When my friend Danielle asked me to do a family session for her family because her sister, Ann, who lives in Florida was in town, I of course said yes! Danielle is awesome and I regularly take photos of her. They’re not all together often and they all spent the weekend at the gorgeous, newly renovated Groton Inn in Groton, MA.

The Groton Inn was built in 1678! The Minutemen used to hang out at the tavern here and strategize during the Revolutionary War. Casual, right? In 2011 unfortunately the building burnt down, but it has now been re-built into a beautiful new 60-room boutique hotel. Shooting a wedding here would be a dream!

Our session was at noon, which is not ideal lighting time, but it was our only option and we made it work. We started in the courtyard/patio area out back, which looked awesome for lounging. It was shady enough by the side of the hotel for even light. Did the whole group with some breakout shots too. Danielle’s niece was too cute and so antsy to be in every photo possible. Anytime she wasn’t in a photo I could see her over on the side just dying to jump in! She had some great photo suggestions though, one with her and mom, one with her and dad, one with her with her with mom AND dad, one with her and grandma, one with everyone holding her…hahaha.

Our second set of photos we took out on the front porch of the hotel. It’s so cute with all the hanging flowers and black rocking chairs all lined up. Of course we had to take a few photos in the chairs.

I had such a great time meeting Danielle’s family. They were so easy going, kind, and fun. And they had perfectly coordinated outfits. It’s so important to get family photos taken often! It’s so easy to put them off year after year. Especially as everyone gets older and busier and busier. Danielle’s mom, Joanne, was actually wiping away tears at the end of the session. It was so sweet and I’m so glad I got to capture these memories for them all.