Colleen & Erik

The day very nearly didn’t happen as planned.  

A fierce storm rolled in just before the ceremony, threatening the outdoor celebration Colleen had dreamed of for decades. They waited. The groomsmen grabbed towels and dried every chair on the lawn. And then the clouds parted — and what followed was one of the most spectacular evenings Castle Hill has ever seen.
The ceremony took place in the estate’s sunken Italian garden, flanked by centuries-old stone colonnades, with the ocean glittering beyond. Colleen walked down the aisle in a breathtaking Daalarna Couture gown — sheer floral embroidery, billowing sleeves, and a cathedral veil that swept across the grass behind her — on the arm of the father who kept his promise. Before the ceremony began, Erik’s friend took his place with a set of bagpipes. He had learned to play in six months, specifically for this moment.
After portraits on the estate’s rooftop cupola at dusk, 185 guests gathered under a tent for dinner — long farm tables lined with wildflowers in test tubes and bud vases, blue goblets catching the candlelight, and hand-painted oyster shells marking each guest’s seat. The cake, by Cake Ann, was covered in pressed pansies and ferns. The Nate Bash Band played the reception. The ballroom danced until the end.
Colleen and Erik are playful, warm, and completely at ease with each other. It showed in every single frame.