Sarah & Dennis
The true emotions of a wedding day are almost never in what you see or what you hear on the day itself. It's not in the moments everyone expects to see, like the groom seeing the bride for the first time or the bride walking down the aisle. Those are a given. The moments that move me are harder to spot. They're the wiping away of a single tear or an expression shot from across a room.
That's why I can say, even weeks after it happened, that Sarah and Dennis' wedding is one that will stick with me long past this wedding season.
Yes, Sarah and Dennis' wedding was visually stunning. It was full of great décor, took place on a beautiful sunny day and the reception was in an amazing, lovely rustic barn. But all of that is surface level.
What really warmed my heart was the way the bride and groom at the center of this day embraced every moment together and, if you looked close enough, you could see them fall in love with each other all over again on a day FULL of moments and memories that will last them a lifetime.
I knew from the minute my coverage of Sarah and Dennis' wedding began that we were in for a long of a day … in the best of ways.
As is the case with a lot of my favorite weddings this year, my time with Sarah and Dennis started with bridal prep and, thankfully, this time it meant actually photographing the bride from the point of her hair and makeup appointments through putting the dress on — something that is becoming rarer and rarer with bookings in 2024 and beyond.
I'm so thankful Sarah wanted these photos captured as her bridal prep was a lot of fun and, more importantly, full of special moments between her, her bridesmaids and her closest family members.
Whether it was giving gifts to her mom and mother in law, sharing laughs with her maid of honor or her reaction to seeing the flowers arrive, there were so many cute moments of Sarah as she got closer and closer to putting her dress on and starting her wedding day.
The crazy thing is the day only got more and more emotional as we went on.
I particularly loved the anticipation that was building up once Sarah was in her dress, as she got ready for her first look with her dad. You could just feel a room full of people who couldn't wait to watch as the bride experienced some truly beautiful moments for the first time and those moments sure didn't disappoint.
I especially loved the moment Sarah and Dennis shared before their ceremony. I always assumed Dennis would be the type to get a little emotional during their first look together but to see them both lose it a bit was just absolutely adorable.
What's more, Sarah and Dennis' first look told me everything I needed to know about what kind of ceremony they'd have shortly after it was over. These two were FULL of excitement and looked so ready for a day they'd obviously dreamed about for years.
Sarah and Dennis were married at Whiteface Hollow in South Tamworth, New Hampshire and to say this was one of the most rustic venues I've ever been to is an understatement. Everything about this property felt like we were on a farm in the best of ways and the ceremony was no different.
I, personally, was super thankful for this as the temperature on the day of Sarah and Dennis' wedding was roughly 3,000 degrees but the place where they actually tied the knot was in the shadow of a gigantic tree, giving us plenty of shade.
That meant Sarah and Dennis had no trouble seeing each other as the bride came down the aisle. And you can tell because they both had giant smiles on their face as she moved forward with each step.
Sarah and Dennis' wedding ceremony was super sweet and full of beautiful emotion from both the bride and groom. What I loved the most was the way their officiant kept spirits up with fun jokes that had both the soon-to-be newlyweds and guests laughing and, yet, there were still a ton of moments where both the bride and groom had to stop, pause and compose themselves.
I also love that, in the 90+ degree heat, Sarah and Dennis wasted no time getting in, tying the knot and getting out and in just under 10 minutes, the rings were exchanged, the first kisses made and a new husband and wife joined together forever.
Following their wedding ceremony, it was time for Sarah and Dennis' formal photos and, I'll be honest, this was not an easy task for me as I had developed a cold a few days before this wedding and could barely speak during family and wedding party formals because my voice was so badly shot.
Luckily, I didn't need to say much to Sarah and Dennis' friends and family as they were a blast to work with and gave us tons of fun photos to remember the day by.
With their family and wedding party photos in the books, I finally had time to work with Sarah and Dennis by themselves on their bride and groom portraits. The only downside to this portion of Sarah and Dennis' wedding day is, honestly, I think both they and I were absolutely wiped out from the heat.
To their credit, Sarah and Dennis were real troopers and never rushed me even as we were all acting like out of breath cats overheated in the sun.
The blinding sunshine did give them one gift, though. It forced me to try out some high speed sync shooting when we made our way to the vineyard area of the property and, honestly, I think these were my favorite photos of the entire day.
After a few minutes of absolutely baking in the sun, I told Sarah and Dennis to head inside and that we'd finish any remaining couples' portraits once the sun set and the weather cooled off a bit. They agreed and that little bit of extra time gave both them, and me, a chance to recuperate before their reception started.
It's a good thing we took that time, too, because I knew just from their entrance onto the dance floor that this was going to be an action-packed night.
Sarah and Dennis chose to share their first dance to “Growing Old With You” by Restless Road and it was the perfect way to start this night off. I mean, take a look at these two and the way they were so lost in each other's eyes and tell me that's not pure, heartwarming love.
After an absolutely perfect first dance, Sarah and Dennis settled in and got ready for dinner with three great toasts by Sarah's father, the maid of honor and the best man.
Following dinner, the pair kick-started the night by going back into the emotions of the evening with two super sweet dances: Sarah with her father and Dennis with her sister. Let's just say both brought tears to a lot of eyes in that barn.
Immediately following the last formality of the evening, I stole the bride and groom outside to finish up their portrait session from earlier and thank goodness we did. Talk about a world of difference. Turns out, it's much easier to photograph a bride and groom when it doesn't feel like you're on the surface of the sun and I think Sarah and Dennis were just grateful to have some photos were they didn't have to worry about sweating dripping into their eyes.
With their bride and groom portraits in the books, it was time for Sarah and Dennis to party and I knew just from taking one look at this group of friends and family members assembled on the dance floor that I was going to have my hands up trying to keep up with the fun all night long.
And even though I thought I was prepared to shoot it all, I'll be honest: This group gave me a run for my money. Talk about a fun night!
Sarah and Dennis' friends and family members came to party during their reception and it was crazy to me just how much fun this group had on a small dance floor that was packed wall to wall with crowds of people.
I'd have a hard time narrowing down my favorite moment of Sarah and Dennis' reception but if I had to choose, it would probably be when they brought out the evil creepy doll I'd heard so much about during bridal prep to share some time celebrating the happy couple.
Just seeing Sarah's reaction to that moment made my entire night.
I was fortunate enough to stay until the very end of Sarah and Dennis' wedding reception and the thing that stood out the most to me was that this bride and groom never got tired of being right in the middle of all the madness and celebrating like it was the best night of their lives.
Because, honestly, it probably was.
Sarah and Dennis had a picture perfect wedding day from start to finish and I'm just so glad I was there to document it all … even if my feet were screaming at me as I headed back to my car.
So thank you Sarah and Dennis for a wedding I won't soon forget. I hope it was everything you ever hoped it would be and more and wish you well as you begin this new and exciting journey together as husband and wife. :)
-Paul J. Spetrini
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The Vendor List:
Photographer: Paul J. Spetrini, Paul J. Spetrini Photography; Bride's Hair: New England Bridal Hair; Bride's Make-up: Nicole Camarro; Bride's Dress: Bride-N-Belle Boutique, Medford, Massachusetts; Groom's Suit: The Black Tux; Florist: Moonset Farms; Ceremony & Reception: Whiteface Hollow, South Tamworth, New Hampshire; DJ: Greg Sowa from Sowa Entertainment; Cake: From Scratch Bakery Company.