Caroline & Hall, river rat love at a 1000 Islands wedding

Can you tell that this is the first time Hall and everyone see Caroline as a beautiful bride

three brothers...sometimes images do say a 1000 words

This was the first time in the 1000 Islands for me so I was excited to be there for Caroline and Hall’s wedding. I have shot further north and east of the area, but never actually in it. The magnificent beauty that envelops you upon arrival is a wonder to behold. Every time I visit this part of New York I think about the quote that says to not focus so much energy on attaining the goal that we forget to enjoy the journey along the way. It also reminds me of a song I heard with my daughter the other day by Miley Cyrus called “The Climb”. There are few songs produced these days that can send shivers up my spine but this is definitely one of them (it could be because my daughter was singing along with her though). It is about living life in the moment and enjoying every minute of it. I was so moved by it that I am considering using it for a greatest hits wedding slideshow at the end of the year. I may have to do the slideshow just so I can use the song because it really is that incredible. The nice thing about traveling to this area is that yes, the trip can be a visual feast, but arriving at the destination is just as, if not more spectacular.

I had only talked on the phone with Caroline and Hall beforehand so showing up at the wedding was actually the first time I met them. I usually like to get to know my couples a little more before the wedding if possible, but they and their families immediately welcomed me with open arms and made me feel very comfortable. I knew at once that this was going to be a fun group and looked forward to what was ahead. We started with a rehearsal on site at the Antique Boat Museum. From there we went to the amazing Thousand Island Park Pavilion. This place sits way out on the water and is exposed on all four sides so it is pretty incredible. They had a lovely cocktail hour on the upper deck, followed by a fabulous sunset meal in the lower part of the pavilion that is right at water level.

The house where Caroline got ready for the wedding was also pretty amazing. It had incredible yellow and pink walls, and was filled with beautiful art work. I could have spent all day shooting them right there in a variety of locations. It was a lot of fun and produced some very rewarding images. The Antique Boat Museum was great to shoot at as well. It is located on the water, and looks right into the sunset. People pretty much just had to turn around for some stunning sunset images.

Caroline, Hall’s Mother, Eleanor Oster, and family friend Barbara Jean Blodgett did an unbelievable job orchestrating everything and I have to tip my hat to all of the vendors for doing what they do so well. Boo Wells for the contemporary and tasty hors d’oeuvres from Farm House Kitchen, Melissa Ringer Hardy for the delightfully delicious cupcakes from Bella’s Bistro, Lorrie McFarland from Party Rentals, The Dinosaur Bar b que for their infamous dinosaur bones (yum), and Nik Entertainment for such fabulous entertainment.

I asked Caroline for a few details and this is what she wrote,

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the great news – we are very excited to view our wedding photos as is our entire family.

some quick info -

both my family and halls family have roots in the 1000 islands. our families were introduced to the st. lawrence by our grandparents who purchased and built homes on Wellesley island and summerland island

when they were just married. both hall and myself have grown up spending our summers on the st. lawrence. we’re what one would call ”river rats”

The house with the bright yellow walls is my parents house situated right on the main shipping channel of the st. Lawrence. The channel is narrow in this part of the river with a seriously strong current and depths up to 150 feet. This is weher we love to swim!

the cupcakes were made by bellas in clayton and were placed on cake stands that I purchased and spray painted white with my mother and law.

all of the blue and white tissue paper flowers were homemade by myself, my mother in law; Eleanor Oster, and my good friend susan manrao (susan was one of my bridesmaids)

the meal was dinosaur bbq – a favorite of ours

the garland in my hair was made by my mother in law as were all of the boutonnières and my bouquet and my sister’s bouquet

all of the table settings were handmade by me out of a selection of local postcards

the flower arrangements were arranged by my mother in law and good family friend rhea in tin buckets that i found

we bought the flowers in bunches that were handpicked the day before by maria mix at her local watertown farm garden hill farm. Over the summer we made a couple trips out to marias flower farm to see how the flowers were blossoming and make the selections we wanted for the wedding.

our preacher david vanepps knew my mothers father the rev. graham hodges (since deceased) very well – infact daivid went into the ministry partly because he was inspired and influenced by my grandfathers sermons as a young boy.

my father rowed me into the ceremony in a st. lawrence skiff that he has had restored over the years by good family friend and boat-builder thom inglehart. the boat is a family heirloom and is

named deedee after my fathers mother. one of our favorite father - daughter activities is to row that skiff around the st. lawrence river for hours and hours. our reception was held in the skiff house of the

antique boat museum.

our rehearsal dinner was held in the pavilion on the main dock of thousand islands park. this spot has special meaning to me not only because it is beautiful and located on the st. lawrence river but

because i would dock there daily when i was a kayak instructor for the sailing camp with my kiddie kayakers.

my mother in law did all of the decorations for the rehearsal dinner

Thank you so very much to Caroline, Hall, and your families. It was a pleasure to get to know everyone a little and do this for you. I hope that you enjoy the images as much as I have enjoyed creating and working on them, and I wish you many blessings on your journey together.