Amy & Ian
Crystal Lake Golf Club, Mapleville, Rhode Island (Ceremony & Reception)
October 5th, 2024
For the last few years, I've approached my wedding seasons the exact same way: There's regular wedding season and there's October and, as any photographer in New England will tell you, once you turn the calendar from September to October, there's a remarkable shift in the kind of weddings you shoot and the pressure for you to do well.
That was twice as true this year as I knew for quite some time my first wedding of October would be Amy and Ian's, a couple whose engagement session last year was one of my favorite days of the entire year.
I wanted Amy and Ian's wedding photos to be as beautiful and fun as their relationship is and I knew that with the pair getting married at one of my favorite venues in the area, and during my favorite time of the entire year, the pressure was on to deliver results we would all love.
Thankfully, I really didn't need to stress at all because, unbeknownst to me, Amy and Ian would have an absolutely stunning and beautiful day from start to finish and all I had to do was let them guide me from amazing moment to amazing moment. And guide they did.
I knew before walking into Crystal Lake for Amy and Ian's wedding day that it would likely be a much more relaxed day than I was originally expecting. Because Amy had always dreamed of getting married in a church, she and Ian had a very short “official” ceremony a few days beforehand and this day was really just a celebration of their love and a chance to gather with the people closest to them.
Perhaps that's why they looked so happy when they arrived to their venue. This was going to be a fun day and they couldn't wait to get the party started. Neither could I.
My coverage of Amy and Ian's bride and groom preps was less about the prep itself and more about the big moments building up to the start of their full slate of wedding activities.
First on the list was a first look as Ian hadn't seen the full set-up of Amy as a bride in their smaller ceremony and I had a feeling this moment would set the tone for a great afternoon of formal photos before their “friends and family” ceremony began.
And what a tone it set.
Even with the normal stress of a full wedding likely behind them, I knew from their first look what this day meant to Amy and Ian and you could see it on their face as we did their official bride and groom portraits and most of their family and wedding party formals.
I also knew just how relaxed these two are posing for a camera given our super fun engagement session at Roger Williams Park last year so it was no surprise to me that they were practically pros and easily ran through a bunch of great angles and poses as we watched the minutes count down before they needed to head over to the other side of Crystal Lake and say “I do.”
I loved these bride and groom portraits so much but, little did I know, they'd pale in comparison to the ones we'd take after they exchanges rings and vows in front of all their loved ones.
One of the things I love about Crystal Lake Golf Club is, on a beautiful afternoon with the right amount of sunshine, there's no better place for a photographer to shoot a wedding ceremony. Now, I'm not saying it's easy. The backlit reflection of the sun coming off the water is absolutely brutal but, if you know what you're in for going into a ceremony, you can really capture some stunning light and photos of a bride and groom in a moment they won't ever forget.
That's how I felt about Amy and Ian's ceremony. Right from the moment I saw the stunning fall foliage, I knew this would be the kind of ceremony that left me giddy to see the finished photos and I was right.
But even the beauty I captured in camera paled in comparison to how beautifully in love these two looked. Seriously. Just look at Amy and Ian's faces as they walked down the aisle. That says so much more than I ever could.
Amy and Ian's wedding ceremony might well be my favorite this year and I can sum it up perfectly with one photo: A candid shot taken during Ian's vows as he told the crowd he had a private promise for Amy that he couldn't share with everyone else.
The laughter on Amy's face said it all and perfectly captured the spirit of this ceremony as Amy and Ian both shared very personal vows and had beautiful words about their relationship spoken from their officiant but, more importantly, kept the afternoon true to their love and light-hearted.
And by the time these two walked down the aisle, you could see how full of joy they were, a joy I knew would extend into the rest of the photos we had planned.
Speaking of their post-ceremony photos, I know I've said this MANY times in relation to fall weddings at Crystal Lake but, man, when the light is right there is no better place to photograph a bride and groom.
I had initially approached Amy and Ian's post-ceremony bride and groom portraits with the intention of taking maybe ten minutes worth of shots as I wanted them to enjoy as much of their cocktail hour as possible but once I saw how the sunlight looked on the ceremony-side of the property, I couldn't help but get carried away.
And the thing is, it wasn't even just that location. As Amy and Ian headed back to the ballroom-side of the property, the pair asked me to grab some shots of them on the dock before we went inside and even these were stunning.
I won't take all the credit for these photos being among the best bride and groom portraits I've shot this year because, honestly, all I had to do was point and shoot the camera but Amy and Ian were the perfect bride and groom for me to get these peak fall in New England vibe photos and I couldn't have asked for a better couple to be in front of the camera on the day when everything came together so perfectly.
Speaking of coming together, Amy and Ian's wedding stood out for another reason to me: Inside Crystal Lake's ballroom, they had some of the best-themed décor I've seen in that venue.
I love a couple who leans in on red on their wedding day and this little touch in the napkins, flowers and table décor really helped the room pop for Amy and Ian's reception. Of course, the real star of the décor was the cake and cake topper but that's pretty obvious if you know me and my love of all things superhero.
I'd been looking forward to Amy and Ian's wedding reception pretty much for the entirety of 2024 … and not just because this couple themselves were adorable. No, that was a large part of it to be sure but the main reason I couldn't wait to capture the big moments of their reception on this beautiful and crisp October evening was it was my first nighttime reception at Crystal Lake since their 2023-2024 offseason remodel of their ballroom.
Sure, I had a wedding here back in the summer but that was during the day and as any photographer will tell you, when the sun goes down, the vibes are different.
I had a feeling Amy and Ian's wedding reception would be fun and beautiful and it was all that I could have asked for and more, starting with an absolute picture-perfect first dance set to “Can't Help Falling In Love” by Michael Buble.
I love that Amy and Ian very clearly spent so much time working together on their first dance but what really stood out to me were the dances that immediately followed it as the newlyweds chose to move right from their special moment together and into the other signature dances of the night.
First up were two emotional moments for Amy, who had lost her father and honored her mother and brother in the traditional father-daughter dance spot. Both of these dances were full of little emotions that really warmed my heart and I could tell they meant a lot to Amy as well.
Not to be outdone, Ian and his mother shared their dance together and both looked like it was a moment a lifetime in the making.
Following the formal dances of the evening, Amy and Ian rolled right into the rest of their formalities with three fun toasts, an extended dinner period, a low key cake cutting, a dance with Amy and her grandfather and the traditional bouquet toss.
While it might sound like a lot of little things to keep track of, these events actually rolled quite smoothly and each of these moments had a chance to shine on their own.
As fun as the formalities were for Amy and Ian, I knew the pair couldn't wait to let their hair down, so to speak, and get to the open dance floor portion of the evening.
And I can't blame them. These two had a great time bouncing back and forth between spending time at the bar with friends and breaking it down on the dance floor and back.
Their guests, meanwhile, seemed to really love the mix of music because everytime I looked around, there were either well-organized line dances going on or folks randomly dropping it low to the best 90s and early 00s music.
What I really loved about Amy and Ian's reception was the fact that these two were never far away from one another.
I could see exactly what this night meant to the newlyweds as they were seemingly always in each other's arms from the first song until the last and, when you see how much these two love being with each other and making one another laugh, it's hard to blame them.
As I packed up my gear and headed out of Crystal Lake, I knew Amy and Ian's wedding would be one I'd be thinking of for quite some time and it truly was.
I've been truly blessed to photograph some of my favorite fall weddings at this venue and I'm so thankful Amy and Ian's day lived up and exceeded my lofty expectations because it was one I walked into not sure that would be possible.
Even now as I type this blog, some six weeks from when they said “I do,” I'm already envisioning the album I am going to make from this day to show off at future bridal expos and, honestly, I can think of no greater compliment.
So thank you, Amy and Ian, for a beautiful fall day I won't soon forget and I wish you all the best as you navigate this next chapter of your lives together as husband and wife. :)
-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: Lisandra Amaral from LA Beauty; Bride's Make-up: PAJE of Studio B Salon; Bride's Dress: M. A. Carr Bridal; Groom's Suit: Carl Anthony Tuxedo; Florist: Valley Falls Flower Shop; with flowers by Ling's Moment; Ceremony & Reception Venue: Crystal Lake Golf Club, Mapleville, Rhode Island; DJ: Michael Rossi Jr.; Cake and Cupcakes: Wright's Dairy Farm and Bakery; Transportation: Valley Transportation Corp.