Justin & Anna
Chinese Church of Rhode Island (Ceremony) & Providence Marriott (Reception)
February 21st, 2026
I have a love-hate relationship with winter. On the one hand, it's the only time of year I can stay home and relax. On the other, it's cold, snowy and downright miserable most of the time in New England. Heading into this winter, though, I was thrilled to embrace the season as I was buried under a mountain of photos I needed to finish and needed some real time away from weddings to catch my breath and rest up.
That's why I was a little hesitant to respond to an email from Justin and Anna inquiring about wedding photography for their February 2026 wedding. While I love shooting wedding, I've generally found any weddings before early April are risky propositions at best. The weather is bad, the crowds don't want to party and the vibes can really be off.
But Justin and Anna sounded like my kind of couple. Namely, they wanted the most relaxed wedding day possible and had very few requests of me as a photographer. So much so that I often found myself on their wedding day wondering "Oh? That's it? That's all you needed?"
That's just the kind of couple these two were. No muss, no fuss, just a whole lot of love. To say that was a great way to start my 2026 wedding season is an understatement.
I could tell from the moment I walked into the Chinese Christian Church of Rhode Island that Justin and Anna's wedding day was going to be super chill through and through. Even though I arrived a half hour before their ceremony, neither Justin nor Anna wanted or needed any traditional prep photos outside of a few shots of the groom getting his boutonniere pinned.
I was still thankful to have time to ease into the day and talk to the bride and groom before their ceremony began and see how they were feeling, though I suspect all I needed to do was take one look at Justin's face the minute he saw his soon-to-be bride to know everything I needed to know about this day.
Justin and Anna said "I do" at the Chinese Christian Church of Rhode Island, which is Justin and his family's church. I'd never been to this location before but, as someone who LOVES experiencing new things and especially photographing different cultures, I was excited to see this venue that meant so much to the groom.
It was even better than I pictured it would be and it really had a beautiful community church feeling where everyone knew everyone else.
Shooting Justin and Anna's wedding was especially a treat as they incorporated a musical performance, elements of Chinese culture and a sand ceremony into their special moment. All three were beautiful representations of the commitment they were set to make on this day and I could feel the love in the room from their closest friends and family members, who all felt overjoyed at witnessing this milestone event in their lives.
My favorite part of Justin and Anna's wedding was their sand ceremony. I am a big fan of the metaphorical representations couples sometimes have on their special day to show the ways their lives are blending together and Justin and Anna's sand ceremony was richly detailed, right down to the colors they were wearing, and a rare moment when they both let their guard down and really embraced how special this day was for them.
I loved the giant smiles each had as they poured their container out and it wasn't too long after that they made their union official with the exchanging of rings and a kiss to seal their marriage.
Following Justin and Anna's wedding ceremony, we brought their closest friends and family members back into the church for family and wedding party photos — it was February after all and it was COLD outside.
Justin and Anna told me prior to their wedding that they really weren't big on posed portraits and when we went through their timeline, Justin stressed it to me many times that Anna is very camera shy.
My job as a wedding photographer is to always make the people I work with as comfortable as possible so I went into this day knowing I wouldn't get many, if any, portraits of the newlyweds together but, thankfully, they did give me four minutes and I think we made the absolute most of them.
Would I have loved more time with Justin and Anna and their bride and groom portraits? Absolutely. But wedding days aren't about me. It's about my couple and what they want and what Justin and Anna wanted was a low key, relaxed wedding day where they didn't feel a camera in their face the entire time.
I consider that a speciality of mine and I didn't mind cutting my portrait time with the couple short so that they could head over to the Providence Marriott for their cocktail hour and reception.
Just as I imagined it would be, the decor and details on this part of the day were perfectly reflective of that relaxed vibe the couple was going for and it fit these afternoon perfectly.
I don't get to photograph a lot of cocktail hours but, when I do, I consider it a treat as it gives me a chance to really get to mingle with the guests at a wedding and get a sense of the vibe for the room, information that tells me a lot about what to expect from the rest of the night.
I really enjoyed photographing Justin and Anna's cocktail hour as the energy was great and it was clear a lot of people from a wide variety of walks of life were all coming together to celebrate this couple. I couldn't really tell what kind of party crowd we'd get as things were fairly low key but my hope was once the dance floor music kicked in, the real fun would start.
Speaking of fun, I entered Justin and Anna's wedding day with few, if any, real requests from the bride and groom. But the biggest request I had came from the groom himself as Justin asked if I could take a fun photo of him with his groomsmen at some point during the event.
The idea, he said, was to capture a silly shot of them shooting money in the air at him and I came into his wedding day with this request as the absolute, No. 1 thing I wanted to nail creatively.
I think we did.
This photo of Justin and his guys was so much fun to put together and seeing his reaction when I showed him it on the back of my camera was, without question, my favorite part of the entire wedding personally.
Right after taking the photo above, Justin rolled straight into his reception and I could feel the vibe shift immediately. There's just something about a wedding reception that allows everyone to let their hair down and have a good time and Justin and Anna embraced that mentality perfectly.
The pair kicked their wedding off with a first dance set to a shortened version of “Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra. I didn't have long to shoot this dance as the pair were on the floor for just 1:17 but, man, I was glad I captured it as it really showcased the fun side of these two so sweetly.
Justin and Anna's first dance was a sign of things to come as far as formalities for their reception go. The two decided to participate in traditional parent dances ... but with a twist. They did a combined mother-son/father-daughter dance and kept it to just 1:22.
I had to HUSTLE to make sure I captured this moment for both the bride, the groom and their parents but it was still an incredibly sweet moment I knew this introverted couple did to honor their loved ones and let them have that moment.
I think getting the spotlight dances out of the way really did wonders for Justin and Anna's mentality the rest of the night as they could finally be themselves and not worry too much about being the center of attention. That's why the four toasts in their honor, from parents and their best man/maid of honor, felt like the most natural of the formalities on this day.
Each toast talked about the bride and groom's relationship at length but, more importantly, talked about how great they are as people and how sweet, kind and caring they have always been to those they love.
I've always said good toasts can elevate a wedding reception and these four really brought a love, understanding and appreciation that I feel sometimes goes unsaid on a wedding day. That's why they were all a true highlight on a night full of special moments.
Justin and Anna weren't out of the woods in terms of spotlight moments though, After dinner, the pair cut their wedding cake and made a brief speech of their own before opening the dance floor for their gathered guests.
By the time the dance floor opened, I was convinced we were going to have a quiet night of friends gathered at tables catching up but, to my surprise, it didn't take long for the crowd to decide they wanted to celebrate in a more outward way.
Justin and Anna's reception was sneaky good and I don't know if it was the curated playlist by the couple of just an appreciative crowd happy to have a reason to party in the middle of winter but this dance floor was FUN.
Perhaps most importantly, though, Justin and Anna were deep in the middle of it all having a great time themselves.
I got the sense watching them and photographing them that THIS was the kind of party they were always envisioning, rather than the traditional wedding aspect where everyone's attention is centered on the bride and groom. This happens a lot with my introverted couples and I'm always so relieved to capture the genuine happiness on their faces when the nerves of the day subside and they can just be themselves.
I ended up sticking around a bit later than planned for Justin and Anna's reception because, in truth, I was having a great time photographing their dance floor and I think that says a lot about this couple and their wedding as a whole.
My hope, though, is that it's a sign of things to come for the 2026 wedding season as Justin and Anna's was a great way to kick things off and a good reminder that maybe winter weddings aren't so bad after all.
So, thank you Justin and Anna for a beautiful February night. I hope your wedding was everything you dreamed of and more and wish you all the best on this new and beautiful chapter of your lives together as husband and wife.
