When we shoot a wedding at OceanCliff in Newport, we know we’re going to have an easy day! This one venue provides so many different backdrops that our wedding photos almost look like we grabbed the couple, put them in our car and took them on a photo tour of Newport! Because we’re on their preferred vendor list, we are lucky to work here a lot. We know all the ins and out of this venue and lucky for you we are going to share some insider tips in this post!

The hotel has tons of great spots for dress and detail shots. It doesn’t matter which room a bride or groom gets at OceanCliff because they all have interesting features that make for great photos. Suite One is our fave, but if you have a lot of people you might want to think about getting the Gatehouse!

Detail shots are some of our favorites! Brides usually include their jewelry, shoes, maybe a fabulous bag. To make the detail shots tie in to the rest of your photos, ask your florist to pull a couple of stems from your arrangements for these shots.

We love mirror shots! They’re a classic bridal portrait — your mom probably has one in her wedding album — but we always give them a modern twist. Thankfully OceanCliff has tons of mirrors to choose from. As a matter of fact they have THEE mirror, but more on that later.

We also love a matching pjs shot! Most of the rooms at OceanCliff have huge beds that make the perfect stage for a toast picture.

Those big beds also can act as cozy spot for a pup to hang out on while you get dressed. The little show-stealer in the picture below is Lady. Have you ever seen a fuzzier little face?

For first looks, we like to use the front of OceanCliff. Early in the day, before the wedding ceremony, the light in front of the house is gorgeous. It’s better to save the back for later in the day. The early day light on the water can be a little too bright.

OceanCliff’s brick facade adds a ton of texture to photos, and the architecture and arch add fantastic drama and visual interest. There’s a ton of space for big groups, and if your wedding day is windy, the building will (hopefully!) block the wind coming off the water in the back of the house.

After first look photos or before the ceremony, we take our couples to this iconic OceanCliff mirror. We always jokingly say, “Did you even get married at OceanCliff if you didn’t take a picture in front of the mirror?”

The mirror is the size of the whole wall! We’d love to know how the hell they got it up the stairs!

OceanCliff has so many photo backdrop options that there’s absolutely no reason to leave the property. But! If you build a little time into your wedding day schedule, we know a great spot right off the street. You can see it in the photo below.

A lot of brides like to use this staircase for their bridal portrait, and we like taking photos from above and below. That’s the benefit of working with a duo like us! Emily, the bride in the photo below, had a removable train that she used for her ceremony to make it extra big. It draped down the staircase so elegantly! We love how the pattern on the carpet peeked through the lace on her train. Texture!

The ceremony spot is right on the water. OceanCliff has a little pagoda-style arch that’s beautiful, but plain. We always suggest to brides that if it’s in the floral budget, they add a few flowers to make their photos a little more interesting. Couples don’t have to be as extra as the photos below, but isn’t that a gorgeous display of flower petals by Sayles Livingston Design?

Stoneblossom is the genius behind the pedestals and arrangements in the photo below. The monochomatic look with lots of texture was so chic.

When the sun gets a little lower in the sky, we take couples straight to the back lawn. It’s absolutely amazing at sunset.

Lady liked the back lawn, too! Her sweet little floral collar was done by Sayles Livingston and although it was pretty, it did not upstage the pup.

We’ve talked about veil magic before. All it takes is an ocean breeze and a thigh-length veil. But with Emily, we were able to do a little cape magic! She saved this cape to add drama to her sunset and reception entrance shots. It worked so well!

We also loved Tyler’s super long veil. She looked like a goddess with it draped along the lawn behind her. These Adirondack chairs on OceanCliff’s back lawn are super popular during cocktail hour and our couples really like using them for photos, too.

In the background of this photo, you can see Castle Hill, another favorite venue of ours. We always laugh because Marisa gets the OceanCliff and Castle Hill mixed up. OceanCliff looks like a castle and Castle Hill is on a cliff. It makes no sense!

This table is always available for couples and it’s interesting to see how creative people can get with it. It’s a great spot for floral arrangements, seating cards or even a guest book. We are always excited to see what it’s going to look like!

The reception room at OceanCliff is neutral, so any color scheme fits well. OceanCliff might host a wedding during the day and one at night wedding. It always amazes us how the venue makes sure brides never see each other. And that’s the way it should be! That’s a big rule for us. No bride should see another bride on her wedding day because it’s Her. Day!

The photos above are a perfect example of how a mix of low and high flower arrangements add visual interest to the reception room. The flowers below were done by Sayles Livingston. The crystals dripping from the arrangements added a really creative element to the reception.

One thing we love about OceanCliff is how accommodating they are, no matter what kind of crazy request you have! Jess and Trevor entered their reception on these motorized cars because Trevor hurt his foot the week of the wedding. And OceanCliff made it happen!

Remember the table from earlier in this post that had flowers and place cards on it? It’s multipurpose. During the reception, couples usually switch it out and use it for desserts or favors. We love a candy table!

OceanCliff is a Newport classic. And we love it because not only is it fun to photograph, it is so well managed that couples don’t have to worry about a thing on their big day but having fun with their loved ones and sealing the night with a kiss!

You are the expert when it comes to your wedding, for sure. But when it comes to your Belle Mer wedding, we like to think of ourselves as experts who can offer you some insider info that will help make it truly spectacular!

What makes us Belle Mer wedding experts? It’s basically our work home away from home! When M.studios was just a baby photography studio, we were preferred vendors at the Hyatt (now Gurney’s). The Hyatt and Belle Mer are both on Goat Island Picture us working at the Hyatt, having the best time doing what we love, but then we’d longing look across to Belle Mer and dream about being on their preferred wedding photographer list. And now that dream is a reality! #Goals

Every time we work a Belle Mer wedding with their incredible staff, it feels like a family reunion. That’s one of our favorite parts of working at this venue. It really is a special place for us.

Belle Mer has two wedding venues on the property: the salon and the island house. Each give different vibes. The salon is a bit more formal. It has a huge staircase, a beautiful chandelier, and the building itself is set back on the lawn. The island house is a smaller, more intimate venue. Its glass walls let wedding guests look right out at some spectacular ocean views. Both venues photograph beautifully.

Above the island house is a loft where brides and their bridal party can get ready. This is the one thing you won’t get in the Salon. There’s an additional cost to use it, but it is so worth it. It’s huge and light-flooded with lots of fun seating and windows.

That pony and makeup by Ali Lomazzo Beauty

We love using those windows to take wedding dress photos. Have you ever noticed this dress photo online? Well it was taken it in the loft at Belle Mer! Some of our brides have a hanger made with their new last name on it for this shot, but we don’t think that’s necessary. A plain wooden hanger looks nice, but we can even work with a plastic one! It’s all about the silhouette.

And although it never–ever!–rains on a Belle Mer wedding day (the staff takes care of that!), access to the loft can help couples create a backup plan just in case. It’s a perfect twirling spot, rain or shine.

The island house and the salon both have great places to take detail shots. All we need to take a perfect accessory shot is a little sunshine. These detail shots can be so much fun! Consider including your perfume, some ribbon from the bouquets or leftover flowers the florist doesn’t need. Below is one of our most memorable detail shots because it included a custom lipstick shade made for the bride. She named it Belle Mer!

The wedding ceremony spot at Belle Mer has sweeping views of the ocean and the Newport bridge. There are so many ways for couples to incorporate their own style into the ceremony location. Flowers, aisle decor and ceremony arches can entirely change the look of the spot–from dreamy and romantic to minimalist and beachy.

Even though the ocean makes a breathtaking ceremony backdrop, we always recommend that couples add some flower details to the ceremony site. From a photographer’s perspective, flowers add visual interest and act as a frame for photos.

This gorgeous huppah by greenlion

And think beyond the flowers at the end of the aisle. Place some bouquets at the top of the aisle or use flower petals as an aisle runner. Brightly colored flowers add a gorgeous contrasting pop of color against the blue of the ocean and sky.

Florals by Grace Kim

We love a flower arch because it serves as an anchor for ceremony photography and acts as a sun block on those crazy bright summer days.

Sunflower for days by Stoneblossom

Savvy couples ask their officiant to make an announcement before the ceremony asking people to put away their cell phones because if they don’t, an overzealous guest will put a cell phone in our shot. Every. Single. Time! The walk down the aisle lasts 20 seconds. That all-important first kiss lasts 10 (for most of you!). That’s not a lot of time for those precious moments, and our cameras don’t want to miss a thing!

Circle Arch by Flower Thyme

And don’t forget to do something unique after you’re officially pronounced married. These wedding photographers can never can resist a shot shot!

We always have fun taking bridal party photos! Whether a couple has a huge posse of ride-or-dies or they have a large extended family or they have a mother who insists her college roommate’s daughter’s cousin be part of the wedding, the result is the same: a big wedding party! Belle Mer can handle it and so can we! The venue has tons of room so we can do fun poses with small or big parties.

Sometimes, big wedding parties are our favorite because we love a dramatic group picture. It takes time to pose, but the result is super fun and definitely gives ’90s soap opera drama.   

Good News! Your Belle Mer wedding can be fur baby friendly! The lawn makes for some fun pet poses and the unpredictability of a happy pet can release some wedding day tension for sure.

Belle Mer shifts with the seasons and we love watching the landscape change throughout the year. Fresh spring shoots, summer drama, fall colors–Belle Mer Newport has it all. And the various landscapes at the venue make for lots of unique shots. The ivy wall is killer!

If you can’t decide between the island house or the salon for your wedding, we’re about to make that decision a little bit harder. Like wedding planning isn’t hard enough!

You can’t pick a venue based on your favorite type of landscape because it’s similar on both sides. That killer ivy wall? The ivy grows on both sides of the wall, so you can use it for bridal party or first look pictures no matter which venue you select.

And oh, the veil magic that comes to life in the ocean breezes at Belle Mer! We love the ethereal beauty of a bride with her veil caught in the wind. A long veil is key here, though we can work with anything that is at least thigh length. Just remember to lock it down with plenty of hairpins! We’ve never had a groom chase a veil into the ocean. The photos would be amazing, but wet shoes would put a damper on the day.

The venues at Belle Mer face west, which means epic sunset photography! If you listen to our podcast, you’ve heard us talk about how much couples love the Newport Bridge. And when it’s silhouetted against a fiery sunset, we couldn’t agree more.

Couples often ask us how to time their celebration to work with the sun. In the summer, the sun sets so late that we never have a problem. But in the spring and fall, we advise couples have their ceremony 60 to 90 minutes before sunset so that we can get all the posed pictures we want and also capture that gorgeous sunset.

The wedding reception room at Belle Mer is a neutral space waiting for a couple’s signature style. Because it’s all white, it can handle anything, and we’ve seen some really creative touches. Some couples have round tables. Others have farm tables. Some go with pastels while others go big and bold. Undone romance or formal drama–it all works!

We love a mix of high and low centerpieces, not only because it looks great, but because it makes for very interesting photos. If your budget allows for only low centerpieces, we can make the decor look luxe in photos. But keep in mind that all high centerpieces tend to make photos look crowded.

If you plan your decor with your wedding photographers in mind–and thank you very much if you do!–think about lighting. Because the room is so neutral, placing a few spotlights that point toward the ceiling adds drama to the reception and gives photos a little pizzazz.

Weddings at Belle Mer in Newport, RI, are limited only by imagination. And our couples’ imaginations are wild! We are always thrilled to photograph something new, different and fun, and we love watching and photographing the faces of happy couples lighting up the night as their dreams come to life.