Emma & Andrew's Wedding at Bittersweet Farm in Westport, MA

2023 has been a year marked with more rain than any other season in recent memory and it has, on numerous occasions, been cause for changes in wedding plans for our couples. It’s a tough thing to work around, especially when it’s coming down as heavily as it did for Emma and Andrew a week and a half ago at Bittersweet Farm. Our drive over to Westport from Providence through torrential downpour prepared us for a shift in schedule with the hope that it might let up at some point, but it quickly became clear that their plans for an outdoor wedding would need to change. It’s what everyone planning a wedding hopes and wishes they don’t have to deal with, and we can absolutely imagine in dampening the mood for most. For Emma and Andrew, though, while they would have preferred to have their wedding ceremony against the spooky stone wall on the property, they were able to overcome the unfortunate weather by remaining present. First day of autumn rain squalls be damned, these two were determined to stay focused on what was really important: each other.

The result of an overwhelmingly rainy day chock full of some of the sweetest, down-to-earth, kind hearted people? A wedding that leaned into the cozy-vibes within the wooden walls of Bittersweet Farm’s timber framed barn and celebrated wildly. It’s not often we photograph a rainy wedding with absolutely zero breaks in the downpour, but we might even go so far as to say that the rain forcing everyone to stay inside created its own special atmosphere. With no where to go, no where to look but inwards (literally and metaphorically), Emma and Andrew and their guests, instead of sulking and bemoaning the wouldas and couldas, raged against their soggy reality with massively emotional vows, hugely hilarious toasts from friends and family, absurd first dance moves, and….a rubber chicken toss? This wedding was never going to take itself too seriously, no matter the weather, and that may have played into why everyone still managed to have such a fun night despite it all. They described their guests as a “motley crew of rapscallions,” and we can confirm their rapscallionness after the fact. The many toasts described in various fashions two people who deserved one another’s love and attention, and sought to express how much of themselves Emma and Andrew both give to those that they love and hold dearly. This dichotomy painted, to us, a picture of two folks so selflessly in love with one another that the skies falling down around them couldn’t have stopped them from being married.

Let this be a lesson to anyone planning a wedding: nothing else matters except who you surround yourself with. Emma and Andrew, whether they realize it or not, have surrounded themselves with folks that support them, that love them for who they are, and that are damned sure not going to let a little water ruin an evening. This is the essence of weddings - no amount of planning, or beautiful light for portraits, or perfect details can replace the connection that these two had with one another and their guests, and despite the wettest day in our careers it was clear that that is what is most important.

Venue/Catering: Bittersweet Farm
Coordination: La France Hospitality / Alexis Ferland
Florals: Harvest Moon Florals
Dress: Moda Operandi / Anna October
Menswear: Studio Suits
Music: Siagel Productions Boston
Desserts: Leddy’s Bakery / Veniero’s NYC
Rings: O Channell Designs
Film/Processing: Kodak Portra 400 + 800 / Kerry’s Warwick Photo