This summer I have a ton of New England destination weddings, and my first was Alexandra and Sen’s Dartmouth College wedding. It was my first time spending any time in the utterly delightful town of Hanover, NH and I quickly fell for it; the college campus is gorgeous, the town is cute as a button, and the surrounding landscape is so majestic. Because Alexandra and Sen had allowed a couple of hours in the afternoon for their portraits, I spent some time the day before location-scouting and found some awesome spots for photos. A note to my current and future clients here: if you want truly spectacular portraits, carve out a couple of hours in your timeline for us to travel around together. Getting to perfect spots takes time, but it’s so worth it! And because of the way my collections are structured, this doesn’t cost you anything extra.
I started my day with the girls at Six South Street Hotel where the getting ready process was in full swing, spread out over several rooms. After a little time there, we headed to the beautiful Church of Christ at Dartmouth College where Alexandra got into her dress – I loved this time we spent in one of the church’s meeting rooms; there were hilariously wonderful expressions from Alexandra, emotional tears from at least one bridesmaid, and some great moments between Alexandra and her mom.
I had an awesome second shooter with me for this wedding, Andree Kehn. She’s based in Maine, but made the long road trip down to NH and she created some great images for me, including the two photos of Alexandra and her father just before the ceremony, and a few others sprinkled throughout the set above. Thank you Andree!
After the ceremony we took the group photos on campus, then headed off on our tour of the New Hampshire countryside for Alexandra and Sen’s couples portraits. My two favorites are the first image above, at a Christmas tree farm, and the black and white photo of Sen and Alexandra looking out over the Connecticut River. We also stopped by the prettiest car park you’ve ever seen (sometimes I’m worried my couples think I’m barking mad when I suggest heading to a car park for photos!) and of course the spot on campus where Alexandra and Sen got engaged.
The reception was held at Dartmouth Skiway. It’s a very traditional, rustic skiway, and yet it was transformed into such an elegant space – uplighting, candles, and a ton of flowers can totally change the feel of a place! It was really beautiful, and yet retained all the quirky character of a mountain lodge. So fun!
Some of my favorite moments from the reception included the wonderful toasts throughout dinner, the impressive lift at the end of the father daughter dance, the wedding themed Mad Libs during cocktail hour, and the crazy dance party to spectacular band K2. Thank you Alexandra and Sen for an incredible weekend, and for trusting me to document your Dartmouth College wedding. I loved every minute of it!
Hair & Makeup Vivo Salon ~ Uplighting Frost Productions ~ Band K2 ~ Church The Church of Christ at Dartmouth College ~ Reception Dartmouth Skiway ~ Photographer Kate McElwee
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