I adore winter weddings.   There is something so incredibly romantic about them.   You can already feel buzz a of happiness in the air with the holidays right around the corner.   Families are happy to be together,  hugs are tighter and smiles are bigger.  There also isn't any pressure for the weather to be perfect, and it's a great occasion to break out your best winter coat,  the one in the back of your closet that you don't wear to the daily carpool or grocery store :)   Jennifer and Neal had an absolutely perfect winter wedding.

20 families, 2 days, 1 Santa, and a very exhausted photographer. 

Last year when I blogged about the Santa experience I gave my kids, my inbox and voicemail were flooded for days with other families begging me to share this with them.  I was hesitant at first, because it was something so personal I did for my kids.  But just thinking about how much they loved it, and how they still talk about "the time they got to play with Santa," I just couldn't pass up letting other families get in on the Christmas Spirit. 

I put my whole heart into this shoot.  I spent the days and weeks before stressing and planning.  Getting up at God-awful hours to visit the farm, chart the light, and scout the grounds, while climbing ladders, stringing snowflakes, stapling stockings, making real reindeer food and burning myself with a hot glue gun more times that I can count.

After all, if you're gonna do Santa Claus, you better do it right. 

I've never attempted this volume of work in one weekend before.  I truly wasn't sure how I was going to shoot 20 families in one weekend and give them each the time and attention they deserved.  Not to mention, dealing with the harsh lighting conditions of shooting during peak hours of sunlight.  

But the kids kept me going.  Their wide eyes, their giggles, their "Oh my gosh, I just fed a reindeer" face.

  

With the help of Mother Nature, my husband highly trained assistant, and some faithful clients who wanted to see magic in their children's eyes, we did it.  Together.