From slopes to sand: Avid skiiers, Liz and Fernando, have tied the knot in Cape Cod (and wait until you see the way they tied in their lift tickets)– so proud to be a Wychmere Beach Club Wedding Photographer!
These two Survived four years of long distance after college at MIT, and then moved in together during the pandemic in NYC!
They laugh, “While long-distance, we would fly to the mountains to meet up to ski during weekends in the winter!”
Meeting up on the sand to tie the knot, these cuties had an incredible day, filled with loved ones and vibrant, authentic moments…
Why Rhinehart Photography?
Fernando shares, “We chose Rhinehart Photography as our Wychmere Beach Club Wedding Photographer because I had known Kris, Lisa’s husband, all through high school. It was so nice to have someone familiar to reach out to while also knowing Lisa was so accomplished as a photographer. While looking through her other blog posts and portfolio, Liz and I both loved the style of the candid photos and the colors she incorporated into the shots. We also saw many positive reviews of how nice it was to work with her on the day.”
Liz continues, “On the wedding day, Lisa was awesome! She showed up on time, prepared and ready to go. She had hurt her ankle the night before, but you’d have never known with the energy and liveliness she arrived with. It felt like she was everywhere all at once during the wedding day, working hard to capture every moment.”
She adds, “Lisa is better than anyone else we know at fading into the background of the event to capture the people, vibes, and interactions without intruding. She also creates photos that are so artistic you feel like you could hang them all on your walls or even in a gallery.”
Fernando smiles, “We’re most excited about seeing moments we remember memorialized in photos so we can always look back on them and remember the stories. We’re also excited about seeing photos of moments we missed and being able to find out about new stories from our friends.”
Cape Cod Wedding Day Preparations
Liz recalls, “When I went to do my hair and makeup trial a few months before the wedding, Danny and Lia were so professional and so amazing. My parents came with me to the trial, and it was the first time any of us had seen professionally done makeup. My dad was in awe of the process and kept saying afterward how it was really clear that Danny was an artist.”
She continues, “On the day of the wedding, my honest-to-goodness first thought was that I was so happy with my vendor selection — I had such a great, relaxing time getting ready, I looked like an upscale version of myself, and I felt so beautiful. I was so grateful for Danny and his team at Fine Line Artistry! My second thought was that I just really could not believe that this day of celebration and marrying my best friend had come. We had been planning and envisioning what this day would look like for almost a year and a half, and it was completely surreal to be all done up, wearing the most timeless and regal dress, surrounded by a room full of my favorite women.”
Our Lady of Grace Chapel Wedding Ceremony
Liz says, “After deciding on the Wychmere Beach Club for our reception, we wanted a church nearby that would be easy for everyone to transition over to the reception. We found Our Lady of Grace Chapel, a summer chapel for the Holy Redeemer. We were very charmed with how welcoming the congregation and Father John Sullivan were to us.”
She exclaims, ” I was REALLY REALLY EXITED, above all else on our wedding day. I was so excited to share an experience that we’d been crafting and preparing for a year and a half. I enjoy planning because I can think about how much people will get to enjoy those plans. This was no different. I was also a bit anxious for everything to go as I’d envisioned it. To spend time planning small details just for them to get forgotten would have been a bummer.
Fernando shares, “Liz and I had been dating for a few years, most of that long distance, first New York to Boston, then New York to San Francisco. In that time, we traveled all over to see each other. I wasn’t always sure how we were going to make it back to the same place, but I was sure I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She’s the most genuinely kind woman, always believing the best in people. We’re both competitive, disciplined, and ambitious. She’s extremely organized and regimented. I am not. I’m quite extroverted. She is not. When we’re together, she brings out the best in me, and I in her. I can’t imagine building a life and starting a family with a better partner.”
Liz recalls, “While I walked down the aisle and looked at everyone in the pews, I felt very grateful that everyone who came would spend the time, resources, and energy to be here for Fernando and I on our special day. I also recognized how unique that experience will be in my life and how we’re not likely to have such a complete group of family and friends together for us. I felt very energized by the fact that I was surrounded by all the people I love and know so well. I’m normally not an extroverted person, but everywhere I turned, I saw people I’m completely comfortable with, and that made me feel happy and energized to have all those people so close.”
Cape Cod Trolley Ride
Liz smiles, “I am so happy that we got to ride around the Cape in the trolley– the little wooden benches were adorable, and the breeze and views from the trolley were incredible. The trolley ride to the wedding was so much fun! It was just my bridesmaids, their significant others, and me. My dress was really long in the back, and my maid of honor, Tamar, was so cute about laying my dress out over the seats to make sure that I didn’t crease it or get it dirty before getting to the venue. Our trolley driver had the cutest playlist for the trip to the church, with songs like ‘Going to the Chapel‘ and the experience was just so wholesome.”
She continues, “After the church ceremony, the entire bridal party and their significant others hopped onto the trolley, and we had little champagne glasses for everyone. The energy was so high, and everyone was excited and chatting.”
She continues, “Our photos at the Wychmere Harbor were a suggestion of Ellen, our event coordinator, at Wychmere Beach Club. When we went to check it out ahead of time, we loved how it captured everything ‘Cape’. The boats in the harbor, the Ocean in the distance, some hydrangeas in the bushes, and even our reception venue off in the corner.”
Thrown in the Air!
Fernando says, “Lisa had given Kris, her second shooter, inspiration for men’s portraits, and one of them was of a groom being thrown in the air. Kris was shuffling past it when one of my groomsmen asked, ‘Wait, are we going to throw him in the air?’. Kris said, ‘Well, I’ve never done that one before’ and I said, ‘Yeah, throw me in the air!’. It took four or five tries to figure out the throwing coordination and the angle of the shot. The guys were throwing me higher and higher with every shot, and even with a couple of near-drops! Everyone had fun doing something kind of crazy after being pretty buttoned-up all for the ceremony and prep.”
Dad’s Handmade Nods to Skiing
Liz shares, “Both Fernando and I love skiing. I actually taught Fernando to ski when we first started dating almost ten years ago, and now he’s *almost* as good as me ;). We wanted our wedding to be filled with little bits of our personalities and our favorite things, so we made the unofficial theme of the wedding ‘a spring ski day’. I designed all of our decorations and tried to subtly (or not so subtly) include elements of skiing. This included adding ski trail ratings to our cocktail list, our shot ski guest book, and a seating chart where each guest got a lift ticket with their table information.”
She continues, “My dad is an accountant by day and an engineer at heart, and he actually made both the shot skis and the seating chart. The shot skis were made from beautiful vintage skis that he found on eBay. The seating chart was a 7-foot by 14-foot wooden assembly cut in the shape of three mountains with pegs for each guest’s lift ticket. The lift tickets had the guest’s name and table number, and each table number was associated with a ski mountain that played a part in the love story of Fernando and me. I designed the lift tickets and the layout and colors of the mountains in PowerPoint, and my dad was the hero who spent months working in our basement, making that dream come to life. He worked so hard on the display, and it looked so amazing and professional that I actually think he should consider opening up a side business for wedding decor.”
Ocean View and Beach Decor
She recalls, “The other really personal decor was that we had seashell ornaments for every guest at the place setting. I created the design on the shell, and then my mom hand-crafted every single shell using decoupage to get the image onto the shell, painting the edges, drilling holes for the ribbon, and tying the ribbon. She worked really hard, making 180 in total over the course of months. They were so unique and gorgeous, and it seemed like our guests absolutely loved them. All of the decor was a labor of love, and my family and I had so much fun designing and planning for everything.”
Liz adds, “In keeping with the spring ski day theme, there was also a runner of wild florals at the base of the mountain seating chart that looked like they were springing from the mountains. When we told our florist, Jenn Smith at JSmith Florals, about the seating chart and vision, she was so excited, and she really executed it flawlessly. I didn’t know what the display with the flowers was going to look like, and when I saw it right before the cocktail hour, I started crying because I was so happy with how it all turned out and how uniquely ‘Fernando and Liz’ the whole thing was.”
Fernando says, “Liz spent a ton of time choosing details and decor for our wedding that were very beautiful and thoughtful that we didn’t get to enjoy the day of the wedding. We’re very excited to get to see those details in photos and really appreciate how all those small details came together to make the setting of our wedding.”
Cocktails at Wynchmere Dunes
Wow! What a spread and how artistically and colorfully displayed Wynchmere Dunes completely knocked my socks off visually… so happy to be a Wynchmere Beach Club wedding photographer!
Wychmere Beach Club: Romantic Getaway
Liz smiles, “After what had already been such a long day, it was so nice to have a few minutes with Fernando to just soak in the sunset and walk on the beach. The grounds around the Wychmere are just amazing. The view of the ocean, the tall grass, and the coastline dotted with beautiful little Cape Cod homes are all incredible. While we were walking on the beach, we had a perfect view of the Dune at the Wychmere and we could see our guests entering the main reception room. Some of them saw us and waved or took pictures of us, and it felt like we were celebrities, haha!”
She adds, “The Wychmere is a wedding venue and a beach club, and when we walked out to the beach for sunset photos, we passed the tiki bar for the beach club members. I’m sure they see couples getting married every weekend, but that certainly didn’t stop them from cheering for us, complimenting my dress, and adding a ton of positive energy to our little walk. It was really cute!”
Cape Cod: A Family Tradition
Liz says, “As a wedding destination, Cape Cod was the first place that came to mind. I grew up spending summer on Cape Cod at my grandparents’ house; my parents got married on Cape Cod, and in 2020, they moved to Cape Cod full time. Every time we come to visit Cape Cod, we have so much fun sailing, kayaking, swimming, and walking our dog along the beach. On Cape Cod, there’s a handful of venues that could host a party the size of our guest list. Of those venues, the Wychmere stuck out due to its views, beauty, and ocean essence, as well as the professionalism exuded by all the event staff. The Wychmere has two event spaces. That could have fit the reception: the harbor room and the dune. The grandness and open ocean views of the dune blew us away and after seeing it, we knew it was the best choice.”
Cape Cod: Live Band
Fernando shares, “I was in charge of finding and selecting the band for the wedding. This task was fun, but also a bit daunting… It’s hard to get a sense of what a band will be like, but I’ve also been to weddings with bands that added to the overall experience and bands that did not. I spent a lot of time reading wedding blogs, reading band reviews, watching band performance videos, and pouring over band song lists. We both loved Party Factor, who not only sounded amazing but made their songs a performance with a lot of crowd interaction. For our first dance, we asked that they perform a slow version of ‘Shut Up and Dance’ and then transition into the upbeat original version and kick off the dancing for the night. They executed that request perfectly!”
He smiles, “During our wedding, they joined us on the dance floor multiple times. I have a very vivid memory of the saxophone player crushing a solo in the middle of the dance floor while everyone was cheering him on. Their warm and personal approach to performance made the dance floor the most fun place to be.”
Let’s Get the Party Started!
Liz beams, “I absolutely loved my wedding dress, and I loved how big and regal it was. I’m not a particularly outgoing person, and I don’t usually like being the center of attention, but I decided that I wanted to take advantage of being surrounded by everyone I love and wear something that felt worthy of that much attention. That volume of fabric, however, was not conducive to cutting a rug on the dance floor, so I decided to have a dance floor dress that was shorter and lighter. It had the cutest bow on the back, which turned an otherwise simple dress into such a cute, party-ready choice.”
She smiles, “My maid of honor, Tamar, helped me change into it right before the cake-cutting. As we were heading back from the changing room, my wedding coordinator, Ellen, saw the dress and was like, ‘WOW — you look so cute, will you indulge me and do a fun little entrance?’ So she called for everyone’s attention and I got to strut out while everyone was cheering about the outfit change. I’m so glad Ellen made the entrance so fun!“
Forever Friends
Liz smiles, “We have the most incredible friends — they are kind, smart, fun, and made the day a total blast. Most of them were our classmates at MIT, and we either met them during school or after we had already graduated through mutual friends. I think that also lends itself to a really fun dance floor since most of our friends have met each other at one point or another. We also had multiple smaller events during the week leading up to the wedding in Cape Cod — a day on the ocean, a dinner hosted by my aunts, and a pickleball tournament — so friends and family had multiple chances to meet each other prior to the actual wedding celebration.”
She adds, “There were so many funny memories from the dance floor — a push-up competition between two of my aunts, Fernando and I being hoisted into the air, a dance-off between our two dads, my friend Paolo spinning Fernando’s mom around, and so many more. Everyone brought incredible energy out there, and I’m so excited to see all the photos to live it all again.”
End of the Night
Liz recalls, “The end of the night was honestly super emotional. Fernando and I planned this wedding for a year and a half and poured so much of ourselves into the process. It was actually really sad to see it all come to a close; however, the sadness was definitely counteracted by overwhelming gratitude towards our family and friends for making the day truly the best of our lives. I also remember looking around and seeing different circles of loved ones interacting with each other as if they had known each other for years. My uncles and aunts were chatting with my friends, my cousins were laughing with our co-workers, our parents were dancing with each other and the bridal party — it was amazing.”
She smiles, “When folks asked us prior to the wedding what we were most looking forward to, our answer was always that we were so excited to have everyone we know and love together in one place at the same time. Seeing that come together was such a great gift and a memory that we will cherish forever.”
Congratulations Liz and Fernando!
I am so happy for you!! What a pleasure it was to capture these moments and so many more for you and to be by your side to see everything come together! Thank you for entrusting me with such an important task– to be your eyes on one of the most meaningful, emotional and significant days of your life! I’m so proud to be your Wychmere Beach Club Wedding Photographer!
Wychmere Beach Club Wedding Photographer – More Here:
Vendors:
- Wedding Preparations Venue: Winstead Inn & Beach Resort
- Wedding Ceremony Venue: Our Lady of Grace Chapel
- Wedding Reception Venue: Wychmere Beach Club
- Hair & Makeup: Fine Line Artistry
- Band: Party Factor
- Florist: JSmith Florals
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