Wedding Photographs at The Ridge Club, Sandwich, MA :: Katie + Dan (Part II)

What a crazy week it's been. Engagement shoots postponed with all this rain, client meetings coming out of my ears (2012 is shaping up to be BIG - I'm so excited for Jane & Wendy's wedding in the Wintergarden in February and Lauren & James' wedding at the Taj Boston in June and Mallory & Matt's wedding on the Cape in September!) and lots of other fun.

Last time on the blog: Katie and Dan got ready separately for their Cape Cod wedding, Katie in a gorgeous Monique Lhuillier wedding gown, Dan in some sharp suspenders, we took some pictures at The Ridge Club in Sandwich, MA which is also where their wedding ceremony and reception will take place today! I also introduced you to Katie's adorable twin nephews who may also have a starring role in this post ;) One of my favourite videographers Justin Mayer (super professional & totally unobtrusive) was there and you can check out his fun little montage of the day **here**

Katie walked down the aisle of the arm of her father Kevin:


Dan looked INCREDIBLY happy to see Katie. I should also mention that I had the amazing Kat Hanafin along with me for the day as Katie & Dan's second photographer and some of these delicious pictures are Kat's:


Dan wasn't messing around with a polite little kiss :) Of course I always have to be in the aisle for the kiss so I can get the newlyweds coming down for the processional:


But as a second shooter you don't have to worry so much about where you are. So Kat got this great angle which I love:


How happy is Katie?



With the majority of "formal" pictures done prior to the ceremony we only had a few left - both famiies together and the whole wedding party which have me TONS of time for lovely "We just got married!!!" pictures of Katie and Dan so we took some golf carts:


Meanwhile, guests excited the tent and found these DIY wedding signs directing them:


The Ridge Club has a little "Faux Fenway" complete with a little Citgo sign replica. It's almost like being there ;) minus the Fenway Franks:


Some of the beautiful details. I ADORED the little escort cards with individual buttons:


Katie & Dan specifically requested some jumping action:


After they couldn't jump any more we sent the wedding party off to enjoy a cocktail and I had more time with Katie & Dan (more time = more pictures!)





One of the cool things about The Ridge Club was that they were super accommodating for pictures. Sometimes golf club venues will be all "don't touch the golf carts, don't go near the greens!" but the Ridge Club actually has a special little golf cart just for the happy couple:


The new Mr & Mrs DiPalma were announced and it was time for the first dance and toasts:





Everyone settled down to enjoy dinner and then two little voices piped up singing the following song to the tune of Frere Jacques:
Auntie Katie, Auntie Katie,
We love you, yes we do.
Pretty pretty princess, pretty pretty princess
We hope that all of your wishes come true.

Uncle Dan, he's our man
In his suit, ain't that cute
Take care of our Katie, she's a special lady
Lucky you, lucky you


A button-theme on the wedding cake too!


If you read regularly you'll know I love me a little night-time picture. We have a REALLY narrow time where you get that beautiful twilight blue sky:


Before the parent dances, Katie and Dan made a lovely little toast thanking their parents and then Katie presented her bouquet to her awesome Mom Jenifer:


Stardust then officially opened the dancefloor and the party started. Awesome band - I can't thank them enough for making a number of announcements throughout the night to help pull together some big groups of friends that Katie & Dan wanted pictures with. The music was amazing!



One last little picture:


Such an incredibly fun wedding! Katie & Dan - thank you, thank you, thank you for choosing me as your wedding photographer. Your wedding album is going to packed full of happy pictures!

Wedding at The Ridge Club, Sandwich, MA :: Katie + Dan

Good morning. Now before you start reading go and get yourself a big cup of coffee or perhaps a hot chocolate on this chilly day or if you're reading later maybe a glass of wine? Because this is a monster post with maybe 50 pictures. You'll be here a while hence the beverage suggestions....

Today we're on the Cape for a beautiful wedding at The Ridge Club in Sandwich, MA and Katie & Dan are going to get married! But first, there's all of the usual wedding day preparation....


Don't worry! That's not the only wedding ring picture:


There were lots of beautiful DIY and craft projects at this beautiful Cape Cod wedding. Katie made these ring pillows herself:


Here is one of the ring bearers in disguise:


One of Katie's sister's had written her a note in this cute little "hello sister" card along with a picture of them as children. I'm guessing but I think it's Katie on the left?


I loved the color chosen for the bridesmaid dresses. And wait until you see Katie in her dress!


Of course a wedding gown that intricate and delicate could only be from Monique Lhuillier:


Wedding photographers are usually the only ones (well, other than wedding coordinators) to actually spend most of the day at the wedding. So we get to see the good, the bad and the ugly from other vendors - who's always on time, who shows up late, who's rude to the bride. Over the years I've gathered business cards from SO many wedding vendors and I write little notes on the back to remind me like "John & Jane's wedding. Sept 2009. Sweaty videographer with big light, got in the way a lot" that kind of thing ;)

I happily share the GOOD ones with my couples and so when I arrived to do the getting ready pictures I was delighted to see Ligia from Makeover by Ligia and Ann (617 719 2084) doing make up and hair! It's been a little while since we worked together but I knew all of the girls would look beautiful!


Another little DIY detail with the cute little button theme that Katie & Dan incorporated throughout the wedding. Katie & Dan had beautiful embroidered handkerchiefs for their parents and grandparents with personal letters to go with each one, all packaged in a little button box. Good job that no-one had koumpounophobia which affects an estimated 1 in 75,000 people :)


I like this picture :)


Katie had picked out different buttons to personalize each of her bridesmaid's bouquets and she carried her grandmother's rings on her own bouquet:


I popped over to the guys room where there was much fun with suspenders. Fun fact - in the UK we call suspenders braces. And suspenders would be used to describe what are known as garters in the US. So when I write that "the guys wore suspenders" I can't help but have a little giggle ;)


I played mail(wo)man and delivered a letter from Katie to Dan. And then he sent me back with this rather well packaged bag. Nice wrapping skills Dan.

I love how everyone gets involved with the dress and then there's that "ahhhhh" moment. Especially when Katie's dad saw her for the first time:




Katie then opened Dan's letter. I saw just one line about how he just knew the very first time he saw her in English class and felt a little emotional myself. Not as much as Katie though:


Katie and Dan decided not to see one another before their ceremony and the schedule was pretty tight so they smartly decided that we'd get a lot of the "formal" pictures done before the ceremony and then we'd just had a few left to do with them together afterwards. Here's Dan and his best man Paul:


The DiPalma family:


I honestly have no idea what's going on here but it's pretty funny:


The Mooney family:


Katie and the girls:


Oh Katie! So pretty!


Small children at weddings. They can be behave perfectly or they can howl all day. They can walk down the aisle like little angels or they can refuse to get out of the limo. You can't predict what they'll do and you have to just go with the flow on the wedding day.

When Katie told me that her nephews - the 4 year old twins Colin and Nathan would be the ring bearers I figured we'd have some fun and I wasn't wrong. Here is an attempt to get a picture with Katie and Colin and Nathan:


And now you're probably in picture overload so I'll show you the cute little DIY wedding program on a chalkboard (love it!) and you'll have to come back for the wedding ceremony and reception. A Colin and Nathan's musical debut. And the cutest little escort cards with buttons. And much more. I've talked too much on this one haven't I? I'll be quiet for part II :)


If you can't wait until part II on the blog you should click on this link **here** right now and it'll take you to the Leah Haydock Photography facebook page where you can click "like" to see sneak peaks throughout the day! And feel free to say hello in the comments...