Wedding at Raffael’s, Walpole, MA – Diana and Austin

On July 5, 2014, I had the honor of photographing Diana and Austin’s wedding with a ceremony at the United Church in Walpole, followed by a reception at Raffael’s.

Diana and Austin met when they were paired together as bridesmaid and groomsman in Austin’s sister’s wedding. They kept in touch and were dating soon after. Then Diana made the decision to move from MA to the Southwest right before Austin returned from his deployment, because she knew that he was someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Austin says that he knew that she was “the one” when he saw Diana waiting on the airfield when he returned from Afghanistan. Currently, Austin is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He serves as the executive officer of Echo Company, 16th Engineers Battalion, at Fort Bliss, TX. Diana is beginning graduate school in the fall and works for the Testing Department at El Paso Community College.

The morning of the wedding, I arrived at the bride’s childhood home in Norton, MA. Once the hair and makeup was complete and Diana had stepped into her dress, everybody was ready to celebrate this special day. Diana’s bridesmaids enjoyed a toast using super cute glasses that Diana had personalized for each one. The bridesmaids were so much fun and decided to play a little in the photos. I love the picture of them posing in front of the limousine. The beautiful flowers from Judy’s Flowers in Foxboro, MA complemented everything perfectly.  I also love the photos of Diana and her mom just after putting on her dress. Diana’s youngest brother, Joey, then joined us at the house so that we could get some great family pictures before we left for the church.

Then, I met the groom and his guys, along with my second photographer, Brian Malloy, at the church. The men headed downstairs to the parlor to wait, and I was able to photograph Austin and his groomsmen prior to the ceremony. Brian stayed out front and photographed the women getting out of the limousine and getting ready to walk down the aisle. When the ceremony started, I found a place at the front of the church to photograph the procession.

Austin had not yet seen Diana, so I stayed focused on him once the doors opened. His smile was spectacular! The service was lovely.

After the kiss, the bride and groom walked back up the aisle together, and I took them aside for a few pictures by themselves. They were so excited to be married.

After a few moments alone, they went back inside, and the groomsmen got ready for the sword presentation. The groomsmen lined up on the stairs with their swords at attention, and Diana and Austin walked down through the line. At the end, the best man lowered his sword and demanded payment for passage, with payment being a kiss between the newly married couple. So Diana and Austin obliged, and the sword lifted so they could pass through. Upon Diana’s passing, the best man smacked her on the bum with his sword and said, “Welcome to the Army, Mrs. Caroe.”

Her expression was priceless!

Diana and Austin and the bridal party hopped into the limousine, and we were off to the reception. We arrived at Raffael’s to a fantastic spread of food and drink exclusively for the bridal party and family. We did family photographs in the beautiful garden while the rest of the guests enjoyed cocktail hour inside. After formal photos, we headed inside for the reception to begin.

The bridal party and parents were introduced, and Diana and Austin enjoyed their first dance.

Toasts were shared by the best man as well as Diana’s brother and Diana’s parents, Valerie and David.

As is traditional, Diana and her dad shared a dance, followed by Austin and his mom. Then the couple danced with Diana’s brother Joey. His smile was beaming, and even though he couldn’t speak, the joy on his face was unmistakable.

Dinner was served, and the bride and groom were able to make some rounds to the tables. After that, Mike Rice from Sounds Great Entertainment got the dancing going, and it never really stopped all night. The dance floor was packed, and it seemed like every person knew how to dance well! The combination of military uniforms with those red dresses on the dance floor on the Fourth of July weekend was just fantastic. The mood was so positive!

In addition to the cake from Montillios, there was also a candy bar for dessert. I loved all the little sayings on the candy.

The guests enjoyed creating some crazy photo booth pictures from  The Beantown Photo Booth and were treated with burger sliders and french fries at the end of the night.

The couple pulled out all the stops; there was so much thought put into the many little details of this wedding. They followed the theme of Stars & Stripes and red, white, and blue through and through, and it was done really beautifully and in good fun. The whole mood of the evening was amazing! The combination of excitement, patriotism, and celebration of love was palpable.

Finally, Diana and Austin left to change their clothes and then came back to the reception for their final dance. Their joy was fantastic. The last dance was celebratory and fun and I absolutely loved Diana’s outfit. Then they headed out for the car and made their getaway.

It was an absolute pleasure to photograph the union of Diana and Austin on this special weekend. To be surrounded by military and their family on the July Fourth weekend celebrating a wedding was unforgettable! The thought and care that went into the planning of this wedding was only surpassed by the love obviously shared between Diana and Austin. I wish them a life full of happiness and joy, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for including me in their celebration!