Khristian & Ryan
A lot of work goes into planning the perfect wedding. From picking the location and your dress or tux to smaller choices like what kind of centerpieces you want or what flavor of cake tastes best, by the time a bride and groom walk down the aisle, they've made so many decisions about this one day in their lives that it can be hard to remember people getting are supposed to enjoy getting married.
That's why I always love when I'm at a wedding where everything feels just ... easy.
Like the country music song "You Make It Easy," sometimes love really is that way and it certainly was the day Khristian and Ryan said "I do" back in May at Miraval Gardens in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
With perfect weather, a stress-free timeline and an absolutely adorable guest list full of people who just wanted to celebrate their love, Khristian and Ryan's wedding felt so relaxed and so chill I found myself wondering why more couples don't have weddings this easygoing.
Because they should. My goodness, they should.
My time with Khristian and Ryan started at 2:30 p.m. and, upon arrival, I noticed one very important thing was missing in the bride and groom suites at Miraval Gardens: The couple.
Both Khristian and Ryan arrived to their respective preps on site way later than planned and I say that because, typically, that's the first sign I have that we're about to have a wedding day where everything goes off the tracks. But, in this case, what I very quickly found out was that it said something different about the couple tying the knot: Neither Khristian or Ryan were in a rush.
Khristian and her girls were first on scene and brought great vibes with them. If they were behind schedule, they sure didn't seem like it and I loved that for the bride. I also loved that both Khristian and Ryan were getting ready at their venue and I could walk from one to the other so when Ryan did arrive, his pre-wedding photos were a breeze.
There's a lesson in that. You don't need to overthink your wedding day. It can't start without you and there's a lot of value in just taking things one moment at a time. Khristian and Ryan certainly did.
One of the things I loved the most about Khristian's wedding day was how relaxed the bride herself was. There are a lot of nerves to be had in those final few moments of bridal prep but, as Khristian was getting her dress zipped and veil placed on, the vibes in the bridal suite were fun and full of laughs.
I appreciated this and appreciated how quickly Khristian was able to get dressed as it left us time to take a couple of nice bridal portraits of her on the beautiful couch in the Miraval Gardens bridal suite. I almost never get time for bridal portraits before a wedding ceremony so this was a true treat indeed.
Khristian and Ryan's bride and groom preps may have been stress free but that doesn't mean they didn't have plenty of emotions on their big day. I always love the excitement that a couple not seeing each other before their ceremony brings and you could see on both Khristian and Ryan's face what they were thinking as they walked down the aisle.
I particularly loved tracking Khristian's emotions when I pored through the photos afterward as my second photographer Becky photographed her walking up the long path at Miraval Gardens, showing her with a big smile on her face, and the photos I took of her actually walking down the aisle showed a different bride, one who was suddenly a little shy and nervous.
That's to be expected, of course. That moment is a huge one. But all it took was one smile from her soon-to-be husband and Khristian was ready to say "I do."
Khristian and Ryan's wedding ceremony took place on a bright and beautiful spring afternoon in the middle of May and, I'll be honest, for a moment I was worried it was going to be too sunny to shoot the way I wanted to.
Luckily, and I don't know if this was intentional when they designed the space or not, Miraval Gardens might be the perfect place to photograph an overly sunny wedding in the afternoon.
On this day, the light came from directly behind the bride and groom but was high enough that everything was illuminated perfectly. That meant my job was a breeze and I could focus exclusively on capturing the natural reactions and candid moments Khristian and Ryan had. And, boy, were there a lot during this lovely ceremony.
From the moment Khristian and Ryan walked down the aisle as husband and wife, I could sense the energy they had and that was one of love and admiration. The pair flew through formal photos with their family and wedding party members and I'm so thankful they did because I couldn't WAIT to get them alone for bride and groom portraits.
For one thing, the light stayed perfect all day for Khristian and Ryan. For another, once I got the bride and groom alone, their real personalities came out immediately and, before long we went from uber serious photos to downright silly ones and I loved that for this couple as it felt true to their vibe and their relationship.
With formal photos in the books, I released Khristian and Ryan to their respective suites to relax a bit and freshen up before we got to their reception and focused my efforts and making sure to capture any remaining details on display.
Luckily, this didn't take long as I had shot most of this at the start of my day while waiting for the bride and groom to arrive but I did love seeing the way their sweetheart table came out and the simple yet classy little wedding cake they had ready to cut later in the evening.
I had high expectations for Khristian and Ryan's wedding reception as the energy throughout the day leading up to it were fun and, right from the way the wedding party was introduced, I knew it wouldn't disappoint.
I was especially thankful than Khristian and Ryan decided to put the formalities of their day off until after dinner as it meant they just needed to walk into the room to a loud cheer, thank folks for coming to their big event and then we'd all take a break for a great meal. Talk about setting a relaxed tone right off the bat.
After dinner, Khristian and Ryan started the formal portion of their wedding reception with the bride's traditional dance with her father and the groom's special dance with his mother.
I thought this was an interesting choice to ease into the big moments of the night, especially since most couples start with their own first dance. What it did, though, was stress where this couple's focus really lies, which isn't so much on themselves and it is the people around them.
I loved both parent dances and thought it was adorable seeing the way Khristian's father had the biggest smile on his face and Ryan's mother did her best not to cry ... too much.
Khristian and Ryan's first dance really said a lot about their wedding in general. The pair chose Victorious Cast's "You're the Reason" as the song for a well choreographed but simple dance together and the moment felt all the more elegant on this gigantic dance floor filled with just the two of them.
With their first dance squared away, Khristian and Ryan were through the bulk of the formalities of their evening and all that was left to do was a bouquet toss and a cake cutting, both of which they said "We'll do them at some point" which said everything I needed to know about this party.
Khristian and Ryan were determined to have a great night of dancing and I knew they were successful the moment they invited guests to the dance floor as this party popped off almost immediately and didn't really let up.
To their credit, Khristian and Ryan did get those last formalities in eventually but it felt like an addition to the evening, not a distraction and I loved that for them. Even the bouquet toss, which can absolutely kill a dance floor, just offered their friends and family to catch their breath for a few moments before getting back to the Kesha-heavy soundtrack and good vibes of the evening.
What really stood out to me about Khristian and Ryan's reception was how well everything fit. No matter the ages of those in attendance, no one felt out of place on that dance floor and we were able to seamlessly transition from young folks with a buzz throwing it back to a casual cake cutting and a touching anniversary dance within moments of each other.
It's rare to see a reception where everyone feels like they know each other and have partied together for years but this one sure did and that great energy was contagious all night long.
As my time with Khristian and Ryan came to an end, I couldn't help but feel like we captured every element of their evening and that it went exactly according to plan. That's high praise, trust me.
Weddings can be emotionally-draining days, for both the people getting married and the photographer documenting it all, and my favorite part of Khristian and Ryan's special day was how simple it all felt. Even that night, as I worked on sneak peeks for the couple, it felt less like I worked a full day on a wedding and more that I got to see a really cool party and take some cool photos.
I love that vibe. So thank you Khristian and Ryan for throwing the perfect springtime wedding. I hope it was everything you dreamed of and more and wish you all the best on this new and exciting chapter of your lives together as husband and wife. :)
-Paul J. Spetrini
