doggos, obViously. Then Brianna, Jack and I headed down to the beach for a short round of photographs just the two of them.. No posing or prompting, just the two of them frolicking across the sand with their shoes kicked off. 
For dinner everyone headed to the Beaurport hotel, where I’ve had the pleasure of shooting weddings before. We opted to take a couple more photos by the water on the porch overlooking the ocean. I used Amber d400 as the film because of the color shifts and lightleaks that come with respooled cinematic film. I'm also a SUCKER for halation. I stayed through the speeches, which covered the first course of appetiezers and drinks. There is comething a bit voyeristic about being let in to these personal heart felt speeches. I was truly honored to be let into such an intimate day. As much fun as a dance floor can be, there is somethinga about these smaller gatherings that just tugs at my heart strings. I cannot thank the family enough for welcoming me into their home and hearts for this love-filled day. 
"MEL IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST!!! We found Mel because we were looking for a photographer with experience shooting film for our intimate microwedding and are so thankful we did! We got married with just immediate family and Mel did an amazing job of fitting right in and making everyone feel comfortable. She captured every moment beautifully from the family pictures to the candid moments. We are obsessed with our wedding photos- they are so unique and authentic. Mel also knows EVERYTHING about film and is so willing to teach and share !! My sister brought her Polaroid camera and Mel answered her questions, gave her pointers and even scanned her pictures while she was scanning the Polaroids she took! Mel made our wedding memories unforgettable!" - Brianna & Jack