Li Ward photographer of pets and weddings. Fat Orange Cat Studio is a fresh and candid boutique photography service in Boston, Massachusetts.

I met Willow and Nala recently for a photoshoot on a lovely almost-summer’s afternoon. Willow is a happy Jack Russell mix with Pippi Longstocking ears, Nala is a pretty calico with supersized thumbs. They’re moving to Chicago soon, so I was glad to be able to document a day in their South End home before they say farewell to Boston.

Here are Gracie and Dewey, a pair of Golden Retriever urbanites living high above the city of Boston. Go ahead and treat your eyes to these golden puffs of fuzzy goodness!

{ couldn’t resist including this stellar view of the South End and Boston’s skyline }

My modest little wedding season started off with a huge bang with Lindsey and Wilson’s Wedding Weekend Extravaganza. It was 4 days and nights of playing host to a culinary, seafaring, history-book tour of Boston, and they wanted it all captured on film. They just relocated from my home state of Georgia where Wilson recently received his doctorate in physics, UGA style. I met some Georgians among the guests who were visiting Boston for the first time. I wasn’t able to talk physics, but I was able to talk all things North vs South! What a treat it is to see Boston for the first time in this stylish, classy, and fun manner, thanks to the lovely couple and their families.

Friday evening: Rehearsal Dinner
The weekend kicked off with the Rehearsal Dinner hosted by Wilson’s parents at Mooo Restaurant. Everyone started with drinks and hors d’oeuvres on the roofdeck of the adjacent XV Beacon Hotel before descending downstairs to the restaurant’s private wine cellar for dinner. On the bar were the couple’s rehearsal dinner invitations in the form of wine bottles affixed with a custom label. Swoon. Name cards were professionally calligraphed – you know I love that! – and propped up by wine corks. After her speech, Wilson’s mom pulled out party favors for all the guests – collegiate T-shirts with the name “Lindsey” and “Wilson” printed across the front. Turns out, there is a real Lindsey Wilson College located in Kentucky! And the crowd went wild.

{ Custom wine labels created by Ceci New York }

Saturday Noon: Bridal Luncheon
The next afternoon, while the boys were enjoying a tour of Sam Adams brewery, Lindsey’s bridesmaids threw her and her girlfriends a bridal luncheon at Upstairs on the Square in Harvard Square. More laughing and mimosa and bellini toasts clinking over plates of delicious food. It was at this point I wanted to forget the camera, order my own bellini and be one of the girls.

Saturday Evening: Sunset & Cocktail Cruise
After a quick change and a little up-do, it was time to meet more family and friends for cocktail hour aboard a boat. When I arrived the boat’s bar stock was already running half empty. Do these people know how to do it right or DO THEY KNOW HOW TO DO IT RIGHT? We sailed around Boston Harbor and a little into the Charles River during sunset.

Sunday: THE WEDDING!
Ohhhh the wedding. The wedding! Held in Boston’s historic Old North Church in the North End, followed by the reception at the Lenox Hotel in the Back Bay, this wedding was full of old world class and spared no details. I was secondary shooter, Lisa Rigby was the primary. You can see all the gorgeous details from Lindsey and Wilson’s lavish black-tie wedding here on Lisa’s blog.

Here are some of mine at the Church. I was not as quiet as a church mouse as the sexton instructed me to be (“Once you’re up there, don’t move!” Me: “What! And photograph from the same spot?”). Well he should know – the wood floors complained loudly with every tiptoed step I took! It was like I suddenly weighed four tons and had microphones attached under the soles of my feet, just in case you couldn’t hear me, you all the way in the back. Oh I love old curmudgeonly churches!

{ See more wedding photos here }

Monday: Farewell Brunch
Finally, after 3 days of non-stop partying, it was time to refuel with a hearty brunch at Gaslight Brasserie in the South End, before catching your plane, train or automobile, and heading home…

A pretty amazing weekend for these two newlyweds, wouldn’t you say?
Congratulations to Lindsey & Wilson! It was a pleasure getting to know you and all of your friends and family.

This handsome feller is Balto the Rat Terrier. I met him and his owner at the barber shop they operate in Boston’s South End. At first Balto wasn’t too keen on having is photo taken; in fact, there might have been some choice words for me muttered (growled) under his breath as he sought refuge in his barber’s chair. But as soon as I we stepped out of the shop and into the sunlit streets all was good, all was light. His bat ears perked and his brown eyes sparkled!

Several weeks ago I joined Matty the senior chocolate Labrador and his owner for a nice, leisurely spring stroll around the neighborhood, right when the fruit trees and lilacs blooms were at their peak (early this year). He is a handsome dog with quite a bit of sprite in him yet. I’ve been wanting to photograph a chocolate Lab for a long time. Thanks to Matty for making it happen!

Matty’s a superstar!

BEHIND-THE-SCENES

I got sat on. Matty stood with one little back paw on my ankle while trying to find room in my undersized lap for his rump, and it must have been something like 10000 lbs per square inch of pressure going on there with his foot on mine.  Here I am laughing and crying at the same time.