It's Fridaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Maybe you have a few hours left before you can go home and have a fun weekend. Why not start your weekend early with the amazingness of Sarah & Leslie's wedding? This was the MOST joyful and beautiful wedding and it was an honor to document it in pictures. Sarah and Leslie live in Washington, DC and they decided to have their wedding at Sarah's parents home in Wolfeboro, NH. Everything was perfectly planned and executed by Eliza of Eliza Cowan Events, Eliza is one of the most calm and organized human beings I've ever had the pleasure of working with!
Whenever I see "Gus And Ruby" listed as wedding stationers I know that all of the paper goods will be absolutely perfect, as you can see here even down to the envelope liner depicting the lakes:
I've had the pleasure of working with Rachael Berkowitz (most amazing hair and make up) before so I knew everyone would look absolutely flawless (not to mention ready on time!). Sarah's sisters and bridesmaids surprised her with a gift of a necklace with the coordinates of where Sarah & Leslie met and where they'd get married later in the day:
Sarah's bridesmaids wore the most beautiful pale lilac dresses and with lots of different dress designs they could all chose the design they liked most. Sarah also gave each of them these beautiful monogrammed navy clutches:
I had two awesome fellow photographers join me for the day. Michele started her day with the guys photographing Leslie opening his gift from Sarah, figuring out the tying of the bow tie and putting on his bespoke suit (loved the stitching inside the collar).
Sarah's mom Ann and sisters/MOHs Emily and Amanda helped her into her beautiful lace wedding dress:
Sarah's mom Ann helped her with her veil...
...while her father Jerry was patiently waiting to get a glimpse of his youngest daughter as a bride:
Sarah and Leslie had friends and family traveling and flying in from all over the world and they really wanted to maximize their time with their guests, especially during cocktail hour. They decided to do a first look and see each other before the ceremony along with taking all of the formal family and wedding party pictures. I think Leslie might win the prize for "best expression ever during a first look".
We were then joined by the wedding party and families for pictures (awesome to do them early in the day when hair and make up is still fresh, not to mention you get to enjoy champagne and hors d'oeuvres at cocktail hour!). We were spoiled for choice with beautiful backdrops of the lake and the gardens:
We had just a little more time as guests were arriving so we took pictures by the barn where cocktail hour would happen. I love love loved the draping and greenery. All of the flowers were by the always impeccable Winston Flowers - just wait until you see the inside of the reception tent!
And with that it was time for Sarah and Leslie to get married!!!
I had a third photographer Kate join us for the ceremony and she stayed back with Sarah and her father while Michele and I photographed the processional.
Love this pictures of Jerry kissing his granddaughter Georgia before she walked down the aisle to scatter rose petals:
As the string quartet played, Jerry walked Sarah down the aisle. Sarah and Leslie really wanted to see the smiling faces of their friends and family vs. the backs of cell phones and cameras so they asked their minister to make an announcement of no pictures during the ceremony.
Leslie was waiting with a huge smile:
The ceremony was incredibly personal with Leslie's sisters Love and Lillian doing the readings including a poem that Leslie had written for Sarah:
Married! Sarah and Leslie couldn't have been happier to walk back down the aisle as their friends and family showered them with rice and flower petals:
Sarah's nephews led everyone to cocktail hour in the barn:
The Catered Affair provided absolutely delicious hors d'oeuvres and dinner:
Guests wrote their names and well-wishes in this special Atlas:
The escort cards (beautiful calligraphy!) were perfectly waiting in the wooden flower boxes:
As cocktail hour came to a close, friends and family lined the walkway from the barn to the tent to welcome the newlyweds with sparklers (lit most efficiently by Eliza and her team!)
Dinner and dancing would happen under an elegant Sperry tent with twinkle lights hung from the ceiling, guests were seated at rustic wooden tables covered in lanterns, candles and fragrant flowers. Leslie and Sarah had thoughtfully packed little mason jars with citrus and herb sea salt for guest favors:
Sarah and Leslie took to the dancefloor for their first dance as husband and wife. Music for the evening was by the awesome K2 band and there was barely an inch of space on the packed dancefloor!It would be remiss of me not to mention Jim and James of Boston Wedding Films who are always a pleasure to work alongside!
Toasts ran the gamut from emotional to fairly hysterical especially the stories about Leslie's invitation to join a fraternity at school by best man Johannes:
As guests enjoyed music, dinner and dancing the American and Ghanaian flags hung together on the flagpole:
Sarah's best friend Franny would be getting married shortly and Sarah decided to forego the bouquet toss. She quietly pulled Franny to one side and gave her the wedding bouquet, I had a little lump in my throat seeing Franny's reaction and love love love the picture of the two of them complete with lipstick kisses on Sarah's cheeks!
Sarah and Leslie cut the cake together....
...before the parent dances:
The dancefloor was seriously packed all evening as K2 played all kinds of music:
We also found a few minutes to sneak outside for a little nighttime picture:
Sarah and Leslie - how much fun was that!?!?!? I hope you've enjoyed these favorites, I could have doubled the images in this blog post as your wedding was so full of special moments, happy interactions and dancing, oh the dancing! Congratulations to you both! Wishing you both a lifetime of love and laughter, health and happiness!
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