Wedding Wire, the nation’s leading wedding marketplace, last week announced that Bello Photography has been selected to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards 2012 for Wedding Photography!

The prestigious annual awards program recognizes the best local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry.Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards 2012 is determined by overall rating, number of reviews, review performance from 2011, and consistency of reviews from year to year.

Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation. We are super proud to have received 5 stars, the highest possible rating, ranking Bello Photography among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community.

Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of our top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of The Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate the 2012 winners for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”

We are honored to be among the very best photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. And, we send great big hugs to all of our past clients who nominated us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards 2012! Thank you!! You all are why we love what we do! Christine & Andy xo

Have you ever loved someone before you’ve even met them? That’s how it was with Candice.

Although she lives a world away in South Africa, Candice & I developed an almost immediate friendship the day she first reached out with an e-mail. She’d written to say that she’d stumbled upon our website and spent the rest of the day “Oohing & ahhing over all of the beautiful photos.” I mean, how can you not love someone who makes you feel so good and asks for nothing in return?

It wasn’t just her very generous comments that made us fall for Candice. She just has this way about her that makes her irresistible. Truly, Candice is one of those people who instantly lights up a room….even if she’s not physically in it. She is kind, generous, totally sincere, funny, seriously sweet, humble, wise beyond her years and yet with so completely innocent. She is beautiful in the truest sense of the word. She is unflappably positive, full of life and boundless energy. She is creative & fun with a capital F-U-N! If ever a person could be a star, it is Candice….self-luminious and held together by pure goodness.

All of my assumptions about Candice were confirmed when she came to visit us a couple of months ago.

For nearly four years, Candice & I have exchanged e-mails and shared instant facebook message chats, and I would often say that I hoped our paths would one day cross in person. During one of our instant chat this summer, Candice surprised me with some exciting news, “I’m coming to America,” she said. Of course, the immediate reply was, “You must come stay with us!!!” I wasn’t sure she’d actually take us up on it, but, happily, she did.

Just after Thanksgiving, Candice walked out of the international gate at Logan Airport and straight into our hearts. She came with a dear friend of hers, Julia, who quickly became our dear friend as well. The two of them brought with them such love & goodness.

I must admit, Andy & I were more than a little nervous about meeting Candice & Juls. In the weeks leading up to their visit, we would get e-mails and messages with updates on the countdown to their arrival. Candice would say things like how excited she was about meeting “The bellos” and how it was, “a dream come true.”

We were left wondering how we could we possibly measure up to what were surely unrealistic expectations. Honestly, we’re quite boring. Yet, from the first hug, a bond was solidified and the three days we spent together were truly some of the happiest.

Andy & I took our new besties to Boston and showed them the sights, including an evening of ice skating on the Commons’ Frog Pond, which was so fun as Candice was a pro skater in South Africa and had some serious moves on the ice. We also showed them around the Cape and on our last day together, we took them to our favorite spot, where Andy & I said “I do.” Candice is a budding photographer, so we gave her & Juls a few pointers on how to use their cameras and then turned our cameras on them. We had an absolute BLAST!!!

Here are a few of our favorite photos of these two beautiful young women. Sweet, sweet Candi….

Girls unite….

Juls (left) and Candi (right). Doesn’t get much prettier than these two lovelies!

Seriously, can’t you just feel the love coming out of these two sweeties?

Love is…..the embrace of a good friend.

Love this next shot Andy stole of Juls. love, love, love!

The shot on the left of Candice reminds me of a Lancome ad. Her beauty absolutely radiates from within!

Another ad-like moment…

girlie giggles…

Hummuna hummuna…

Sun-kissed…

Besties….

Our amazing day together was capped off with a picnic on the beach (Yes, in November), where we watched one of the most stunning sunsets over the Sandwich boardwalk.

Later that night, Candice & Juls made us the most amazing traditional South African dinner, with a dessert that blew our socks off. I still can’t believe we didn’t take any photos of it! What were we thinking!?! I guess we were just too busy having fun! They even did the dishes afterwards. Honestly, we never wanted them to leave! And their visit created memories that Andy & I will cherish forever!

Come back you two….we miss you! Seriously, Candi & Juls….thank you from the bottom of our hearts for including us in your big adventure, for being THE best house guests ever and for loving us without reservation! We love you both to the moon and back! C&A xoxoxo

My youngest sister, Kimmy, is pregnant with her third child. Our family is thrilled at the prospect of having another lovebug join our happy little clan. But, it hasn’t been an easy pregnancy for my poor sister.

Kimmy’s second child, Sadie, came 3 months early, weighing just 2.5 pounds. She was in the neonatal intensive care unit for 3 months and there were some pretty scary moments when we thought we might lose her. Miraculously, Sadie survived  her ordeal unscathed and is now a happy, healthy, delightful little girl, who is excitedly making plans for her 4th birthday in February.

We had hoped this third pregnancy would be much like Kimmy’s first, when her son Calvin made his way into the world at 41 weeks, tipping the scales at 9 pounds 15 ounces. Andy & I were there at the hospital with my sister & brother-in-law when Cal was born and I was blessed to be in the room when he took his first breath. It was one of the most profoundly beautiful experiences of my life….something I will never forget and hope to experience again this time around.

But, things got scary for my sister, when, at 23-weeks, she once again started having problems. As a precaution, doctors ordered her to bed rest. Unable to walk around too much or lift anything, it’s been really hard on her. Me & my dad have been helping out by going up once a week, on Tuesdays & Thursdays, to take care of the kids, do laundry, grocery shop…whatever she needs. And, Kimmy has the most unbelievably supportive group of friends & neighbors, who have been dropping off meals, taking the kids and just generally providing the most loving support.

Still, it’s hard for Kimmy….relying on the kindness of others and having two children to take care of, while also needing to take care of herself and her baby.

As she enters her 32nd week, and we continue to move past the marker of when Sadie arrived, I’ve been thinking a lot about the sacrifices mothers make for their children and how being a mother starts long before our children officially make their way into lives.

I am so in awe of my sister…of the incredible mother she is to her two amazing children, and of the grace she has shown as she struggles bravely through her pregnancy.

I was fortunate enough to go with her to her most recent ultrasound appointment, with Cal & Sadie in tow. Getting a peek at our sweet girl in 3D was so cool and although we want her to stay put a bit longer, seeing her sweet little face made me excited for the day she does finally join the family.

In honor of my sister, of the sacrifices she has made for her beautiful children, and the boundless love she has for them, I wanted to share one of my favorite poems by E.E. Cummings, along with some photos from Kimmy’s ultrasound appointment.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) I am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life: which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

With much love & admiration,

Auntie Chrissy xoxo

Every now and then we get an unexpected visitor at our Mashpee home-studio that makes us stop & take notice. This morning, I was looking out the window when I spotted a beautiful ring-necked pheasant patrolling the backyard. Still in my slippers, I grabbed my camera and dashed outside for a closer look. As soon as he spotted me, he got visibly nervous and headed for cover.

Measuring 20-28 inches in length, with a wingspan of 22 to 34 inches and weighing sometimes as much as 6 1/2 pounds, these colorful birds are not native to the Cape, nor to the country for that matter.

The Ring-Necked Pheasant was introduced into North America from Asia in 1857 as a game bird and over the years has become an established species over much of the continent, especially in agricultural lands.

Today, the Massachusetts Division of Fish & Wildlife stocks & maintains pheasant populations in various wildlife management areas across the Cape, including the Francis A. Crane Wildlife Management Area, which is located along Route 151 in Mashpee, just a stone’s throw from our house. It is apparently a popular area for hunting. I really can’t imagine killing one of these beautiful creatures…

A cool pheasant fact: In very bad weather, pheasants are known to stay on a roost for several days without eating. So glad I’m not a pheasant. Then again, with their diet, what are they really missing.

Pheasants eat seeds, especially cultivated grain, grasses, leaves, roots, wild fruits and nuts, and insects. We’ve seen ring-necked pheasants in our yard before and I like to think it’s because Andy has a lot of bird feeders all over…but maybe today’s visit was due to our inattention to the fallen leaves. See honey…it was good to wait another week before raking!

Whatever the reason for his visit, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that this little guy stays safe. Thanks for visiting little buddy….you’re welcome here anytime!

As photographers, one of the biggest compliments we get is when another photographer wants us to take their picture. I admit, my reaction to the request is always the same…a combination of humbling awe, excitement and a good dose of boot-shaking fear.

Don’t get me wrong…Andy & I feel pretty confident that the work we do makes our clients happy, and we don’t expect the reaction to be any different when our subject is another photographer…it’s just that knowing our subject is a photographer themselves does somehow turn the heat up a bit.

As intimidating as it can be, it’s also really flattering, and especially so when the photographer is willing to trust you with the thing they value most in the world…their family…particularly when the photographer has been in the business longer than you and has a very solid reputation for being one of the best in the industry.

Yes, the heat was turned up pretty high two weeks ago, when we photographed Brewster photographer extraordinaire, Amy Dykens, at her beautiful home and with her two gorgeous boys, Charlie & James. It was especially nice that it was Charlie’s birthday and we got to celebrate that with him and his family.

Amy was interested in getting some portraits of herself, which we think is wonderful and something we really need to do ourselves. It’s quite pitiful how few photos we have of the two of us…like a landscaper with a bare lawn.

Amy’s home studio is gorgeous and offered beautiful window light….exactly how we like it. Here are a few of our favorite pics of this sweet, unassuming, talented, beautiful lady…

Slightly more serious….still oh so pretty.

The birthday boy, Charlie, with his momma & little bro, James. Are they cute or what?

With their land abutting Nickerson State Park, Amy & her boys often go for long walks in the woods…so we decided to join them, but before we left, James gets playful with his brother’s super cool hat.

The beech trees were in full bloom. The color was spectacular.

James, Amy & Charlie prepare to jump off a fallen tree limb for a more candid family portrait. Love the giggles!

Way to catch some air, birthday boy!

With my sisters and so many of my friends now mothers, I have a much more profound appreciation for just how special the bond of mother & child is….when I see moms with their children my heart beats a little stronger. I hope these next couple of photos of Amy with her boys do the same for her…

Not only are they super close, but they’re also super cool!

Love, love, love this next candid moment as James snuggles with his mom and watches as his big brother gets his moment in the spotlight. Having spent just a little time with him, it is obvious that James is an incredibly sweet boy and I can’t help but think that just comes shining through in this next shot…

This next one is what was happening while James & Amy were looking on. I just looooove the colors of the leaves and the sunlight peeking through, providing a dramatic spotlight on Charley’s handsome 14-year-old face! Model scouters sit up & take notice…this boy has got a face that was made to be photographed.

Next, Amy & James had their turn in the spotlight. Oh, the joyful smiles…how they are contagious!

Something a bit more dramatic. Charley is learning to play the guitar and James plays piano…should Amy ever decide to trade in her camera for a microphone and start a band, I’m thinking this would make a great album cover, no?

Or perhaps this moodier version in black & white…

Amy has the most amazing collection of rocks. I’ve never thought much about rocks, but Amy has tons of beautiful heart shaped and striped rocks that force you to sit up and take notice. As does Charley, in this next portrait with his cool cap and piercing green eyes. This boy puts the cool in cucumber.

Playing with leaves….love the joyful expressions!

And these too….so fun!

But these next couple take the cake as my personal favorites of the day…without prompting, they all just grabbed onto one another….Aaaahhhhh, be still my momma-lovin’ heart!

Love, love, love this next one of sweet baby James and his soulful blue eyes!

Snuggling doesn’t get much better than this…

Amy, thank you so very much for entrusting us to capture this special time in your lives, for sharing your beautiful boys with us and for making us feel so completely at ease! It was so great spending this quality time with all of you! We hope you love these photos as much as we loved our time together. Special thanks too to Charley . We really appreciate you taking time out of your b-day celebration to humor us (and your mom) with some more photos…oh, the trials of being the child of a photographer! Thanks too to James for sticking with us longer than you probably would have liked. We really appreciate all of you and feel so honored that you called on us, Amy! We hope we lived up to your expectations. With love & hugs, Christine & Andy xo