Blog— Weddings — Massachusetts — 2022 —
Five Bridge Inn Wedding Photos
Diana & Tyler
Five Bridge Inn, Rehoboth, Massachusetts (Ceremony & Reception)
October 23rd, 2022
If there's one mantra every bride should take into their wedding day to ensure it lives up to the idea of being the best day of their life, it's that you simply have to find the perfect in the imperfect. No matter how well you plan your big day, sometimes there are things you just can't control and it's best not to dwell on them at the expense of having an amazing day when you marry the love of your life.
Diana and Tyler found this out firsthand on the afternoon of their October wedding at Five Bridge Inn. After what felt like WEEKS of incredible weather heading into their big day, the forecast simply looked miserable for the day they were set to say "I do."
Thankfully, Diana and Tyler weren't the type of fret. Instead, they embraced the challenge and their reward was a sweet, sweet hour of decent enough weather to get all the photos they could have asked for, right when they needed it, and an otherwise imperfect situation became the perfect recipe for love.
My coverage of Diana and Tyler's wedding started, oh, roughly five days before I walked into their respective bride and groom prep sessions. Even though I try VERY hard not to put too much faith in long-range weather forecasts, I couldn't help but check out the way the weather looked for their wedding days in advance and, I'll be honest, I didn't love what I saw.
Diana and Tyler were the couple whose wedding finally convinced me to buy a dozen clear umbrellas because I was ADAMANT that they were going to get great bride and groom portraits so you can imagine my surprise when I showed up to Five Bridge Inn and neither seemed that concerned about the dark skies and pending rain.
In fact, I have may have been watching the skies more than they did which is great because that meant they were locked into the moment on their big day and, honestly, I loved that for them.
Diana and Tyler's prep sessions ran super smooth but, with my trusty weather app in hand, I saw we had a brief window where we could sneak their first look in without getting soaked and, thankfully, that lined up exactly as both the bride and groom were finishing getting ready.
True to form, the rain let up just long enough where we felt comfortable getting Diana and her stunning dress out in the elements and I'm so glad we did as their first look was absolutely worth waiting for.
The moment Diana and Tyler finished up their first look, I stuck my hand out and waited for rain drops and, to my surprise ... there weren't any.
I'm not a religious person per se but I will absolutely take the occasional sign from a higher power to keep going and, on this day, I figured it wouldn't hurt to press our luck a bit and see if we could knock out some bride and groom portraits before the rain came back.
We didn't have much of a window but he had just enough time where I felt we had our bases covered before going into family and wedding party portraits.
To Diana and Tyler's credit, they through their trust in me entirely to tell them where to go and what to do and it worked out perfectly. When the next bout of rain came, I brought everyone under the cover of the overhanging patio where Five Bridge Inn was planning to hold their ceremony and we knocked out a bunch of their formal photos with their close friends and family.
My favorite, without question, were the ones of Diane and Tyler's wedding party being ridiculous and silly and, in another fortunate weather break, we noticed at the end of their wedding party formals that the rain had let up again and quickly moved over to the side to grab a couple extra poses of the group and the soon-to-be newlyweds while we had the chance.
To say any anxiety I felt about the weather went away the moment I finished Diana and Tyler's bride and groom portraits is an understatement. I was elated. More so for them than me but, ya know, also a little for me.
With formals in the bag, I knew I could sit back and just focus on grabbing great candids of their ceremony and if I had any doubt how sweet the main event of the day would be, it went away the minute I saw Tyler, who up to this point had been super carefree and relaxed, wipe away tears as he saw his bride walk down the aisle.
Prior to their wedding day, Diana and Tyler told me they planned on their ceremony being short but even with that advanced notice, I never would have guessed how short. All told, from the moment the procession ended until the ceremony was over and the newlyweds were walking down the aisle, only four minutes passed.
That's not an exaggeration. I checked time stamps. Diana and Tyler's ceremony lasted about the length of a decent SNL skit but, man, it was beautiful no matter the length.
Thankfully, I have experience with quick-moving ceremonies and feel like I got a pretty solid chunk of photos despite the brevity.
With Diana and Tyler's ceremony in their books, they were finally able to sit back and relax a bit and spend time with their friends and family. I, meanwhile, was on full detail duty because this bride and groom had a lot of special little touches for their day and I simply HAD to make sure to document them all.
By the time Tyler and Diana's reception started, I know this couple was eager to party and I can't blame them. While the cloudy weather may not have been ideal throughout the day, it day help to make the Five Bridge Inn tent SHINE with their beautiful uplighting. And by the time they took the dance floor for their first dance, set to "Get You The Moon" by Kina, I knew this would be a special night indeed.
Tyler and Diana's first dance was one of my favorite parts of their wedding day and looked absolutely stunning under the string lights in this amazing tent.
Diana and Tyler had a fairly low key wedding reception, with a slew of toasts being the only major event prior to the start of dinner. And while I'm normally not a fan of more than maybe two people speaking on behalf of the couple, Diana and Tyler had five toasts in all and each was different from one another. Combined, they made for an adorable way to honor these newlyweds and set a great tone for the rest of the evening.
Following dinner, Diana and Tyler had a sweet cake cutting with a side of frosting in each other's faces and a pair of lovely dances. First came Diana with her brother and then, moments later, Tyler and his mother cut a rug with a laid back and fun number of their own.
To give you an idea of how much I appreciate Diana and Tyler's wedding day, my contracted time technically ended prior to their dance floor opening but there was simply no way I was going to leave without seeing how their friends and family members cut loose and boy was that a good call.
Maybe it was the beautiful lighting. Maybe it was the great DJ. Either way, this was one heck of a party and I'm beyond thrilled I stuck around to capture a bit of it.
I didn't know it at the time but Diana and Tyler's wedding was the last one I'd have the privilege of shooting in the tent at Five Bridge Inn, one of my absolute all-time favorite spots to photograph a wedding, as the venue tore it down shortly after they said "I do" and built a new barn instead.
I have a lot of fond memories of this particular tent and I can't think of a better way to have closed that amazing chapter of my career than with this bride and this groom.
Diana and Tyler were everything I want in my couples and their wedding day was an absolutely fantastic day to photograph so thank you Diana and Tyler for including me on your walk down the aisle and best of luck on this new and exciting part of your lives together.
-Paul J. Spetrini
