GUYS! This wedding was soooo good and I can’t wait to share! This was my first wedding I shot since COVID happened and is the only full wedding of the year I am shooting. I didn’t know how much I missed weddings until I came to shoot this one. The wedding was held at Red Maple Vineyard! This is mine and Scott’s wedding venue and we can’t wait to get married next year with all of our friends and families!
I want to give a quick shout out to Red Maple Vineyard for being so understanding and allowing all couples to reschedule their weddings without a problem! They let Ally and Joe get married with their close family and friends only, instead of having to go to a restaurant or their backyards! It was a small intimate wedding and was so special! And secretly, this is kinda what they wanted all along. They wanted an intimate ceremony, so in a way COVID let them have the wedding of their dreams!
I started the day taking venue shots and meandering through the flowers, gardens, and fields. Red Maple Vineyard is filled with flowers and greenery, it is seriously so beautiful. I could picnic here everyday! After walking around the venue I started taking Ally and Joe’s details, which were at the venue before they were thanks to their amazing planner, Jen! Because of COVID, they actually never even sent out invitation suites, so we just had a save the date, some MASKS, and shoes and jewelry to photographer, and I just love that we got pictures of the mask – it truly showcases the time period of this wedding.
I feel like 50 years from now people are going to look at wedding pictures and be like “what’s that?!?!” But truthfully, it was so fun to style these details! They came together so nice! Ally’s dress was so stunning and really fit her personality. It was a solid white dress with a unique back and her veil was TO DIE FOR. It was covered in rose appliques and I have never seen that before! I loved it so much and you better believe I had fun shooting some veil shots with this!
After shooting their details Ally and her bridesmaids made it to the venue for some getting ready shots in their cute robes! They popped a bottle of bubbly to really get the day started! Ally then got dressed and her Mom helped her! It was such a sweet moment between the both of them. I then took Ally out for her first look with her dad and since it was so hot out, we opted to do it under one of the big trees on the property. You can tell how close they are and I loved getting to document this special moment. Her dad was in awe of how beautiful she looked and that began the floodgates of emotions for the rest of the day – I just can’t handle these amazing moments sometimes!!
I then went inside to grab a few quick photos of Joe getting ready and got him outside for the first look with Ally! It was so so cute and he was in awe of how beautiful Ally looked too! I will forever suggest first looks. It gets all the nerves out for the day and creates such a special moment with the bride and groom.
Now we get to the best part of the day, their portraits! *cue all the heart eyes* They came out SO good! I can’t even put it into words how obsessed I am with these portraits!! I mean, every single time I get to shoot at Red Maple Vineyard, my heart bursts with joy, but this was just unbelievably perfect! The sun was coming down perfectly and created such a nice glow around them, and since I didn’t get to do a session with Ally and Joe for their engagement due to COVID, this was actually their first time in front of my camera! And I have to say, THEY KILLED IT! These moments will last a lifetime and I am so thankful I get to capture them! Next, I took all the family and wedding party photos! They were all such troopers, it was so hot outside but I was freakin OBSESSED with the colors and mix and match groomsmen jackets, and the white pants and shoes! Like COME ON! Joe has got some styllleee. And against the rock walls of Red Maple?! Holy smokes – literally couldn’t have asked for better.
That concluded all our portraits for the day, and then it was time for the ceremony on the hilltop! AHHHH! This was the BEST! Ally had such a fun entrance- Her man of honor drove her and her dad in a jeep to the ceremony! The top was down and they were standing up in the car waving at everyone, blasting Higher Love! Not only was the Jeep great, but Higher Love is my favorite song! 😉 Ally and Joe adore each other and there were tears (happy tears) shared by many (including me) during their ceremony! They were finally husband and wife after TEN YEARS and were so stinkin happy! (There were a lot of “finally”’s from the crowd ahah! They exchanged personal vows overlooking the beautiful Hudson Valley and I couldn’t envision a more picture perfect day!!
After the ceremony, we took a few mountain top portraits with the entire guest list with masks on and then they were off to cocktail hour while I photographed reception details! Of course, the details and florals were GORGEOUS, and I loved the long table through the whole room. They opted out of reception entrances since that would have basically been the whole guest list, and instead, everyone got seated, and then enjoyed toasts from Ally’s brother – the Man of Honor, and Joe’s Best Man, as well as both their dads! I definitely cried listening to these and also watching Ally as she listened to them.
AND! Even though they had to reduce their guest list from 220 to 30, Ally and Joe still kept their band (Just went to 6 people instead of a larger band) and The Storyteller’s KILLED IT! They are literally my FAVORITE wedding band EVER. I went to see them play at a bar in NYC YEARS ago for my birthday and have loved them ever since. I recognized them right away and naturally, it was a blast dancing along to their talent all night!
After all the meals and cake were cut, and dancing was thoroughly ensued, we ended the night with fireworks and I got some adorable photos of Ally and Joe as they went off! What a freakin’ way to end a wedding!!!
Ally and Joe it was such a pleasure being able to photograph your wedding. I wish you nothing but the best! I am so happy we got to celebrate your special day this year <3
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