Candlelight Farms Inn Wedding in CT

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Joe + Ashleigh

An empty back seat is a strange feeling as a new parent. No rustling or jangling of a toy, no chirps or squeals, no eyes peering back at you through the rearview mirror. It’s a very real void that manifests itself when you leave your baby under another person’s care--like the feeling you get when you forget something at home on a road trip--except that thing you forgot is a living, breathing, human. Heather and I joke that having Capa is like having a regular at your bar 24/7 who always needs something. “You think this milk is warm enough!? Warm it up again!!”

We were just pulling out of Aunt Pam and Uncle Rick’s farm in Ramsey, New Jersey, en route to Ashleigh and Joe’s wedding at Candlelight Farms Inn in New Milford, Connecticut. Heather and Ashleigh know each other from back in the day when they went to The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut, an established private school with a great equestrian program. Ashleigh’s mom, Dee, was actually the athletic director of the school at the time and her competitive spirit can be traced through the tightly knit relationship between Ashleigh and her other three siblings.

Two of Ashleigh’s sisters, Lexi and Sandra, gave a joint-maid-of-honor speech that spoke to just how close they’ve all become. Lexi and Sandra regaled with stories from childhood and during quarantine, and extended the same love that they have for Ashleigh to Joe. “In my eyes, I was pretty sure no one was quite good enough for my sister--but then you met Joe. Joe, to be honest, I don’t even remember the beginning of your relationship because it feels like you’ve always been a part of the fam,” Sandra read through teary eyes and trembling lips. Lexi added how much Joe has challenged her in the last year, both in the gym and intellectually, and how he’s become one of her best friends. Behind the delivery of every one of Lexi and Sandra’s words was the bittersweet knowledge that Ashleigh and Joe would soon be moving down to North Carolina.

After trying to discreetly wipe the tears from the viewfinder of my camera one of the bridesmaids called me out and yelled, “even the photographer is crying!” No shame, I replied, “how could you not?” Heather and I document speeches all of the time and few are as raw, honest, and real as the ones that Lexi and Sandra delivered. Plus, it brought back memories of when Heather and I first moved to Colorado from NYC and the blubbering messes we were at our going away parties. We admire Joe and Ashleigh for pursuing their careers and taking on a new adventure, knowing the amazing friends and experiences we accrued in our little cozy cottage in Arvada, CO.

Over the course of Ashleigh and Joe’s wedding day we barely had to give them any direction for photos. It is a wedding photographer’s dream to be able to move through the logistics seamlessly, to pull the couple aside and merely snap away as they do their thing. This wedding season I’m trying to invent a word or term or pinpoint exactly what it is when two people are so obviously in love. I can safely say that being able to be part of Ashleigh and Joe’s wedding in Connecticut got me one giant step closer.