Rachael is a dear friend, and I was so honored when she asked me to travel to Rhode Island to photograph her wedding. The thing I loved most about their wedding was that it was so perfectly, uniquely THEIRS. They bucked tradition for tradition’s sake and focused on creating a day that was personal and meaningful to them.

Rachael’s dress was her grandmother’s wedding dress who was married in 1950 in rural Alabama. Rachael added a skirt to the dress using fabric from TABLE CLOTH that belonged to her great-grandmother. Talk about personal!

All of the florals were from either Ben and Rachael’s farm, another local grower, or their neighbor’s bushes. Rachael’s cousin is a flower farmer and designer in Washington State, and she arranged them into the most beautiful bouquet!

The wedding was held on an island that means the world to Rachael – Fort Getty Park in Rhode Island. As a child, she used to go their to play on her family’s boats (and then she grew up to be a captain!).

The reception was a team effort. Rachael and Ben created “committees” that their friend’s signed up for online, and then everyone pitched in to create an amazing party. Ben and Rachael gave some direction and ideas, but told everyone to just “make it into something beautiful, and just have fun doing it!” They were blown away when they arrived! Rachael, Ben, and their friends grew all of the (amazing!) food. It was an evening full of dancing, eating, and laughing. They had three different bands play, and Ben’s band even played a set at the end of the night.

And I can’t tell the story of their wedding day without telling the story of their proposal! It’s over-the-moon romantic! Ben planted daffodil bulbs in a back field on their farm in the fall, and he didn’t tell ANYONE about the flowers until one day he and Rachael went on a walk on their property until they came across the daffodils. They spelled out “Rachael will you marry me?” (Question mark, and all!). Then he got down on one knee and proposed with a ring he had made himself using wood from important places to their families and to them as a couple. How romantic is that?!

Venue: Fort Getty Pavilion, Jamestown, Rhode Island
Food: Wild Harmony Farm, Winterhill Farm, Little River Farm
Florals: Persephone Farm
Hair: Rachael Cavazza