Watch Hill Chapel & Misquamicut Club Wedding Day
Olivia & Sam
The forecast called for rain. Olivia and Sam got married anyway, on a warm September Saturday on the Watch Hill coast, and the day gave them everything it had before the sky finally opened. A chapel filled with the people they love, a white car waiting at the doors and soft light that slipped away just ahead of the weather.
Coastal, joyful, relaxed. That was the brief, in shades of light blue and white and green and navy, and the day held to it from the first champagne pop on the porch to the last song on a full dance floor.
Why get married in Watch Hill, Rhode Island?
Couples choose Watch Hill because it is New England seaside at its most timeless, a small stretch of the Rhode Island coast where weathered shingle, open water, and the grand silhouette of the Ocean House all sit within a few minutes of each other. Not to mention it’s earned recognition surrounding the chatter about Taylor Swift’s potential wedding here near her Rhode Island home (which we of course now know to be just a rumor, ehem, Maddison Square Garden I’m looking at you).
For Olivia and Sam, the celebration moved across the Watch Hill shore, from morning details to a chapel in town to the Misquamicut Club, and each leg added something the last one could not.
Morning details on the porch
The day started where the celebration would end, at the Misquamicut Club, with the small things laid out while they still belonged only to Olivia. The dress. The shoes. A keepsake envelope. A wedding clutch her mother had sewn from her grandmother's dress, the kind of detail that means nothing to a stranger and everything to a family.
Then up to the upper porch deck, getting-ready dresses still on, for a few champagne pops with the bridesmaids and a look at the coast from above. Joyful and relaxed, exactly as ordered, hours before anyone walked down an aisle.
The ceremony at Watch Hill Chapel
Olivia and Sam were married at Watch Hill Chapel, a small coastal church near the heart of Watch Hill. A chapel asks a photographer to work quietly and to read light that changes from one pew to the next. It also gives you something an open lawn cannot: walls built for exactly this, a hush that gathers as the room fills, and a doorway that frames the first steps a couple takes as husband and wife.
Walking out to everyone they love
Here is the moment I keep returning to. When Olivia and Sam came back through the chapel doors, they walked straight into a crowd of family and friends spilling out into the afternoon, the whole guest list waiting in the open air across from the Ocean House. A hundred and fifty people pressed in close, cheering two people they have known and loved for years, with one of the most recognizable views in New England as the backdrop.
What is a wedding at the Misquamicut Club like?
The Misquamicut Club is a private club on the Westerly, Rhode Island shore, a few minutes from Watch Hill Chapel, where wedding cocktail hours open across the grounds with the coast close at hand before the evening moves indoors. For Olivia and Sam it meant an easy, salt-aired afternoon that gave way to a warm, candlelit night. By late afternoon the celebration had settled into the club, and the pace eased into something looser.
Olivia and Sam had set framed photographs of their grandparents' and parents' wedding days on a table at the entrance to dinner, generations of marriages laid out to greet this one.
The reception is the part of the day that rewards a photographer who knows when to disappear. I spent it on the edges, letting the room forget I was there and waiting for the looks that only happen when no one is watching for a camera.
Sunset right before the rain
The sky had been teasing rain all day, and the light was going to go early. We had a narrow window, and we used it and it’s honestly the whole trick to a coastal wedding in September, watching the sky and moving when it tells you to. I encouraged Olivia and Sam to take a drive in the golf cart to watch the coastline together, and we captured some of my very favorite portraits of them from this day. We scurried back to the golf cart and within seconds the rain began.
An intimate reception by candlelight
Dinner moved inside, and the room changed character entirely. Candlelight everywhere, soft and low, the kind of glow that makes two hundred small flames do the work of a chandelier. After an afternoon of open coast and open sky, the evening drew in close and warm. The celebration moved to the tented dance floor outside and the couple enjoyed a first dance to "How Sweet It Is" followed by some truly sweet parent dances and a cake cutting they kept quiet and unannounced - an intimate moment they wanted to protect rather than perform.
Then the band, Sugar, opened the floor, and the reception found its other gear. There is a particular kind of energy that fills a room when the weather has turned and no one cares, when the only place anyone wants to be is exactly where they are.
This is what coastal, joyful, and relaxed looks like when it makes it all the way to the end of the night. Not a day that went perfectly to plan, but a day that rolled with what the sky gave it and came out the better for it. The kind of wedding you feel as much as you remember.
A Watch Hill Wedding
If you are planning a wedding in Watch Hill, at the Misquamicut Club, or anywhere along the New England coast, I would love to hear how you picture your day. You can tell me about it here. You can also see more of the Rhode Island shoreline on my Newport, Rhode Island wedding photography page, or browse the full portfolio.
Watch Hill Wedding Vendors
Venue: The Misquamicut Club | @squamgreens Photographer: Cora Jane Photography | @corajanephoto Planner: Anika Kreckel, Maris Events | @maris.events Florist: Rosanna's Flowers | @rosannasflowers Hair & Makeup: Maryelle Artistry | @maryelleartistry Hair: Le Spa | @lespamystic Officiant: Rev. Mark Robinson Band: Sugar Cake: Zest Bakery | @zestfreshpastry Stationery: RSVP Hingham | @rsvphingham Dress Boutique: Flair Boston | @flairboston Dress Designer: Jenny Yoo | @jennyyoonyc Suiting: Suit Supply | @suitsupply Wedding Bands: Barmakian Boston | @barmakian Linen Rentals: BBJ Linens | @bbjlatavola Tent Rental: Sperry Tent | @sperrytents
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
