Alyssa and Matt planned their winter wedding at the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort , a resort on Mirror Lake in the heart of Lake Placid. This place is a flippin dream to photograph.

They chose this location because Matt grew up visiting Lake Placid as a kid and when he met Alyssa he introduced her to this tradition. I know I say this all the time but I love when couples pick locations with sentimental value! I had so much fun being there with them. Everything about their wedding was amazing. They have the nicest friends and families, their details were gorgeous and I honestly love these two SO. MUCH.

They are the kind of people that love to be outside and so when they told me they were going to have their ceremony outside, no matter what the weather was (by the way they had a December wedding) I was thrilled! They chose to have their ceremony on the Boat House roof. You’ll see more photos of that in this post.

The Details

Alyssa and the girls got ready in the Black Forest Room. Which was a perfect space to have hair and makeup done because of its ceiling to floor windows and amount of space. It faces Mirror Lake and so the view is outstanding! Quick tip: Make sure the other half of the wedding party doesn’t go outside in front of this window if you don’t want these groups to meet / see eachother. But back to the details…

Vintage fur shawl, adorable white mittens and glittery pink shoes… can you honestly ask for more out of a winter wedding vibe? Obsessed! Also look at how beautiful her rings are. That blue is stunning (keep scrolling for zoomed in shots). This is why I love weddings… you get to see and photograph all of the incredible details that make up a wedding day. Amazing job Alyssa. PS. She made her bouquet. She is so damn talented.

This wedding band is a dream. I love the rose gold. ♥️My wedding band is rose gold too! Fun fact: Me and Rob made our own wedding bands at a wedding band workshop with The Devil’s Workshop in Toronto. It was a 6 hours activity and it involved measuring, cutting, shaping and polishing. Super fun! I highly recommend it!

Are you ready for this dress shot? I don’t think so… This place has the most epic locations for shots like this because its windows face Mirror Lake. SO in love with everything about this photo and dress. Special thanks to my husband Rob for holding my off camera light. He’s the hero we all need. Quick nerd out moment: You can’t take this type of shot without off camera light because the light outside is too strong. Without an off camera light, you’ll likely have the background overexposed and you won’t get nearly this amount of detail.

This little nugget was so excited to get her hair and makeup done. But what she was more excited for was the dance party after. I’m pretty sure she was the first to dance once the DJ started. Oh and that’s Hutchie her little bunny.

Grooms Getting Ready

Matt and the guys got ready in one of the resort rooms. It also faced the lake which is always great for photos. I got them outside to take some photos with me but I made sure the girls had the curtains closed so they couldn’t take a peak! Before the guys came out, I started with the details in snow which I think turned out really great. I love involving the environment when showing details of the day.

Alyssa gifted Matt this watch with a special engraving on the back. Such a special gift to remember an important day.

This little guy is Will. He wore the same colour as the groomsmen and his little suspenders were the CUTEST things I’ver ever seen. Oh my gosh he is SO ADORABLE!! *screaming*

Matt gifted the guys socks, cigar cutters, drinks and more. I love capturing reactions like this. I think if there are any opportunities to surprise your friends and family on your wedding day it’s 100% worth planning. You can’t stage these genuine reactions.

The Ceremony

Matt and Alyssa planned their ceremony on top of the Boat House. The Boat House overlooks Mirror Lake and the high peaks in the area and for the ceremony they dressed the railings with fairy lights.

In this photo of one of Alyssa’s bridesmaids you can see the fairy lights in the background.

Meaghan getting emotional definitely pulled at my heart strings. Seeing her brother at the end of the aisle made it real for her in this moment and I’ so happy I captured it.

The First Look

The moment you’ve all been waiting for. THE BIG REVEAL. Just look at Matt’s face, totally becoming overcome by his emotions at the sight of his beautiful bride. If you could see me right now, I have the biggest, goofiest smile. This moment makes me SO happy. I also love how his groomsman is looking at his reaction probably feeling SO happy for him. Oh and Matt’s step mom peaking in kills me. I love Jane!

This is Alyssa in as nutshell. Smiling, full of joy and beautiful inside and out. If you’re reading this Alyssa, I love you girl!

This is Alyssa’s best friend Micki. How wholesome is this look she’s giving her as she is seconds away from saying I do. Capturing these moments is what I live for. On your day you are focused on your other half but everyone is focused on you both. As photographers, we capture that for you to enjoy later on.

Alyssa is laughing here because she jumped the gun and said I do before Dean (officiant) was done his sentence. Too good.

Please add this gangster shot to your desired list of photos. They’re my fave to take.

The Reception

Matt and Alyssa had their reception at the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort reception room. Each table was named after a different mountain and styled with birch, candles and pine cones. So beautiful. Keep scrolling.

Instead of having a cake, Matt and Alyssa opted for a cookie bar. There is nothing more entertaining than seeing a line of adults going after cookies.

“We kept our speeches light because nobody wants to see two pregnant ladies crying tonight.” 🤣

The fastest way to learn about someone is to hear their best friends deliver speeches at their wedding. I was in stitches with these guys. So funny.

The Last Photos

When Alyssa planned her wedding in Lake Placid, the one thing she wanted more than anything was to have snow. Of course, we have no control over the weather and sadly during the day there weren’t a lot of flakes but once there was I ran these two outside to take these last few photos. SO DREAMY. What troopers these two are for braving the cold. Totally worth it though! These are the kind of photos that will decorate our forever homes for future generations to enjoy and look back on.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. If you’re recently engaged and have questions about this venue, feel free to reach out! I feel like I know this place inside and out now and I’d love to help where I can. Or if you’re a photographer getting ready to shoot here, message me too! Community over competition y’all! 🙏

Testimonial

“Our experience working with Amanda as our photographer leading up to our wedding was outstanding. Amanda did both our engagement session and our wedding day. I thought these photoshoots would feel unnatural, but they didn’t. Amanda was very interactive and fun throughout our engagement shoot, which instantly made us feel relaxed. I actually could not stop smiling and our photos were stunning! As the wedding day approached Amanda was very attentive. She checked in with me though phone or email and helped me stay on schedule with the fine details of the day that I would have never thought of on my own. The wedding day was absolute magic. Amanda travelled to Lake Placid, NY in December for our special day. She stayed on schedule all day, ensuring all of our special moments were captured on camera. Throughout the day I received more than several comments about how beautiful the photos were going to look and how amazing our photographer was. So many guests loved their few minutes of meeting Amanda and thought she was so fun and friendly. For our winter wedding all we wanted that day was snow, however the weather was not cooperating. Amanda had finished her photography for the evening but surprised us and came back to the venue just before 11pm to take ONE LAST PHOTO because she said “the weather calls for snow at 11pm, I’m waiting for it.” Sure enough she stood outside waiting for the first flake to fall from the sky. Once it started to snow we got the one last photo we were hoping for on our wedding day. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is! Our photos were everything we wanted, and we even teared up looking them over for the first time. She did such an spectacular job capturing our love for each other. This girl is amazing in so many ways! I would recommend her over and over to anyone I know, and am thinking of our next excuse to meet with her for another photoshoot.” – Alyssa

Read more testimonials here.

VENDER LOVE

Makeup – Lacey Lalonde
Hair – Nicole Cox
Jewelry – Steve Marshman Fine Jewelry
Officiant – Dean Dietrich
DJ – Lake Placid DJ
Dress – Bridal Creations
Wedding Coordinator – Alexandra Starkweather – Golden Arrow