Blog— Weddings — Massachusetts— 2023 —
Renaissance Country Club Wedding Photos
Virginia & Patrick
Renaissance Country Club, Haverhill, Massachusetts (Ceremony & Reception)
November 11th, 2023
If you ever see me on my phone during a wedding reception, there's something you should know: I just heard an amazing song and I am in the process of Shazaming it as we speak. To me, there are few things I love more about photographing weddings that finding music playing during a rowdy reception that is just fun, wild and crazy and that's one of my favorite memories from Patrick and Virginia's November wedding at Renaissance Country Club in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Midway through their wedding reception, when I thought I had a read on what kind of party we were having, a song called “Start Wearing Purple” by Gogol Bordello started playing and the dance floor became unglued with everyone vibing out and singing along to the Gypsypunk banger.
In the months that followed Virginia and Patrick's wedding, that song became a mainstay on my Spotify 2023 playlist and, honestly, I can think of no better way to summarize this insanely fun wedding day. It was unique. It stood out. It was fun. And, most important, it was a PARTY.
And for this particular bride and groom, I can think of no higher compliment.
When you shoot weddings as long as I have, you notice certain trends come and go and, sadly, they're not all good. One of the things I've noticed changing the most about weddings in 2023 (And, I assume, 2024) is a feeling from brides and grooms that they don't really need a photographer for their getting ready photos before their ceremony begins.
As someone who likes to tell a complete story with my wedding photos, this trend bums me out. At the same time, it lets me appreciate those couples that DO value documenting their bride and groom preps and in the case of Patrick and Virginia, bride and groom prep coverage was not only welcome but the best way I could have started their wedding.
Patrick and Virginia are a super sweet and fun couple and the way they got ready said tons about them. For the bride and her bridesmaids, that meant lots of singing along to musical theater numbers. For the groom and his groomsmen, it meant discussions about kilt etiquette and just about more facial hair than I've ever seen before.
Throughout it all, though, there was one common theme: These two were excited to get married and we couldn't wait for their big day to officially begin. You could see this as they read cards from one another and as they got ready to walk down the aisle and me? I knew the best was yet to come.
Patrick and Virginia chose to hold their wedding ceremony outdoors at Renaissance Country Club and, I've got to be honest, with this being a mid November wedding, I was worried.
But even though it was a bit chilly, we couldn't have asked for a better day and I don't think any of Patrick and Virginia's friends or family members minded spending a bit of time outside as this ceremony was so sweet and touching that a slight bit of late fall air was worth braving to see it happen.
I loved this ceremony and knew we were in for a great time when I saw how excited Patrick and Virginia were once they saw each other as the bride walked down the aisle.
Patrick and Virginia had a lot of special little touches for their wedding ceremony and whether it was the tiny little rubber duckies hidden EVERYWHERE or the rock-paper-scissors game these two played to decide who would say their vows first, there was never a dull moment as these two tied the knot.
And the bride and groom even asked me to participate in one of their special little moments as they wanted their first kiss to be shot from behind so that their guests would be in the background. I'm always worried on a shot like this as it tends to be a bit awkward but, honestly, for this couple it fit perfectly.
With their wedding ceremony in the books, Patrick and Virginia moved straight to family and wedding party formal photos and this was the one part of the day where the chilly November air could really be felt, particularly by those in the wedding party wearing kilts.
Nevertheless, all of Patrick and Virginia's closest people braved the elements and we breezed through these shots as fast as possible while still having fun.
I have to admit. I was a bit worried about how enthusiastic Patrick and Virginia would be for their bride and groom formals given the fact that we were outside for almost an hour and it was starting to get a bit cold.
But if these two wanted to be anywhere else, they sure didn't seem like it and whether it was photos back at their ceremony site or in front of their reception venue, Patrick and Virginia were two of the easiest people I've ever worked with.
As fun as those photos were, however, I knew the best ones would be the ones we had the least amount of time for as the staff of Renaissance Country Club drove us by golf cart to a beautiful bridge area for some sunset shots.
Even though we didn't have a ton of time for this and I could FEEL the seconds ticking away as we were bring hurried back to the venue, these were easily my favorite shots of the day for this bride and groom and some of my most fun and silly — and, yes, beautiful — bride and groom portraits of the entire year.
One of the nice things about Renaissance Country Club is the bride and groom get ready a floor away from one another and there is plenty of room in the venue to move around. That's why I was able to take my time grabbing all of the detail shots of Patrick and Virginia's wedding day at various points before and after the ceremony. And what a bunch of great details they were.
I had a feeling heading into Patrick and Virginia's wedding reception that this was going to be a wild night and they certainly proved me right, right away, by entering with lightsabers and only getting more fun from there.
The pair opened the formalities of the evening with a beautiful first dance set to two songs — “For the Dancing and the Dreaming” from How To Train A Dragon 2 and “A Thousand Years” by Peter Hollens.
I loved Patrick and Virginia's first dance. They couldn't have set a better tone for the night ahead of them. And, honestly, I was grateful it was a double song as I had plenty of time to get a bunch of different angles for these two and this big moment.
With as chill and laidback as Patrick and Virginia were all day, I expected their reception to be pretty casual and it sure was. Following their first dance, the pair sat down to two lovely toasts by their closest friends and, following an amazing dinner, they knocked all the rest of their formalities out in a row with a cake cutting, a father-daughter dance and a mother-son dance.
One of the smartest things Patrick and Virginia did, though, came after the groom's dance with his mom as they had their DJ set up a giant group shot on the middle of the dance floor.
Moments after I took this first photo, everyone was already ON the dance floor and it was clear from the party vibe the rest of the night, they wanted to be nowhere else.
Patrick and Virginia's wedding reception was one of the more fun dance floors I've had all year and it took all the energy I had to keep up.
As stated above, however, the moment of the night came toward the end of this busy but wild reception once we got into some gypsy punk and, honestly, I can't think of a better way for this night to have capped off.
No less than three times did everyone remaining at Patrick and Virginia's wedding form a circle on the dance floor to dance arm and arm with the bride and groom and I think that says a lot about how much this group loved this moment and the collective memory they were all forming on this night together.
About twenty minutes before Patrick and Virginia's wedding reception came to an end, I was able to grab the bride and groom for some fun and experimental lightsaber photos. Even though it was COLD cold at this point, Patrick and Virginia were up for every idea I had and we spent a good chunk of time playing around with the lightsabers and being silly.
This little anecdote, to me, sums up this wedding perfectly. I love clients you can have a good time with and Patrick and Virginia were all that and so much more.
As I drove home from this wedding, it wasn't lost on me that I had gotten finally gotten through the busiest stretch of my season and was finally going to have some time to sleep and catch up on editing but I simply couldn't go to bed without seeing and working on those lightsaber photos as they were, to me, the best representation of this wedding I could send to the bride and groom that night.
So thank you Patrick and Virginia for being an absolute blast to work with and I wish you well as you take the next steps in your life together as husband and wife. Just do me one favor and make sure you start wearing purple. :)
-Paul J. Spetrini
Check out more of my most recent wedding blogs:
The Vendor List:
Photographer: Paul J. Spetrini, Paul J. Spetrini Photography; Bride's Hair and Makeup: Kimberly Fuller of Steller Salon & Apothecary; Bride's Dress: Vows Bridal; Bride's Dress Alterations: Queen Elizabeth’s Closet; Groom's Kilt: USA Kilts; Groom's Jacket: Queen Elizabeth’s Closet; Florist: Morning Star Millinery; Ceremony & Reception Venue: Renaissance Golf Club, Haverhill, Massachusetts; DJ: DJ Entertainment; Cake: Hanami Cake Design.