Blog— Weddings — Rhode Island — 2021 —
Quidnessett Country Club Wedding Photos
Matthew & Christine
St. Peter's Church (Ceremony) & Quidnessett Country Club (Reception)
August 28th, 2021
By far, the most difficult part of photographing any wedding for a photographer is the formal photo portion of the day. Not only do you need to produce your best work but you're often up against a tight timeline and wrangling a bunch of friends and family members of the couple who may or may not have more interest in going to cocktail hour and getting drunk than taking photos.
That's why I've learned to appreciate days where I have ample amounts of time to work with my clients and few brides and grooms have ever given me more time than Matthew and Christine did on the afternoon of their August wedding.
Not only did we take a bunch of photos at their church but we stopped at a small fishing area on the reception venue and STILL had an hour to spare at their actual reception location.
The craziest thing? I could have worked with this pair for hours more. Because they were much fun and their day was truly that perfect.
My time with Matthew and Christine began with the final touches of bridal prep at the groom's mother's house. I say the final touches of bridal prep because Christine was the rare bride who, by and large, was ready to go when I showed up.
Sure, we still had some typical bridal prep stuff to do — like getting her in the dress for one — but I admired how ready to get the day going Christine really was. Especially because there were still plenty of moments of beautiful emotion we captured before heading to St. Peter's Church in Warwick for her wedding ceremony.
As has been the case several times this summer and fall, the weather for Matthew and Christine's wedding day was suspect but looked like it would hold for us and give us a nice overcast day. I don't want to say I was praying the rain, rain would go away but if I was? We were certainly in the right place for it.
Matthew and Christine's wedding ceremony at St. Peter's Church was traditional and beautiful and you can see just by the look on the Matt's face when he saw his bride-to-be how much this moment meant for the groom.
It was a moment he waited his entire life for and, boy, was it worth it.
As I said above, one of the reasons I loved Matt and Christine's wedding was the large gap of time in the middle of the day. This proved to give us a ton of flexibility, which we would need later when Matt got a stain on his jacket and we needed a full half hour to get it cleaned.
Even with the slight speed bumps in our timeline, you'd never know the day was anything but smooth with the beautiful formal photos these two took in the gardens at St. Peter's Church ...
At the incredibly tucked away Stillhouse Cove in Cranston — which was a fantastic spot I am definitely planning on returning to the next time I have a wedding in the area and need a place for formal photos ...
And, of course, at Quidnessett Country Club itself.
Seriously, I don't think Matt and Christine could have been more accommodating as a couple and the same is true for their family and wedding party.
Despite the multiple stops and long period between the ceremony and wedding reception, these guys were just as rowdy when we were finishing their photos as they were at the start of the day and I loved them for that.
But the stars of the day were definitely Matthew and Christine themselves. These two were practically pros for their formal photos and I don't know if it was the couple themselves, the beautiful overcast day or a bit of luck but these were easily some of my favorite photos of the year so far.
I adore Matt and Christine and I love how these bride and groom portraits really nailed their fun spirit and beautiful relationship together.
By the time Matt and Christine's wedding reception was set to start, I felt like we'd already captured a full wedding day and we were still really just getting started.
As I've often said in this space, Quidnessett Country Club is one of my favorite wedding venues in Rhode Island and I couldn't wait to see how these two tore the dance floor up. I didn't have to wait long.
Right from the moment Matthew and Christine walked into Quidnessett Country Club for their introduction as husband and wife, they were ready to party and I can't blame them. This was a crowd ready to cut loose and have a great time.
The newlyweds kicked their reception off with a first dance set to “Keeper of the Stars” by Tracy Bryd and never left each other's arms.
Whether it was with their best man and man of honor toasts, their cake cutting or their parent dances, Matthew and Christine very clearly had a LOT of people in that room at Quidnessett Country Club who loved them and it showed in a big way in the formalities of the evening.
But it was the open dance floor portion of the evening that showed just HOW MUCH fun their friends and family members were. Seriously, I don't think this party stopped for even one minute once the DJ hit the lights and cranked the music.
And at the center of it all? The bride and groom who were very, very clearly having the night of their lives.
As my time with Matthew and Christine came to an end, I couldn't help but smile thinking of just how much fun their day was from start to finish. It can be a little intimidating sometimes to try to fill three hours in the middle of the day between a wedding ceremony and cocktail hour but, with these two, it was a total breeze.
And I think that says a lot about how much fun Matt and Christine really are and why their wedding day was so successful.
I had an incredible time working with these two on their engagement session in Newport last summer but, even with the highest of expectations, Matt and Christine blew me away on the day they became husband and wife.
So, thank you Matthew and Christine was an amazing wedding day that I know you'll cherish for a lifetime and I hope when you look back on these photos in 10 or 20 years, you're still just as in love then as I know you were that beautiful afternoon you made it official for the first time.
-Paul J. Spetrini
