Wedding and lifestyle photographer Stephanie Vegliante and Alden Witman met on Match.com, and after a little more than a year together, he got down on one knee before dinner in Providence, Rhode Island. “When we sat down for the meal, our parents had purchased champagne, and we toasted to our future ahead!” Stephanie remembers.
Being a wedding photographer, the bride-to-be had one rule regarding their venue—it had to be someone she’d never been with a non-traditional wedding aesthetic. “I didn’t want to feel as though I was at work,” she says.
Stephanie had heard about Lord Thompson Manor in Thompson, Connecticut, and after doing some research, she fell in love with it years before she did a site visit. The engaged couple toured the manor the day after they got engaged and knew they had to get married there. “Each room in the mansion is decorated with a rich-toned Scottish feel, while every detail in the cottage house is white and shabby-chic. Offering us the manor for the entire weekend as our private getaway for not only ourselves but for our families and bridal party was an added bonus.”
They set the date for June 8, 2019 and Kate Murtaugh Events & Design was trusted to bring their vision to life, while The Bridal Type set the tone for the day with beautiful calligraphy on invitations.
After photographing hundreds of wedding gowns, Stephanie understandably wanted something that wasn’t overtly bridal. “Little did I know, I would pick the opposite of my original vision,” she says of the dress she found at Everthine Bride. “The Leanne Marshall gown I fell in love with was simple, chic, and had the most perfect movement for pictures, which was a detail I had hoped to find.”
She paired her dress with a cathedral-length veil she’d found at a consignment shop, floral earrings by Anton Heunis, Bella Belle‘s Florence heels, and a beautiful bouquet by Michelle Jeanne Floral Design. On the day-of, Stephanie got ready with Complex Beauty RI to create her natural bridal beauty look, and Alden put on a custom navy suit from JoS. A. Bank. His initials along with their wedding date were stitched into the inside pocket for a special touch.
At Clark Chapel in Promfret, Connecticut, guests gathered for the ceremony. “I had first seen this chapel at the age of 13 and told my mother one day I wanted to get married there,” Stephanie remembers. The Rose Window even dates back to the early 13th century.
An organist played “Highland Cathedral,” as Stephanie and her father walked down the aisle to commence the Catholic service. “Something that I could not have prepared myself for was the moment when the church doors opened and my father and I began to walk down the aisle,” the bride remarks. “Seeing my husband-to-be, teary eyed, at the end of the aisle was also a moment that will forever be etched in my memory.”
After being announced as husband and wife, the #NiceDayForAWitWedding reception began. Guests roamed the gardens, fire pit areas, and food stations, and then were directed to the side garden for champagne. As a unique touch, the best man and maid of honor speeches were given from an ivy-covered balcony, which overlooked the grounds and side yard. “The images of our siblings toasting to our marriage from this balcony have remained some of my favorite images of our wedding day,” Stephanie says.
A delicious surf and turf dinner of miso salmon and beef tenderloin was then served, as a classic jazz and big band music was played. More toasts were followed by a mother-son dance and a choreographed father-daughter dance in the garden room. The couple’s first dance was to “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” performed by Stephanie’s sister and Alden’s brother, and then the cake by Whisk Cakes & Confections was cut. And once the formalities were concluded, the dance floor opened with Dance Floor DJs keeping things energized for the rest of the night.
