Outdoor Wedding Sites in Connecticut
Connecticut provides a wealth of options for outdoor weddings. In addition to the natural beauty of the outdoors, many Connecticut outdoor wedding venues provide added interest and appeal that will make your wedding especially memorable. Consider the following:
Getting married at a castle: Every bride should feel like a princess on her wedding day, but not many can lay claim to having been married in a castle! For a small, intimate wedding taking place between June and September, the terrace at Gillette Castle in Gillette Castle State Park would be a striking option. Guests can take a ferry across the Connecticut River to the castle for the ceremony.
Getting married at a farm: Connecticut offers many choices for beautiful barn and farm weddings. Wood Acres Farm in Terryville, CT offers a horse-drawn carriage to transport you to your ceremony and a charming Banquet Barn offering both indoor and outdoor seating. Because the farm hosts only one wedding per day, you can be assured of the staff’s undivided attention.
Getting married at a gallery: Facilities that showcase art are usually beautiful spaces for weddings. The Mystic Art offers breathtaking views of the Mystic River from its lovely riverfront terrace and garden area, with space and electrical capacity to accommodate music and catering needs. Even while indoors, the 16 foot ceilings with wide skylights create a spacious feel. Other advantages include a location convenient to local churches and guest accommodations.
Getting married in an aquarium: Not many people can say they said “I do” with Beluga whales in attendance, but if you choose the Mystic Aquarium as your wedding venue, you can. The Aquarium offers several unique backdrops for your vows, and an opportunity for unforgettable wedding photos.
Getting married at a vineyard: Wine-lovers will appreciate the opportunity to say their wedding vows and host their guests at a vineyard. The Haight-Brown Vineyard in Litchfield, CT offers an intimate, sophisticated setting, and customized wine labels to create unique wedding favors.
Getting married at a factory: No, not at one of those venues that churns out twelve weddings a weekend. A lace factory! The Lace Factory at Deep River offers you the chance to arrive via the Essex Steam Train, get married on the river landing, and have a catered reception in a space that has been transformed from industrial into elegant.
Ballymeade Country Club – Nicole and Josh – Forevercandid Photography
Well hello gorgeous wedding! Nicole and Josh's wedding was the perfect beginning to my 2012 wedding season! We ventured out of Boston for this one, down to Falmouth, to the Ballymeade Country Club. Feast your eyes on the vivid details!
Deerfield Academy Dance – Jr Prom
Deerfield's Junior Prom is always a great party. No food, just 3 hours of dancing. What a great crowd they were.
Indian Wedding Traditions
Few cultures infuse the wedding with more meaning and traditions than Indian culture. Whether taking place in Mumbai or Massachusetts, an Indian wedding is a pageant of sensory treasures, from the bright colors and gold of the garments to the aromas and flavors of the wedding feast.
A typical wedding, in New England and throughout the U.S, encompasses the wedding ceremony and a reception following it. A traditional Indian wedding, on the other hand, is a series of preparations and celebrations that often lasts four or five days. Rituals vary, of course, according to the region from which the bride and groom come and their religion.
One of the first rituals to precede a Hindu marriage ceremony is called misri, or the ring ceremony. Despite the sound of the word to American ears, this is a joyful ceremony in which the bride and groom exchange rings, and the groom’s family presents the bride with flowers and fruit, and feed her family misri, or rock sugar, which represents the sweetness of the couple’s life together.
The Indian wedding tradition that is most familiar to Americans is mehendi. At this ladies-only ceremony, held the afternoon before the wedding, a Mehendewali draws elaborate henna designs on the bride’s palms, wrists, arms, legs and feet. Sagri is the “acquaintance party,” in which the female relatives of the groom visit the bride’s homes with gifts for her and flowers with which to adorn her. This party may be combined with mehendi.
Sangeet is another exclusively-female celebration held the night before the wedding. Folk songs dedicated to marriage are sung, and unmarried girls perform traditional dances, following which refreshments are served.
On the day of the wedding itself, the bride and groom are cleansed with bright-yellow turmeric powder at their respective residences in the Haldi ritual. At the wedding venue, there will be a brightly colored canopy with four pillars, called a Mandap. The ceremony will take place under this symbolic covering. Perhaps the most important part of the wedding is the Var Mala ceremony, in which the wedding couple place flower garlands around each other’s necks, symbolizing the bride’s acceptance of the groom as her husband. In Saat Phere, the bride and groom exchange seven vows, in which they promise, like brides and grooms everywhere, to care for each other throughout their lives.
Bentley University Awards Assembly
We provided the sound, stage lighting, LED UP-Lighting, photo booth, staging and drapery for Bentley College's annual Falcon Awards. Check out the images below.
Ballymeade Country Club – East Falmouth MA Wedding Reception – Event Up-Lighting
Nicole & Josh had a beautiful ceremony and reception at Ballymeade Country Club in East Falmouth MA on The Cape. We provided lighting for this event through our good friends at Blue Ivy Events. Here are a couple of photos from that evening:
Monika and Freddys – Wedding Reception at The Riverview in Simsbury CT
Monika and Freddys held their reception at The Riverview in Simsbury CT. This was a wedding with a combination of Polish and Spanish family traditions. There was the blessing of the bread with salt. There was a bit of Salsa and Merengue as well as some contemporary Polish music. And Monika and Freddys were into more club music - so it was a dancing crowd.
Introduction Song: Marry You - Bruno Marrs
First Dance: I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz
Bride and Father Dance: Butterfly Kisses
Groom and Mother Dance: In My Life - The Beatles
Cake Cutting: Sugar Sugar - Archies
Last Song: Suavemente - Elvis Crespo
Planning a Tent Wedding: Six Things to Keep in Mind
If your wedding will be during the months when New England weather is bright and warm, you may want to plan to take advantage of the beautiful out doors with a tent wedding. There are many advantages to a tent wedding, including the ability to have openness without sacrificing elegance, and flexibility in menu planning (you’re not tied to a venue’s menu). Here are some things to keep in mind.
Room to move. Experts recommend having from 15-20 square feet of space per guest. When you envision your wedding, you see people mingling and dancing, so make sure they have room to do so. Guests who are packed in like sardines tend not to feel too festive.
Type of tent. Pole tents, which must be staked, require a grassy area to be put up, and have clean, traditional lines. Frame tents require less staking than pole tents, and are better for non-grassy areas. Sail cloth tents are another popular option for weddings because the fabric is translucent, and lights within cause the tents to give a soft, romantic glow during evening receptions.
Accessories. Most tent rental places offer accessories. You will likely be wanting a dance floor, but also consider tent liners to soften the look of the ceiling, paper lanterns for a bright, festive look, or chandeliers for an elegant touch.
Set-up Time Frame. If you are opting to do your own decorating, make sure the tent will be set up in ample time for you to do that without stress. Also confirm when the tent needs to be retrieved. If you are having your wedding in your backyard, consider having the tent set up early or taken down later the day after your wedding so you can also use it for a rehearsal dinner or post-wedding day brunch.
Weather considerations. Obviously, you can’t control the weather, but you can plan for it. Consider having providing paper fans for guests in the event of extreme heat. Make sure sidewalls for your tent are available (and check if there’s an additional cost) in case of rain.
In case of emergency. Make sure you have a contact number for your tent vendor where he or she can be reached DURING your wedding. Problems are unlikely, but if something goes wrong, you want to be able to reach someone who’s able to fix it—fast.
The Society Room of Hartford CT – Wedding Event Lighting
Kalyn and Seth held their reception at The Society Room of Hartford CT. We were contracted to provide lighting for their wedding. The Society Room is one of our favorite wedding venues to light. It just looks amazing in there.
Check out some of the photos from last night:
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