Vibrant Engagement Shoot at Castle Hill

Jesus + Meg

Castle Hill - MA

Jesus and Meg’s engagement shoot at Castle Hill in Massachusetts was a vibrant blend of culture and elegance. They began the session wearing traditional, colorful Mexican attire, which brought an eye-catching, festive feel to the historic grounds. The colors of their traditional wear stood out beautifully against the classic architecture and lush greenery of Castle Hill, highlighting their roots and making the photos feel both unique and deeply personal.

For the second half of the shoot, Jesus changed into a sharp blue shirt and slacks, while Meg slipped into a sleek black dress, adding a modern, sophisticated twist to the session. This transition captured the versatility of their style as a couple, balancing tradition with timeless elegance. The location’s grandeur and their stunning attire made for breathtaking shots that truly reflect their love story, with a mix of cultural pride and contemporary style.

Photo Look: MMC 1

Bride’s Guide: How to Feel Confident & Camera-Ready on Your Wedding Day

We’ve already covered the Groom’s Guide to getting camera-ready, so now it’s time to turn our attention to the ladies. Your wedding day will be filled with emotion and unforgettable moments, and every glance, laugh, and happy tear deserves to be captured beautifully. With a bit of thoughtful preparation, you can step in front of the camera feeling relaxed, confident, and radiant. Here’s Move Mountains Co.'s ultimate guide to looking and feeling your best in every shot.

1. Build a Skincare Routine That Works for You

Beautiful makeup starts with a healthy foundation—your skin. In the months leading up to your wedding, stick to a skincare routine that suits your skin type, focusing on cleansing, exfoliating, and hydrating. Consider adding facials or targeted treatments, and remember that staying hydrated and eating well are essential for that natural glow.

2. Perfect Your Makeup Look

Whether you envision a natural glow or a bold look, schedule a makeup trial with your artist or practice if you’re doing it yourself. Experiment with styles to find one that flatters you in various lighting and angles. When it comes to your wedding day, you’ll know exactly what to expect and can enjoy every minute without stress.

3. Don’t Skip Hair Prep

Your hairstyle is as important as your dress. Schedule a trial run with your stylist to find the best look for your dress, face shape, and personal style. To get your hair in top condition, avoid major changes close to the wedding, get regular trims, and opt for deep conditioning treatments.

4. Keep Hands in Focus

Your hands will take center stage for the ring exchange and bouquet close-ups, so they deserve special care. Regular manicures and moisturizing treatments will keep nails and cuticles looking their best, and a simple, elegant color can elevate your look.

5. Prioritize Rest and Relaxation

A well-rested bride is a radiant bride. In the days before the wedding, make time for self-care, get plenty of sleep, and relax with calming activities like meditation or a nature walk. Feeling calm and rested will add to your glow in photos.

6. Final Touches on Your Attire

Your dress is the focal point, but the little things matter too. Be sure your shoes are polished, jewelry is shining, and accessories are perfectly in place. Tailoring makes all the difference in how your dress fits and moves on camera, so don’t skimp on alterations.

7. Practice Makes Perfect

If you’re nervous about posing, practice a few angles and expressions that feel natural to you. Use your engagement shoot to discover what works best, and on your wedding day, trust your photographer to guide you—they know how to capture your beauty in every light and from every angle.

8. Celebrate Your Unique Beauty

Above all, let your natural beauty and personality shine. Whether that means minimal makeup, a non-traditional dress, or embracing your natural hair, choose what feels authentic to you. The camera captures confidence, so feeling true to yourself is key.

At Move Mountains Co., we’re here to document your day in a way that feels genuine and timeless. With a bit of preparation, you’ll look back on photos that capture the best version of yourself—beautiful, confident, and fully in the moment.

A Stunning Lake Como Engagement Shoot

Stephen + Skye

Lake Como, Italy

Few places evoke romance like Lake Como, Italy, making it the perfect backdrop for Stephen and Skye’s luxurious and cinematic engagement shoot. The session began aboard a taxi boat, where we had the entire lake to ourselves. We stopped on the water in front of Villa del Balbianello, the spot where they got engaged, capturing breathtaking moments against the serene landscape. This was followed by picturesque land locations that added depth to the shoot's cinematic feel.

After the boat ride, we headed to the stunning Villa Monastero gardens, surrounded by lush greenery and timeless Italian charm. The session concluded at Hotel Promessi Sposi, where their rehearsal dinner was set to take place later that evening. Each location perfectly reflected their love story. Move Mountains Co. was honored to capture this unforgettable destination engagement, and we can’t wait to share more from their upcoming wedding—stay tuned for the blog post soon!

Photo Look: MMC 3 & 4

Kevin + Jordan

Spring House Hotel

New Shoreham, RI

Kevin and Jordan’s Block Island destination wedding was a beachy, boho masterpiece! This was an emotional, meaningful weekend for Jordan’s family, as they have vacationed on Block Island for generations prior. Our wedding photography and videography team had the best time getting to know the bride and groom over the long weekend they spent together. Creativity ran wild as we explored all the island had to offer through drone coverage and renting some mopeds prior to the day of the wedding! This fun loving, down to earth couple made the weekend unforgettable.

Vendors:

Venue: Spring House Hotel
Florist: Painted Rock Designs
Catering: Aldo's Bakery
Hair/Makeup: Koru Eco Day Spa
Music: Jon O'Neill
Invites: Minted

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“I can’t help but smile and tear up as I write this review for Move Mountains. We partnered with them for our wedding in September on Block Island, Rhode Island and we could not have worked with a more perfect team to capture our special wedding weekend. From our initial conversations a year before through the final logistics of the big day, it felt like we were working with a group of our best friends. It was easy, natural and amazing. We had the awesome opportunity to work with 5 amazing MM team members. They were so incredibly helpful when organizing the weekend with us. I haven’t even gotten to the final product - our pictures and videos! We received our AMAZING pictures so quickly and I was at a loss for words when looking through them. All the emotions came flooding back and I couldn’t believe how beautiful they were. We’re so excited to receive our videos soon and I know they will be absolutely breathtaking. Thank you MM for being so incredibly wonderful during the best weekend of our lives! We love you guys!”

— Jordan

Mike + Becky

Castle Hill Inn

Newport, RI

Mike and Becky’s sunny, bright, romantic mansion wedding at Castle Hill Inn in Newport, Rhode Island was filled with so many sweet candid moments that our wedding photography and wedding videography team had so much fun getting to capture. Our wedding photographer and wedding videographer’s photojournalistic approach to the wedding day allowed the wedding team to stick to the background and let the bride and groom really enjoy their day while still capturing all of the heartfelt, beautiful moments in photos and in video. If this laid back photography style fits what you’d like for your wedding photos and wedding film, reach out to us today before our season books up!

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Vendors:

Venue: Castle Hill Inn
Florist: Michelle Jeanne Floral Design
Hair/Makeup: Allison Barbera Beauty
Band: The Sugarbabies
Invitations: Shine Wedding Invitations

“So excited about our wedding photos! We are beyond happy with them.”

— Becky

Danilo + Andrea

Tower Hill Botanical Center

Boylston, MA

This New England wedding couple happens to be good friends of ours, so it was an honor getting to capture their engagement photos (and engagement video!) in preparation for their spring wedding at the Tower Hill Botanical Center in Boylston, Massachusetts. This down to earth bride and groom are full of charisma and pure love for each other, it’s actually contagious! In the winter season their creative wedding venue serves as a lush oasis for plants, and in the summer it’s the perfect romantic spot for a wedding! We had a ton of fun at this winter engagement session and we’re in love with how beautiful their photos and engagement film came out. June 8th can’t come soon enough!

“Our engagement photos came out looking incredible, we love them!”

— Andrea

Chris + Christina

Brenton Point + Fort Adams

Newport, RI

Chris and Christina held an intimate elopement ceremony this past month to celebrate their love and life together, and our wedding photographers had the chance to document it! This adventurous couple set out against the winter wind and even some rain to get some elegant, dramatic portrait photos at Brenton Point State Park and at Fort Adams. After being together for almost six years, Chris and Christina’s romantic story and excitement to elope came to life in their photographs! It was a misty, magical day, and this bride and groom took it by storm!

“These folks were great. They were a pleasure to deal with and were very creative in their approach. They accommodated all of our random photo requests and their own ideas blew us away, and we got our photos back sooner than we expected. I recommend them whole heartedly!”

— Jacob D

Special Thanks To:

Fort Adams Trust

Brenton Point State Park

Sardella's Italian Restaurant

The Morning Of

Getting the Best Bride Prep Photos

You wouldn't think it at first, but some of our favorite wedding photos/videos are taken in the morning when the bride is getting ready! It’s the beginning of the day, excitement is in the air, and we don’t want to miss a thing. This is a critical time for your wedding photographers to capture some really important photos that you’ll love to look back on later. In order to make sure that your bride prep looks great, here are a few suggestions that we can offer!

Location

We recommend choosing a space/location that is open, has plenty of natural light and is free of clutter! This will ensure the photographer or videographer has plenty of light and room to work with and will keep your photos looking nice and clean! Try to avoid hotel rooms that are cramped and don't provide much natural lighting. Indoor lighting can be difficult to work with and usually produces orange skin tones, and hotel rooms can also be limiting when trying to find a nice place to shoot details, such as the dress! Often times these rooms have TVs, phones, desks and lamps which can take away from the elegance of the dress and other details that need to be shot.

If you've already scheduled a hotel or are in a smaller/darker space this is totally okay! Here are a few tips for working in this type of space:

• Make sure your hair and make up artists position you by a window (This is important in any scenario, we love natural light!)

• Keep indoor lighting off, it may feel dark but the pictures and video will still come out bright!

• Keep the space clean

Details

Be sure to bring all the details that you want us to photograph or catch on video on the morning of. This may include but is not limited to:

• Shoes

• Dress

• Wood or Custom hanger for the dress (Example)

• Bridesmaid dresses

• Invitations

• Rings (All 3)

• Ring Box (Example) (Another Example!)

• Any jewelry 

• Any card/gift you'll be exchanging with your fiancé

• Your bouquet

Time

Bride prep is such an important part of the day and can sometimes be neglected and undervalued. This is the most relaxed time of the day: you're spending time with your girls, getting pampered, and getting ready to say I do! It’s a great time for your photographer or videographer to warm up and build a rapport with you, your bridesmaids, and your family! But beyond that, shooting details takes time! We ask that you give our team at least an hour (but we recommend more) to style invitations, rings, florals and shoes, and also find the best place to hang your dress!

If we are shooting video and you're planning on exchanging cards on the morning of, please allow your videographer an extra 15 minutes to capture good visuals and audio!

We hope that this is helpful for you as you continue your wedding planning! As always, feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have!

Chuck + Lindsay

We had the whole team on for this one shooting photo and video. We started at The Hampton Inn in Providence,  RI, venturing over to Waterplace Park for the first look, formals at Rhode Island's State House and partying at The Dorrance in Downtown Providence. Here are some of our favorites along with a highlight video we shot.

Photos shot by Chris, Kearsten and Sean. Video shot by Sean and Shayna. Editing by Kearsten and Sean.