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Our second Newport wedding this year – both at Astors’ Beechwood – both great and completely different!

Sharon and Ben got ready at the The Carriage House Inn with family and friends:

Sharon’s mom helping her with her necklace:

Ben in the mirror, shot by second-shooter, Mike:

I love this detail Mike got – woody’s hair wax (pomade) and comb!:

The ceremony was at St. Mary’s in Bristol, RI. 

Ben waiting for Sharon to come down the aisle:

Sharon’s mom watching her husband and daughter:

Ben’s family:

The singer was right by a window for interesting light:

The church was beautiful and this part had awesome light:

Sharon and Ben get ready to leave the church:

We did the first part of the bridal party shots on Ocean Drive.  This is a favorite cove of mine that I’ve noticed a million times and never shot at!  What good sports to go out on the rocks!

I love the bare feet:

This guy was actually in the water while we were shooting:

The best man:

The guys across the street:

Then we went on to Astors for more portraits:

and then on to the reception:

The tables looked beautiful and the  favor was a champagne egg timer:

1st dance:

and we ended with a late night portrait session:

Congratulations Ted and Alicia on your beautiful wedding!  I wish I could have been there after our great engagement shoot in the blizzard last winter!  But, thank you for agreeing to work with us anyway since I was booked.  To me, it is always a team effort between us and the couple to make great pictures – but this had the addition of my good friend and great shooter, Roman, to take the lead, 2nd shot by Mike, and edited and processed by me.  I feel like I was there now that I’ve just edited the wedding…but I guess that’s what pictures are suppose to do and why I love them!

So, here we go…Alicia and Ted got ready at the Bellissimo Grande Hotel.  Alicia wore an amazing necklace:

Ted was helped by (and he helped) his lovely little boy:

Ted and his mom:

The wedding and reception were held at the beautiful Jonathan Edwards Winery in North Stonington:

The ceremony was actually held between the vines.  This is an unposed image during the recessional as Ted and Alicia walk away from coming down the aisle:

I loved this kiss post-ceremony between Ted’s dad and Alicia’s mom:

A great setting for some portraits and wine!

This is my favorite:

and there was opportunity for a nice silhouette overlooking the main house:

The reception was held in the tent:

1st dance:

Some great ideas here, including instead of guest favors, a card reading that a donation was made to the American Cancer Society (GREAT idea!):

Cupcakes for the cake but a little sweet mini-cake for the cake cutting:

This was my favorite wild dancing picture from the night:

And some great lighting on these guys:

Late-night portrait session:

Congratulations guys and I look forward to working with you on the album!!!

What a beautiful evening and wonderful time shooting Leslie and Warren for their wedding in Fairfield and Westport!  After shooting their engagement session, it was great to meet their friends and family at this really warm wedding!

Leslie got her hair and make-up done at Hair salon in Fairfield (yes, it’s called "Hair"):

Leslie’s mom watching the girls getting ready at the church:

We shot some portraits before the ceremony in an old moss-covered stairwell of the church:

A biker passing by the church post-ceremony:

I loved this shot by second-shooter Danielle of one of the groomsmen:

And a smile for Warren’s mom:

I’m seeing more and more sports cars for the drive from the ceremony to the reception – here we caught their corvette entering the park for the Inn at Longshore:

The evening started with cocktails by the water.  This is one of my favorite shots but it may be hard to see on the blog:

Jeff Clark was awesome playing acoustic guitar and singing  – Paul Simon and other music that just went great with an elegant cocktail party.  While a friend of Leslie’s, he is available for hire, lives in Boston, and will travel!

Some portraits:

A fun bridal party:

Then we moved inside for the reception.  Some great touches including chopsticks, cards on the tables included personal stories from Leslie and Warren’s travels, and a full-blown sushi bar were amazing!!!

This was a great dancing party!

You are probably wondering if there is a Matt at every wedding:

…the answer is yes and no…this one was special and I even got an "I love you" by the end of the night!  …most are not so charming!  Thanks Matt!  🙂  PS-This is the best I could do to help fulfill your stated goal of being in every photo!

A few from a late night portrait session…the moon was full and amazing and I can’t believe how crisp this shot turned out (we are always shooting on slow shutter speed without flash for this type of shot which means any movement by the couple or by me holding the camera makes for a blurry picture)!

This is actually one of my favorite pics I’ve taken all season.  Leslie and Warren are standing on metal lawn chairs looking back at the Inn, second-shooter Danielle is lighting them from the front (I think) and a car pulled into the parking lot and made this big spotlight on the right!  Serendipity!  I love it in black and white too.

Thanks Leslie and Warren – I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you guys and hope you will keep sharing your pics of your adventures with me too!