Stamford, Connecticut Intimate Wedding Celebration

It was an exchange of the rocky coastline of Bar Harbor, Maine for the comfort and deep green backyard of the family home in Connecticut. Coronavirus took hold of the world and their celebration downsized from boat rides with guests around Cranberry Island for the rehearsal dinner and the deep inky sky of Acadia to be a beautiful dinner in the home’s foyer and the blessing of the challah with just the immediate family.

It’s a wild year, that’s for sure, but I’ve found that many of my couples are adjusting focus from the large parties to the small intimate celebrations so the date can remain the same on the calendar and so the I do’s can be exchanged sooner rather than later!

Julia + Charlie’s day wound up being so lovely and it was not only the perfect temperature (we even escaped some big rainstorms that happened as they were getting ready) but the light as it filtered through the trees lining the backyard and the ivy creating walls of privacy made for a great location to be wed.

But the day wasn’t without hiccups!

The cute as all hell kitty you see in the first picture – he’s the beloved pal of Julia’s father – was not too happy with the commotion in his home and decided to use the table linens as the toilet (thankfully they were covered in plastic!) and then there was the zipper on Julia’s dress…

Ohhhh that zipper.

Julia’s mom tried to zip her in, her sister tried to zip her in, JULIA tried to zip herself in – but that thing wasn’t moving no matter how much brute strength they put into it. Julia wasn’t in a panic though and she just kept laughing as they spent a good 15 minutes trying to get the zipper to budge. But it wouldn’t.

While her sister was preparing some white fabric to somehow cover up the open back, and Julia was resolving to have her dad give it a try, Julia looked over at me and said, “Sarah, everyone else has tired, you’re up.”

And that’s when I panicked. What if I rip it? What if when I pull on the zipper it detaches from the dress (seen that happen with bridesmaid’s dresses many a time!)?

I stalled as long as I could and then gave in and warned her that I had no idea what was going to happen. She reassured me that she was fine with whatever happened, she reiterated that she understood this could wind up bad, and she said, “it’s ok, do it”.

I tried not to puke and pulled with all my strength. And nothing happened. That thing was not moving.

I tried again and then flipped the zipper wrong side out to see if anything was caught and saw the tiniest of things in there and I pulled that a little out of the way, then I flipped it back over and felt that it was still stuck. So I gave it one more massive pull and ZIP!!! It zipped!! We might have all screamed when it went up and I can’t tell you how happy I am that I didn’t ruin her dress. Can you imagine?! I have no idea what I would have done if I had. Thankfully I don’t need to find out!

Just as her dad came into the room we zipped her all the way in and got her ready to start the ceremony!

The signing of the ketubah, the seven blessings, the vows, the passing of rings to one another and then finally the celebratory smashing of the glass with a shout of Mazel Tov! and they were married!

It was such a wonderful backdrop for the day with family photos in front of the beautiful tree-lined pool area and then photos of the two of them as they did their first dance to their song playing over my phone while they swayed beneath the chuppah.

What a day! It was different than they thought it would be, but like I always say, sometimes intimate is 100 times better. And even when helping plan from a distance, Rachel Sisson once again knocks it out of the park.

Julia + Charlie, mazel tov! I wish you two all the best!

Maine & New Hampshire wedding photographer, I AM SARAH V Photography, photographs events for wildly in love couples seeking an NH & Maine wedding photographer with a photojournalism & cinematic approach. You can see more of my work online at www.iamsarahv.com or on Instagram. I photograph many locations including being a intimate wedding photographer and I would enjoy photographing your day too! If you’d like to contact me directly, please email me at hello@iamsarahv.com