A Wedding Full of DIY Personal Touches – Kim and Chris at the Red Lion Inn

Kim and Chris are one of those couples who make my job a total joy. When one just catches a glimpse of the other their faces light up. Their love for one another is so effervescent it makes everyone around them feel warm and fuzzy with happiness. Not only were they wonderful people to work with, they were also exceptionally creative. As we saw in their engagement session, Kim and Chris are huge baseball fans. So to make their wedding much more them, the whole wedding centered around a baseball theme as well as other DIY techniques. Since Chris is a Yankees fan and Kim is a Red Sox fan, they named and numbered the tables with names and jersey numbers of famous Yankees and Red Sox players. They even went so far as to create custom labels with Red Sox and Yankees logos for a commemorative bottle of wine for each table “made with 100% love”. Kim and Chris had pictures from the engagement session where they posed in their baseball gear placed on display along with the wine bottles which were a big hit with the guests during the cocktail hour. Last but certainly not least, they took one of the columns in the building and labeled it “Pesky’s Pole”, which is the nickname for the right field foul pole at Fenway Park. Searching for these unique touches was like being on a photo easter egg hunt.

Chris’ sisters then decided to indoctrinate Kim into the family by presenting her with her own spoon. This may seem like an odd gift, but at every wedding and family get-together the women of the Murphy family come together to sing Gloria and use spoons as a pseudo microphone. The sharing of their ritual was touching as well as hilarious to watch.

Both Shawn Black and Stacy Vachon 2nd shot for me this time. Stacy captured the beautiful dip shot which I adore. Shawn spent time with the guys while they got ready and creatively found the book on the shelf in the bridal suite to create the comical “Final Days” ring shot. All in all, I couldn’t have done it without them.

Lessons to be learned from this wedding:
1) So often, the most beautiful photos are when the bride and groom are naturally interacting with each other and not posing and looking straight into the camera. Don’t feel like every time you see a photographer taking a picture of you that you must turn and say cheese.
2) Make sure to set aside enough time to get into a dress that has those traditional buttons all the way down. A crochet hook can be your best friend in these situations.
3) Photography note: For those taking photos in dark environments like the inside of the red lion’s barn that night, try setting your camera on the night settings. This leaves the shutter open for a while so that you get the pretty ambient light, and the flash freezes the motion of your subjects. That way you don’t have to rely only on your flash, which results in a dark background. This ensures that the context of your photo is maintained and the mood is greatly improved.
4) The Red Lion Inn’s lemon creme wedding cake is beyond yummy!

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Stacy Vachon

    I had such a great time at this wedding! Great couple, great family, hilarious friends!
    Thanks for the opportunity Vail! You are the best!

  2. The Bride & Groom - The Murphys

    This is so long overdue, it’s truly embarrassing. Thank you so much to Vail and her team. You all did impeccable work and made it so enjoyable. Our friends are still raving about how much fun the photographers were at our wedding. Seriously, my girlfriends were talking about it last week and it’s november! The photos are stunning!

    Vail, thank you so much for the engagement session. The baseball pictures were so fun to do.

    It was a fantastic day. We are so lucky to have such a loving family and hysterically funny friends as well as photographers who blended in well.

    The Murphys

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