Angela & Marcelo
Stanley Park, Westfield, Massachusetts (Elopement)
October 14th, 2025
Every now and again, I like to wonder what life was like hundreds of years ago. Take away the obvious changes. Sure, there were no cars, no internet and not even a single Fast and the Furious movie but I'm talking day to day, regular life.
I think what fascinates me the most is what weddings were like, say, in the 1600s or 1700s. You didn't have cameras. There were no TikTok's to make or trends to follow. It was just two people, standing in front of their families and pledging to live their lives together.
That's part of what I love about shooting modern day elopements. In a world where weddings are constantly getting more elaborate and more expensive, elopements serve as a throwback of sorts to weddings of days gone by and few couples personified that better for me this year than Angela and Marcelo, who tied the knot at Stanley Park in Westfield, Massachusetts on a cloudy but otherwise perfect fall afternoon in New England.
Angela and Marcelo's wedding was in a park in a spot that we pointed to and said "That works" and had just a dozen people on hand to witness. But it had love. And it had laughs. And that's all you really need.
If I had any doubts about the laidback nature of Angela and Marcelo's wedding, they were gone the moment I arrived to the site and saw I was the first one there, there were a group of park workers looking to set up the ceremony chairs and I was somehow in charge of picking where the ceremony would be simply because the couple was fine doing it wherever "looked best."
I love elopements like this because I know it means we're going to have the most relaxed time and just focus on what matters and that meant shooting a couple photos of Marcelo getting his boutonniere pinned by his mom and little else before we kicked this day off with the start of the ceremony.
Knowing I was just going to be working with Angela and Marcelo for a couple of hours on this day, I didn't know what to expect from their relationship or personalities but the minute Angela walked down the aisle and Marcelo lit up, I knew this would be a great day.
Angela and Marcelo's wedding ceremony was just nine minutes long and primarily consisted of custom vows, an exchange of rings and a first kiss but it didn't really need anything more than that. The beauty of the location they tied the knot in and their excitement was more than enough to make this a meaningful moment you could tell they would never forget.
My one worry about shooting elopements like Angela and Marcelo's, where I was only contracted to be there for two hours, was fitting everything they wanted into my allotted time. But given that their ceremony only lasted nine minutes and they only had a dozen people on hand for family photos, I actually had more time than I expected and started worrying I'd run OUT OF things to do.
Luckily, Mother Nature had my back on this afternoon as the sun started peeking through right when we began Angela and Marcelo's family photos. Talk about luck.
After working through every conceivable combination that we could with Angela and Marcelo's friends and family members for their formal photos, I was left with a tick over an hour with the bride and groom and knew that would be the exact perfect amount of time for this location and this couple.
I never have this kind of time with a couple, alone, for their bride and groom portraits and was excited at the possibilities of what we might be able to get. And, thankfully, Angela and Marcelo were down for whatever which made this a breeze.
We started with some simple portraits in the garden where we had just finished their family formals and, right from the bat, I could tell the newlyweds were having just as much fun as I was, which is always key.
Prior to Angela and Marcelo's wedding, I had never been to Stanley Park but it was a location the bride and groom knew so I asked them where they wanted to go for their photos and just followed along.
We trekked all around this area and kept finding little spots that looked great for formals, including a gazebo area the pair liked, a nice bridge near great fall foliage that I liked and an open field that I knew would work well for some photos in motion.
I could have worked with Angela and Marcelo for hours but the sun had other plans and their wedding date was really the first time in 2025 where I felt like winter was coming as it started to get pretty cold the closer we got to sunset.
I asked Angela if there were any final spots they wanted to hit as we prepared to wrap up and they chose to finish their session near this pretty colorful totem pole at the end of park so off we went. I think it was the perfect place for us to call it a day, or in this case night, with this great couple.
As we walked back to our cars and called it a day, I couldn't help but appreciate that the universe sees fit a few times per year to toss me some fun elopements to break up my schedule. Angela and Marcelo's wedding was only two hours but it was sandwiched in the middle of my busiest stretch of the entire wedding season and I was worried I wouldn't be able to deliver this couple the creative work they deserved.
Luckily, Angela and Marcelo were a delight to work with and their day was one of the easiest I had in all of 2025, making the taking of their photos a delight.
So, thank you Angela and Marcelo for allowing me to document this special day for you and thank you for sticking true to your vision for the wedding day you always wanted. I wish you the best on this new chapter of your lives together as husband and wife. :)
