What a wonderful year of fearless bridal shoots for the JUXTAPOSITION project. Public gratitude to all of you who followed through on the photo sessions and introduced us to wonderful new locations around Boston. And many thanks to those who assisted for the shoots – whether it was styling the women, carrying bags, or rocking the reflector. My life is richer for the experience with you.

We’re looking forward to putting together a wonderful JUXTAPOSITION coffee table book and gallery show for 2009… let alone the Vanity Fair-esque tableau shoot.

juxtaposition001 :: lindsey [ link ] Worcester, Burncoat Middle School
juxtaposition002 :: tiffany [ link ] Boston Sand and Gravel, Chinatown
juxtaposition003 :: carol [ link ] the Fells, Winchester rail station
juxtaposition004 :: marilyn [ link ] George’s Island, Fanueil Hall
juxtaposition005 :: melissa [ link ] West Boylston, Old Stone Church
juxtaposition006 :: brittany [ link ] Frankin Park Zoo
juxtaposition007 :: sarina [ link ] L’Espalier, Newbury Street
juxtaposition008 :: kristen [ link ] Fenway Park, parking lot
juxtaposition009 :: deanna [ link ] Canobie Lake Park (Salem NH)
juxtaposition010 :: gwen [ link ] Lanes ‘n’ Games, FACES, Alewife
juxtaposition011 :: colleen [ link ] Wellesley College parking garage, bathroom, cemetery
juxtaposition012 :: mikki [ link ] Boston North End
juxtaposition013 :: rachael [ link ] Salem MA waterfront
juxtaposition014 :: lindsay [ link ] Cambridge MA, Boston MA
juxtaposition015 :: sarah [ link ] Sudbury MA old grist mill
juxtaposition016 :: jill [ link ] Dover MA

We’re available for fearless bridal shoot commissions in 2009. Please contact rachel@mergeweddings.com for more information or to reserve your date.

Photograph above courtesy Jimmy Song. Thanks Jimmy!

If you were a part of the JUXTAPOSITION project, I would love to hear your thoughts about the overall experience in the comment section.

Two juxtaposition shoots in one day! I’m working til noon from a hotel room overlooking the Boston city view, and I have to tell you being warm and cozy during the day is a nice change of pace. We live in an old drafty triple decker that will not stay warm, and it’s not very good for efficiency on colder days. So I will take advantage of this editing spurt and tell you about Mikki’s shoot.

Mikki was excited to do her fashion bridal session in Boston’s North End, or Italian district. She and her now-husband Scott used to live there and have many fond memories. We met up at Mike’s Pastries (of course!) since it’s such a landmark, then walked down Hanover Street and toward the Columbus Park waterfront area where Scott proposed.

Peeking through the shelves at Mike’s:

Mikki showed up all tan and glowing and cute with her brand new husband. We did the shoot the day they got back from their honeymoon.

They were doing some construction off Hanover Street, and I love how this looks like Mikki is the toughest, most badass bride in the world. Bride vs. truck.

I think this style is called a Mantilla veil. Is that correct?

JUXTAPOSITION.012
recent bride: Mikki
assisted by: Scott
photographer: Rachel Hadiashar
hair and makeup: Tricia Askew
location: Boston North End – Hanover Street, Mike’s Pastries, Columbus Park

[ artist select images here ]
[ full gallery ]

Brittany used to work at the Cincinnati Zoo, so it was a natural choice for her to want to do her bridal session at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo. Franklin Park, though not downtown Boston, is for all intents a city zoo. We got a lot of attention from zoo visitors, and assistance from friendly zoo employees – they helped us do a shoot in the butterfly house and on the carousel. It was a fun day, a unique location, and a day filled with exhuberent city kids on field trips, some of whom actually thought Brittany is a living Cinderella.

Thanks for a fun shoot, Brittany!

[ more photos here and here ]

My absolute favorite from Sarina and Brian’s JUXTAPOSITION fashion bridal session is this one inside Boston’s L’Espalier. This image gets its own post.

Sarina knew exactly where she wanted to do our juxtaposition session. She and Brian adore the old Boston restaurant L’Espalier – every anniversary they celebrate with a special dinner. Since they’re moving locations from the near-Newbury side street, they wanted to do a shoot to commemorate this Boston institution.

I was impressed (and surprised!) that the folks at L’Espalier were accommodating enough to let us shoot inside their very busy kitchen as the staff was preparing for dinner rush.

On our way to L’Espalier from Athena Salon, of course we shot along Newbury Street, Boston’s upscale trendy shopping district.

hahahahaha those gnomes! I told Brian to ‘look scared’ — and I love that he actually did!

And after shooting at L’Espalier, we walked over to Old Trinity Church in Boston’s Copley Square.

Location: L’Espalier, Newbury Street, Ice Cream Truck (Copley Square), Old Trinity Church – BOSTON MA
Photography: Rachel Hadiashar
Assisted by: Jessica Jones
Bride and Groom: Sarina and Brian
Hair and makeup: Sarah Bortner, Athena Salon

What? You want to see more?

[ here and here ]

Marilyn had the idea to take us on an adventure out to one of Boston’s Harbor Islands. I had been to George’s Island before, so I knew there was a neat area of crumbling rooms and tunnels that would be perfect for the photos (and great to get out of the hot sun!) and did indeed provide some interesting light and darkness to play around with.

It was a bit of drama to actually get out to the Harbor Island since the ferry ended up being booked full with middle schoolers on field trip that morning, so we ended up spending a couple of hours wandering around the Boston Aquarium area and even Fanueil (sp?) Hall – much to the concern of the tourists wanting to make sure Marilyn kept her dress off the ground.

It’s difficult to know how much to explain to the randomly curious passerby. Most are confused about why someone would be getting married on a weekday and then walking around somewhere random, and the others are skeptical and say things like “are you really getting married? are you with a magazine?” And of course there are always the guys who think they’re funny and scream things like “DON’T DO IT!” (meaning – marriage). They obviously do NOT get it.

Location: Fanueil Hall, Aquarium, George’s Island (Boston)
Recent bride: Marilyn
Assisted by: Jimmy Song (and Marilyn’s parents)
More photos: here

Melissa was my fifth JUXTAPOSITION session. Last week, she took us out to Old Stone Church in West Boylston MA and we also explored a few other places… Jungle Jim’s Garden Center, Vivian’s Café, and this little Best Western that looked like it was stuck wayyyy back in the 40s (in a bad way). Of course we stopped to get ice cream at the end.

Here are a few of my session favorites.

This morning I met up with Brittany at the Franklin Park zoo and did the sixth JUXTAPOSITION session in the butterfly house and on the carousel!! Thanks to Brian the awesome carousel operator for rocking our world!

recent bride: Melissa
photographer: Rachel Hadiashar
assisted by: Meg Belanger, Joyelle Davis
location: Old Stone Church, Jungle Jim’s Garden Center, Vivian’s Café, Best Western (West Boylston, MA)

[ more photos here and here ]

Hey ladies! If you’re doing the juxtaposition fashion bridals project with me and looking for some inspiration beyond the ghost town listings I sent out, check these out:

Boston Secret Places

Boston Secret Places II

More Secret Spaces

And if you can wade through all the comments here, there are some more interesting ideas.

Today I had the pleasure of hanging out with recently married Tiffany and Colin. When we discussed unique locations for the shoot, Tiffany suggested Boston Sand and Gravel. I couldn’t have been happier to have a chance to use such a Boston institution — right off the highway literally under the Z bridge, Boston Sand and Gravel has been large and in charge for many years. I made some phone calls and was able to talk with one of the owners who not only fielded the request, which must have seemed strange (“you want to do what? where?”) but connected me with one of the plant overseers, Alan, who was so cool to show us around the site for an hour today. The staff on plant today were all friendly and kind and accommodating to us. I heart Boston Sand and Gravel – they rock!

Thanks guys!

While I don’t have any photos from there to show yet, I do want to show one of the last photos from the day during our stint in Boston’s Chinatown. Tiffany wore four different dresses on her wedding day, and I love this bright pink halter dress! Isn’t she a total hottie?

[ more photos here ]

Because they know I am really excited about fearless bridals, friends keep sending me this Boston Globe link. Check out this article and video….

(although, if you check out the video you will see why hair and makeup styling is so important… aack!)