Susan & Andrés' Rainy Day Wedding at the PVD Athenaeum in Providence, RI

Despite the rainy Saturday trend so far in 2025 we’ve yet to be too affected by the wet (knock on wood) and Susan and Andrés’ wedding last week at the Providence Athenaeum was all the more cozy, all the more intimate because of it. When we first showed up to the stone steps of the library on Benefit Street the skies looked ominous and we knew it was only a matter of time before they opened up and Susan and Andrés arrived separately shortly after, seeing each other for the first time that day and exploring the upper mezzanine together for a bit. As we settled into the space the slow but steady thunderous roll of rain hitting the skylights of the athenaeum soon became too loud to speak over, and guests arriving, some with umbrellas and some wishing they’d had one, filled the ceremony space between rows and rows of books. This is all to say that the tone from the get go was incredibly romantic and we couldn’t have imagined a better refuge for these two and their friends and families during one of the wetter days we’ve seen in Rhode Island so far this summer.

Susan and Andrés met in highschool but didn’t know each other as teenagers. A last minute decision to attend a class reunion brought them back together and they now live here in Providence where they often find themselves at the athenaeum - reading, embracing the silence, and breathing in that unmistakable smell of old parchment. It was for them an ideal place to invite sixty five of their favorite people to witness and celebrate their marriage and they did it with their own specific twist. They wrote their own vows and read them in both English and Spanish, they implored guests to wear funky patterns and lean into the maximalism, and in lieu of a band or DJ their reception featured a plena: a Puerto Rican musical and dance performance with drums and horns. It was a fun juxtaposition to the normally quiet space home to so many stories and on top of it getting the crowd moving and shaking (literally with maracas), it was a blast to document. Susan and Andrés’ wedding day was energetic, it was kinetic, but it was also incredibly beautiful and from the heart. They managed to find a balance for their wedding that left them the space to be truly present and experience all that it was, and we can only be grateful for that.

Venue: The Providence Athenaeum
Catering: Easy Entertaining
Florals: Studio 539 Flowers
Music: Vintage String & Bomba de Aquí
Bridal Boutique: Lélite Bridal
Dress: Monique Lhuillier
Menswear: Marc Allen
Rings: Tiffany & co.
Film/Processing: Kodak Portra 400 / Kerry’s Warwick Photo