Kathryn & Kane
As someone who found love early in college and has been married over 15 years now, I'm a big believer that the person you are on your wedding day and the person you become over the course of your marriage are often two different people.
If you're lucky in life, getting married is a milestone event but not the only one you'll experience with your partner. No, in a perfect world, you meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and, over the course of several decades, you both grow together into the best versions of yourself, versions that are only possible because you found someone that made you better and helped you become who you were destined to be.
In that way, I'm honestly a little jealous of Kathryn and Kane as the two tied the knot back in May but, by virtue of being high school sweethearts who were together for over 12 years before they walked down the aisle, Kathryn and Kane have a jumpstart on most couples in spending a lifetime together.
Their wedding day reflected that. In what I can honestly say was one of the sweetest, kindest and most wholesome weddings I've ever shot, Kathryn and Kane's march down the aisle felt every bit like the culmination of an event a decade in the making but also one that signified the start of a new chapter together. If their wedding is any indication, they are in for a lifetime of incredibly adorable and heartwarming moments together. And, honestly, who could ask for more?
Kathryn and Kane's wedding was one I knew long before it happened would be a marquee day for me. In just the conversations I had with this couple before they tied the knot, I could sense how special their relationship was and how excited they were for this day.
What I didn't know was that literally everyone in their immediate world was also over the moon for this bride and groom and from the moment I walked into Kathryn's bridal prep, I could feel the love in the atmosphere just by the way her friends and family members talked as she did her makeup and had her mother help her with her hair.
Kathryn and Kane chose to get married at the historic Keeler Tavern Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut and part of the charm of this property is there is a beautiful historic property right on the side of it that is the absolute perfect spot for a bride and groom to get ready for their wedding.
How perfect? It was spacious enough that I could keep Kathryn and Kane separated as they finished getting ready ... and intimate enough that all I had to do to move from one prep to the other was walk down the hall.
That's how I was able to keep my eye on Kane as he got ready and what struck me immediately about this groom was how cool, calm and collected he was in the leadup to his wedding. Not only did he sit downstairs and play chess with his soon-to-be father-in-law but he also managed to put on his bow tie in one try. Who does that?
The vibes weren't much different on the bride's side as we closed in on Kathryn and Kane's first look.
Kathryn, in particular, was unfazed by the slight changes we had to make on the fly to the timeline and even less bothered by the appearance of dreaded rain clouds that we knew were going to make this day a challenge.
It helps, of course, that Kathryn knew everything about this day was going to be perfect no matter how it played out and, in a true testament to how much faith she had about everything working out, Kathryn had her friend Sydney hand make her dress and the cape that came with it and it was not only stunning but so deeply personalized a gift that not even some last-second adjustments to it could rattle this bride.
No, Kathryn was going to savor every moment of this wedding day and I can't blame her because it was absolutely beautiful from the start to the end.
Moments before we headed down the hall for her first look with Kane, Kathryn allowed herself a second to really soak in the now very real and very beautiful wedding dress Sydney made for her. She even did a full twirl in it with the biggest smile on her face. I think that said a lot about how much this dress meant to her and to say it set the tone for the rest of the night is an understatement.
Speaking of the first look, I'm so glad Kathryn and Kane had this moment together before they walked down the aisle. Not only did it allow us to grab some family photos before the day got crazy — and, again, shout out to the Fountain Inn because it was DOWNPOURING outside and I was a bit panicked about where we would take these photos — but it made the magnitude of this moment mean even more once Kane turned around and saw his soon-to-be wife ready to say her "I dos."
I had never been to the Keeler Tavern Museum prior to Kathryn and Kane's wedding day but, immediately upon walking into the reception room that would double as a ceremony space for this wedding because of the rain, I felt immediately that it was crazy small and cozy.
Normally, this would be a concern as tight spaces really restrict what I'm able to do as a photographer but I felt the intimate nature of this property really fit this wedding well.
Kathryn and Kane had maybe 60 or so guests to their wedding but it felt like a small, private, family affair and the setting enhanced that greatly. I especially loved how everyone in the room seemed to pick up on how special this day was, with Kathryn's mom's deep look of love walking down the aisle with the bride summing it up perfectly.
Kathryn and Kane's wedding was easily one of the sweetest I've seen and a large part of that was how simple they made it all in the end. The only people up at the front of the ceremony space with the bride and groom were their parents and Kathryn's mom officiated things.
This couple also stripped away all of the bells and whistles of a traditional ceremony in favor of just speaking to one another during their custom vows and let me tell you something: these vows were exceptional.
Kane's vows were sweet and geeky in the best way, highlighting his scientific and mathematic mind perfectly and Kathryn's were so inspiring and well written that you could hear the room crying.
I'm not kidding. My assistant Amanda recorded both Kathryn and Kane's vows for us to share with the couple later and I went back and listened to Kathryn's twice while editing. They were that good and, without a doubt, in the top tier of vows I've ever heard at a wedding.
Following Kathryn and Kane's wedding ceremony, I was treated to one of the more awkward cocktail hours I've experienced. No, that's not a dig at this day. It's because I truly did not know how to proceed.
Cocktail hour is traditionally a time where I grab the bride and groom's details but, because of the weather, we still hadn't photographed bride and groom portraits and the rain wasn't letting up.
To their credit, Kathryn and Kane were unbothered. They spent most of the cocktail hour asking for me to take photos of them with their friends and family members and when it felt like we had a small window of the weather letting up, I snuck the bride and groom outside for a couple of quick portraits together with umbrellas I brought with me ... only for the skies to open up again almost immediately.
I think Kathryn and Kane's approach to bride and groom portraits says a lot about what their feelings were on their wedding day. The pair were grateful to have a couple of photos snapped together and took on a very "If we get more, great, but it's not a big deal" vibe the rest of the night.
Looking back, I can't say I blame them for placing more value on the time spent with their friends and family members than posing for pictures because this bride and groom wanted to experience their wedding day with the people who mattered most to them and their reception reflected that immediately from the moment they walked back into the room for their first introduction as husband and wife.
Kathryn and Kane kicked off their reception with a welcome toast for their friends and family members and then had SIX toasts in their honor, two by their parents before dinner and four after.
I'm not typically a fan of having that many toasts on your wedding day but I don't think anyone minded these speeches for the bride and groom as each speaker had a unique perspective on the bride and groom's relationship and highlighted why everyone at their wedding adored them as a couple.
Following the final toasts for Kathryn and Kane, it was time to get this party started and, in one of the most adorable ways they could have. Kathryn kicked off the celebration portion of her and Kane's special night with not one but two bouquet tosses and, in a fun twist, had everyone come up to catch it, not just the ladies.
Why were there two tosses? Because, in her excitement, the first one fully cleared the entire group gathered and hit the back wall. No worries though. The second one was perfect and highlighted by an epic one-handed catch.
No wedding is complete without some beautiful, intimate moments between the bride and groom and I'm so grateful Kathryn and Kane — who I can tell are not center-of-attention type people — decided to have a full first dance.
This moment, set to “All of Me” by John Legend, was without a shadow of a doubt my favorite part of Kathryn and Kane's special day and because of the limitations of the venue itself, I was forced to shoot most of it from one side of the room, which just so happened to be the best place to do so as it put the newlyweds between me and their guests, giving the best possible backdrop for this little five-minute dance I know they'll cherish for a lifetime.
Kathryn and Kane's first dance was the sweetest moment of their wedding day but it wasn't the funniest. No, that went to Kathryn's father-daughter dance because, in a beautifully quirky touch that fit them perfectly, the bride surprised her dad with the song choice for their marquee moment together.
The song chosen? Weird Al Yankovic 's "The Saga Begins," a star wars song that was so beautifully unexpected you couldn't help but laugh as they tore the house down on the dance floor together.
Kathryn had one last formality planned for this evening, a special dance with her mother and I loved this moment so much simply because by the end, the bride and her mom gave up the dance to just share a special hug with one another. It said so much without saying a word.
Once the formalities of Kathryn and Kane's wedding reception were over, I genuinely had no idea what to expect of the rest of the night. The bride and groom chose not to have a DJ for their reception and that typically tells me not to expect a dancing crowd but, to their credit, Kathryn and Kane's friends and family members had a lot of fun partying to a much better than expected playlist full of hits.
I was fortunate enough to photograph Kathryn and Kane's wedding reception right through the end and, while packing up, got to see all of their friends and family members share a moment saying their heartfelt goodbyes to the bride and groom.
I don't like to predict the future much but I knew after this wedding that Kathryn and Kane were preparing to move to a new city and that life would be different for them pretty quickly after this major life milestone.
I love that for them though. It shows they are on an ever-shifting timeline of growth and change and, like I said at the top of this blog, that's the exact goal you want to see for a couple getting married. It's certainly worked for me at least.
More importantly, as a photographer, it's so heartwarming for me to know I captured a moment in time that will only continue to grow in importance for the bride and groom I'm working with and while I don't know what the rest of Kathryn and Kane's life will look like, I know for sure they'll never forget this one night in Ridgefield, Connecticut when they partied the night away with all the people they love.
So, thank you Kathryn and Kane for allowing me to play a small part in documenting such a special day. I wish you all the best as you navigate this next chapter of your lives together as husband and wife. :)
