Cynthia Brown Weddings » holidays

Happy Easter!

Cynthia Brown — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:39:21 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day and, “The Things I Wont do for Love”

Cynthia Brown — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:16:17 +0000

My husband surprised me with a bunch of lovely red roses as I sat here, camera in lap at my computer. Click; got it. It was a smiling moment, half laughing out loud really as he did sneak up on me. I was happy to have just captured it. Once I downloaded the image, I realized that it was the perfect candidate for a technique that I’ve seen before and never tried. The dreaded, trendy, dated, oh no I can’t believe how ugly my wedding album is (even just five years later)….Selective Color. We’ve all seen it. Why I bet many a photographer has used this technique for years to sell brides their wedding albums. But, don’t ask me to do it for you! Yuck! Sorry my opinion on this technique is just that it was kind of like the big bad hair of the 80’s. Hey, I had to try it once. It makes the joke on my husbands face even more funny to me and now I’m over it. Did I mention recently that I just found my parents wedding album? It really touched me. First because they are so obviously young and excited, second because my Father passed away many years ago and I miss his smiling eyes and incredible intelligence, and last because the album was so timeless and classic. My Mother stood at the fireplace mantle with her bridesmaids and Maid of Honor. She had a shot done of her pinning the boutonniere on her Fathers lapel and lastly, a gorgeous shot of them exiting the church in the snow. Classic design never goes out of style, and I do love red roses.

Vendor Spotlight-Cocoa Michelle

Cynthia Brown — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:35:40 +0000

I’ve had this idea about doing vendor spotlights on my blog for a while now. It gives me a chance to get out and meet some new vendors that offer fantastic products or services that I endorse and also serves as an idea forum for brides who might have a need for any of the products that I spotlight. Lets face it, we all love a great referral from a friend, so when I find a cool resource I’m happy to share it. It just so happens that my first vendor spotlight is a perfect go to source for Valentine’s day. Welcome Cocoa Michelle founded by chocolatier extraordinaire Michelle Weber. Cocoa Michelle opened it’s doors in neighboring Westport Connecticut in 2006. Michelle and her staff take chocolate to a different level, plain and simple. Her mission statement pretty much says it all, “At Cocoa Michelle our wish is to bring a sense of euphoria and tranquility to each and every guest that walks through our doors. We want your experience to be like no other. With each bite of chocolate and sip of coffee we are sure to leave your taste buds dancing”. I visited with Michelle to ask her some questions about her remarkable business:

Q-How many years have you been in business? A-3 years with a retail shop and making chocolates for 20 plus years.

Q-How did you get into making chocolate? A-My Mother is a gourmet chef and I decided to do something that she didn’t do.

Q-What makes your product so good? A-Small batches, no preservatives and the passion they are made with.

Q-Do you take custom orders for clients or do bridal favors? A- Absolutely! We can customize color, shapes and flavors.

Q-What is your most popular item? A-Dark Chocolate Ganache w/Sea Salt/Strawberry/Banana Ganache w/Honey Caramel.

Q-What are your plans for the future? A-To grow but remain boutique.

Q-What is your favorite part of the business? A-Putting a smile on someones face and serving a great cup of coffee.

Q-As a sole proprietor, how do you juggle all of your tasks? A-I don’t! I’m crazy most of the time, and a glass of wine in the evening helps.

Q-What kind of experience do you want your clients to have, what’s your dream job? A-I want my customers to leave with their taste buds dancing and a smile on their face. I plan to continue doing what I’m doing. Opening more stores, decorating them and keeping smiles on all the faces that come through my door.

Michelle gave me the lovely box of chocolates that I photographed, and although I begrudgingly shared it with my family, I can assure you that my taste buds were in fact dancing and my grin was ear to ear!

Valentine’s Day is Just Around the Corner

Cynthia Brown — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:20:09 +0000

Just a teasing reminder before our delicious Valentine’s feature!

Holiday Cards

Cynthia Brown — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:23:08 +0000

We finally got our first real blast of Winter here on the East coast. In Connecticut we did not get as much snow as friends who live in the city. I’m sort of glad that I shot these images of my son before the snow hit. He was shoe skating on a mini pond in the wetlands area of our woods. It’s something I did as a child all the time. In fact, I think that I really learned how to ice skate on my own private little pond in the woods. There was something magical about it, being in the woods alone and skating. I was thrilled to witness my son experiencing the same joy. That same day, we collected pine cones as the many evergreens that surround the property have supplied us with quite the bounty this year. Happy Holidays Everyone! I’m moving on to cookie baking and wrapping now.

Time to Deck The Halls

Cynthia Brown — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:07:00 +0000

The holidays have a way of sneaking up on me every year. Winter is admittedly not my favorite season but I do love Christmas, decorating and all that goes along with it. I celebrated the day by enjoying some of my new ornaments from Anthropologie and finding the old cherished ones too. We have a gorgeous tree this year. It’s an 8 foot Frasier fir. Small considering the 19 foot ceiling in my great room, but the largest Frasier that we have found in years. The whole house smells festive!

Holiday Portraits at the Beach

Cynthia Brown — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:20:22 +0000

I’ve done holiday pictures for my friend Joanne since she had her first baby. This year, Olivia has a new baby brother and we decided to make it a whole family affair including cousins too. It was a gorgeous but windy day at the beach and the last day that would be comfortable enough to do a warm weather shoot with the kids barefoot. I loved seeing all the kids interact. Olivia loves her new brother and the two older boys are best buddies. If you still need holiday portraits, I have a couple of openings and will be shooting them until the end of the month. We will be offering a free 8×10 custom print for each session booked.

Happy Halloween!

Cynthia Brown — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:50:25 +0000

I can’t believe how fast Winter seems to be coming. Most of my leaves are down and I’m just hoping to finish my Fall clean up before our first snow. I love Halloween. I totally wish that I was shooting a kooky wedding today. If I were getting married again, I think that I might consider doing it on Halloween. In fact, if you are a bride planning a Halloween wedding for next year, give me a call. I will definitely give you a special rate. More on that later. Today I went out into the woods with my new 50mm 1.2 lens. Wow, I’m so glad that I bought this. My woods looked like The Blair Witch Project revisited. Happy Halloween everyone with some images from today, and a few others that strike me from past shoots. I have to add in a bit of gore, it being Halloween and all. Trick or Treat!

O.K. on to today’s images with my new favorite lens.

I love my woods!

Happy Memorial Day!

Cynthia Brown — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:04:36 +0000

I have a busy weekend planned with two back to back weddings and a Memorial day party to attend (if I’m still standing) on Monday. We will have jousting and sumo wrestling matches, complete with fat suits. Should be fun and I know that I will have some great photo opportunities there. People love to get crazy and I personally need to be silly sometimes to cope with life’s difficulties. I will also be attending the Memorial day parade in my town. I always get choked up when I see all of the people in uniform. Makes you reflect on the ones that died for us who are not marching. Enjoy your weekend everybody but raise a glass in honor of all the men and women who have served our country on our behalf.

Don’t Miss Valentines Day!

Cynthia Brown — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:05:00 +0000

There are plenty of holidays that you could call Hallmark card creations meant to send us into gift giving frenzy’s. Although my son was given a printed list of eighteen cards to give to his classmates, he will also be getting 18 cards-how fun! Kids love any excuse to throw a party or to eat chocolate (don’t we all?), so we will be creating something special over the next few days for him to give to his friends. If you’re looking for Valentines Day gift ideas, you can’t go wrong with flowers-that is to say if diamonds are not in the budget. Check out Fleur de Lys in New Haven. Jennifer, the owner, has done a beautiful job on the flowers at several venues that I have shot. I know that they are busy, busy so don’t wait until the last minute. If you are a bride, just planning your wedding, I highly recommend Fleur de Lys.