There’s something about the morning of a wedding day that deserves its own story.
Before the ceremony, the flowers, the guests, and everything that comes later, there are these few quiet hours where it’s just the two of you getting ready for what’s ahead.
For this Berkshires wedding editorial, Eden and Luke started their day together at an Airbnb before heading to Berkshire Botanical Garden. Instead of separating the morning into two completely different getting-ready experiences, we leaned into what it could look like to share that part of the day together. And I kind of love it.
Getting Ready Together on Your Wedding Day
There’s no rule that says you have to spend your entire wedding morning apart!
Getting ready together can create some of the sweetest, most relaxed photographs of the day—the in-between moments of fixing an outfit, sitting around the house, putting on the finishing touches, and realizing oh, we're actually getting married today.
It also gives your wedding gallery a beginning. Rather than photography starting once everyone is completely dressed and ready to go, I get to document the transition from an ordinary morning into your wedding day.
Why an Airbnb Makes Such a Good Getting-Ready Space
Your getting-ready location has a much bigger impact on your photographs than you might realize.
A rental home gives you the opportunity to choose a space that actually fits the feeling of your wedding rather than simply using whatever room happens to be available at the venue. In the Berkshires especially, couples can find rentals that make the getting-ready portion of the day feel like part of the wedding weekend rather than just somewhere to put your bags.
Think interesting windows, warm natural light, textured interiors, a beautiful kitchen, a porch or backyard, and enough room to actually exist without everyone's belongings taking over every corner. And it doesn't have to be perfect. Honestly, I don't necessarily want perfect.
I want somewhere that feels lived in enough that you can make coffee, play music, sit on the floor, finish getting dressed, and spend a little time together before everything begins.
Making Your Wedding Morning Feel Like You
Some couples want a room full of their favorite people, champagne popping, and music blasting. Others want slow. Coffee in the kitchen. Just a few people around. Getting dressed together. A quiet morning before heading somewhere beautiful to get married. Neither one photographs "better." What matters is creating a wedding morning that actually feels like something you would want to experience.
For Eden and Luke, this part of the editorial was simple and intimate, giving us space for photographs that felt less like traditional getting-ready portraits and more like glimpses into a morning together.
From the Airbnb to Berkshire Botanical Garden
After getting ready, we headed to Berkshire Botanical Garden for the next part of Eden and Luke's wedding story.
Going from the intimacy of the Airbnb into the gardens created two completely different visual chapters without them feeling disconnected—the quiet beginning followed by romantic, garden-inspired wedding portraits.
And that's exactly what I want a wedding gallery to feel like.
Not one aesthetic repeated for eight hours, but a collection of places, people, light, details, and little moments that together tell the whole story.
Getting Married in the Berkshires?
For couples drawn to imagery that feels lived-in rather than overly posed, the estate offers endless opportunities to step away from the traditional wedding-day shot list and create something that feels more like you.
Creative Team
Hosts: @ardentlycollective
Planning: @katieoevents
Florals: @avela.flora
Gown: @angelasbridal
Hair + Makeup: @true.beauty.co
Couple: @edenandluke
