Arlindo & Indhira
Harbor Lights Marina and Country Club in Warwick, Rhode Island
August 21st, 2015*
The more you shoot weddings, the more you start to learn some of your favorite and least favorite things about a timeline.
For Arlindo and Indhira's August wedding at the Harbor Lights Marina, my biggest takeaway was this: Outdoor ceremonies that start about an hour before sunset are my favorite ones to do.
Why? Well, quite simply, you can't ask for better lighting and the photos are just about impossible to beat.
Couple that with the fact that this bride and groom were so relaxed and fun about their whole experience and you can see why I've been counting down the days to share this wedding here on this blog.
I met Arlindo about an hour before his wedding began but, almost immediately, I felt like we had known each other for years. A passionate New York Giants fan (Don't hold it against him), Arlindo was super relaxed during the entire prep time and it let us really bring his personality out in some quick portraits taken before the wedding.
Oh and did I mention that these two had an incredibly sweet set of details to go with their big day? Yep. I LOVED photographing their awesome rings and seeing all the little touches on the event come together.
Details say a lot about a couple and these guy's made sure their details were a perfect representation of who they are: fun and awesome.
While Arlindo was pretty relaxed before the ceremony, like most grooms he had a hard time believing how beautiful his bride-to-be was upon the first look. And who can blame him? Indhira was breathtaking.
Indhira and Arlindo had a really fast but sweet ceremony, capped off by a sweet moment as guests threw confetting their way while they walked down the aisle as husband and wife. I adore the look on Indhira's face here. Such a nice moment to remember forever.
As I said before, these guys did not play when it came to the details. Coupled with some nice, pink uplighting in the hall, this wedding had a warm and inviting feel and I'm sure that was by design.
As I said before, ceremonies an hour before sunset are the best and the reason why is because, depending on the couple, that usually means the formal photos take place with amazing light. This was especially true for Arlindo and Indhira who had, without question, one of my favorite formal sessions in a long, long time. You simply can not ask for better natural lighting.
With the formal photo session over, Arlindo and Indhira made their way into the reception and started the night off right with a great first dance where neither bride nor groom could stop the giant smile spreading across their face everytime they looked each other in the eyes.
I can think of no better way to describe the love those two felt in what was one of the happiest moments of their lives.
After the first dance, the rest of the night proceeding as you would expect it to. Arlindo and Indhira had a number of touching speeches given to them and the party was on from there.
And though their guests may have been a little bit tired from the late start, you'd never know it as the dance floor filled up moments after the music started and was rarely, if ever, empty for the rest of the night.
By the end of the evening, I had photographed just about every person at Arlindo and Indhira's reception having a great time and it's really hard to ask for much more than that.
Of course, I had to make sure to take a few more detail shots of their rings once I saw Indhira's engagement ring but who could blame me? Everything about this event was beautiful. The rings, the flowers, the couple, the dance hall.
It was a lovely evening to watch two people commit to spend the rest of their lives together and a nice reminder of how beautiful weddings can be when thought and planning are put into making them reflective of the people walking down the aisle.
-PJS
* These photos were taken as part of my work for George Street Photography and are presented here strictly for portfolio/display purposes.