Real wedding · Monroe, Connecticut
Sollisa & DJ
The Waterview
White suits, a Gothic doorway, and a veil that caught every breeze
- Venue
- The Waterview
- Location
- Monroe, Connecticut
- Setting
- Waterfront
- Season
- Spring
- Photographs
- 24 selected
Soft light, slow hours. Sollisa sat in a satin robe by a lit vanity while her bridesmaids crowded onto one tufted sofa in matching pink robes, laughing at something off to the side. Down the hall, DJ shrugged into a white jacket with a groomsman tugging the sleeve straight. His white loafers waited on the floor beside a small black flask and a pair of cufflinks, a quiet preview of how the night would go.
They met first outside a stone building with Gothic windows and heavy wooden doors. Sollisa came up behind him, reached for his shoulder, and DJ turned to find her in a lace mermaid gown with a veil long enough to trail across the pavers. The ceremony was indoors and close, family leaning forward in their seats. Afterward the wedding party spilled outside in champagne satin and tan suits, and nobody held a stiff pose for long.
Back at The Waterview, the cake stood in front of tall windows with the water behind it, and the head table was dressed in white linen and greenery. The dance floor filled the minute the first dance ended. DJ spun Sollisa under the lights, friends crowded in, and the cake cutting turned into a shared grin. I stayed near the patio door for the finish, a sparkler tunnel and one long dip kiss while every phone in the place went up.
Getting ready
Big windows in both suites kept the morning bright without a single flash.
Details
Ceremony
Portraits
The stone archways and the hedge-lined fountain gave two very different looks within minutes of each other.
Celebration
A glossy black dance floor doubled every light in the room.
Planning a wedding like this?
Lakeside venues with a formal garden give you shade from hedges and trees, so portraits don't have to wait for sunset if your timeline is tight. Plan couple photos by the fountain or hedges in the last 90 minutes of daylight when you can, and save a sparkler exit for full dark so the sparks read against a black sky. If it rains, a ballroom with tall windows onto the water still makes a strong backdrop.
