The Bride’s Details & Getting Ready

If you were ever looking for inspiration for your fall wedding held in an Upstate NY barn wedding venue, this blog should be on your bookmarks list!  I did Erica and Merino’s engagement session two years ago and even then she had brought a painting of a maple leaf with their their wedding date on it and words that said, “Fall in Love”.  They’ve had this autumn theme planned for years!

As you can see in the details pictures below, “Fall in Love” was really the theme of their wedding!

Not to mention that the leaves here in Upstate NY are just about at peak color!

Erica’s jewelry was not only absolutely gorgeous but very special to her.  Erica and Merino have the sweetest little boy that is a little older than a year old and Merino had these jewelry pieces made from her breastmilk.  This may not be interesting to anyone else but as a mom myself, I thought the concept of it was really special!

And oh my gosh, can you please check out this fall headpiece?!?!  Its so whimsical, feeling a little (going to risk showing my geek side here) elvish and so perfectly fit with their fall theme!

Isn’t she gorgeous?!  Her smile can light up a room!

 

Here is their son, the little guy I mentioned above.  This makes my momma heart just stop and pause.  They grow up so fast.  You can’t ever stop time but you can take advantage of the moments you have by slowing down and enjoying being together.  These might be some of my favorite photos of the day.

The Groom’s Details & Getting Ready

Then on to Merino and his details!

In keeping with the fall in love theme… check out these cuff links!  Let’s just say that Erica and Merino made sure everything matched their theme so perfectly!

The Best Man and groom’s brother helped Merino with his tie!

Erica isn’t the only one with a great smile!  Just wait until you see the smiles that their son gives!

The First Look

Then we were off to Wolf Oak Acres for their First Look, pictures and ceremony!  Before COVID hit, Erica and Merino were planning a full day here complete with their wedding and reception.  When they realized that they’d have to scale back, they decided to still get married in 2020, have a small family meal at Merino’s uncle’s house and have the large reception party next year!

I just loved that Erica called to Merino while she was still a few feet from him so that when he turned around he could see her from head to toe!  The First Look is such a great way to be able to see one another in a more private setting.  This way the groom can actually respond to the bride and tell her how beautiful she looks as opposed to having to wait through the entire wedding ceremony and then tell her before the bridal party and family members break in on the moment and congratulate them.

I’ve also seen the groom show his emotions so much more during a First Look than he would in front of all his guests at the ceremony!  And I think that’s the sweetest part of the whole First Look!

I just have to break in here for a moment and say how AMAZING Russ and Katrina are at Wolf Oak!  It was chilly that day and Katrina just happened to have a few fur jackets to bring out to Erica!  Super thoughtful!  And that’s what you get when you hold your wedding at Wolf Oak… super thoughtful, bend over backwards for you helpful.  I’m always so blessed when I see other vendors treating my brides and grooms well!  It’s one of the many reasons that Wolf Oak is our very favorite Upstate NY barn wedding venue to shoot at!

The Barn

The other really awesome thing about doing a First Look is that you’ll get 30% more portraits on the wedding day!  Because we can start portraits as early as we want, we have LOTS of time for pictures!  Otherwise we are trying to cram family pictures, bridal party AND your bride and groom photos into Cocktail Hour.  Oh did I mention Cocktail Hour? Yeah, if we do your photos before the ceremony, you get to go to Cocktail Hour.  Pretty freaking fantastic.

Oh my gosh, these two are so adorable together!

The laughter… I loved the emotions these two showed!

I think one of my favorite spots on Wolf Oak’s property is the landscaping in the front of the barn.  It always looks so nice and I love taking photos there!

This one tree beside the barn… I knew I HAD to get great fall photos here!  See below!

The Autumn Leaves

I just love this series of pictures!  I knew that I wanted their portraits to also match their “Fall in Love” theme and I was so glad the sunshine came out for some of those to make these autumn leaves look that much more magical!

This show stopper of a cascading bouquet is by Mary’s 4Ever Flowers!  I was so impressed not only with Erica’s bouquet but with the other arrangements she did for the arbor at the ceremony!

The spin in front of the bridge!… and the sunshine came out for it!  I just love these (ok what photos do I not love of this day?!  LOL!)

The Waterfall

Another spot at this Upstate NY barn wedding venue is the small waterfall!  Definitely a favorite location for most of my brides and grooms that get married at Wolf Oak!

Another one of my favorites from the day.  We were able to get SO many pictures that day!  Erica said to me so many times in our planning and on the day of, “the pictures are my favorite part of the day!”  If pictures are one of your favorite parts, I’d really encourage you to think about having a First Look that doesn’t diminish the romanticism of the moment, but elevates it, I believe.  The First Look is so much more intimate and let’s be honest… what other part of your wedding day are you going to have alone just the two of you?

The Bridal Party

The bridal party was so much fun!… as was the flower girl and three ring bearers!  In the top left photo I told the ring bearers to give each other a high five!

And here is little Mr. Reno himself!  Oh my gosh he’s so cute!  If you want to see REALLY cute, check out his cake smash blog here!!

The Bridesmaids

Here are the girls!

 

Now I realize that Russ isn’t a bridesmaid… but he WAS holding their sweatshirts while we took photos!  Again, just another example of how thoughtful both Russ and Katrina.  Pick a good venue and it will MAKE your wedding experience!

The Groomsmen

This is my favorite groomsmen photo!  I love the lighting, the colored leaves in the background, the fence in the foreground and the expressions on the guy’s faces!

And this one on the stone steps!

The Ceremony

Check out the flower arrangements on the arbor!  So well designed!  During the ceremony, Erica and Merino planted a tree together… the one in the top left photo!  Its a dogwood, one of my favorites!

Who else helps coordinate the bridal party members and make sure that Erica’s train was perfect but Russ and Katrina again!

 

Here comes the gorgeous bride… and her little Reno!

Erica’s sister, the Maid of Honor had some sweet tears as Erica came down the aisle.

I loved how Merino beckoned his little guy down the aisle!

The pond is just one of the epic ceremony places at this Upstate NY barn wedding venue!

The kiss!

The look on their faces as they came back down the aisle… I just love it!

A Few More Family Photos!

I wanted to make sure we got lots of pictures of all three members of this sweet family together!  After all, you only have one wedding day!

This one is by Andrew and I love the composition!

The First Dance

Then we were off to Merino’s uncle’s house for their small family meal!  Their First Dance was just as sweet as they are!

The Happily Ever After Pictures

And just as we were loosing the light, we made sure to do a “Happily Ever After” picture to close out the wedding!  It was such a sweet day that had been long anticipated.  Andrew and I were so honored that we got to be a part of their day and are looking forward to their reception next year!

I’m so glad you took the time to look through Erica and Merino’s blog post from their Upstate NY barn wedding venue!  If you’d like to see more of our wedding work you can find it here or shoot me an email here!

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