A beautiful romance at South Wick Zoo

The wedding of Lindsey and Ryan was a new and unique experience for me in a variety of different ways. This couple was one of the first clients I had when I relocated to Boston from Chicago. Additionally, after we had out first meeting, we discussed how the couple had a strong love for nature as well as animals. We setup and worked the engagement shoot at the beautiful bear brook state park. You can see some samples below. We are able to incorporate their two lovely dogs as well. 

The wedding took place at Southwick Zoo in Medon MA. I would highly recommend a visit. This is a smaller facility, but it offers a very close, personal, but safe experience with the animals. Lindsey and Ryan decided that they wanted to have a first look on their wedding day before the ceremony. We set it up in the farmland surrounding the zoo and it went very well. A first look is an excellent way of making the most of your time on the wedding day. It can also be extremely romantic.

With the giraffes,

The ceremony itself was an incredibly unique experience. It was held in the Giraffe exhibit with the animals playing a very direct role in the event. I have never seen anything like this before. The animals were right there, you could almost reach out and touch them.

A ride along the tree tops

The entire bridal party was then treated to an aerial ride through the park via the zoo’s sky lift system. Riding in the car ahead of the couple, I was able to capture some very unique and romantic images as well as seeing the rest of the zoo of high above.

Some portraits with the animals,

As I learned earlier, the couple are very passionate animal lovers. The Zoo allows some interaction with the animals and people. This afforded me the opportunity to capture some truly unique images. We had to be very careful though. The animals are very shy and things such as my flash or the sound of my shutter would send them running. This made for a very whimsical shoot indeed. We had supervision of an official zoo keeper the entire time to ensure the animals were safe and no risks were taken.

A colorful party

Once all the portrait session was complete, it was time to go to the party. The reception was held in an adjoining tent on the zoo ground. In addition to their love of animals, the couple are also quite talented craftsmen, the deco, cake and other details where quite colorful and vibrant.