Marissa & David's Rainy Day Equinox Elopement at the Dye House in Providence, RI

Marissa and David met in Providence, got engaged in Providence, and a week ago last Thursday got married in Providence. A day we all eagerly awaited since they initially reached out to us at the beginning of this year, their elopement in the Providence neighborhood of Olneyville was steeped in nostalgia and focused on honoring the path they took to get to this point. As we learned more about the two of them we discovered that this nostalgia was crucial in understanding the way they interact so gently with one another, how David’s methodic brain and Marissa’s creative intuition compliment the other, and how they would come to plan a wedding that felt so genuinely representative of themselves as human beings. Although original plans included a ceremony on the beach in Little Compton, a late summer rainstorm necessitated a change. Instead of looking at the situation like a compromise, Marissa and David saw it as an opportunity to embrace the neighborhood that had fostered their relationship since its beginning. Of course we could have postponed but the day itself had its own importance being the arrival of the fall equinox, and Marissa and David weren’t about to let a bit of rain make them miss that.

As we rolled into Olneyville to meet up with them at the Dye House, a beautiful repurposed mill building, the rain had already started. The two of them invited us in for coffee and chat, and while we assessed the forecast the downpour really began. The coffee bit isn’t something we mean to glaze over - David and Marissa first met through the Coffee Exchange in the Foxpoint neighborhood of Providence. David was just leaving his position while Marissa was beginning hers, and at some point were setup on a date by a mutual friend and coworker. David is now a full time coffee roaster and Marissa a full time coffee enjoyer, so it felt fitting then for us all to start our day together over David’s hand roasted selections, weighed out proportionately and brewed lovingly. Their love of coffee was something we all got to appreciate that morning as the rain continue to fall, and as we neared our target time for the ceremony the incredibly unlikely happened: the rain stopped. Taking it as a good sign we set out on foot to meet up with Marissa and David’s officiant at their chosen ceremony site.

Down an incredibly nondescript alleyway in a very old and industrial part of the city waited Andrew, David’s longtime friend, who would marry them under an overhead passage way between neighboring mill buildings. Again the nostalgia came into clear focus here as they told us that this very alleyway was where they shared a first kiss together after dinner at the local taco spot. David was living at one of the mill buildings then and it seemed right to honor the story of their first real date by speaking vows to one another there. As their ceremony came to a close and Marissa and David were pronounced officially married (!!!), a much more likely thing happened: the rain began again. Tucking under umbrellas and splashing through mildly flooded city streets, the four of us made the 10 minute walk back to the Dye House to make things official and say goodbyes before they left for their honeymoon the next day.

It’s difficult for us to think that this, an incredibly honest and beautiful elopement ceremony, was a back-up plan. Sure, a beach would have been nice and sunny weather would have been great, but something about Marissa and David’s day will stick with us for a long time. It’s uncommon to be so unbothered with societal norms and pressures these days, and having the rare opportunity to document two folks as they celebrate a storied history together as simply as this was something we’ll always be grateful to them for.

Venue: Dye House/Olneyville
Dress: Vintage 60’s dress, tailored by Lucy’s Tailor Shop in Warren, RI
Suit: Custom by Franklin Rogers Ltd.
Florals: SEMIA Floral
Officiant: Andrew Mook
Coffee: Treehouse
Cake: That Cake Witch