Alana and Justin were married on January 7th — my first wedding of the year. Who would have guessed that the first weekend in January would be so beautiful and mild that it rivaled a June day?

Alana and Justin make their home in San Francisco but traveled to Boston to have their wedding reception at the house where Alana grew up. Surrounded by 200 family members and friends, they married at St. Cecilia’s Church, followed by a small tea ceremony with Justin’s parents. Alana’s parents’ backyard was turned into a winter wonderland reception with a large tent, sparkly lights, icicle ornaments, and wintry white flowers. The Boston Common Band played at their reception. Catering by The Silent Chef in Scituate.

You can view more photos from Alana and Justin’s wedding — including winter wedding details — here.

These are some of my favorite photographs from Caitlin and Dean’s recent wedding. You might remember them from last year, when I photographed their engagement session.

A few notes about their wedding…. the photos of Caitlin getting ready were taken at the Millennium Hotel. Their wedding ceremony took place at St. Mary’s Church in Quincy, and we photographed their portraits at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston. Caitlin and Dean’s reception was held at the State Room. The bride and bridesmaids’ hair and makeup was done by Caitlin Murphy. Crazy dancing incited by Clockwork.

I keep telling myself: “You can make it!” Since the beginning of April I’ve photographed 34 weddings and delivered over 17,000 images to clients. I still have a few more weddings to go before the New England wedding season ends in mid-November, but I can see the end in sight. And the end of wedding season doesn’t mean the end of work. It means the beginning of a time when I can work on all the behind-the-scenes tasks such as accounting, web updates, gallery hosting updates, and a whole bunch of other stuff I want and need to do for the business. So far I’ve booked 23 weddings for 2012, which is crazy, and far ahead of where I was at this time last year. I’m aiming for 40 weddings next year, which is three fewer weddings than I’ll photograph this year.

Here are some highlights from a wedding I photographed in September — Sarah and Edgar’s wedding at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston. I loved their wedding and these people. And so I thought I’d share some of their photos with you.

Here are of my favorite photos from Kristin and Jason’s engagement photo session in Malden. You’ll see them again next month, when I’ll photograph their wedding at Arlington Town Hall.

Sarah and McGreggor were married on the most popular wedding date this year: 9/10/11. Most photographers, including me, booked this wedding date very, very early. For months I turned away inquiries for 9/10/11 because I was booked. And then the phone call came…. “Lisa, our venue closed and we’re not getting married this year.” But I had turned away dozens of couples! I realized that I may not be doing what I love on the biggest wedding day this year. Then I got an email from Sarah. As soon as we met, I thought “things happen for a reason.”

A few notes about their wedding: Sarah and McGreggor are super crafty and Sarah sewed the ribbon belt on her dress. She also designed their stationery. McGreggor created all of the table flower arrangements. Sarah wore her grandmother’s veil, which was also worn by Sarah’s mother, aunt  and cousins at their weddings.

Courtney and Paul were recently married at St. John’s Catholic Church and had their wedding reception at the Exchange Conference Center in Boston. You may remember Courtney and Paul from their engagement session last Fall. These are just a few of my favorite photographs from their wedding.

Most people would be a little freaked out about a hurricane forecast to land during their wedding reception, but Jen and Greg were so happy about this day that nothing could get them down. We went with the flow and made a last minute decision to photograph their portraits before the ceremony, just so we could get some nice outdoor shots. Jen and Greg were one of the happiest, coolest couples I’ve worked with this year. These are some my favorite photos from their wedding at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and the Seaport Boston Hotel.

I was sad that I didn’t get to photograph their cat Gino wearing his tux — I love animals and am a little crazy about my own cats. But Gino was freaked out by all the wedding day commotion and wouldn’t come out from under the bed. He is adorable but not as laid-back as Jen and Greg. I felt that Gino still needed to be represented so I photographed the ring bearer with his portrait.