We love getting outside of the city for weddings. There are some amazing places in DC to get married but there is something about going out to the Eastern Shore that automatically de-stresses you and your guests. Brittland Manor takes that de-stressing to a whole new level. It’s a beautiful mansion on an enormous property overlooking the river near Chestertown, Md. Once you are out there, there are no worries!
For a photographer, the whole property is a playground for portraits. We could have spent hours with Stephanie and Bevan around the property. Luckily we had a golf cart to get around in. Unluckily it was the world’s most temperamental golf cart that wouldn’t go unless you knew the secret password, gave it just enough gas (but not too much), talked to it nicely, promised your love to it, hopped on one leg and sang the National Anthem (the long version)… You get the idea.
Jonathan had been trained for the Jedi Mind Tricks needed to appease the cart earlier in the day but there came a point when we just couldn’t get it to go. It did make for a great photo when Bevan and Stephanie jumped off the back in their wedding finery to push. After grabbing a quick photo of it, the thought of Stephanie falling quickly horrified me so Bevan took the wheel to see if he had the golf-cart-mojo and Jonathan and I pushed. Once it started, we didn’t want to stop so Jonathan and I jumped on the back and held on. Stephanie quickly grabbed my camera to get photographs of us and Jonathan got a photo of the most well dressed photographer ever.
After Stephanie got into her dress, we were taking portraits of the ladies in the hallway. There was great light, the bridesmaids dresses were stunning and the flowers were some of our all-time favorites. To get everyone to relax, I told the ladies to take a deep breath and cracked a joke. Some combination of deep breath turned to laughter created a popping sound which was actually the hook and eyelet on the top of Stephanie’s dress popping off. The sudden look of shock on her and the bridesmaids faces followed by uncontrollable laughter was priceless. It took Stephanie a quick second to realize it was no big deal and to just start laughing about it (sign of a pretty cool bride!!). I didn’t know what happened at the time but just laid down on the shutter and got a great sequence of images. They were already laughing about it when I showed her the photo on the back of my camera of her reaction which got her laughing even more. For the rest of the day, I never asked anyone to take more than a 2/3 deep breath to be on the safe side!
It was a warm day but the night turned beautiful and everyone seemed to have an amazing time. It was definitely one of those weddings that as a photographer, you wish you were a guest but if you were a guest, you would wish you were a photographer – perfect blend of beauty and fun.
Wedding 411:
Ceremony + Reception: Brittland Manor | 410.810.7591
Wedding Planner: Waterview Events | Erin Zierfuss | 410.725.5145
Florist: Great Expectations | Inka Browne | 410.263.6708
Caterer: Ken’s Creative Kitchen | 410.268.3222
String Quartet: Perfect Harmony | 240.912.7604
DJ: C&J Entertainment | 877.746.4265
Photographer: Connor Studios | Michael Connor + Jonathan Newton | 202.527.9768
