Kristina and Eric’s wedding weekend at Aldrich Mansion was thoughtful in a way that never felt overly planned. There was family history woven into it, a morning on the water, an incredible Catholic ceremony, their own branded beer, and one of Rhode Island’s most spectacular historic properties as the backdrop to it all. We spent months making intentional decisions about this wedding, but by the time it arrived, it simply felt like it all belonged together.

Kristina gave us a pretty special beginning when she wore her mother’s wedding dress to the rehearsal. I can only imagine what it was like for her mom to see her daughter walk in wearing the dress she had once worn as a bride herself. Instead of staying packed away after one wedding decades earlier, it became part of another. I love that it now holds memories from both of those seasons in their family.

The next morning started on the water. Kristina and her bridesmaids took a sailboat out before the rest of the wedding day got underway, and it was such a distinctly Rhode Island way to spend those hours. There would be plenty happening later, but first she got to be on the water with her closest friends on the morning she was getting married.

Back at Aldrich Mansion, guests gathered in the chapel for Kristina and Eric’s Catholic ceremony. This was easily one of the most moving parts of the day for me. They had a full choir, and hearing those voices inside that chapel was extraordinary. There is something about a choir in a Catholic church that gets me every time. The acoustics, the ceremony, the voices filling the room together. It is absolute beauty, and it made an already meaningful ceremony feel even more so.

I care deeply about ceremonies, and this one had the kind of presence I always hope a wedding ceremony will have. Everyone was gathered in that chapel for the actual reason we had spent all of those months planning. Kristina and Eric were getting married. Their families were watching it happen. Their friends were there to witness it. The choir filled the space while they made the promises that everything else that weekend was there to celebrate.

And then Aldrich Mansion gave us the most incredible place to continue.

The property sits right on Narragansett Bay in Warwick, Rhode Island, and there is no pretending the setting is not a major part of the wedding. You have this grand historic mansion, the chapel, sprawling grounds, and water stretching out behind it. Designing there meant paying attention to what was already around us rather than trying to reinvent the property.

Kristina and Eric made that process such a pleasure because they were incredibly intentional about their decisions. We did not need to throw every good idea we had at the wedding. We could consider each space, decide what would make it better, and know when we already had enough. There was purpose behind what we created, and that allowed the design to feel rich without losing the character of Aldrich Mansion underneath it.

I loved the care these two brought to planning. They were invested in their wedding and wanted it to be exceptional, but there was also a trust between us that made the process genuinely enjoyable. They let me lead where they needed my expertise, brought their own ideas and priorities into the conversation, and made decisions thoughtfully. We were creating something together rather than chasing a collection of wedding ideas.

Their custom branded beer was a perfect example of how much personality could live alongside all of that history and tradition. Guests had just watched them marry in a Catholic chapel with a full choir, and later they were walking around Aldrich Mansion drinking beer made specifically for Kristina and Eric’s wedding. I loved seeing both parts of the day exist together because that was the wedding. It could be reverent and refined without becoming serious all the way through.

Once their guests filled the mansion, the design stopped being something we had been working on and became the place where their wedding was actually happening. Drinks were in people’s hands. Conversations filled the rooms. Guests moved between the mansion and the views outside. All of those decisions we had discussed for months were finally doing what they were supposed to do.

That transition is one of my favorite parts of planning a wedding. I spend months seeing a celebration through floor plans, design decks, timelines, emails, samples, and conversations with vendors. I know the amount of thought behind details a guest may never consciously notice. Then everyone arrives, and none of that work needs to be explained anymore. The wedding simply works around them.

Kristina and Eric gave us the space to plan their wedding that way. They cared about how everything looked, but they also cared about how the day would unfold and how their people would experience it. That thoughtfulness was present from the beginning of planning all the way through the wedding weekend, and it made working with them such a gift.

When I look back at their Aldrich Mansion wedding, I can still picture Kristina in her mother’s dress at the rehearsal and out on Narragansett Bay with her bridesmaids the next morning. I can hear the choir in the chapel. I can picture their guests filling the mansion afterward, branded beers in hand, with the water just beyond the windows.

Those memories belong together for me now. They are Kristina and Eric’s wedding.

It was a weekend with history behind it and a brand new marriage beginning in the middle of it. It was thoughtful, full of life, and created with care from the very first decision.

Getting to plan it with Kristina and Eric was an absolute privilege.

Creative Partners

Photo: @laurenhawkinsphoto

Planning and Design: @charitylynnweddings

Venue: https://www.aldrichmansion.com/

Floral: https://www.rhodeandpetal.com/

Priest: @lifestartshere_fire

Video: @humblebeewedding

Makeup: https://srpullingmua.com/

Hair: https://www.shelbywhitebeauty.com/

Ceremony Music: @garrepym

DJ: https://www.amainevent.com/

Transportation: https://experienceri.com/

Bride’s gown : @moniquelhuillierbride @Jesuspeiroofficial

Gloves: @bertaprivee

Veil:@peterlangner

Groom’s suit: @ralphlauren

Rings: @cammillifirenze @annareijewellry

Morning Sail: @latitude.41