Amanda & Justin
Five Bridge Inn in Rehoboth, Massachusetts
November 2nd, 2018*
I always find it a bit awkward as a second shooter when a bride and groom elect to have my coverage begin right when their wedding ceremony starts. Whenever this happens, I lose any chance of building a rapport with the clients and feel like an uninvited guest crashing their party until I have a chance to introduce myself, typically after they've both said "I do."
To counter this, I make it a point to get to know the bride and groom as much as possible in my limited time with them and, for Amanda and Justin's November wedding at Five Bridge Inn in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, this meant trying my best to learn one thing about the bride or groom that could help me to know what kind of day I was likely to have.
Then I saw it. The cake topper had a silhouette of a firefighter on top and, thus, I could deduce what Justin did for a living and, based on my years as a wedding photographer, I knew exactly what kind of wedding this was going to be: One where the day was super laidback and those in attendance were there to party.
And, boy, did they live up to the hype.
As I said above, my coverage of Amanda and Justin's wedding day began literally moments before the two walked down the aisle. Normally, this type of plan freaks me out a bit as I need time to set up and get my bearings but, thankfully, Amanda and Justin lucked out with a beautiful (if a bit cloudy) fall afternoon at a gorgeous venue so photographing their ceremony was a breeze.
It didn't hurt, of course, that it was also a super fast ceremony. Rather than going through all the motions you might expect to see at a wedding ceremony, Amanda and Justin flew through the processional, vows, rings and kiss in under seven minutes flat. It makes sense though. This was a couple eager to celebrate with their friends and family, not one looking to check off a list of must have ceremony items.
Thankfully, once I finally had a chance to meet the bride and groom, they proved to be really cool people.
I even got a chance to shoot a couple of quick formal photos of them by an amazingly colorful bush outside of their cocktail hour area. Seeing as they did all their photos before the ceremony, and thus before I arrived, I appreciated the chance to at least get a few of them together before we headed inside for their reception.
Speaking of their reception, I don't know if Amanda and Justin could have picked a better location for their big night.
Five Bridge Inn has long been one of the venues on my bucket list of places to photograph a wedding of my own and Amanda and Justin's reception just added to that desire as the inside of the tent area where they held their super sweet first dance was beautiful on this November evening.
Amanda and Justin's first dance was a delight to see and just the start of a great program of events for this evening.
The two were treated to great speeches by their maid of honor and best man as well as two toasts from the fathers of the bride and groom.
Some of my favorite moments of Amanda and Justin's reception came after dinner, however, as the pair had an incredible spread for dessert which I saw multiple children swipe cupcakes from before they officially cut their cake.
I also really enjoyed the dynamics between the bride and her father and groom and his mother as the two had their respective parent dances under the lights in the tent.
I'll be honest, though, the reason I mentioned that Justin is a firefighter above was because I knew that would play a huge role in how this reception went once the party started.
I've photographed a few weddings of police offices and/or firefighters and they're always crazy fun parties. Turns out having a stressful job makes you want to unwind just a little harder than your average wedding guest.
And what a night this group had on the dance floor. Talk about fun.
By the time my coverage of Amanda and Justin's wedding day ended, I don't know who was more exhausted: me or the couple. Amanda and Justin had a super fun wedding day full of laughter, love and plenty of hilarious candid moments and it was the perfect way for me to cap off a great 2018 as a second shooter.
While it wasn't my final wedding of the year, it was the last one I shot for someone else's company and I'm just glad it didn't take me long to forget that I was just a second shooter for this couple because they really were a delight to work with and made me feel at home the minute I said hello.
So congratulations Amanda and Justin on an awesome wedding day and best of luck as you begin your life as newlyweds.
-PJS
* These photos were taken as part of my work for Lily & Lime Photography and are presented here strictly for portfolio/display purposes.
Tags: Five Bridge Inn, Outdoor Weddings, Massachusetts Weddings, Rehoboth,
Paul J. Spetrini Photography
Check out more of my most recent wedding blogs:
Rich & Makayla
Zukas Hilltop Barn,
Spencer, Massachusetts.
Date: October 28th, 2018
Sarah & Anthony
St. Augustine Church (Ceremony),
The Omni Hotel (Reception), Providence, RI.
Date: October 20th, 2018
Amanda & Josh (Reception)
Loon Pond Lodge,
Lakeville, Massachusetts
Date: October 14th, 2018
Got a thought? Leave a Reply
