Blog— Weddings — Massachusetts— 2021 —
Lake Pearl Wedding Photos
Lindsey & Andrew
Saint Mary's Parish, Franklin, Mass. & Lake Pearl, Wrentham, Mass.
May 21st, 2021
Sometimes when I'm at a wedding, I'll notice a bride and groom who have completely different personalities. Maybe one is an introvert and one an extrovert, or one half of the couple is super silly but the other fairly serious. In those situations, I inevitably wonder how they ended up together and what, exactly, they have in common that made their relationship work enough to bring them to marriage.
But for couples like Lindsey and Andrew, who are the exact same amount of fun-loving and silly, I can't help but smile when it comes time for them to say "I do."
Lindsey and Andrew were married on a beautiful spring day at Saint Mary's Parish in Franklin, Massachusetts and had a crazy fun, over-the-top reception at Lake Pearl in Wrentham, Massachusetts and, from start to finish, there wasn't a moment where they weren't cracking either other up and smiling like it was the best day of their lives.
Because it was.
Of all the couples I will work with this year, and perhaps for even longer, I don't know if I'll find one more perfectly suited for one another than these two. I know, for sure, I won't find one who spent more time making each other laugh. And, to me, that's almost more beautiful than even seeing them become husband and wife.
My coverage of Lindsey and Andrew's wedding day began a bit more abruptly than I'm used to as I arrived right before the start of their ceremony and we jumped right into things almost immediately. In many ways, this scenario is always a bit nerve-wracking as I like to have time to work with the bride before any wedding ceremony but, for this couple, it was absolutely perfect.
I had just enough time to take some detail shots of the beautiful Saint Mary's Parish church before Andrew, beaming before the ceremony, walked to the front of the aisle to wait for his soon-to-be bride and the minute Lindsey entered the church, I could see his already huge smile stretch out even further.
And I can't blame him. Lindsey looked stunning and they were about to have a beautiful ceremony in a gorgeous church. What more could you ask for?
One of my favorite aspects to Lindsey and Andrew's wedding day was how not serious the bride and groom took most of the formalities of the day but, when it came to the ceremony, this bride and groom stuck to the traditional playbook of a Catholic mass and I'm glad they did because the setting was quite lovely and gave the wedding the proper respect it deserved.
That's not to say it was without its moments of levity. In fact, there were several times I thought Lindsey or Andrew would burst out laughing because, honestly, that's who they are but I love how traditional the start of their day was because, the minute we left that church, any semblance of stuffiness was immediately cast aside.
I knew from the day I booked Lindsey and Andrew's wedding that I was going to have a great time because the pair chose one of my all-time favorite locations for their reception: Lake Pearl.
Perhaps the most beautiful venue I've worked at, Lake Pearl has so many cool spots for formal photos and an entire beach to utilize if you're lucky and there's not another wedding there that day and, given that Lindsey and Andrew got married before the wedding season got super crazy, we had plenty of room to do pretty much whatever we wanted when it came time for formal photos and I could have spent hours with these two walking the property and capturing their fun spirits on camera.
I especially loved how go-with-the-flow Lindsey and Andrew were. Sometimes we'd toss on a special denim jacket the bride had made up for the day. Other times we'd just walk over to an area and take whatever posed photos felt right.
I knew, working with these two, that they were happy and content as long as they were with one another and their formal photos were some of my favorites in quite some time. I especially love the shots on the dock though, admittedly, I wish it had been just a touch warmer by that point so I could have jumped in the water for a few other angles. (It wouldn't be my first time doing so at this particular venue.)
As much fun as Lindsey and Andrew's formal photos were, I was looking most forward to their reception because a couple as silly as these two are bound to have one heck of a party. But, first, I had to grab some detail shots. Especially with how well Lindsey and Andrew planned out their theme and color scheme.
I think the part of Lindsey and Andrew's wedding reception that I was looking most forward to was their first dance and that was with good reason as the couple chose to dance to Lover by Taylor Swift. I love Tay Tay and hadn't heard that particular song as a first dance song but it was a great one to set the tone of the evening ...
Of course, Lindsey and Andrew being Lindsey and Andrew, there was no way their first dance ended on some serious, romantic note. And they planned it that way.
In what was easily my favorite part of this wedding, Lindsey and Andrew broke from the traditional first dance and rolled into a VERY funny dance medley that neither could stop laughing during. I like to think the pair planned out this big elaborate dance number but I guess we'll never know because, most of the time, they couldn't stop cracking one another up. And, truth be told, I was laughing HARD the entire time too. And not just because of the inclusion of "Bye Bye Bye" by *NSYNC.
If Lindsey and Andrew's goal was to set a really silly tone for their evening, mission accomplished because I didn't see a single person in attendance who wasn't having an absolute blast all night.
And even the traditional, big moments of their wedding reception were never overly sentimental or sappy. Whether it was their really nice, but funny, speeches from members of their wedding party, or their parent dances, Lindsey and Andrew managed to keep the fun vibe going throughout all the otherwise "serious" parts of a wedding reception and I loved that for them.
But what good is a fun, silly night without an open dance floor that matches that energy, right?
I admit, when Lindsey and Andrew first told me we would need to move the entire party from the small, intimate dining room their dinner was held to the much larger, traditional ballroom for dancing because of COVID restrictions, I worried the vibe of the night might be ruined and we wouldn't get the fun party they deserved.
At first, it took a little while to heat up but the MINUTE the bride and groom were finally able to make their way into the ballroom, it was like we were there all night and things became instantly fun and NEVER let up.
I've seen a lot of wedding receptions at Lake Pearl but I don't think I've seen one with such an eclectic mix of fun songs.
There were occasional 80s pop songs thrown in with 90s classics, plenty of Taylor Swift, tons of current hits and, in what would immediately bombard my 2021 Spotify playlist, ridiculous funny tracks like "I Just Had Sex" by the Lonely Island (Which is not a song I've ever heard at a wedding before) and "Everything Is Alright" by Motion City Soundtrack.
How much did I love Lindsey and Andrew's wedding reception? I'm writing this blog a little over a month after it happened and I'm still legitimately laughing at some of the ridiculousness I saw on that dance floor.
Even though I was booked to leave Lindsey and Andrew's reception at around 10:30 p.m., I just had to stick around to see how this night ended and I'm glad I did as the newlyweds were never far from the dance floor and partied all the way to, and through, the final song of the night.
As my time with Lindsey and Andrew came to an end, I couldn't help but smile on my way back to my car at just how much I enjoyed shooting their wedding and their reception. I love a couple that doesn't take themselves too seriously but I love a well-matched couple who never fail to crack each other up even more.
I'm far from a fortune-teller but I know one thing: These newlyweds will never have a dull day together.
So, thank you, Lindsey and Andrew for including me in one of the most fun weddings I've had in ages and best of luck together as you start your journey as husband and wife.
-Paul J. Spetrini
