Little Compton Rhode Island Wedding

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Brendan & Lia’s Wedding

When Heather first mentioned that we were shooting a wedding in Little Compton my first thoughts were of N.W.A and Kendrick Lamar. I clearly had never heard of the luxurious tight-knit Rhode Island community across the Sakonnet River from Newport. The landscape wasn’t all unlike where I’m from on the north shore of Long Island, but the beautiful properties sprawled along the coast boasted more horses and acreage than any of my town’s similar neighborhoods. Heather, Capa, and I stared in awe out towards the bright horizon as we pulled into our AirBnB the day before Brendan and Lia’s wedding.

Heather and Lia have known each other since riding horses back in their teenage years at the Ethel Walker School. I’ve come to understand that the bond between equestrian riders is pretty deep--it’s a camaraderie like being in the trenches--but instead of being at war with another army, you share war stories about being at war with the army of one between your legs. Danger is omnipresent and your survival is a combination of: skill, communication, keeping your cool, and good old fashioned luck. There’s a reason Heather took up photography.

Lia on the other hand, still trains riders on horseback and she’s apparently damned good at it. She’s so good that when we playfully asked Brendan to compare Lia to any object, animate or inanimate, he replied, “triple crown winning horse that wows the world.” With a healthy combination of playfulness and discipline, Brendan and Lia are one of those couples that like to work hard and play hard. Lia recounted a story on Christmas Eve one year when during a family tradition of “fun family tennis paddle” she rocked a forehand right into Brendan’s face and he wore it like a champ. “When he didn’t drop like a stone--I knew I had a keeper,” she declared.

Heather and I love when other couples are competitive. We are constantly competing in games, but we draw the line when it comes to more important things like raising Capa, business operations, or daily household responsibilities. There’s a sort of unwritten rule when it comes to those things because we both think it’s not a healthy habit to keep score with things that can stress us out. We trust each other to do our best--and we both see each other stretching ourselves thin to make things happen--so we leave competition to the gaming arena. Once we enter, all bets are off.

Heather and I are kind of becoming the unofficial Ethel Walkers wedding photographers. In fact we have a wedding coming up in the chapel on campus. It makes me happy to see Heather connect with old friends and to hear stories of Heather’s equestrian past. I’ve obviously known that Heather’s a tough competitor and fervent worker, but it’s nice to get a behind-the-scenes look on how she became the amazing woman she is today. Especially when one of her old classmates slips in an embarrassing story about her--those are my favorite. The best thing about it is that she usually laughs it off and wears the embarrassment, kind of like a tennis ball to the face six months into a relationship.