You don’t want to miss this blog entry…. When it comes to weddings, what’s your fancy? Bright beautiful colors? No problem. A city wedding filled with high style? I’ve got you covered. Lots of incredible details everywhere you look? Easy. A gorgeous couple filled with love? Enter Anita and Rowan.
They may look familiar because we photographed their engagement session earlier this spring right in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston (a sneak peek can be found here). What you may not know about Anita and Rowan is how gentle and loving they both are. With each other and with people around them. When you talk to either one of them…they listen. I mean, really listen. Like looking in your eyes and nodding as you speak to make sure you know that they care about what you’re saying. You can’t help but just want to unload every wish, hope and dream on them right then and there. Even if all Anita just asked was, “so what are you doing for the weekend?” Yeah, they’re pretty cool like that.
Their wedding was an incredible day-long event that made you feel as though you were somewhere far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Boston. It was also a perfect combination of their lives – mixing new with old; stylish designer details mixed with old world traditions; modern and contemporary attire mixed with ceremonies that go back for generations in their families.
Anita and Rowan’s families are from Indonesia and they made sure to incorporate several Indonesian traditions into their day as well. The ceremonies began with an beautiful Indonesian wine ceremony that was held at the new Ritz Carlton in downtown Boston:
Anita wore a beautiful red gown to honor their family’s traditional ceremony and she looked so beautiful in it. After a portrait session with Anita and Rowan and their families in their traditional ceremonial attire, we all retired to our rooms to prepare for the next phase of our day. Rene and Rowan went upstairs to change as did Anita and I. A new look for her makeup and some changes to her hair to compliment the new dress she would be changing into. And Anita had nothing but the best of the best. Luiz Filho of Luz Beauty is one of the top makeup artists and stylists in the city. (Yes…he does both – and superbly, too!) He is just so much fun to be around. Between his funny quips, his absolutely impeccable style (I want him to take me shopping!) and the Samba music coming from the ipod and speakers that he takes everywhere – you just can’t help but be happy around him. Here’s Luiz carefully applying the perfect amount of gloss to Anita’s lips:
Once the boys had left for the traditional ceremony, it was finally time for Anita to head over as well:
And by the way…this is the perfect time to give a HUGE shout out to Anita and Rowan’s wedding planners. See that gorgeous woman helping Anita with her gown? That would be the fabulous Rachel LoVerme from WedBoston. Anita and Rowan hired Rachel and her team and they were phenomenal. I would love to work with them every single weekend. Rachel and her partner are the sweetest girls you’ll ever meet, and yet they are tough as nails when it comes to making sure everything is perfect for their bride and groom. They’re such perfectionists and it made everything so easy and beautiful. And they made it look effortless! I honestly can’t say enough about them.
And by the way – did you see Anita’s gown??? It was absolutely heavenly! I fell in love with it and couldn’t stop wanting to photograph it. So as we left the Ritz — Anita and her sister into a car; Rachel and I following right behind in a cab – we made our way to the historical Park Street church. If you desire to be married in a venue that is historic, beautiful and absolutely iconic Boston – this would be one of the places you want to look into.
After a beautifully intimate ceremony, we had some fun with Anita and Rowan’s personal session. They allotted a lot of time specifically for their portraits so that we could spend a lot of time playing in the streets of downtown Boston as well at the beautiful Park Street church and in the contemporary and modern Ritz Carlton. Can I just tell you how much fun we all had??? Well no, why don’t we just show you…
*sigh* Aren’t they an incredibly beautiful couple? Can you see the warmth in their smiles, their beautiful quiet personalities? It was truly an amazing portrait session with them.
Oh. And the details. Have I mentioned the details yet? There were dozens and dozens of beautiful details – from the orchids in bud vases that stretched as far as you could see to the custom espresso bar and the dessert bar that featured individual dessert selections for everyone….yeah, it was just pretty darn spectacular. I think Rene and I may have stood in the doorway to their reception for a full minute just staring. It might be rude to stare, I know, but you just couldn’t help it. And judging from the number of guests that also stopped at the door once they entered, we weren’t the only ones mesmerized. Again, huge kudos to Anita for dreaming up the perfect wedding and even bigger kudos to WedBoston for executing it all so flawlessly. Here are a couple of details to tempt you:
Soon after all of their guests were seated, their best man and maid of honor rose to give their toasts. Anita’s maid of honor was her equally beautiful sister who proceeded to give such a warm and emotional toast. There wasn’t a dry eye in the entire room as she quietly ended her toast by wishing the very best for her sister and her brand new husband:
Anita and Rowan…thank you from the bottom of hearts for opening your lives to us and letting us be a part of your families for a moment. You and your families are so beautiful and it was truly an honor for us to be there with you. Much love….
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