Ashley & Patrick
Ceremony: The Chinese Tea House at the Marble House Mansion; Reception: The Landing at Bowen's Wharf. , Newport, Rhode Island.
April 11th, 2015*
For such a small state, Rhode Island sure does have a ton of variety when it comes to wedding venues. Heck, in a three-mile radius in Newport alone you can find more than a handful of amazing and incredible locations that will take your breath away. And that was exactly what happened to me during Ashley and Patrick's April wedding at the Chinese Tea House at the Marble House Mansion.
This wedding was also my first wedding of 2015 and, man, did it set the tone right. I loved a lot of the details of this event and, maybe more importantly, loved that it was practically the first day of 2015 where the sun came out.
This was a wedding to remember indeed.
I knew I was in for a good time the moment I walked into Patrick's house to shoot groom preparation photos. While he was essentially all dressed and ready to go, the group wasted no time in showing their personalities off once we drove over to a nearby park for some quick photos. It was a laid back and funny time ... which is exactly what I love about shooting groom photos.
Any doubts I may have had about this wedding went right out the window the moment I stepped out of my car and walked toward the ceremony site. Needless to say, I was not expecting to see this in the middle of Rhode Island ...
Such a beautiful location. And the best part? This was by far the smallest wedding ceremony I've ever seen as the Tea House only really holds maybe 100 people and Patrick and Ashley limited their ceremony to their immediate families. All in all, there were maybe 25 people in the room which meant I had free reign to go wherever I wanted to.
It may have taken Ashley some time to get to the ceremony but once she arrived, it was worth the wait.
While the ceremony was short and beautiful, what I was looking most forward to was what was coming next: Formal photos outside out the beautiful Tea House. They definitely did not disappoint ... even if it was a bit windy.
Seriously. This was a stunningly beautiful day.
Following a fun shoot at the Tea House, we moved over to The Elms on Bellvue Avenue for some more formal photos. These, too, did not disappoint.
Ashley and Patrick had some of the nicest wedding colors and details I've seen in a while and they really stood out against the warm spring sun and the ocean water behind the Landing Restaurant at Bowen's Wharf. A great reception venue for a great group of people.
Ashley and Patrick also had a slew of great toasts by very creative people at their wedding. Perhaps the best toast of the evening was by the bride's mother, who wrote an impressive poem about her daughter and her new son. Definitely worth remembering.
Without question, though, the best part of the evening was the absolutely gorgeous sunset that just put a perfect exclamation point on a beautiful day in Newport.
All in all, I had a great time photographing Ashley and Patrick's wedding. A beautiful day and a beautiful way to kick off the 2015 wedding season, I have no doubt this is one that will stick in my mind for a while.
And in a year where I have (currently) 15 weddings to shoot? Not a bad way to begin. Not a bad way at all.
-PJS
* These photos were taken as part of my work for George Street Photography and are presented here strictly for portfolio/display purposes.