How to Plan a Wedding In Connecticut | CT Wedding Photographer

Tips for Planning Your Connecticut Wedding

Planning a wedding can be an exciting but overwhelming process. Here are some tips to help you plan a successful wedding:

1. Set a budget: Determine how much you are willing and able to spend on your wedding. This will help you make decisions about the different aspects of the wedding and stay on track financially.

2. Create a guest list: Decide on the number of guests you want to invite and create a preliminary guest list. This will help you determine the size of the venue you need to rent.

3. Choose a venue: Select a location for the ceremony and reception. Consider the size of the venue, the cost, and the availability of the date.

4. Hire vendors: Find and hire vendors such as a wedding planner, caterer, florist, DJ or band, and photographer. Make sure to read reviews and meet with vendors before making a decision.

5. Choose a theme and colors: Decide on a theme and color scheme for your wedding. This will help you make decisions about the decor, flowers, and bridal party attire.

6. Plan the ceremony: Decide on the type of ceremony you want, whether it be religious or secular, and plan the details such as the officiant, music, and readings.

7. Plan the reception: Decide on the type of reception you want, whether it be a sit-down dinner or a cocktail reception, and plan the details such as the menu, music, and entertainment.

8. Send out invitations: Send out wedding invitations at least 6-8 weeks before the wedding.

9. Finalize the details: Make sure to finalize all the details with vendors and the wedding party in the weeks leading up to the wedding.

10. Enjoy your day: Remember to take a step back and enjoy your wedding day. It's a once in a lifetime event and you should take time to savor the moment.

It's important to remember that planning a wedding is a process and it's important to stay organized and not to get overwhelmed. It may help to hire a wedding planner or to delegate tasks to family and friends to help with the planning process. With a little planning and preparation, you can ensure that your wedding day is a beautiful and memorable occasion.

Do you live in Connecticut and are currently planning your upcoming wedding? Rebecca Lynne Photography is a Top Connecticut Wedding Photographer specializing in candid, natural, authentic wedding photography that will document your wedding day as it naturally unfolds, while also working with you leading up to the wedding day to plan your timeline.

Wedding Photographer CT | Planning a Wedding in Connecticut

Planning a wedding in Connecticut can be a beautiful and exciting experience, but it can also be overwhelming. Here are some tips to help you plan your special day in the Constitution State:

1. Choose the right venue: Connecticut has a wide variety of venues to choose from, including charming small towns, elegant historical venues, and coastal locations. Consider what kind of atmosphere you want for your wedding and choose a venue that reflects your style and personality.

   • From lush gardens to hold your wedding ceremony to greenhouses for your couples portraits, stone castles, and rustic barns, Connecticut has a variety of wedding venues for every engaged couple.

2. Plan for the seasons: Connecticut's weather can change dramatically throughout the year, so it's important to be prepared for any kind of weather. If you're planning a summer wedding, make sure to have a backup plan in case of rain and a place for guests to cool off after the ceremony. If you're planning a winter wedding, make sure your guests will be comfortable in the colder temperatures.

3. Research vendors: Connecticut has a thriving wedding industry, with a wide variety of vendors to choose from. Research local vendors such as florists, caterers, and photographers to find the best fit for your wedding.

4. Take advantage of the state's natural beauty: Connecticut is known for its picturesque landscapes and natural beauty. Take advantage of this by incorporating the state's natural beauty into your wedding.

5. Be mindful of the budget: Weddings can be expensive, so it's important to be mindful of your budget when planning your special day in Connecticut. Consider what is most important to you and your partner and allocate your budget accordingly.

6. Get a wedding planner: If you feel overwhelmed with the planning process, consider hiring a wedding planner to help you navigate the planning process and ensure that your special day goes smoothly.

By following these tips, you can plan a beautiful and memorable wedding in Connecticut that reflects your style and personality while also being mindful of your budget.

Planning your wedding day in has many moving pieces. Wedding Photographer CT Rebecca Lynne helps her wedding day couples create a timeline for their wedding day. Her detailed questionnaire for her clients allows them to fill in all of the details of their day and Rebecca will create a wedding timeline from there.

Litchfield Connecticut Engagement Photographer | Danielle & Andrew

An early fall engagement photography session at Topsmead State Forest in Litchfield, CT

Danielle reached out to me interested in having me photograph her and her fiancé Andrew’s wedding at Saint Clements Castle in Portland, Connecticut. We talked details and ideas and Danielle shared her vision for her perfect wedding day and I shared my wedding photography style and it was a perfect match. Come to find out her fiancé Andrew and I actually knew each other from childhood when we attended the same church together with our families for many years. Such a fun discovery to make!

When it was time to plan their engagement session Danielle mentioned the special place in their hearts that Topsmead State Forest held, from hiking together, and bird watching dates, to the spot where Andrew proposed, we just knew it would be the perfect location for their engagement photos.

We could not have landed a more beautiful Fall evening than we did.

Connecticut engagement and wedding photographer Rebecca Lynne photographs with a candid and natural photography style. Using natural poses and organic moments to capture your love story how it naturally unfolds. Living in Middletown, Connecticut and photographing weddings throughout all of CT, Rebecca strives to tell your true love story through honest photography.

Questions To Ask Your Wedding Photographer Before Booking

Choosing the right photographer for your Connecticut wedding will make all the difference in whether or not you love your wedding photos.

You are recently engaged and looking through social media accounts and websites of Connecticut wedding photographers. You’re met with different styles, various price points, and different personalities. It is so important that you love the photography style of your wedding photographer and also that you mesh with their personality, after all they will be with you for your entire wedding day. After narrowing your choices down to a handful of favorite Connecticut photographers, it is time to contact them and check their availability for your wedding day. It is also important to gather lots of other information about them and their photography business.

Below you can find some important questions to ask your wedding photographer during your consultation through email, over the phone, or in person.

Availability

After falling in love with a photographer’s style and contacting them, it is first important to know if they are available for your wedding date.

Will you have an assistant with you on our wedding day?
This is also a great time to ask them if they will have an assistant with them on the day of your wedding. Either a second photographer or someone they bring along with them on the day of help with carrying gear or setting up lighting during the wedding reception. This could add to the vendor list for you to provide a meal so it is important to know

How many other weddings will you photograph on the same weekend?

Photography Style

How would you describe your photography style?
How does their photography style align with how you envision your wedding photos looking when they are hanging on your wall or looking through your wedding album 10 years down the road? Are their colors bold and moody? Do they photograph in a fun candid style that matches your fun laid back personality?

What is your style on the day of?
Do you prefer a wedding photographer that blends in with guests and captures lots of candids, do you want lots of direction, or a good balance of both?

Background

How long have you been photographing weddings?

How many weddings have you photographed?

This information can help you know how experienced your wedding photographer is. Photographing a wedding is much more than just simply showing up on the wedding day and taking photos. Wedding photographers often help plan timelines making sure your day runs smoothly. Wedding photographers help organize groups of friends and family for formal portraits. They need to be organized and on time making sure they are available at all of the big moments during the ceremony and reception and other parts of your wedding day.

What kind of equipment do you use?

Pricing and Packages

Do you offer different packages? What do they include?

Are retouching, color adjustment, or other corrective services included in the charge?

Do you have a travel free that you charge?

Logistics

How much of a deposit do you require? When is it due?

Do you offer payment plans?

Do you have liability insurance?

Can we give you a list of specific shots we would like to have?

Do you bring extra camera equipment in case something happens to your camera?
An experienced photographer will bring at least one back up camera and extra lenses to photograph weddings. Should something happen to their camera, they have back ups right on hand so that it doesn’t disrupt the wedding day or cause the loss of important photos of the event. They will also have plenty of batteries fully charged and SD cards.

Your wedding photographer is one of your most important vendors on your wedding day. They work with you while planning your wedding details, they are with you during your whole wedding day, and they capture your memories to look back on through photographs for years to come. Choosing the right Connecticut wedding photographer for your wedding day may feel like a large task, but getting answers to these important questions to ask your wedding photographer will help you choose the photographer who is right for you on your wedding day.

Micro Wedding Day at Geer Mountain Farm | Robin and Pete

Litchfield County, Connecticut Wedding Photography

Robin and Pete said “I do” on a warm Fall day at Geer Mountain Farm located in Kent, Connecticut. They were joined by an intimate group of their closest friends and family. Geer Mountain Farm provides the perfect location for a lakeside ceremony and poolside or barn cocktail hour. The intimate feel of this Connecticut wedding venue is perfect for a micro wedding day.

This day began with Robin getting her hair and makeup done with her bridesmaids and flower girl in the main house. Her soon to be husband, Pete was with his groomsmen and ring bearer in the guest house getting on their suits and pinning their boutonnières.

As their friends and family began to arrive the sun rose over the top of the trees and provided beautiful natural lighting at their ceremony site in front of the lake. Guests found their seats and the ceremony began. Pete and Robin invited some of their family members to join them in a unity sand ceremony with them. It was such a sentimental moment during their wedding day to show the joining of two families into one.

As the sun began to set Robin and Pete carefully climbed into a canoe and paddled out onto the lake and we captured studding wedding day photos in the canoe. What a unique moment to share together in their first moments as husband and wife.

The day transformed into an evening of dancing, amazing food, and laughter surrounded by great company. Having an intimated wedding day with 30 of their closet friends and family allowed the Robin and Pete to mingle and spend time with each of their weddings guests.

As the night began to wrap up they met their loved ones in the field for a sparkler exit and the bride and her wedding party jumped into the pool together.

Some words from the bride and groom:

“We met through an online dating site in Sept 2016. Pete messaged Robin first but she replied back saying “sorry you seem great but you live too far away”, luckily Pete responded by telling her he didn’t mind making the long drive. 3 days later we had our first date at The Monkey Farm in Old Saybrook, CT. After that Pete drove from Enfield to Old Saybrook every Friday night to pick Robin up then back on Sunday afternoon since she can’t drive due to vision loss.

Every weekend was a fun adventure exploring breweries, vineyards, markets and traveling. Robin’s dog Logan also fell in love with Pete just as much as she did. 3 years after the first date we moved in together. Pete proposed in 2020 in Moosehead Lake, ME. when he took her out sunrise fishing on a little fishing boat in front of Mount Kineo on the perfect calm, beautiful morning.

We are excited about all the travels and fun adventures we have ahead. We both love exploring bee destinations and are especially excited for our honeymoon to Exuma, Bahamas in April. We can’t wait to swim with the pigs! We will also be going on our 3rd annual trip back to Moosehead and hope that tradition continues every July.”

“Our wedding weekend was absolute perfection. The location, venders, weather, food, etc were all incredible. Every single detail came together magically for us and our guests. So many of our guests told us it was truly the best wedding they had ever attended. Our event was a perfect blend of elegance and relaxed fun. From the ceremony, beautiful cocktail hour with the harpist, canoeing while a drone flew filming overhead, taking photos snuggling in the hammock, dancing our butts off, sparklers, the cops making an appearance, to the hilarious pool jump -there were so many laughs and happy tears. We will never get tired of talking about the fun we had and the love we felt that weekend at Geer Mountain Farm.

We had 30 guests but it truly felt like the energy of 150. The intamacy gave us the time to spend with everyone.

The weather couldn’t have been any better-the best weekend all year. We had been so nervous about it not cooperating and were so grateful it was on our side that whole weekend!”

“All of our venders came together so incredibly to help in making every detail work flawlessly. We wish we could relive our wedding weekend every year because it was baying our wildest dreams! Thank you for documenting it in such a beautiful way for us to treasure forever.”

Wedding Vendors:

Venue: https://cloverandivyevents.com/work
Hair/makeup: Resurge Beauty Bar
Catering: Molly Darcys
Donuts: The Donut Station
Florals: Fika Florals
DJ: DJ Donny D
Rentals: Durants Party and All Season Rentals
Harpist: Harppro
Videography: @joshualicursiphotography
Wedding Dress: Beautifully detailed beaded white mermaid style dress from Going to the Chapel Dress Shop Her bridesmaid Daphne came from NH to help her “say yes to the dress!”. She got it tailored to fit her perfectly at Aytens Alteratiins in Enfield. She wore drop Pearl earrings also purchased at the bridal shop and a Pearl necklace from the Old Mill Shops in Granby. Ladies dresses were long dresses they chose the style in the color Caribbean from Azazie online. Men’s grey suits were rented with pool color ties at men’s warehouse.

Sarah + Robin | The Barns at Wesleyan Hills Wedding

A Summer Wedding day in Middletown, Connecticut at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills.

Sarah and Robin celebrated their wedding day at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills located in Middletown, CT.

The Barns provides a beautiful location for an outdoor wedding ceremony with big beautiful willow trees adding greenery to your ceremony. Inside, The Barns provides a rustic wooden style with beautiful string light detail in the reception space.

This Summer wedding day began with the Bride getting ready with her family and friends inside of the bridal suit at The Barns. After their hair and makeup was completed by Two Spa Girls and Image Hair Studio, Sarah got on her dress with the help of her Mom and then did a First Look with her girls. It was such an emotional moment watching the bride reveal her final look on her big day to her bridal party.

Following the getting ready portion of their wedding day, we headed outside and the bride had a First Look with her Father and then with her Fiancé. Both moments were so special to everyone.

We had a lot of fun during the wedding party portraits, kicking it off with the bridesmaids surprise “icing” the groomsmen. It was such a fun way to kick off the formal images.

Sarah and Robin’s ceremony was officiated by their good friend and Robin’s best man, Mike Shaw. Mike’s familiarity with the bride and groom provided the perfect balance of humor, love, and personalization that can only come from someone who knows them so well.

Doing the bulk of the formal images before the ceremony allowed Sarah and Robin to enjoy the majority of cocktail hour with their guests. I love being able to capture lots of candid moments during cocktail hour of the bride and groom with their family and friends. Cocktail hour is the perfect time for brides and grooms to be able to have the time to mingle with their loved ones, and I love when brides and grooms work their timeline with me to be able to be at cocktail hour with their guests.

Following cocktail hour the reception was filled with first dances, amazing food, and a super fun dance floor.

Makeup: Two Spa Girls
Hair: Image Hair Studio
Florist: In Bloom Event Designs
DJ: Power Station Events

First Look on the lawn at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills.

White rose bouquet details

Wedding Ceremony at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills in Middletown Connecticut

Five Bridge Inn Rehoboth, MA Wedding | Jason & Nicole Say I Do

Fall Wedding Photography in Southern Massachusetts

Jason and Nicole’s October wedding day at Five Bridge Inn in Rehoboth, Massachusetts was the most beautiful New England Fall day to say “I do”. The air was cool and the leaves had changed color on the trees adding the perfect pop of Fall color to their intimate wedding day.

This Bride and Groom had their beloved dog, Leeloo join in on their big day.

We started the day off with a first look with Nicole and her bridesmaids. Such a lovely sentiment to have some of the most important women in your life in such a special moment on your wedding day.

Jason and Nicole’s First Look outside of the Inn that so emotional. Jason couldn’t even speak after he saw his Bride for the first time in her wedding dress. They both agreed that having a first look together allowed them to get some of the wedding day nerves out of the way before their ceremony.

The rest of their wedding day flowed beautifully with their emotional ceremony, followed by visiting with the Llamas on the property and a crazy fun reception with a special appearances from a t-Rex dinosaur.

Nicole had sewn in a patch from one of her Father’s work shirts into the underside of her wedding dress. It was such a lovely way to have her Father with her on her wedding day, as well as adding to the tradition of having something blue while you walk down the isle.

Connecticut wedding photographer travels to Southern MA and all of New England to capture your wedding day in a candid and natural photography style.