Wherever You Are: A Korea-Meets-Somerville Street Style Elopement with Janie & Oliver

It's easy to think that the best photos come from the most beautiful locations. But I've found that it's rarely the location that makes the photograph. It's the energy you bring to it. With Janie and Oliver, bringing the energy was no issue.

They came to me with a vision in mind: bringing a nostalgic Korean street vibe to their Somerville elopement. And my response was essentially: yes, please!

Their ceremony was going to be held at Dearly Studios in Bow Market, so the week before their elopement, I took some time to explore the neighborhood. I got some sushi, wandered around, and scoped out spots that might work well for their photos. Naturally, the places that caught my eye weren't necessarily the obvious ones.

On the morning of their elopement, we revisited some of the spots I had pinned, playing with posing, light, and the energy they brought to each one. We bounced from back alleys to closed storefronts, from parking lots to street corners; finding little moments of character in places you might normally walk right past.

And Janie and Oliver made every one of them work.

There was so much joy and excitement between them that we didn't need a picture-perfect backdrop. A patch of good light and the two of them being themselves was more than enough. As a Boston elopement photographer, I have found myself drawn to taking something ordinary and juxtaposing it with such special, intimate moments.

Eventually, we made our way to Bow Market, where we met Janie and Oliver's families for their ceremony at Dearly Studios. The space was intimate, and the ceremony felt the same. It was warm, personal, and surrounded by the people who mattered most to them.

Afterward, we took family photos under the skylight, which gave us constantly changing light throughout the morning. It was one of those little details that made the space feel different from one photo to the next.

Then came cake.

Janie had made the cake herself, and she served slices to everyone before we headed off to a nearby photo booth and pinball parlor. When I learned that Janie had never played pinball before, I couldn't have taken 50 cents out of my bag faster.

And that pretty much sums up the day.

It was fun, warm, a little silly, and completely theirs. We photographed them in alleys and parking lots, celebrated with their families, ate homemade cake, and played pinball for the first time. None of those places would necessarily make someone's list of the "most beautiful" photo locations.

But put Janie and Oliver there, and suddenly they were exactly the right places.