I started my day in Emily’s room at The Customs House Hotel with some getting ready and detail shots. I love her shoes!

Emily’s choice of dress was perfect: a silk J.Crew wedding dress that showed off her gorgeous back:

Emily was pretty excited to be ready – and she looked beautiful!

Mike joined us at the hotel for the first look. The back of The Customs House was such a great spot for it – I love all the lines of the columns, and it felt private and had some lovely shade.

After the first look, we headed out together for portraits around Boston Public Garden and the ICA. We got a ton of great shots, and it was hard narrowing down the selection for the blog post – so apologies if today’s post is a little portrait-heavy!

The ICA is one of my all-time favorite spots for wedding photos; and particularly fitting I thought for Emily, who is an architect.

For the group photos, we headed over to the Exchange Conference Center (I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to work with Michele and all the team there – they are so friendly and accommodating).

OK, one last photo from our session at the ICA:

The ceremony was held at MIT Chapel over in Cambridge. It is both one of the coolest chapels I’ve worked at (love the architecture, and especially the “waterfall” above the alter) and also one of the toughest – it’s small, dark, and has the whackiest mixed lighting I’ve seen … definitely a challenge!

Earl captured this great shot of Emily with her parents just before the ceremony began – thank you Earl!

This is the waterfall feature … so cool.

After the ceremony, we all headed back to the ECC, and I grabbed a few more photos with Emily and Mike on Boston Fish Pier:

This next shot is one of my all-time favorite detail shots … and it was captured by Earl. Love the soft grays with the pop of fuchsia pink …

Two of my favorite first dance photos:

East Coast Soul are amazing performers; the three front-men-and-woman not only sing but they do some pretty fabulous dancing too. I especially loved this guy – he was so expressive:

They had some gorgeous uplighting at the reception too:

A sweet moment from the father daughter dance – and a little shout-out here to Ray for being such a fabulous father of the bride – he played a major role in the wedding planning and was an absolute sweetheart to boot!

And to close, one last couple’s portrait at night with the Boston harbor as a backdrop. Emily and Mike, thank you for trusting me to capture your amazing wedding; I hope you like the teasers so far, and I can’t wait to share your slideshow with you very soon!

I’ve been a busy girl this winter … as well as designing a ton of albums, updating my website and marketing materials, I’ve also been trying to second shoot with other photographers to keep me on my photographic toes (and it’s always fascinating seeing how other people work!) This was my second wedding working for Zev Fisher Photography – thank you Zev for having me along! His clients Lisa and Matt had a beautiful wedding at Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge. It’s a really lovely hotel, very clean and modern, but with just the right amount of personality too. I started my day with Matt and the guys, getting some getting ready photos. These boys had me in stitches!

We held the first look at Lechmere Canal Park, right next to the hotel, and underneath a row of gorgeous blossoms. Happy days! (I love spring.)

Zev and I split up for portraits, taking it in turns with the girls and the guys … here are a couple of my favorites:

I’m pretty much in love with Lisa’s shoes … gorgeous, girl!

Their Jewish ceremony was held back inside Hotel Marlowe. It was chock-a-blcok full of emotion … I can’t tell you how much I love a good cry during the ceremony!

The ballroom looked gorgeous. I liked the travel theme that ran through the reception (and especially the uber-cool cake – love!)

The first dance was really sweet …

… and was followed by some serious partying!

This may be my favorite shot of the night – I LOVE the hora! Thanks again Zev for having me shoot with you, and to Lisa and Matt for a super fun wedding!

The Commander’s Mansion in Watertown is an incredibly elegant wedding venue, with tons of character – thank you Tammy and Rae for generously allowing us to work in your beautiful venue!

Joanna at Three Little Birds created the amazing letterpress stationery including escort cards, table numbers and the fun “his and hers” seat decor.

Sarah and Brad at Fancy That provided the china and flatware and Jessa at Yum Bunnies made the lovely cake.

Matthew at Maggie Inc organized our three fab models – bride Meghan Hughes, groom Daniel Keating, and bridesmaid Carissa. They were expertly styled by the wonderful Melissa Dunne, wardrobe stylist extraordinaire! Our hair and makeup ladies were beyond fabulous – thank you Katie Pape of Roffi Salon and Nicole Baglione for your beautiful work on the models.

There were amazing flowers absolutely everywhere. I loved this escort table with blooms and foliage:

Carissa showing off her locks – and her stunning soft pink bridesmaid dress courtesy of Lindsay at Flair Bridesmaid on Newbury Street, who generously provided a ton of gorgeous bridal and bridesmaid dresses for the shoot.

Seriously … those flowers … Nicole, you are a creative genius!!

This next one of groom for the day Dan is one of my absolute favorites from the shoot. He looks so suave in his dashing J.Crew suit – and how fabulous is the guys’ getting ready room at the Commander’s Mansion? Love it!

A quick shout-out here to some of the other vendors who were so generous in lending items for the shoot: linens from Linda at Table Toppers; parasols from Natalie Cordova at Bella Umbrella in Seattle (side note – they ship rental umbrellas and parasols all over the US and are absolutely fabulous to work with – I’m a long time fan!); table number stand from Homes and Weddings; epergne from Brodney Antiques.

And a few last shots to end …

Huge thanks to Kerith and Nicole at Blooms of Hope for trusting me to capture your vision; it was an absolute joy working with you both, and I hope you enjoy these teaser photos! And any couples out there reading this – if you like what you see in the photos, please let me know so that I can pass on the vendors’ contact info. This was a dream of a shoot with the most fantastic group of people I’ve worked with.

You can see some previous winners from this competition here, here and here.

I started the day much earlier, at The Langham Hotel in downtown Boston where Heather was getting ready (and in fact where the couple put up their ten guests for the weekend). Some fun details to start – I am so happy that they took my recommendation of New Leaf Flores for the beautiful bouquet and boutonniere:

Heather was all big smiles and excited chatter as she was having her makeup done.

I love these two photos of Heather and her friend Sarah:

Time to get dressed! And what a gorgeous dress it was – the Waterfall Gown from J.Crew’s wedding collection.

While Heather was at the hair salon, I snapped some photos of Peter getting suited up:

Despite the chilly breeze, we held their look outside in the tiny park across from the hotel. Heather was so excited to show off her shoes.

Some sweet moments – and some funny ones – followed. Don’t these two kiss like movie stars?

After the first look, we all headed down to Plymouth to the boat launch. I arrived a little earlier than the wedding party, so snapped a few photos of the beach. It was so beautiful …

Led by their fantastic British celebrant Lucille Wymer, everyone made the short walk down the steep hill to the boat launch. Spirits were high:

This was the third smallest wedding ceremony I’d ever photographed and it was perfect. I hope these photos capture some of the intimacy and emotion of the event.

There were beautiful readings, and an emotional account of Peter and Heather’s lives together thus far.

I love this:

It was just the perfect setting … *sigh*

Towards the end of the ceremony, each couple wrote a message which they placed inside a bottle and threw into the sea. It made for great pictures, and lots of laughter.

Rings! And more happy tears …

Peter had prepared a surprise reading for Heather in the form of a poem – it was beautiful:

We stayed on the beach for a few more minutes to take some portraits and detail shots. I can’t get over the bouquet by New Leaf …

These guys were so excited to be married!

The reception was split between post-ceremony drinks back at The Langham Hotel and dinner at L’Espalier. I stayed for the first part and had fun playing with lighting up the crazy dark bar without freaking out the staff there – it was a challenge! But I love the photos we got:

We made a little outing to see the Christmas tree at Faneuil Hall but my very favorite portrait of the night was actually outside L’Espalier – the emotion was perfect. Thank you all so much for a beautiful day, and for trusting me to capture the story of your wedding. I hope you’ve enjoyed the teasers! The full set will be ready in a couple of weeks.

We started just down the street from their apartment, next to the water:

These two are fully versed in the “get in and snuggle” mantra by now. And they know how to rock it.

Loving those fall colors … *sigh*

This strange building was a neat spot for an architectural silhouette:

The view of downtown Boston is so cool from here. Oh, and we might have trespassed. Oops. Don’t tell anyone that yoga-instructor Amanda used to be a lawyer.

These two have some mad jumping skills – and I LOVE their expressions here!

One last moody silhouette to complete the teasers … thank you guys for another awesome afternoon. I cannot WAIT for your wedding at the Aquarium next summer!

Jordan and Nipa assured me it would be a good time watching the non-Indian ladies play dress-up … they were not wrong.

I love this series of images I captured of Nipa’s mom and sister helping her dress:

Do you like these reflection shots?

Once Nipa was ready, we headed out to the roof terrace at the Marriott for some family photos. I just LOVE this space. It’s really pretty, with great light, and it’s so cool being so high up yet in a garden or park. It would be a great spot for a late afternoon ceremony … Anyway, I’m getting off-track. Don’t these guys look splendid?

I don’t often post “formal” photos – but I wanted to share the wonderful colors and prints I had to work with. Just beautiful …

The reception proper was held in the ballroom at the Marriott. It’s not a particularly remarkable room, until you add in the lighting. I was so delighted when I walked in and saw the amazing patterns on the walls, and the beautiful blue and gold uplights. Huge kudos to CJC Event Lighting for transforming the space. I highly recommend their services, and owner Jim was very personable too.

Some details of the cocktail hour decor (Nipa’s parents did a beautiful job with this):

And a couple of photos of guests during cocktail hour outside the ballroom:

Jordan and Nipa opened the reception with an incredibly cool Bollywood-style dance – yeah!

There were some toasts before dinner …

And of course dinner was an amazing Indian feast – yay! Not the best food to eat if you’ve got a long night of dancing to cover, but dinner marked the end of my coverage so I was a very happy camper. Thank you Nipa and Jordan, and your wonderful families, for your warm welcome and amazing hospitality. I loved working with you all and can’t wait to share the full gallery with you at the end of the week!

Nipa’s sister Alpa officiated the wedding, and did a spectacular job of it. It was beautifully paced, rich in thoughtful words, and both humorous and emotional.

Although it looked somewhat like a traditional western ceremony, the content came mostly from Jain and Hindu traditions – my first Indian wedding, then! The sounds too – amazing Indian music flowed through the ceremony, from maestros Natraj Music. Act I included the processional and Namokar Mantra, followed by the Kanya Daan, or giving away of the bride. For this, Nipa’s parents joined the couple and holy water was poured from their hands, through Nipa’s hands, into Jordan’s hands. This ritual also includes the bride’s parents asking the groom to treat her as a loving and equal partner. I love this – what a far cry from the “obey” line in traditional western wedding ceremonies!

Act II opened with a reading by Jordan’s mom and sister, followed by the Hasta Melap, or joining of the hands:

Act III included the Saptapadi, or seven sacred steps walked together, then the vows and ring exchange. One of my very favorite photos is of Alpa getting all choked up during the vows:

After the ceremony, I made a mad dash around the tent to grab some detail shots. The light was just beautiful in there, and the decor, though simple, was very pretty (kudos again to Blooms of Hope who provided the gorgeous flowers).

While guests enjoyed the views during cocktail hour, I took Jordan and Nipa off for a few more couples portraits …

I really like this quick grab at the end of cocktail hour – it was quite the sunset!

Throughout dinner there were dances and toasts:

And partway through the reception, Jordan surprised Nipa by serenading her with Neil Diamond’s Hello. Classic! We were all laughing and crying and laughing throughout. It was pretty cute.

The rest of the night was spent dancing like crazy – DJ Nate Oinonen of White Label DJs did another awesome job of keeping the dance floor packed all night:

One last sunset photo to end Part Two … and the super fun Indian reception will be along shortly!

The ceremony was performed by one of the couple’s close friends, and he was FANtastic. In fact, Sophy and Rich had two friends play major roles in their wedding and both guys made my day a bazillion times easier; the other was their friend Ben who is a wedding coordinator down in DC. I am so sad he’s not closer to Boston as he was an absolute dream to work with (thank you both for all your help!)

Despite this being the “Western” wedding day, Sophy’s Cambodian culture was still very visibly present throughout the day. I love this photo of the little girls in their traditional Cambodian outfits:

The vows were both hilarious and emotional:

The Grand Ballroom at the Liberty Hotel is one of my new favorite places for a wedding reception. The room is just GORGEOUS – everything about it screams class. Yay.

How cute are these cake toppers?!

As guests entered the main reception, they were handed scarves by the couple – pretty neat favors, huh?

Rich and Sophy opened the reception with their first dance, followed by a very sweet mother-son dance:

Throughout dinner there were a ton of toasts; my favorite moment was the incredibly emotional surprise toast by Sophy’s two sisters and her brother. These guys were adorable …

After dinner, Sophy and her father gave a traditional Cambodian dance, and after that it was party-party-party! Thank you all for a wonderful wedding weekend; I hope you’ve enjoyed your teaser photos. And I must give a quick shout-out to DJ Seth Isaacs of Beat Train Productions who did a fabulous job of keeping the dance floor packed all night, with both Cambodian hits and Western music. Kudos!

Jessica and Jeff moved to Boston a few months ago for work, and they quickly fell for their new city.  They live in Beacon Hill and wanted some photos that showed off their favorite spots in the neighborhood.  We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful afternoon for photos – the light was truly incredible.  I’ll start with two of my favorite photos from our session:

We started out in the Boston Public Garden with some relaxed sitting and wandering.

I wanted to capture the beauty of the gardens, and the light that day, but without showing the throngs of tourists in the background. Patience was needed …

We headed over to Comm. Ave next, and it was here that I captured some of my very favorite images of the day:

Jessica wanted to show off the beauty of Beacon Hill so we wandered up through the cobblestone streets and found some great spots.

These two are so cute! I love how sweet and giggly they are with each other:

I loved the impromptu piggyback ride!

And one last photo to end the teasers for today. Thank you Jessica + Jeff for a super fun time – I hope you like your teasers!