Amarante’s Sea Cliff Wedding in New Haven, Connecticut with Timothy and Megan

On one of the shortest days of the year I met up with Timothy and Megan for their beautiful wintery wedding in New Haven, Connecticut.  The day was beautiful albeit cold (and of course, not quite enough daylight – the sun set just after 4PM) but they braved the temps and snow for a few portraits outside before the reception.  They ended the night with one of the best sparkler exits I’ve ever seen and everyone was laughing and smiling as they left into the night.

I started out the day with Megan and the girls at her parents home and everyone was excited for the wedding and not even a busted zipper on a gown brought the mood down.  Megan’s father made a scrumptious breakfast of waffles and the ladies had so many laughs throughout brunch.  Her dress was one of the most beautiful that I’ve seen and it fit her perfectly.

I met up with the guys at the church and one of the groomsman was none only than my dear friend Aaron, whom referred this sweet couple to me.  The ceremony was so emotional and was officiated by Megan’s father – and I just ADORE it when parents officiate.  They exited down the aisle as tinsel was tossed and it was perfect.

The reception was so full of love and happiness for these two and although it was one of the earliest ending receptions I’ve ever been to (it ended at 9), it was absolute perfection.  Everyone ate, danced, laughed and had a GREAT time and the earlier ending meant that most people were still present for the sparkler exit at the end of the night.

Cake: Pastry Fusions / Ceremony: Trinity Evangelical Free Church / DJ: Local Motion / Florist: Allison Pregman / Guestbook: Peachwik / Reception: Amarante’s Sea Cliff / Colors: Gold, Cranberry Red, Hunter Green, White

 

 The Christmas tree was the perfect spot for the invitation pictures!

christmas wedding invitation

Thankfully the bride’s mother was a handy seamstress and was able to sew the bridesmaid into her gown when the zipper bust – whew!  Crisis averted.

mother of bride sewing bridesmaid into dress

Megan’s Mom hugging her after getting her into the dress.

bride and mother of bride hugging after getting ready in connecticut

The bridesmaids even teared up a bit.

bridesmaids crying after seeing bride in dress

I love when we’re able to do a first look with the Father of the Bride!

father of bride first look of bride in gown

How perfect is this look for a wedding the weekend before Christmas?  LOVE the colors!

christmas wedding bridesmaids in green dress with red bouquets

The guys looked pretty good too!

groom and groomsman before wedding in woodbridge CT

The flower girl was ADORABLE!

flower girl before wedding ceremony

How beautiful is this church??

christmas wedding ceremony in woodbridge connecticut

Seriously, this flower girl (and her tutu!) was too.damn.cute!

flower girl wedding ceremony  at Trinity Evangelical Free Church

I love how Megan is holding it together coming up the aisle.

father walking down aisle in wedding ceremony

This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass!

little girl taking picture during wedding ceremony

Megan’s father also married them and managed to hold in the tears… barely.

wedding ceremony at Trinity Evangelical Free Church  in Woodbridge Connecticut

The kiss!

wedding ceremony at Trinity Evangelical Free Church  in Woodbridge CT

How fun is the tinsel???

exit from wedding ceremony at Trinity Evangelical Free Church  in Woodbridge Connecticut

We raced to the reception after the family portraits and managed to get a few pictures in outside before the final drops of light disappeared.

wedding portrait in the winter in new haven, ct

I love the white fur wrap that Megan had, it was the perfect addition to her look as well as functional!

I also love the lights in the distance in this image.

bride wearing fur shawl during wedding ceremonyDecember wedding portrait  in New Haven, CT

They are so adorable – thank you SO much for braving the temps for a few pics outside!

wedding portrait at amarante's  sea cliff

How amazing is this cake?  I love the frosted cranberries decorating the cake and the “Best Day Ever” cake topper.

Frosted cranberries on wedding cake

By far one of the coolest guestbook ideas I’ve seen – they had a print with red and green christmas lights for guests to sign in a frame.

christmas light guestbook for christmas wedding

I LOVE how exited they were for their entrance into the reception.

wedding entrance at wedding reception at amarante's

They went right into their first dance after their entrance and it was beautiful.

first dance at wedding reception at amarante's  Sea Cliff

High fives!

high five after first dance in new haven, ct

They started dinner off with a toast from the Best Man, it was hilarious!

best man giving toast during wedding reception

Everyone was laughing!

bride and groom laughing during toast at wedding reception at amarante's

OK I know this isn’t the best look but oh my gosh I laughed when I saw this image, love!

bride laughing during wedding reception

Megan’s parents cut a rug all night long.  Here they are boogying to Pharrell’s “Happy”

bride's parents dancing wedding reception

This may be one of my favorite images from a cake cutting, ever.

cake cutting during wedding reception at amarante's Sea Cliff

The father/daughter dance was so sweet.  I may have had to wipe a tear or two afterwards.

father daughter dance during wedding reception in Connecticut

The Mother/Son dance was equally as lovely and you can see just how perfect Tim’s Christmas tie was.

mother son dance during wedding reception in new haven

After the formalities were over I got to play with the wedding rings for a bit.

Here they are on Megan’s fur and I loved the look.

wedding ring detail on fur

However I then played with the berries and greenery around the cake table and liked that as well so you get two ring shots this time around on the blog.

winter wedding wedding rings

They had a late night snack brought out that was also tied in to their first date: cider donuts!  THEY WERE DELICIOUS!  We were told we HAD to take some home with us and they were so.so.so good.

cider donut late night snack at wedding reception

I loved that not only were people dancing all night but that the music wasn’t SO LOUD that you couldn’t enjoy a conversation.  There were lots of conversations taking place all night and it was fun to capture the hugs and moments.

Aramante's Sea Cliff Wedding Reception

I love.love.love when groomsman dance.

wedding reception at Aramante's in CT

At the end of the night they did a sparkler exit and thankfully they purchased the long sparklers!

sparklers for wedding reception exit

Isn’t Megan’s going away dress ADORABLE?  I’m SO in love with it.

amarante's sea cliff sparkler exit

They are so fun and I’m so glad I made them kiss before they left.

wedding sparkler exit at amarante's

One last one!!

amarante'sSea Cliff Wedding Sparkler Exit

Thank you both SO much for trusting me with your day and for being such wonderful clients to work with.  Congratulations!

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