2025 was a beautiful year. I had the honor and pleasure of photographing weddings, elopements, and engagements from Newport to New York City, Cape Cod and downtown Boston. I kicked off the season with a Fenway Park engagement (how cool!) before heading to my favorite NYC venue, the Bowery Hotel, to photograph one of the most stunning celebrations for the best couple and eat my way through Chinatown and the Lower East Side. I rode on an antique yacht in Newport as we pulled up to the rehearsal dinner, photographed a welcome party at a candlepin bowling alley on the Cape, shot on a beautiful spring evening in Central Park, photographed a wedding day performance for the groom / lead cellist of the BSO at Boston Symphony Hall, sang and danced my heart out on every dance floor, and made absolutely stunning art for my couples. I am SO proud of the work I put out this season!
A few highlights:
Recovery first: In 2025, I spent the day after EVERY single wedding in the sauna, cold plunge, and Normatec compression boots. Yes, even for my weddings in NYC, the Cape, and Newport! I can proudly announce that I improved my ability to do 0 minutes in the cold plunge to 9 minutes in the 47 degree plunge and 6 minutes in the 37 degree plunge. I dubbed myself the “Resident Cold Plunge Champion” at my favorite local spot, Plunge Boston. For clarification, no one else actually calls me that. Coupled with strength training 2-3x/week at the gym, my body was primed to take on long, challenging wedding weekends in stride. I went from 10lb dumbbells to 12lb to 14lb – progress, baby!
A quintessential New England summer: This year, I photographed tons of full-weekend celebrations that allowed me to explore new parts of New England on mini-vacations with Paul! My couples brought us to the Cape, staying in Orleans and exploring P-Town (first visit!), Nauset (yep, I grabbed Cape Cod chips for a matching lighthouse pic), Chatham (the seals and Candy Manor!), and Falmouth (gorgeous sunsets). We had a blast in Newport hiking by the ocean and picking apples & pears from the beautiful Rocky Brook Orchard. In the spring, we took day trips to Gloucester, Rockport, and Nahant on the North Shore of MA and York and Portland in Maine. New England is truly a charming, stunning coastal paradise that I’m proud to call home.
Less social media, more books: 2025 was my first full TikTok-free year! While social media is great for new recipes, life hacks, and general entertainment, the amount of hours spent scrolling can be really disturbing. I began treating Instagram as a business tool only, deleting the addictive app on most weekends. In my newfound free time, I dove into BOOKS, reading 30 books in 2025! I was a voracious reader as a kid, but fell off for most of my adult life. The Libby app connects to your local library for free book access and it is life changing! Early to a wedding? Read. Waiting for an appointment? Read. Up early and don’t want to leave bed? Read! I found my current favorite author, Elin Hilderbrand, and railed through her entire catalog! The books are set on Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and the greater Boston area. I couldn’t get enough of them! I even took my first trip to Nantucket for my 31st birthday and bought a signed book from Elin. BEST SOUVENIR EVER!
Inspiration is everywhere: Traveling and seeing art are two of the largest consistent influences on my work. On the art front, we explored plenty of galleries in Boston and NYC, bought two beautifully unique pieces on the Vineyard, attended SoWa First Friday and bought paintings directly from the artists in their studios, and saw tons of colorful street art in Wynwood, Miami. I’ve been really into works from Damien Hirst, Murakami, Campbell la Pun, Nikolaos Schizas, Kris Laping, Nedret Andre, Marthe Rowen, and Kozo. We also watched an entire masterclass from beloved New England architect Patrick Ahearn, and documentaries about Frank Lloyd Wright’s homes and philosophy. Art comes in many forms!
On the travel side, we spent the first part of the year snowbirding in our happy place, Miami. Sunshine, beach walks, and palm trees were a great recharge before embarking on the Tour de New England for wedding season. Two trips to Martha’s Vineyard for vaca because why not? And to end the year, I went on my first ever SOLO TRIP… to JAPAN!!! Paul and I went to Japan in 2024 for my 30th birthday and I was simply enamored. I had such a draw to go back, that I decided to book a last minute trip after my final wedding of the season. I was nervous to go alone, but it was truly life-changing. Solo traveling was a blast, and exploring new parts of Japan was inspirational. I loved being creative with my iPhone (pics here), chatting up locals and tourists, Shazam-ing every jazz song I heard, and stuffing my face with the best food in the world. I spread my wings and will be doing it again in fall 2026!
Let’s talk numbers: I am an artist, but I am also a data nerd. I love statistics, despite (regrettably) skipping that class in high school. I keep track of many things in my life from the most important to the silly stuff, so here are some quick stats of 2025:
- 30 books read (Best: Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand, 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand)
- 52 new recipes made (Best: Pasta Norcina, NYTimes braised white beans + greens, stuffed shells. Worst: peach scones, Kefta kebabs)
- 7,146 miles driven
- 38 new restaurants tried (Best: Motek in Miami, Izakaya Toribar in NYC, Connie’s in P-Town, State Road in Martha’s Vineyard, Men-ya Wadachi in Kyoto, Torifuku in Tokyo)
- 1 social media feature on Over the Moon
- 11 new foods sampled (Best: lamb loin and genmaicha tea. Worst: baba ghanoush)
- 1 print magazine feature in Portsmouth City Lifestyle
- 10 beautiful wedding weekends photographed
- 5 unforgettable elopements photographed
Enjoy a behind the scenes look at my 2025 wedding season!
Thank you to the love of my life / second shooter Brittany – I am so lucky to celebrate 3 years working with you. My couples are so grateful for your personality and your artistry!
We only showed up to a wedding ONCE wearing the same exact dress 😂 Proud to be your twin!
SELFIE TIME!!!
Thank you to all my couples for trusting me with their best days. Cheers to 2026!
Photo Credits: Brittany Graf Photography – Jose Camacho Photography – Meghan Lynch Photography – Amanda Macchia Photography
xoxo, Lena
