Inside a Colorful Kemble Inn Wedding in the Berkshires
Rachel & Dave
Rachel and Dave got engaged in front of the Eiffel Tower, which tells you a lot about the adventure they seek in life. They are travelers - the kind who measure a year in passport stamps and organize their lives around the next place worth crossing distance for. And I am so here for that energy.
So when it came time to choose where to marry, everyone might have expected a flight. Instead they looked closer to home. They found The Kemble Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, tucked into the Berkshire mountains a short drive from The Mount (Edith Wharton's old estate) and they brought everyone they love to it for a summer weekend. Somewhere that still felt like an escape, with nobody needing a connecting flight to get there. Below is their day, from the color they were never afraid of, to their little white dog, Chesney, who walked the aisle like he owned it.
Why do couples choose The Kemble Inn in the Berkshires for their wedding?
Couples choose The Kemble Inn because it delivers the feeling of a destination wedding without a passport. Set in Lenox, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshires, the inn sits minutes from The Mount and Tanglewood, surrounded by mountains and old New England quiet that turns a wedding into a weekend everyone gets to live inside.
The whole region carries a settled, literary calm that makes a summer wedding feel less like an event on a calendar and more like a place you get to stay in for a few days.
Place does more of the work here than people give it credit for. A venue set in the mountains cannot be mistaken for anywhere else, and the soft light that falls over the hills at the end of a summer day means the backdrop never needs explaining. For two people who fall in love with destinations, the Berkshires delivered the one thing no far-flung trip can: every person they love gathered in a single place.
For Rachel and Dave, this was the rare spot that let them stay close to home and still feel far away from it.
It started in Boston, with a charcuterie board
Before the Berkshires, there was the Seaport. We photographed Rachel and Dave's engagement session in Boston, down by the water, with a charcuterie setup built right into the shoot. Wine, a board of good things, the city behind them and the harbor light doing the work. It was the kind of session that tells you everything about a couple before the wedding day arrives. These two know how to turn an ordinary evening into an occasion (with the help of Trader Joe’s). Helping Rachel setup this evening and watching it unfold was magic.
I think about that session as the first chapter of their day in the mountains, because the through line is the same. Good food, good people, and a refusal to let a beautiful moment go uncelebrated.
What is a Berkshires wedding actually like?
A Berkshires wedding pairs the calm of the mountains with a celebration that runs long. The setting is green, unhurried, and quietly grand in the old New England way, so guests arrive feeling like they are already on a trip. By the reception, they are dancing like it. Summer brings warm light and receptions that stretch past dark.
A dog down the aisle
Rachel and Dave love their dog the way travelers love the thing that waits for them at home. So he was not going to sit this one out. He walked down the aisle on the wedding day, small and white and entirely unbothered by the crowd, and he did what dogs do at weddings, which is remind two hundred dressed-up people what unconditional looks like. Chesney was definitely the star of the show.
The confetti
They left their ceremony through a storm of confetti, petals raining down as they came back up the aisle married. It is a small choice that says a lot about how they wanted the day to feel. Not precious. Not careful. Loud, bright, and joyful. These are some of my very favorite images from the day because it feels as though this processional conveys the celebration of it all.
The fashion: color & Christian Louboutins
Here is where Rachel and Dave separated themselves from most weddings I photograph. They were not afraid of color, and it showed in every direction you looked.
The bridesmaids wore a spread of bold, saturated dresses, no two reading quite the same, so the wedding party looked less like a uniform and more like a bouquet. Guests took the cue and ran with it. Color was the dress code, spoken or not, and the photographs are richer for it.
Rachel's own fashion was the spine of all of it. She wore a Martina Liana gown from Vows, the kind of dress that reads as effortless precisely because she knew exactly what she wanted long before she tried one on. And underneath it: classic red bottom shoes - Louboutins. No notes.
The reception at The Kemble Inn
By evening the party hit full stride. The band Young Love and Thrills owned the dance floor, and the celebration stretched late the way summer nights are meant to. Florals from Rune and Rose, lighting from Bearfly, a table of food from Brasato, a cake by Natalia Monahan. By the end, nobody wanted to be first out the door.
A second look for the after-party
When the dancing took over, Rachel changed into a Nadine Merabi look for the after-party, all shine and movement, built for a dance floor. There is something right about a traveler having a second outfit. She packed for the occasion the way she would pack for a city she loved, with an arrival look and a look for the night that runs late. From our very first chat I knew that the vision behind choosing Kemble Inn and renting out the estate was largely driven by their love of hospitality and transitioning from the tented reception on the lawn to welcoming their guests inside the house to serve them from the bar. We were sure to make their re-entrance to the celebration lighthearted and fun and watching them enjoy interacting with their guests late into the night was a blast.
When is the best time of year for a Berkshires wedding?
The best time for a Berkshires wedding is late spring through early fall, with summer offering the longest light and most reliable weather and fall delivering the region's famous foliage. Summer suits couples who want lush florals, warm evenings, and a reception that can spill outdoors well into the night, the way Rachel and Dave's did.
The other thing summer gives you is a real weekend. Guests who travel to Lenox tend to make a trip of it, and the area rewards them. There is a concert lawn at Tanglewood, the gardens and rooms of The Mount, hikes with long views, and farm tables worth booking ahead. A Berkshires wedding asks people to come a little out of their way, then hands them every reason to be glad they did.
If you are starting to picture your own version of this, summer or otherwise, this is a good moment to reach out. The calendar for warm-weather Berkshires dates fills early, and the best part of my job is helping a couple shape a day before a single detail is locked. You can start that conversation here.
Keeping up with a day like this
A day this full moves fast, and the moments that matter most are rarely the ones on the timeline. Rachel and Dave did the hard part. They built a day with color and personality and a clear point of view, then handed it over and let themselves enjoy it. All I had to do was keep up and stay out of the way. All of our conversations and prior communication led to a day that so very them because they were able to live it.
If the Berkshires are on your list, or you are still deciding where in New England to gather your people, tell me what you are imagining. You can reach me here. The rest of Rachel and Dave's day lives on the Kemble Inn gallery, and there is plenty more to wander through in the full portfolio.
Kemble Inn Wedding Vendors
Venue: The Kemble Inn | @thekembleberkshires Photographer: Cora Jane Photography | @corajanephoto Planner: Birdhouse Event Planning & Consulting | @birdhouseevents Caterer: Brasato | @eatbrasato Florist: Rune and Rose Florals | @runeandrosedesigns Hair & Makeup: Made by Mack | @madebymackhmua Rentals: Classical Tents | @classicaltents Lighting Design: Bearfly | @bearfly_designs Band: Young Love and Thrills | @youngloveandthrills Golf Carts: WB Golf Carts | @wbgolfcarts Transportation: The Wedding Day Trolley | @weddingdaytrolley Cake: Natalia Monahan Dress Boutique: Vows | @vows_bridepower Dress Designer: Martina Liana | @martinalianabridal After Party Look: Nadine Merabi | @nadinemerabi Groom's Attire: Suit Supply | @suitsupply Groomsmen Attire: The Black Tux | @theblacktux
Cora is a wedding photographer based near Mystic, Connecticut, documenting love stories throughout New England and beyond. She is a wife and a mom to a daughter and son, and what grounds her work is relationships: with her husband, her kids, her family and friends, and the couples she photographs. Her style leans warm and romantic, centered on genuine people in classic New England places. When she is on the road or in the air, you will likely find her exploring Boston, Massachusetts; New Haven, Connecticut; Block Island, Rhode Island; Martha's Vineyard; Nantucket; the Hudson Valley, New York; or New York City. Learn more about Cora
