Laura & Sawyer *
Bristol Harbor Inn, Bristol, Rhode Island (Ceremony & Reception)
October 18th, 2025
It can be hard to feel any kind of connection with a bride and groom when you're second shooting their wedding day. You never meet the couple beforehand. Heck, sometimes you don't even get a chance to say hello before photographing their actual wedding ceremony.
This can make documenting such a special day a bit awkward but, luckily, every now and again I get to work an extended period of time with a bride and groom as a second shooter and, on those days, they feel no different than my regular couples.
And, in the case of Laura and Sawyer, that meant getting to see all the best parts of one of the best days of their lives. From a wildly fun groom prep session to one of my favorite dance floors of the year, Laura and Sawyer's wedding was a wonderful time and a day I know they will never, ever forget.
* These photos were taken as part of my work as a second photographer for Pretty Nerdy Photography.
and are presented here strictly for portfolio/display purposes.
I knew I was in for a good day with Laura and Sawyer when I arrived to see them rehearsing their wedding ceremony and got to meet the groom with plenty of time to spare before his prep started. Sawyer was one of my favorite grooms in 2025 and not just because he was super laid back and chill. He's also a big Patriots fan and showed up to the wedding in a Drake "Drake Maye" Maye jersey, which earned bonus points in my head.
In fact, one of the very first things Sawyer asked me is if he and his guys could start their photos with an NFL-like arrival on scene holding their tuxes. Who am I to say no?
From there, we were off and running straight into getting this guy ready to walk down the aisle.
Sawyer and his groomsmen had a lot of fun ideas for groom prep photos and, honestly, it might have been my favorite groom prep session of 2025. I especially loved the before and after photos of he and his guys in their Patriots jerseys and then suits and we capped it off with one more fashion runway-style walk, this time as they were fully ready to go and Sawyer was headed to his first look with the bride.
The thing about being a second photographer is you never know what your role is going to be on a wedding day and, when it came to Laura and Sawyer's first look, my job was a simple one: Capture the bride's reaction and make sure to photograph her when Sawyer gave her a beautifully-written note telling her how he felt on their wedding day.
I loved this little touch as it told me a lot about this bride and groom and set the tone for the day as we headed to some pre-ceremony formal photos.
I second shot Laura and Sawyer's wedding for my photo bestie Becky of Pretty Nerdy Photography and she and I tend to get a LOT of the same clients, mostly because we are very similar photographers. That's why I knew as she captured some pre-ceremony formals of the soon-to-be bride and groom, my job was just to sit back, help her as much as I could and capture the vibe.
And the vibes on this day were immaculate.
Laura and Sawyer's wedding party and family members were all a delight to work with and my one and only regret was not having endless time with this bride and groom to shoot couples' portraits because they were downright adorable.
I knew going into Laura and Sawyer's wedding that their ceremony would be the trickiest part of the entire day. How did I know this? Because I shot a wedding in this exact venue, on this exact day, in this exact kind of weather and sunlight one year earlier.
Bristol Harbor Inn is a lovely venue to get married in but it can be a challenge to photograph during a sunny wedding ceremony.
Thankfully, I was prepared for this and knew how to move around to capture the love and affection this bride and groom had for one another without blinding myself by the sun in the process.
Laura and Sawyer's ceremony, which admittedly I got to see during their rehearsal ahead of time, was sweet and full of special little moments but it was the looks the bride and groom were giving each other that meant the most to me as a photographer.
I adored every bit of this ceremony but their little celebration after they shared their first kiss and were officially husband and wife stole the show for me. What a moment and what a couple.
As Becky took the newlyweds for some beautiful bride and groom portraits, my focus as her second shooter shifted to detail shots and cocktail hour. I never mind doing this as a second shooter, even if it is a bit of a letdown not being able to document the bride and groom's time alone but Laura and Sawyer made up for it with some beautiful decor in the Bristol Harbor Inn reception tent.
What's more, we were treated to a lovely sunset on this gorgeous fall evening and I even got to do a sliver of nature photography outside the tent and, really, who can complain about having that much fun at work, right?
I knew from working at the Bristol Harbor Inn a year earlier that the venue you shoot a ceremony in and the venue you shoot a reception in are completely different ... even though it is the same room. The Bristol Harbor Inn reception tent is one of the prettiest I get to photograph in but also one of the most challenging and Laura and Sawyer kicked their party off right with a great first dance and a real crowd-pleasing moment when the groom lifted the bride in the air.
That set a great tone for a night full of celebration and things only got better from there.
As tough as it is to shoot at night in the Bristol Harbor Inn reception tent, it does make for some beautiful photo opportunities as the sun disappears and that was especially true and Laura and Sawyer took a set and listed to a trio of great toasts honoring their love, personalities and relationship together. I always love a good toast as it says so much about the bride and groom on their wedding day and these three were all top-notch.
Laura and Sawyer kept their formalities pretty low key and even their parent dances were pretty casual. I'd find out soon thereafter that they were just saving their energy for a night of absolute anarchy on the dance floor and, yes, I mean that in the best way possible.
What makes the Bristol Harbor Inn reception tent so challenging to shoot in is what also makes it so fun to shoot a good dance floor in: it's a huge space.
If you're at a wedding where people are just sitting at their table talking, it can be a struggle to maintain your excitement through the end of the night as a photographer but that certainly wasn't the case here. Laura and Sawyer's friends and family came to party and this dance floor was fantastic from start to finish.
I've always said the key to a good dance floor is having a bride and groom out there in the thick of it and few couples personified that better for me in 2025 than Laura and Sawyer. These two weren't just in the party, they were the LIFE of the party.
Every time I looked around, Laura was jumping in the air or rocking out and Sawyer was right there with her. These two were enjoying every single second of their special night and I loved that for them so much.
As my time with Laura and Sawyer came to an end, I couldn't help but laugh at how unexpectedly awesome their entire wedding day was. Oftentimes when I'm working for someone else, serving as a second photographer can feel more like work than a normal wedding day does but, in this case, this wedding felt every bit as fun and personal as a wedding I would be shooting for my own clients.
I can think of no better praise for this bride and groom or their awesome wedding day so thank you Laura and Sawyer for allowing me to play a small part in documenting your journey down the aisle. I hope it was everything you dreamed of and more and wish you all the best on this new chapter of your lives together as husband and wife.
-Paul J. Spetrini
