Pam Selvarajah & Joe Rutkowski

By Brittany Jasnoff· 7/1/2014, 4:05 a.m.

September 28, 2013
La Belle Winery
Amherst, New Hampshire

Photographs by Kate Preftakes Photography

Pam Selvarajah and Joe Rutkowski always had the scales tipped in their favor. The pair met on their first day of law school at Boston University and connected immediately. “Even the first day when she came into the room, I remember thinking how beautiful she was, and how I would make it a point to get to know her a little better,” Joe explains. “He was the smart kid in class, and I liked that,” Pam says of Joe. The two spent the next three years studying and spending time together, getting engaged after they took the bar exam in 2012. “We figured if we were able to get through studying for the bar together, we would be able to get married and face anything together for the rest of our lives,” Joe says.

For their wedding day, the couple knew they wanted to showcase New England’s autumnal beauty, booking La Belle Winery, with its 11 rolling acres, before construction was even completed on the event space. “We sort of took a chance with it,” Pam says. “We liked the whole feel of the place. It was very elegant.” The gamble paid off, with a rustic ceremony on the grounds and a fabulous celebration inside, where guests were able to taste the wine made on the premises—the perfect way to toast the bride and groom on their big day.