Sweet as Candy - The wedding of Ashley and Mike at the Popponesset Inn
Ashley & Mike had a beautiful Cape Cod wedding on July 26, 2013 with a ceremony at the South Congregational Church in Centerville, MA followed by a reception at The Popponesset Inn in Mashpee, MA.
Ashley is self made in every way. She is strong, athletic, smart and seriously hard working. She runs marathons, does yoga, and is basically an all around athlete. Not to mention a stunner both in looks and personality. Everyone that meets her falls madly in love with her, including her husband Mike. Mike was a semi pro hockey player before realizing that it was time to get serious and kick some ass in the corporate world. But he never lost touch with his hockey buddies. So when I first met Ashley for lunch at an H-Mart, she warned me that her wedding would be classy but wild. When I asked her to explain this definition she simply said, "Welp, Mike used to play serious hockey and if you know anything about hockey players, they really love a good party". That was all I needed to hear. I didn't get to meet Mike until we did their engagement session all around Southie. Mike was shy at first but I knew I won him over when he said to me after it was all over "Hmmm...that was actually fun". I couldn't wait for their wedding.
The day of the wedding, I arrived at Ashley's childhood Cape house where she and her bridesmaids were getting ready. The vibe was super relaxed and even though it was raining pretty hard, that didn't phase Ash one bit. She just sipped her champagne and tried to just take everything in. My second shooter, Vanessa Walsh, headed off to Mike's cabin down the road, where he and all the groomsmen were crashing.
While Vanessa was busy with the guys, I stayed on with Ash while she got dressed in an Amsale gown and Christian Louboutin shoes. I was all cocky in her mother's bedroom and said, "Just keep doing what you are doing, I can shoot from up here...." and as I stepped on to her mothers bed, I sank and almost wiped out flat on my face because her mother's bed wasn't really a bed but a WATERBED! We all cracked up as Ashley said, " I told you this house needed an update, even the bed screamed dated". After everyone was dressed we snapped a few formals of family and her beautiful bridesmaids. Even their dog got in on the action for a few photos. (Side note, that dog made sure we knew he was there because he farted the entire time the girls were getting ready and we all had to leave the room at one point it was so bad!)
After the bridal formals, we headed over to the church via trolley to get married. The ceremony officiated by Rev. Terry was lovely. The best part was when Ashley eyes filled with tears that you could see from across the room. After, I was so worried that the rain wouldn't ever let up, but it seemed to stop just long enough for the entire bridal party to run next door to a historic penny candy store to get some fun formals in. This was the store that Ashley grew up going to so we had to shoot there.
The minute we got back on the trolley the rain started up again, but Mike and Ashley didn't care and we took a detour to a favorite spot of theirs and cranked out more formals with their wedding party, which included a shot with everyone in their ray ban sunglasses, a gift from the couple. Then finally it was off to party at the Popponesset. Just as we arrived at the venue, the sun popped out of nowhere. So I rushed Ash and Mike directly to the beach for some photos, because if you aren't familiar with the way the light hits the beach at the Popponesset, you don't know what you are missing!
The inside of the Inn looked beautiful with flowers by Margaret Parker and the cake by Cape Cod Cakes. The band, Night Shift, kept everyone dancing until all hours of the night. I swear I don't think anyone sat down except to eat. It was amazing to photograph, that's for sure.
Mike's buddies have this thing they do with this silver cup. I think they called it the Stanley wedding cup. It's basically this big silver trophy cup that travels to every wedding of their friends. When someone gets married, the cup comes out when the dance floor is really picking up. It's filled with beer and the bride and groom have to drink from it. Here's the catch, it supposedly has never been washed. When I met with Mike and Ashley a few days before their wedding she swore up and down, she was not drinking from that thing. Guess who I caught swigging swill from that cup? Everyone drank from that thing. Hilarious. I also loved that she drank martinis while dancing.
A few weeks after their wedding, Ashley and Mike packed up their whole life, rented their place in southie and moved to Southern California. Don't ask me how they planned their wedding and a move all at the same time but being the calm, cool and collective peeps that they are, it didn't surprise me one bit. And you better believe when I make a trip out to LA to visit my friends, they are most certainly on that list of people to see. I miss you both guys. Thanks for the memories.
