They are both fun, adorable and talented to boot!  What more could I ask for?    We first met up at The Higher Grounds Coffee Shop.  Feeling a bit awkward at first, they figured that having a shot next door at The Abbaye would be grand and help to settle their nerves.  I think it worked!  I had to decline the offer to have one as well because I am fairly certain that my photos would be blurry and extra crazy right now if I had.  Haha!

The shots!!  I just love Kevin’s expression in the last photo…

After they finished their chasers, we headed to the playground for some lovely music making….  I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the day!

With the threat of rain in the air, we returned the instruments to the car and headed around the neighborhood…

At one point Lauren yelled, “Look, a horse!” and then, “Look, another horse!”.  We saw quite a lot of horses in a very short amount of time!  Quite a lot….

A fabulous and fun day, indeed!  Can’t wait for July 24th!!

On the wedding day, I met up with the bride at The Radisson Hotel in center city and then with the groom at their place in Northern Liberties.  I always love the opportunity to photograph both the bride and the groom before they see each other!

The ceremony was unique and beautiful and the reception was a blast!  It was a true and simple celebration of love, family and friendship.  The entire day was vibrant and refreshing.  Julie & Patrick are fantastic together and so very much in love.  They have this classic, romantic, 1950′s film look to them too…. which I love!

Congrats again, Patrick & Julie!!!

For those of you who grew up watching Full House…. or had a poster of John Stamos, aka Uncle Jessie, glued to your wall (not saying that I did.  okay, fine, I did) you would have enjoyed being in this hotel room. 

The caption in the framed print above reads, “Be Yourself.  Everyone else is taken” ~Oscar Wilde.  This was also a quote that was often at the end of Julie’s emails, so I especially loved capturing it.

Below is the Magic Man himself, Isaiah Zagar.  What a talent!!!  The original mosaic said “Isaiah & Julia (Julia is his wife) come together”.  I did a little tweaking….

What a cool venue.  The toasts were done on stage with the red velvet curtain.  Beautiful and unique….

]]> http://melissahassey.com/2010/12/philadelphias-magic-gardens-world-cafe-live-wedding/feed/ 1 http://melissahassey.com/2010/09/fun-couple-in-northern-liberties/ http://melissahassey.com/2010/09/fun-couple-in-northern-liberties/#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:09:03 +0000 melissa http://melissahassey.com/?p=4049 I recently got to meet up with Rosario & Javier for a session celebrating their one year anniversary!  What a wonderful idea.  Not enough couples do this kind of stuff and I think that they should.  And… not just to celebrate one year but 2 years, 5 years, 34 years, 50 years, etc…  In fact, I think that the more years a couple is together, the more celebration that should be required.

ANYWAY!  I had such a wonderful time wondering around Northern Liberties with these two.  They were so fun and adorable together.  Congrats Rosario & Javier!!  Thanks for making my job so simple and such a pleasure. 

It was a beautiful evening which made for dramatic shadows….

I can’t take full credit for this next image.  I was inspired by another photographer that did this idea of the shadows dancing…though I am not sure who that photographer was.  Also, I can’t help but think of Duane Michals’ (a photographic hero of mine!) “Chance Meeting” series too.  Anyway, I couldn’t resist my interpretation when I saw their shadows on the wall.  A little goofy, I know…  but kinda fun, right? 

Both Rosario & Javier are Puerto Rican.  Rosario is also Mexican.  I love that they brought their flags as props.  Oh, and they had these cute iphone messages too!

We stopped for some ice cream!

Did I mention that they also like Spanish dancing?  Well, they do.  They played some music on Rosario’s phone and then worked their moves.  It was quite a show!  I really enjoyed it!

We also got to play around with my Grandpop’s vintage camera.  Javier & Rosario were the perfect mix of fun, romantic and authentic!  An absolute pleasure.

Once I got settled in, we moved Marilena all around inside and outside of the house.  I loved their house!  I think I may just offer Kim a job as a stylist for my upcoming photo shoots! 

Anyway, Marilena did SO great!!  A natural model indeed!   Oh, I have to say that Rocky & Spunky (their dog & cat) did excellent as well…. as you will see!  They were so cute and just wanted to be near all of the photography action and, of course, be close to Marilena

Well, I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed creating them!

A little side note about some of the props:  I recently purchased the pink tutu, the white tutu (that Marilena is lying on) and fairy wings here:  http://www.fionasfairys.com/.  This is a great new shop at The Piazza in Northern Liberties.  The owner, Karen, is extremely nice and they have an array of beautiful outfits and accessories for babies and older kids (including boys!).  Oh, and the designer of the white tutu is:  Kaiya Eve.  Very cool stuff!!

This next shot really did just happen all by itself!  Eventually, we did re-position Rocky just a little bit.  Even still, seriously, HOW CUTE!?

Sleeping fairy….. sigh….  (ps. she is sleeping on top of the 12 month tutu skirt)

Here is Rocky making sure not to be excluded from this family portrait. 

That said, I graduated from Tyler School of Art with a great artist and friend, Mike Munter.  Among other talents, he is a print maker and designer.  You can check out lots of samples of his work on his website::  IARTMIKEMUNTER.COM.  Mike is being interviewed for a magazine and needed some portraits to go along with it.  Since I recently photographed his brother, Jason, (see blog HERE) in return for some art work, this was just another great barter session.  I have a beautiful poster he made of a girl blowing what looks like bubbles… but then turns into jelly fish.  I love it.  Now, I just need some great framer friends to custom frame it for me.  : )

So…. I had been anxious for the opportunity to photograph at the Higher Grounds Cafe in Northern Liberties (the one that I mentioned in the blog just before this one:  here).  We met there and then wandered aimlessly around Northern Liberties.  It was a beautiful day outside (so rare these days!) and we took advantage of that.

Wow, this short blog post sure has a lot of web links……..  Anyway, here are some pics!

Mike sitting in “the grand chair”:

shot through one of the chairs….

Another great thing about coffee shops….. if you forget a book or magazine there are always board games or…. Simpsons trivia……  It turns out that I am not nearly as good as I thought I was.  I am sticking with Seinfeld trivia next time……  I am the master of that domain.

yes, this is one of the locations of my wedding photos….. okay, another link…. see them HERE.

]]> http://melissahassey.com/2010/03/another-artist-portrait/feed/ 0 http://melissahassey.com/2010/03/a-beautiful-chair/ http://melissahassey.com/2010/03/a-beautiful-chair/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:24:42 +0000 melissa http://melissahassey.com/?p=2554 So…. I love coffee shops.  I mean, who doesn’t?  Living in the city, there are so many unique ones to choose from.  As an admitted thrift store junky…. the old furniture and eclectic feel of many cafes very much appeal to me.  In my opinion, things that are old and worn in are more comfortable than something brand new.  This is partly because your body molds to the countless other body impressions that have slowly indented themselves into the cushions.  Furniture like this…. it just seems like it has some stories to tell.  And, that, I suppose, gets my interest.

A coffee shop that I particularly enjoy is  The Higher Grounds Cafe in Northern Liberties.  The whole vibe there is great.  It normally isn’t too crowded, there is always beautiful artwork on the walls and they boast quite a wide variety of fine teas….. the way to my heart!

In preparation for a portrait session, I took a few photos of some of this chair that I really love.  I guess it seems silly to post a whole blog about a chair….. but, come on, don’t you just love this chair?  It has a such a grand but worn look to it and it almost appears as if it is smirking…. with the one side down and the other up….

Check out the rest of his blog and website too!  Enjoy!!

http://www.philadesigns.com/myblog/

let’s not forget the winged rats…..  I have always loved photographing pigeons!

below are just a few pics that Todd Laffler, our fabulously amazing photographer, took for us!

FOR MORE, CHECK OUT HIS WEDDING BLOG ABOUT US:
WEDDING BLOG!

us jumping into this marriage thing (buddum-ching):

we actually do this one more often that you would think…

Carl is always making me laugh! gosh… i love him!