Okay, so here’s the deal: Lauren and Antonio are just about the nicest, most stylish, and most intensely in love couple I’ve met. They also happen to be Maggie’s best friends, and two incredibly creative and talented people.
So, it goes without saying that I was humbled, honored, and absolutely stoked to photograph their wedding.
Truly.
Lauren and Antonio wanted their ceremony and reception space to be simple, warm and fun to share the day with their family and friends. They created a reflection of who they are, and their personalities.
The Glastonbury Boathouse was the perfect location and I’m just absolutely in love with how they incorporated elements of Antonio’s Mexican heritage through use of Papel picado, which are Mexican pennant flags and cactus and chile pepper florals in Lauren’s bouquet and Antonio’s boutonniere. Folk art as wedding decor is always a great choice in my opinion, and it added a unique element that enhanced the already beautiful vaulted ceilings in The Glastonbury Boathouse’s epic reception space.
In spite of being crazy busy renovating their new home (congrats you two!), Lauren took some time to share a bit about her vision for their wedding, so I’ll let her take it from here:
“I was working in a restaurant with Antonio’s brother and Antonio came in to eat-I didn’t know that he was checking it out because he would soon start working there. I watched him walk in and my heart started pounding. I was so nervous to go to his table I think I went once or twice and could hardly make eye contact.
Antonio always says he will never forget what I looked like on that day with my black glasses and bright red lipstick (my favorite/signature look, and also the reason I chose to wear a bright lipstick on our wedding day) he also says he was glad I was cute because I was a really bad server because I was so nervous to talk to him.
We wrote our vows to each other and that was hands down my favorite part. I don’t mind being the center of attention- I used to do theater and I have a job that requires a lot of public speaking, but Antonio is more quiet and reserved so it was really special for me to hear him share his feelings and wishes for us as a couple in front of everyone.”
“My dress was the last dress I tried on in the last shop we went to. My sister actually picked it up after I overlooked it. Originally it had a nude illusion on the top part which I thought would cause gasps from the older members of my family (looking back I wish I kept it that way because I have never been the one to pick based anything based on others opinions so I don’t know why I cared so much in that moment). But we discovered it could come lined. I tried it on, I cried, we knew it was the one. We found a matching veil and cried again- happy crying really is a theme with this whole wedding.(please include a multitude of pictures of my sister crying here)
Antonio is a snazzy dresser so in his opinion his only option was a classic black tux. I did make sure he had a pop of color and fun with a pepper boutonnière- which his brother may or may not have taken a bite out of during dinner.
Maggie, my MOH and bestie surprised me with a charm of my grandmother’s face and one of her charms that she had gotten when I was born. We attached that to my bouquet. (Side note – Billy jumping in here – Lauren’s grandmother created the beautiful painting that I used as an element in the first photo. It was so beautiful and I only found out afterwards that it was also a special family heirloom).“
“One thing that was especially special to me was our officiant, Justice of the Peace, who was my grandmother’s best friend. My grandma- we call her Mimi passed away from ALS a few years ago so with Maddie officiating our wedding I felt like my Mimi was standing beside me up at the altar too.
Sylvia from Cheshire Nursery did the flowers for my mother’s wedding and other family events, and was my grandmother’s neighbor when my father was growing up. We wanted bright colors and even threw some limes and cactus fruit (also called tunas) in there for added fun.”
“Antonio is Mexican so we chose to include papel Picado (the cut paper garland) in our decor since that is a Mexican tradition that we both found beautiful. We also had string lighting hung up because is there anything better than dancing under the warm glow from those babies. The table numbers were a DIY and a play on our love of tequila.
I wouldn’t say our wedding was Mexican themed but we definitely drew from what we liked.
I really loved the balcony of our venue and its view over the ct river (also the ceremony with the pretty and yet simple background of the ct river). I grew up lucky enough to go jet skiing and boating down the river as a kid and teen so it was a nice coincidence that we chose that venue.
We really just tried to personalize the venue so people could look at the space and know whose wedding it was. We had a donut and cut fruit dessert table which is very me.
Antonio and I love dancing so that was a highlight of our night.
We made sure to play plenty of oldies, as well as bachata and new music- a little bit of both of our tastes in music.”
Are you planning your wedding? Here’s some advice from Lauren that we couldn’t have said better ourselves:
“DO WHAT YOU AS A COUPLE WANT TO DO!!!
I cannot stress this enough, this is your special day as a couple that you are choosing to share with people. I believe many couples- including us felt a little pressure to have things a certain way that conformed to certain norms. If you want to elope, do it. If you want to skip the wedding favors, do it no one will miss them. If you want a desserts only buffet do it- and please invite me.
The day goes by so quickly and you won’t even notice if everything isn’t perfect so try not to stress when planning and on the day of just try to focus on your spouse and really live in every moment.
My last tip, and this is unprompted- hire a good photographer. We are so happy with our images. Since the day goes by so quick it’s nice to have a ton of pictures to be able to look back and relive the moments.”
We’d love to photograph your celebration too! Whether it’s on the Connecticut River in Glastonbury, here by our home in Brooklyn or anywhere else in the world – we’re in! Drop us a line. We can’t wait to hear your love story and help bring your vision to life too!
