Romantic Microwedding at The Mount (Lenox, MA)
Taylor and Sam’s romantic summer microwedding in the Berkshires was such a memorable day and introduced me to one of my favorite New England venues - The Mount.
Taylor and Sam’s summer microwedding in the Berkshires was such a memorable day and introduced me to one of my favorite venues - The Mount. This venue was one of the most unique, beautiful places that I’ve ever had the privilege of working at and it is now at the top of my list of my favorite New England venues (blog post on those to come!).
The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts was once the home of celebrated author Edith Wharton. The historic estate was designed and built by Wharton in 1902.
The property includes over 50 acres of meticulously landscaped grounds and has lots of gorgeous options for ceremony and portrait spaces. Taylor and Sam chose to have their first look in the intimate Italian Garden, their ceremony in the Versailles-inspired French Garden, and their dinner in the linden tree-lined walkway between the two gardens known as the Lime Walk. They also used several rooms and spaces inside the house itself for getting ready and portraits.
My favorite part of their day was the intimate dinner they had at long tables surrounded by twinkly lights set up between the rows of trees in the Lime Walk (see below for photos of the details!). I photographed Taylor & Sam’s wedding day primarily with my digital cameras but was testing out my grandfather’s old Konica Minolta film camera for fun so I threw in a handful of film shots as well for them. See if you can spot them!
The Mount is a great option both for couples that are having smaller, intimate microweddings like Taylor and Sam’s and for those who are having a larger celebration with room for up to 250 guests. The space allows for so much flexibility! If you’re looking for a unique and historic wedding venue in a beautiful location like the Berkshires, I highly recommend that you check out The Mount!
Taylor & Sam’s Wedding Vendors
photography: Kayla Rice Photography // venue name: The Mount, Edith Wharton's Home, Lenox, MA // planning/catering/bar: Mezze Events // florals: Carolyn Valenti Flowers // hair stylist: Good Vibes Beauty Co // makeup artist: Liz O’Malley Makeup
Simone & Shawn's Intimate Wedding at the Four Seasons One Dalton
Simone and Shawn originally booked me for their Fall 2024 wedding at the beautiful Four Seasons One Dalton, but less than a month after booking I got an email from them telling me that plans had changed! The couple found out that they were expecting a baby so they decided to adjust their plans to have a much more intimate wedding with their closest family in May.
Simone and Shawn originally booked me for their Fall 2024 wedding at the beautiful Four Seasons One Dalton, but less than a month after booking I got an email from them telling me that plans had changed! The couple found out that they were expecting a baby so they decided to adjust their plans to have a much more intimate wedding with their closest family in May 2024. Luckily, I was available for their new date!
I got to know Simone and Shawn a bit better in March with an engagement session at their favorite neighborhood bar, park, and at their apartment. It’s really nice to be able to meet a couple in person before their wedding day so that we can get to know each other and have a “test run” for our wedding day portrait session. Typically I’ll meet couples through an engagement session, but a meetup can also be done at an in-person planning meeting, or a venue site visit.
Simone and Shawn were originally drawn to my work because of my documentary style. They wanted the photos from their more intimate wedding to feature candids of them with their close friends and family prominently.
On their wedding day, the couple got ready separately with family and friends, and then saw each other for the first time that day with a first look on the hotel’s balcony overlooking the neighboring Christian Science church and plaza. The first look was followed by some more portraits in the plaza with family. After portraits, the couple had a ketubah signing with their families followed by a wedding ceremony with some Jewish elements integrated (such as the chuppah and the breaking of the glass) which was officiated by a close friend. Simone and Shawn wanted to use their wedding photos as a pregnancy announcement, so we incorporated their ultrasound photo into some of their portraits which I thought was beautiful!
After the ceremony, the guests gathered in a small ballroom for a cocktail hour where dancing spontaneously began. Cocktail hour was followed by a dinner enjoyed at one long table with a beautiful toast given by the bride's father.
Congratulations to Simone & Shawn who welcomed their baby boy in October!
Vendors
Venue/Catering/Bar: Four Seasons One Dalton
Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography
Floral: Table & Tulip
Hair & Makeup: Charlotte Phinney
Ceremony/Reception Musician: RD King
Arti & Jay's Hindu Wedding Ceremony at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill
Arti & Jay chose an absolutely beautiful venue, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, for their intimate wedding ceremony with their families. The venue is picturesque year round but especially so in the spring with the flowering trees in bloom and fields of tulips filling the gardens with color. The colorful backdrop was a perfect one to compliment the vibrant colors of their Hindu wedding attire.
Arti & Jay chose an absolutely beautiful venue, New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, for their intimate wedding ceremony with their families. The venue is picturesque year round but especially so in the spring with the flowering trees in bloom and fields of tulips filling the gardens with color. The colorful backdrop was a perfect one to compliment the vibrant colors of their Hindu wedding attire.
Arti and Jay’s love story is straight out of a rom-com. The couple met spontaneously at the airport and connected while talking nonstop throughout their flight. When they met they were living in different cities but stayed in touch and ended up re-connecting years later when the stars aligned for them to live near one another.
One of the botanical garden’s greenhouses served as the ceremony space on their wedding day. The lush greens of the space made for a gorgeous backdrop making the colorful reds and golds in their outfits pop.
The couple’s small family-only wedding was a traditional Hindu ceremony and featured some beautiful Hindu traditions such as exchanging garlands (symbolizing the partners welcoming each other into their families), Saptapadi (when the newlyweds have their garments tied together and walk together to signify their friendship), and the Mangal Fera (the bride and groom walk around the fire four times, each time signifies something different; duty, prosperity, love, and spiritual liberation). The family members in attendance were each given parts to play throughout the ceremony. The way Arti & Jay involved each member of their family beautifully showed how much they all meant to them.
Congratulations, Arti & Jay!
Ellie & Shane's Cape Cod Wedding
Ellie & Shane made me believe in good karma.
The weather forecast leading up to the couple’s wedding was foreboding to say the least. They had planned their Cape Cod wedding at Red Jacket Beach Resort, right on the water in Yarmouth, MA on September 16, 2023; the day that Hurricane Lee was forecasted to hit the Cape.
Ellie & Shane made me believe in good karma.
The weather forecast leading up to the couple’s wedding was foreboding to say the least. They had planned their Cape Cod wedding at Red Jacket Beach Resort, right on the water in Yarmouth, MA on September 16, 2023; the day that Hurricane Lee was forecasted to hit the Cape.
Meteorologists had been instilling fear in the Boston and coastal New England communities throughout the week leading up to the wedding. CBS Boston reported the "greatest impact will be felt on the Lower and Outer Cape and on Nantucket…If you live on the Cape of Massachusetts…keep a close eye on Lee as we head into the weekend…if Lee ends up farther west, we could have stronger winds, heavier rain, larger swells and coastal flooding.”
Ellie & Shane could not have handled the disquieting news better. When I spoke with Ellie in the days leading up to her wedding, she was calm, upbeat, and continued to have a positive outlook about the day despite the growing predictions of high winds and flooding rain. She was just excited to get married to Shane and to be with all of the people they loved the most and didn’t seem to care too much about what that ended up looking like, as long as it could still happen (these are my kind of clients).
As a documentary style wedding photographer, Ellie & Shane hired me to capture authentic photos of their families and friends throughout their wedding day and that remained the most important thing to them.
The day of their wedding began with some rain and wind, but as the day progressed, the skies gradually brightened and the wind calmed to manageable levels. We were able to do Ellie & Shane’s first look and all of our planned portraits outdoors, and the ceremony was held in the yard overlooking the ocean. After the ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails on the lawn and we were given one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen during their cocktail hour. I don’t typically believe in things like karma or fate, but this drastic turn of events really felt like the result of Ellie & Shane’s positivity and the loving energy of their friends and family.
The night ended inside the resort’s ballroom with some beautiful toasts from the couple’s siblings and Ellie’s father, key lime pie for dessert, and a super fun, packed dance floor.
The day turned out to be a beautiful one in every sense of the word and there could not be a more deserving couple than Ellie & Shane.
Here are some of my favorite photos from Ellie & Shane’s Cape Cod wedding. Enjoy!
Vendors
Venue: Red Jacket Beach Resort
Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography
Officiant: Claire Watts
Floral: Debra Kraft
Hair & Makeup: Salon 700
Dessert: Marion’s Pies
Courtland & Matt's Backyard Wedding in Gloucester
When Courtland told me that she and Matt were planning their backyard wedding at Courtland’s parents’ home by the water in Gloucester, Massachusetts, I envisioned a picturesque setting but never imagined it to be quite as beautiful as it turned out to be in real life.
When Courtland told me that she and Matt were planning their backyard wedding at Courtland’s parents’ home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, I envisioned a picturesque setting but never imagined it to be quite as beautiful as it turned out to be in real life.
When I arrived, family and friends were helping to set up flowers in pink, orange, yellow, and cream hues around the lush green yard and down by the ceremony space that overlooked the water. Two floral pillars stood on a wooden platform by the docks, framing the spot where the couple would soon be married. The week had been an overcast and rainy one but the rain held off and we even saw some blue sky peeking through throughout Courtland & Matt’s wedding day.
Courtland and her bridesmaids got ready in a small guest house down the driveway. The couple shared a first look in a clearing in the woods overlooking the water away from the hustle and bustle of the wedding preparations closer to the house. We then gathered the wedding party and family members and took a few portraits before the ceremony followed by some portraits incorporating the scenic waterfront views with just Courtland & Matt.
Guests began to arrive, so the couple took a private break and prepared for the ceremony to begin. Friends and family mingled in the yard and then gradually took their seats down by the ceremony space. The processional music began (played by musician Ollella) and the couple and their wedding party processed from the house down through the yard and down the aisle. Courtland’s veil nearly escaped with a gust of wind as she and her parents walked down the aisle, but her mother was able to catch it just in time. As a wedding photojournalist, moments like this are gold to me. I’m always looking to capture the humorous, strange, and unexpected moments that weddings almost always are full of.
Courtland’s uncle (Uncle Pete) officiated the wedding, which added a nice personal touch to the ceremony. He performed a unity ceremony with the couple, told stories of Courtland’s youth, shared some beautiful words, and then handed over the microphone for each of them to share their vows before officially announcing them husband and wife. Guests threw rice in celebration as the couple recessed back down the aisle.
Right after the ceremony, Uncle Pete helped me announce a group photo and we had guests gather in the yard as I ran up to the top floor of the house to take the large group photo. Cocktail hour included an oyster station (served in a boat) hosted by Island Creek Oysters out of Duxbury. The couple mingled with their guests who stretched out over the yard, the deck, and into the tented reception space by the water.
After an hour or so of drinks and delicious food catered by local Gloucester restaurant Passports, the DJ asked guests to gather around the dance floor to welcome the newlyweds to their reception. The couple’s parents and wedding party made their grand entrance followed immediately by Courtland & Matt’s entrance and first dance; a fun and spunky choreographed dance to “Die Young” by Sylvan Esso (a personal favorite of mine). Lovely toasts by the father of the bride and the father of the groom followed shortly after, and a joint Mother/Son and Father/Daughter dance after that.
The sun set leaving a bright blue twilight sky over the reception tent where guests ate dinner and enjoyed each others company. After dinner, guests gathered once again by the dance floor to watch Courtland & Matt cut their wedding cake. It was clear that this day was incredibly special for the couple as they teared up expressing their gratitute for everyone that came to celebrate with them and helped to make their wedding day as beautiful as it was. After their thank yous, the dance floor opened up again for some fun, energetic dancing to end the night.
Here are some of my favorite photos from Courtland and Matt’s backyard Gloucester wedding. Enjoy!
Vendors
Venue: Private Residence
Catering & Bar: Passports Restaurant
Planner: Isabel Pett of Hēdon Event Planning
Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography
Officiant: Uncle Pete
Hair & Makeup: Talia Day
Ceremony Musician: Ellie Barber (Ollella)
DJ & Videography: South Shore Sound & Lighting
Rentals: The Event Company
Cake: Flourish Bake Shoppe
4 Great Reasons to Do a First Look At Your Wedding (And One Great Reason To Skip It)
As a documentary wedding photographer, I am all about the candid, natural, moments. I tend not to vouch for doing many shots that are staged in any way, so it might surprise you to know that I actually recommend doing a first look to almost every couple I work with. There are some really great reasons why you should do a first look and only one really good reason to skip it.
As a documentary wedding photographer, I am all about the candid, natural, moments. I tend not to vouch for doing many shots that are staged in any way, so it might surprise you to know that I actually recommend doing a first look to almost every couple I work with. There are some really great reasons why you should do a first look and only one really good reason to skip it.
Reason #1: Calm Your Nerves. There’s something sort of weird about the tradition of not seeing your husband or wife to-be in the hours before your ceremony. They are your best friend and the person you want to be with for life’s biggest events after all! Having a private moment to see each other just before the ceremony and to take away that nerve-wracking "big reveal” feeling can help make the ceremony a less anxiety-inducing experience. It will put you and your partner in a good space and allow you to take a beat to enjoy your day together before it really begins.
Reason #2: A first look makes for truly beautiful, emotional photos. During your ceremony, you’ll both have all eyes on you and nerves will have kicked in. Sometimes, this will make you clam up and not express your emotions in the same way that you might have in private. With a first look, your photographer can capture a beautiful, authentic, emotional moment between the two of you that may not have happened otherwise. Capturing your emotion as each of you sees each other for the first time on your wedding day can make for some of the most amazing images and portraits of the two of you from the day. It is possible to capture these emotions while one of you is walking down the aisle, but with the distance between you physically and the formality of the moment, it is never quite the same photo-wise.
Reason #3: You’ll be looking as perfect and fresh as you will all day (as will your bridal party and family members)! Take advantage of your freshly made-up selves and take your couple portraits, family, and bridal party photos before the ceremony. That way you can all ugly cry during the ceremony and nobody will have to worry about the ramifications of mascara stained cheeks or keeping a makeup artist on site for the extra time for touchups (do make sure to bring some makeup to touch up before the ceremony though, as you’ll likely need it post-first look emotion!).
Reason #4: THIS IS THE BIG ONE. Get your portraits over with before the ceremony so that you, your bridal party and your family can relax and enjoy the party with your guests after the ceremony! You’ve probably spent hours planning (and paying for) delicious food and drinks to serve your guests at your cocktail hour. Don’t miss out on all that deliciousness yourself because you’re off taking photos! Cocktail hour is a perfect time to chat with guests and make some rounds talking to family and friends who have traveled from near and far to celebrate with you. Do a first look so you can thoroughly enjoy that time!
The ONLY reason to skip a first look: You want the first time that you see your partner on your wedding day to be when you are at opposite ends of the aisle. If that tradition is most important to you and overshadows reasons 1-4, by all means, skip the first look! It’s your wedding day and you should stick with what you love. If you’ve always dreamt of your ceremony in this way, then do it! It will be beautiful and your photographer will still capture your “first look” emotions (make sure to hire a second photographer if you care to get both partners’ emotions captured).
Very important advice if you go this route and skip the first look: Make sure to have a friend who isn’t in all of the photos snag you and your partner some cocktail hour food and drinks so you don’t miss out!
