Collette & Spencer's Equinox Resort Winter Wedding

Collette and Spencer tied the knot at The Equinox Resort in Manchester, Vermont, in a lovely winter wedding ceremony. With a deep appreciation for the beauty of the outdoors, the couple wanted to incorporate the surrounding natural beauty in their day as much as possible.

Against the backdrop of snow-covered mountains, Collette and Spencer's day was filled with warmth and joy. The Equinox Resort provided the perfect setting for their celebration, blending rustic charm with elegant sophistication.

Collette and Spencer wanted their special day to be captured in a documentary style. They appreciated my moment-focused approach and wanted their day to be captured in a way that felt true to them.

The couple's commitment to genuine moments and authentic emotions shone through in every aspect of the day. From heartfelt vows exchanged in front of their friends and family to laughter shared during toasts with loved ones, every detail reflected their love for each other and those around them.

The choice of hiring a wedding photojournalist like me to capture their day was a testament to Collette and Spencer's desire to preserve the memories of their day in a way that truly reflected who they are as a couple.

After dinner, toasts, and parent dances concluded, the couple danced the night away surrounded by family and friends on a packed and fun-filled dance floor.

Congratulations to Collette & Spencer!

Vendors

Venue/Catering/Bar: Equinox Resort

Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography

Second Photographer: Josh Kuckens

Floral: Nancy Bishop Floral Design

Hair & Makeup: Crystal Vasquez & Company

Ceremony Musician: Samantha Barry (friend)

Officiant: Elizabeth Andersen (friend)

DJ: Foley Weddings

Cake/Dessert: Cake Gypsy

Arthi & Greg's Roger Williams Botanical Center Wedding

Arthi and Greg’s wedding took place on a cold, rainy day in early March. In March, Rhode Island is at its greyest point - in between the snow-covered bluebird days of winter and the first signs of green and blossoms of Spring. It’s mostly cold still, and the trees are bare and the ground is usually sort of muddy. Even on the most beautiful of days, it’s hard for me to love March in New England. Stepping into the ceremony space at Roger Williams Botanical Center made me completely forget all of that. The floral-scented air was humid and warm, and lush, green plants covered every inch of the space. My serotonin levels were instantly boosted.

As a Boston wedding photographer, I love discovering new venues all over New England. As fun as it is to return to New England wedding venues I know and love, there’s something about photographing at a venue I’ve never been to that sparks a special sort of creativity in me. I’m framing photos with fresh eyes and am constantly seeing new angles and new possibilities wherever I turn my camera.

Arthi and Greg decided that I was a good fit because I was a wedding photojournalist and therefore, shot in a way that matched the vision that they had for their wedding day. It was important to them that they could enjoy their day with their family and friends and not spend too much time on posed photos, which I always love to hear and am happy to accommodate. They wanted mostly candid wedding photography and wanted me to capture authentic personalities and emotion throughout their day. Easy!

Arthi and Greg got ready at The Graduate in Providence. They also performed the Ganesha Puja at the hotel with family before heading to the venue for the rest of their ceremony and reception. The Puja is offered for good luck as Lord Ganesha is believed to be the destroyer of obstacles and evils.

Once the Puja was complete, we headed to Roger Williams Botanical Center for some portraits before the ceremony. We explored the lush greenhouses and the couple enjoyed a moment away before the ceremony began.

The ceremony space in the greenhouse was gorgeous; tall palm trees and greenery acting as a backdrop to the bright colors of the Indian dress, garlands, and flowers. The ceremony incorporated a lot of aspects of a traditional Indian ceremony, but also included some “Americanized” touches like a ring exchange.

After their ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktail hour among the greenery, then headed into the reception space for the rest of the festivities. Throughout the toasts (one including giving the couple a literal piece of toast “you asked me to give you a toast…”), the delicious Indian buffet dinner, and the dancing, I had a great time capturing candid moments and documenting the pure joy that filled the room.

Arthi and Greg’s Rhode Island wedding was a visually stunning, colorful, joyous celebration. Take a look through some of my favorite photos from their day below.

Vendors

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Roger Williams Botanical Center

Hotel & Puja Venue: Graduate Providence

Photographer: Kayla Rice Photography

Second Photographer: Christine Hochkeppel

Videographer: Steve Levin Cinematography

DJ: B-Sharp Entertainment

Henna: Boston Henna Artist (bride) & Henna by Ruhi (guests)

Cake: Sin Bakery

Misc. Desserts: Mike’s Pastry, Reena Rad Baking

Catering: Rasoi

Alcohol: Bottles

Day-Of Coordinator/Service Staff: Extra Hands For Your Events (Gigi Halsing)

Newport Engagement Photo Session | Emma and Harry

NEWPORT ENGAGEMENT PHOTO SESSION AT BRENTON POINT STATE PARK

What’s better than photographing your best friend’s love and happiness? Photographing your best friend’s love and happiness in a stunning setting like Brenton Point State Park in Newport, Rhode Island.

Emma is one of my oldest friends. She and I became best friends in elementary school and have stayed close ever since. She and her fiancé Harry got engaged back in June and when she asked me to take some Newport engagement photos for them, I couldn’t have been more excited (although I did make sure that she knew I would be celebrating with her as a guest on her wedding day and not as her photographer) 😉. Both Emma and Harry have connections to Newport and are currently living close to the area, so Emma already had a location in mind when I asked where she wanted to do her Newport engagement photos; Brenton Point State Park.

I’ve visited Newport with Emma enough times to know Brenton Point pretty well, but I don’t think I’d ever been there at sunset. What a spot. It is on my list of top engagement locations that I’ve shot at for sure. It was a beautiful golden sunset and some of these photos look like I photoshopped in a perfect backdrop…sailboat idling by in the lower third…but I swear, it was really that perfect.

Here’s a little glimpse into Emma and Harry’s Newport engagement photos at Brenton Point State Park.

Why have your Newport engagement session at Brenton Point State Park?

Brenton Point is one of the best Newport engagement session locations for a reason. For a Newport engagement session, you truly can’t get more beautiful than sunset on the jetties of Brenton Point State Park. The pink and orange sky with the sailboats and rocks make it nearly impossible to take a bad photo. Even on a perfect evening with a fair number of people out enjoying the sunset, it’s a large enough area that you can find a private nook to claim as your own - and with the ocean behind you, it’s easy to avoid other people in your shots. Only a 15 minute scenic drive from downtown Newport, it’s an easy decision.

For any couples looking to find some outfit ideas for their Newport engagement session,

you can read my blog post about it or gather inspiration from Emma and Harry. Emma embraced her preppy, Newport style with her colorful, coral patterned dress and Harry balanced out the bold design with a coordinating, solid colored linen shirt and shorts. Not too matchy-matchy, but perfectly coordinated to make them fit together beautifully.

Emma and Harry made it easy and this session made me want to suggest Brenton Point State Park for all of my couples looking to do Newport engagement photos. I’m looking forward to ripping it up on the dance floor with these two in next July! Congratulations, Emma and Harry!

Behind the Scenes: The Process of a Wedding Photographer

From first inquiry to final albums, gallery delivery, or print sales, every wedding photographer does things a bit differently. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes between booking your photographer and getting your delivered photos after your wedding, keep reading! Below, I’ve laid out my process broken down into steps from start to finish.

1) Introduction to Couple & Booking

Whether I am asked to document a proposal, referred to from a friend, vendor, or previous client, or discovered on Instagram, couples have found me in all sorts of ways. After our initial correspondence (typically a fairly brief email or message on social media), I request that we make a time to talk in person, via phone or Zoom to go over the client’s wishes and get a better feel for each other before booking to make sure that we are a great fit. I’m generally very easy to get along with but every now and then, budgets, personalities, or visions don’t align and it’s MUCH better to know that before a contract is signed!

2) Engagement Session

Not every couple chooses to book an engagement session, but this is by far the most common way that I meet couples before their big day. I always recommend an engagement session to couples (see why in my Instagram post on the subject!) to help them get comfortable in front of the camera and working with me among other reasons. It’s always a much more relaxed environment where the couple and I can really talk and get to know each other a bit before the (amazing) chaos of a wedding day.

TIP: If you’re looking to use photos from your engagement session on your Save the Dates, leave time for your photographer to edit the photos and for the save the dates to be printed. Plan to book your engagement session at least 8-9 months prior to your wedding! Save the Dates should go out between 6-8 months prior to your wedding day.

Also, see my helpful blog post on what to wear to your portrait session if you’re planning an engagement session!

3) Final Check-In Before Wedding

Around 2-3 weeks prior to the wedding day, I like to check in with my couples to do a final meeting to go over the day’s schedule and anything new that may have changed since we last spoke. At this time, I also will ask for a vendor list so that I can reach out to all of their vendors to introduce myself beforehand. Developing and fostering relationships with fellow wedding vendors is so important, and a quick note of introduction saying that I’m excited to work with them goes a long way. Also, sending out the gallery for their use showcasing their work on the wedding day (gorgeous floral photos for the florist, a beauty shot of the wedding cake for the bakery, wide shots of the venue in use for the venue etc.) is always appreciated.

4) Wedding Day!

The morning of the wedding, I start off with a healthy breakfast and get some caffeine in my system. I fill my fanny pack (I use this one) with some granola bars and fill up a big bottle of water (staying hydrated throughout the day is a STRUGGLE but so important for my energy levels and overall well being). Next, I pack up my camera bag and my harness that saves my back on long wedding days (I use this one). The night before, I will have made sure all batteries are fully charged and will have packed extra batteries, memory cards, & business cards in my fanny pack. I get dressed in something comfy but wedding appropriate (almost always a black jumpsuit and black sneakers like these). The worst mistake ever is wearing uncomfortable, non-supportive shoes for a wedding day. I’m on my feet for 6-10 hours straight and if I’m distracted by how much pain I’m in, I’m not going to be performing at my best. Once I’m all dressed and packed, I hit the road.

I’ll send the bride, groom, planner, and/or any other contact given to me a text when I arrive and will typically head to the bridal suite first to get some getting ready photos. If I’m photographing the wedding solo, I will usually stop by wherever the groom and groomsmen are getting ready and spend some time documenting their morning before moving on to the bride and bridesmaids.

If the couple wants to do a first look, this will take place about one and a half to two hours before the ceremony and will be followed by couple portraits, family photos, & bridal party photos. After these portraits, I will head over to the ceremony location to document the scene there and prepare for the start of the ceremony.

After the ceremony, I will spend the remainder of the day documenting moments from the sidelines - capturing friends and family at the cocktail hour and dinner, first speeches, dances, and important moments during the reception. I always like to stay for at least a bit of dance floor time since that is when the celebration really gets going and many of the guests will have had a few drinks leading to some fun photos with lots of personality.

When my time is up, I’ll say a quick goodbye to the couple (making sure that there aren’t any last minute photos they would like before I leave) and then I’ll pack up my things and head home.

5) Uploading & Backup (IMMEDIATELY).

This is the most important step (after photographing the day itself I suppose). If I don’t back up throughout the day on site, I will make sure to do it as soon as I get home before I go to bed. I don’t take risks with the weddings I photograph. I know how important and special these images are to my couples and also how vital it is for my own reputation as a wedding photographer to be extra cautious. I always photograph with two memory cards in each camera (one acting as a backup) and upload my images to my desktop & multiple hard drives (both physical and cloud) as soon as I get home. Because of these failsafes, my couples and I don’t have to worry about my images getting lost or the potential of corrupt technology ruining a couple’s once in a lifetime memories.

Initial Quick Edit

The day after the wedding, if I have time (or if not sometime in the first week), I will take a quick look through the images and select 3-5 for a preview for the couple and a potential preview for my social media that week. I will edit these images the same way that I edit every image that goes out to my clients, so it will take a bit of time, but couples appreciate it and it helps me to feel like I can take the time that I need to finish the full edit knowing that the couple has something in hand already.

Main Selection Edit

I shoot well over 1000 images throughout the course of a typical 8-10 hour wedding day. This means that going through a full shoot and selecting the images that should be delivered to the client takes a lot of time and focus. I typically spend an hour or two on the first selection, then on another day when I have fresh eyes, I will refine my selection even more. I make sure to only deliver the images that are up to my high standard, which means I do not include anything that is unintentionally out of focus, extremely unflattering, or otherwise lacking. Often, I will photograph 5-10 frames of the same moment and so I will spend time picking out the 1-2 shots in that series that stand out as the strongest. The images that I choose to deliver at the end of my editing process will potentially be posted, printed, or otherwise shared and will represent my brand, and so I take great care in the selection process to choose the best, most beautiful or emotionally impactful images to deliver to my clients while still giving them lots of options for photos of each part of the day.

Lightroom Edit of Selected Photos

Once I have my selection to edit, I upload them to Adobe Lightroom which is where I do broader editing on each image such as color correction, exposure adjustments, and cropping. I maintain a consistent editing style on each image so that they have a cohesive look with the rest of my work.

You’ll find that each wedding photographer has their own style - there are a few trendy styles in the wedding photography world right now including “light and airy” photography with low contrast, less vibrant colors, and blown out highlights, and “dark and moody” photography with more neutral, muted colors and a cinematic feel. Both of these have merit and can be beautiful, but I avoid trends for good reason. I want to make sure that my work will not look dated in 10-20 years. I want my client’s images to be timeless and so, although I do some tweaking to make my photos pop, I stick to true to life colors in my edits.

Photoshop Final Edit (for more advanced, detailed editing)

Many photos will require some additional work to be perfected. Since my background is in photojournalism, I tend not to like to mess with my images too much. I will not do much in the way of changing appearances or altering the scene from how it truly appeared, but, if for instance an “Exit” sign or a bright orange traffic cone is distracting from an otherwise good image, I will remove it (see before and after example below). This is the final step in my editing process. The tones, exposure and color will have already been perfected but smaller, more detailed edits will be done in Photoshop.

Final Check & Upload of Edited, High-Resolution Gallery

Before uploading my final edited images I do a once-over with fresh eyes. I’ll give the gallery a day or two without touching it and then open it up, and go through it making sure all of the photos are edited the way that I want them and in perfect shape for delivery. Once I’m feeling good about them, I will upload to Sprout Studios, the gallery host that I use, and once again check that the photos have uploaded in the correct order and are ready for delivery.

Gallery Delivery to Client

As soon as I’ve uploaded the gallery, I send my wedding couple a very exciting email - YOUR WEDDING GALLERY IS READY!

Follow Up & Album Creation

After the couple has viewed their gallery (and hopefully left me an amazing review!), they have the option to create albums with my design assistance. Most of my packages include an album, but it is always an option to add on after the wedding. I use Kiss Books for my albums because of their extremely high quality, wide range of design options and beautiful craftsmanship. They have options for both luxury heirloom albums in leather or linen as well as less expensive but just as beautifully made photo books.

And that’s a wrap (until my next wedding)!

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.

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!

Gyasi & Maddie's NYC Engagement Session

Gyasi and Maddie met me at Grand Central Station (Gyasi’s favorite place in NYC) to begin their engagement session. Despite the bustling crowds, we managed to find some spaces without too much traffic and incorporated the crowds into other shots. I have been inside GCS at least 100 times commuting when I lived in NYC, and there was so much about the details of the architecture and the decor inside that I had never truly appreciated. I’m so glad I was able to explore the space in a new way with these two!

From GCS, we drove up 9A to the couple’s neighborhood of Washington Heights and explored another area that was brand new to me. The Met Cloisters was closing by the time we arrived, which we knew would be the case, so we spent our time exploring the beautiful architecture surrounding the building as well as the paths leading from the Cloisters into Fort Tyron Park. There were lots of intersecting paths jutting out from the original one, and because of our limited sunlight, we did not get to explore all of them, but what we found was perfect for our session. The museum and this park are #1 on my list to explore further when I return to Manhattan next.

Congratulations, Maddie and Gyasi! I can’t wait to photograph your wedding in (less than) 8 months!

Want to look as fabulous as these two for your engagement session or couples lifestyle photography session? Check out my post on What to Wear to Your Portrait Session for some helpful advice.