Some key wedding details:
Reception location: Omni Parker House, Boston, MA
Reception Lighting: RC Uplighting

Before getting dressed, Rachel’s grandmother came by to say hello to her:

Before heading out to meet Aaron, we used Rachel’s hotel room for a few personal portraits:

And then we were able to capture Rachel and Aaron’s beautifully emotional first meeting at the gorgeous Post Office Square in downtown Boston:

We then spent a lot of time roaming around Boston and having their trolley drive us to various locations for their own personal portraits. It was the best time!

We then made our way back to the State Room wait for the start of the kettubah signing and the ceremony right afterward. I loved this moment of Rachel and Aaron’s flower girl waiting for the ceremony to begin:

And another favorite moment was between Rachel and her mom when her parents walked her down the aisle:

Now some of the most memorable things about Rachel and Aaron’s wedding were all of the incredible details everywhere! It was as though your eyes didn’t know what to take in first. We couldn’t sharing at least some of these great details:

We then enjoyed an incredible high energy and beautiful reception. And loved having Men in Black, one of Boston’s best wedding bands there, too. And so on that note, we thought we’d end with one of the last images from the evening (up with the band singing their hearts out to Bon Jovi) that pretty much describes Rachel and Aaron’s relationship perfectly. Two gorgeous, fun loving and hilariously cool people that are madly in love with each other:

Both K and E began their day by getting ready at the elegant Lenox Hotel which is right next door to the library. The thing you should know about this couple is that they have this amazing ability to be able to just center themselves and really “be” in the moment. The energy they both put out there is so strong you can feel it when they walk in the room. It’s really calming! And with my hyper – and well….sometimes spastic – self, it was quite a treat for me to experience their energy whenever we got together.

Watching them together during the day gave me a whole new appreciation for “enjoying the moment.” Even when things were at an emotional high, you could see K and E take a step back, take a few breaths and recenter themselves – it was amazing. Their vows were both completely hand written and were kept a secret from each other until they exchanged them right at the ceremony. “Heartfelt” doesn’t even really describe how amazing they were…..their words were so beautiful, so personal and even though we could hear the words, some of the things that were said had a secret meaning that only K and E understood. I loved that that intimacy that they shared even in a public setting.

For confidentiality reasons we can’t share any photos of K and E themselves, but fear not – there were so many amazing details at their wedding so we still have a lot of eye candy for you!

When I first arrived and met K in her suite at the Lenox Hotel, the first thing I saw as I peeked into her bedroom was her amazing gown in all it’s glory. It fit right into the opulent setting of that suite like a princess its own right:

It’s only right that an amazing dress be accompanied by equally beautiful shoes:

One of my favorite memories was when K’s ipod began playing “Pocketful of Sunshine” by Natasha Bedingfield… K suddenly jumped up and began dancing around the entire suite, pulling all of friends in with her – everyone laughing and spinning all together. It was so adorable and so much fun and I didn’t want to forget what sparked all of that great energy:

K and E chose to see each other privately before the ceremony and so Rene and E made their way to the beautiful hidden outdoor garden at the center of the Boston Public Library. I loved this moment that I saw when K arrived and her dad took a peek into the courtyard to make sure everything was ready for his daughter to see her soon-to-be husband for the first time:

Because K and E set aside time before the ceremony for all of their formals, they were able to attend their entire cocktail hour which featured a fabulous surprise – a roving mariachi band! The guests absolutely loved mingling and chatting while the mariachis walked around the garden serenading them with beautiful love songs.

Meanwhile, Rene and I made our way inside and found even more fabulous details everywhere we looked. And since this is a blog entry dedicated to details, feast your eyes on these perfect little pieces:

Now most couples have a guest book where guests can leave their names and messages as a way for the couple to remember who was there and read their messages for years to come. It’s a great idea, but it just wasn’t enough for K and E. This is one very creative couple. And their creativity manifests itself in their lives, in the careers and as you’ll see, even in their wedding. Instead of a typical guest book, K and E provided their guests with a blank sketch book and a large cup of colored pencils and markers. And then left it up to their family and friends to decide how they wanted to memorialize this special day. Some guests simply left their name in an “I was here” kind of way. Still other guests drew fun little sketches or inventive poems and there were even a few multi-colored masterpieces in there, too. What a fabulous idea that allowed their guests to be as creative as they wanted to be, too!

Books are very important to K and E (and so how appropriate is it that their ceremony and reception were held a library!) and you’re going to love their seating cards. Instead of the usual folded tent cards all arranged in a neat row, K and E created an actual card catalog system for their guests! Guests had to find their last name in the card catalog and were then directed to their assigned table:

Remember how I mentioned that books are very important to K and E? Even their centerpieces reflected that passion. They placed beautiful floral arrangements alongside a stack of old books that were elegantly tied with a satin ribbon. These weren’t just any books, either, they were priceless tomes from E’s family archives. It was just gorgeous:

It was such an honor to be there for K and E and share their day together. We’ve already started working on their album now and we’re so excited about bringing everything together for them in a gorgeous art piece that will suit them perfectly!

So after enjoying a beautifully sweet ceremony overlooking Boston Harbor, we gathered their family and wedding party under the rotunda for some family formals with the harbor and beautiful yachts in the background. Once we photographed the family and their friends, we sent everyone off to cocktail hour except for Mia and Matt so that we could have fun with them during their own personal session. We walked everywhere around the hotel and made our way across the street to the beautiful Rose Kennedy Greenway.

We have so many amazing portraits of them that we thought their session deserved its own post. Hope you enjoy!!

But Rene does all of the fabulous post production work on our images. So I pick all the pretty images out and then Rene does his thing with them and makes them WOW. Which explains why I was tiptoeing my way to his tray with my checklist of 25 images for Mia and Matt’s blog. He took it all stride, though – as he always does – and so I’m very excited to tell you about Mia and Matt now!

So, this is a little different, but when I think of Mia and Matt I think of a Jason Mraz song. Not any one song in particular – just the relaxed, summertime, easy going feel to all of his songs. Which is actually appropriate because they chose “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat as their first dance. That really describes Mia and Matt really well, I think. They are so gorgeous and have the most inviting personalities. They’re laid back, relaxed, tell you that everything is okay and all of that is wrapped up in this beautifully elegant package that makes up the two of them.

So to start, we’ll tell you about their day from when it began through their ceremony…

Their black tie ceremony (and their reception) was held at the amazing Boston Harbor Hotel which is right on the Boston waterfront – perfect for an outdoor ceremony on a summer day. We began the day as always with Mia and Matt while they were getting ready:

The boys were in a suite with Matt…

Meanwhile, all of the girls were with Mia in her room getting ready. Mia decided to forego a veil and instead wore a beautiful orchid in her hair – it was so elegant and so perfect:

As I took that last photo of Mia just sitting down and chatting and giggling with friends before her wedding, I really felt so emotional for just a second. I was so incredibly happy that she had worked her day out so that she would have time to sit and relax and chat with her friends. But more than that…while she was doing it, she was really “in” the moment. She wasn’t just nervously sitting around waiting for the next thing to do. She was sipping champagne, laughing about a funny story from the rehearsal dinner the evening before and just enjoying these perfectly relaxed moments with her best friends.

Mia and Matt decided not to see each other before the ceremony so Rene and I both made our way outside in separate directions to have some fun with the wedding party. Rene and the boys headed across the street to the newly finished section of the Rose Kennedy Greenway which, by the way, is so beautiful. It’s like a little oasis right in the middle of the financial district.

And I stayed close to the waterfront with Mia and her girls. I couldn’t resist the beautiful lighting in her room first, though:

Their ceremony was held in a glass enclosed building on the edge of the harbor. Everyone was nice and cozy inside with the most spectacular views of Boston Harbor. Matt was waiting for Mia at the front of the aisle and Rene, of course, was also there as everything began to unfold. When Mia and her mom and dad entered the building, everyone stood up. Which was great except that everyone then completely blocked Matt’s view of Mia as she began to walk down the aisle. Mia also couldn’t see Matt so she took her time looking at everyone around her, smiling, laughing. And one of Rene’s favorite moments was as she finally approached the front and could see Rene gave him her million watt smile too:

And as she finally turned the corner and they could see each other at last!

And I’m afraid that this is the part of the blog entry where I have to say, “To be continued…..” as we finish preparing for another big weekend with a wedding tomorrow and a Day One session on Sunday. But check back in at the beginning of next week where I’ll post some of the gorgeous images from Mia and Matt’s personal portrait session after the ceremony. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a little teaser to get you through the weekend….

Enjoy the weekend!

And finally just a couple of weeks ago, we were honored to be there to see Kristen and Chris finally exchange their wedding vows….and they are officially married! We had a fabulous day with them and although the weather forecast promised rain – no….not rain, more like a torrential downpour – we never saw a drop of it while we were outside! And as soon as the reception began and Kristen and Chris were dancing their first dance, the rain, thunder and lightning made their appearance. Talk about perfect timing!

We started the day separately while Kristen and Chris were getting ready. Rene arrived to find Chris taking a nap by himself on a hammock in the backyard, while I arrived to find Kristen in the middle of a houseful of friends and family all excitedly getting ready. I love that and it really describes Kristen and Chris’ personalities perfectly and why they complement each other so well.

Kristen had so many personal details everywhere – she just thought of everything. I loved the sachet for their rings….so much more personal than the jewelers box!

And she also wrapped her grandmother’s pearls, her grandfather’s watch and their wedding rings around her bouquet so they would be close to her all day:

After a beautiful ceremony held at Pilgrims Church in beautiful Harwichport, we made our way to the Wychmere Harbor Club where their reception was going to be held. As soon as we arrived, though, we made our way over to the beach behind the harbor club for a private session with Kristen and Chris. We had the beach completely to ourselves which was such a great added bonus!

It was such a beautiful day in every sense of the word. Even when the thunder and lightning arrived -we were all safely inside and enjoyed the spectacular backdrop it created during dinner. It was as if Kristen and Chris has planned it all along. You know…I wouldn’t be too surprised to find out that they did….Kristen’s that good at this stuff.

Lisa and Matt chose to have their ceremony and their reception right at the new Renaissance Boston Waterfront hotel and they also decided to see each other privately before the start of the ceremony. So Lisa got ready before all of her girls and then together we went downstairs and into a perfectly manicured park next to the hotel to see Matt for the first time. Rene and Matt were already waiting for us and I loved seeing their reaction for the first time:

We then had quite a bit of time for a private portrait session with just Lisa and Matt and there were so many really unique locations to play with. We started outside since the weather was so beautiful:

…and then made our way inside for a completely different look. The lobby of this hotel is so cool and unique!

Their ceremony was held in a beautiful ballroom in the hotel with a wall of windows on one side showing off the Boston skyline. Their officiant was Alan Ulrich, a wonderful justice of the peace that we’ve worked with so many times over the years. Lisa and Matt customized their ceremony so it was so personal and included some close friends and family as well.

After the ceremony, Lisa and Matt were able to enjoy their entire cocktail hour with their guests because we had done all of their formals before the ceremony and so we were able to get so many great candids of them enjoying themselves. We also couldn’t resist their adorable flower girl and ring bearer (who also happen to be Lisa’s niece and nephew). Here’s the flower girl looking every bit as sweet as she really is:

Lisa and Matt’s biggest hope for their reception was that everyone would be able to enjoy themselves. And wow, did that hope ever come true! To begin, they found a fabulous band – the K2 band out of Boston. This was the first time we had ever seen them at a wedding and they were incredible! They’re young, they have tons of energy and they really know how to make everyone want to have a great time. They are also very popular – we just were able to see them in action again this past weekend. And again…they just rocked the house. There’s nothing like a great band at your reception to make sure that everyone will have a great time. Judging from some of the moments we captured during the evening, I think it’s safe to say that everyone did just that. Here are Matt’s friends and groomsmen egging him on to do a flying leap…in the middle of a crowded dance floor no less.

Little interesting side note….somewhere in that tangle of legs and limbs is one of our grooms from 2007! That was how Lisa and Matt first heard all about us and it was so much fun to see them and all of their friends again. We knew how much they like to have fun….and the boys sure didn’t disappoint.

We had an amazing day with Lisa and Matt and can’t wait to get started on their album now. It’ll be a great excuse to see you both again soon!

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….

So our day began with some getting ready photos. Rene was with Steve and his groomsmen while they were getting ready at their apartment in the North End. And it’s also where he caught the very last minute adjustments before heading out for the ceremony:

Because the church where the ceremony would be held is also located right in Boston’s historic North End, there was no point in hiring transportation – they just walked the few blocks to get there:

And arriving at beautiful St. Leonard’s church, greeting some guests:

Meanwhile, just a few streets away – also in the North End – at Toni’s parents gorgeous condo overlooking the harbor, we were having a little fun of our own. Toni’s parents have worked so hard to create such a beautiful and warm home and each room was decorated so beautifully. A photographer’s dream, really. And we made sure to have some fun with it. Here’s some details of Toni’s amazing gown and veil that matching the detailing on her dress perfectly:

St. Leonard’s church is absolutely gorgeous and is an historic landmark in the North End with lots of visitors and tourists making their way through it each and every day. As Toni and her dad walked down the aisle, it was pretty hard not to be in awe of how beautiful everything was around us:

And here’s the very moment that Steve saw Toni for the first time as she stepped through the doors. It looks like everyone was looking forward to seeing Steve’s reaction…

After a beautiful ceremony, we made a quick trip to the Christopher Columbus waterfront park for some family photos together before we made our way back for Toni and Steve’s cocktail hour and reception at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.

We walked into the ballroom and couldn’t get enough of all of the details that were everywhere around us. The ballroom at the Fairmont Copley Plaza is so ornate and beautifully decorated, that you could honestly get away with not adding much more in the way of details. But Toni and Steve found the best details to complement the decor. It was truly and honestly breathtaking:

They also surprised everyone with a perfectly choreographed first dance which looked great. It really got the crowd going and their guests cheered with every turn, dip and “ta-da”. It was so awesome!

It was the perfect kick-off to an evening filled with lots of dancing and fun. The band that Toni and Steve chose was Night Shift – absolutely one of the best bands in Boston for sure. We’ve worked with these guys so many times, and we’ve loved every single wedding. I fall in love with them every time we hear them perform. I wasn’t the only one, either. When Ray, of the lead singers, came out onto the dance floor to serenade some guests, there more than a few of us girls that swooned…

What an amazing day from beginning to end! We’re just getting started on Toni and Steve’s album now and we’re so excited about putting something special together for them!

Then, I got to the end of the lobby and looked up to see one of the friendliest faces ever with a big grin on it and outstretched arms to give me a hug. It’s was Rebecca’s mom and I was just so happy to see her there smiling back at me. Both Rebecca and Brian are blessed to have amazing families with personalities as warm and inviting as Rebecca’s mom. We’ve been able to get together with them many times over the past few months and there is no doubt that these guys were special to us in so many ways.

It really does make a difference – at least from my perspective – when we’re actually able to really get to know our couples before the wedding. It doesn’t have to always be in person, either. It could be sending emails back and forth to each other, catching up regularly on Facebook or Twitter, or maybe it is getting together here at the studio or over dinner, we just love it! This is what happened with Brian and Rebecca and so by the time their wedding day arrived, there was so much laughing and joking around and everyone really enjoying themselves. Although, to be honest, Rebecca and Brian LOVE to laugh and joke around with each other already. I was rolling at some points during the day at some of the things Rebecca came out with – she’s so quick.

Rene and I started the day separately and while I was with Rebecca at the Boston Harbor Hotel to get ready, Brian and his groomsmen met Rene at the church where the ceremony was to be held, St. Ignatius of Loyola at Boston College. The boys arrived about an hour before the guests were scheduled to arrive which gave them plenty of time to have some fun with Rene.

And just about when that portrait was taken, Becca was just getting settled into the Rolls Royce that was going to transport her with her mom and dad to the church:

After their ceremony, we all made our way back to the Boston Harbor Hotel for all of the family and wedding party portraits and Rebecca and Brian insisted that they wanted to have fun with it – and that we did! We ended the portraits with a private mini-session with just Becca and Brian by themselves. The timing came together perfectly – and I wouldn’t expect anything different for these guys – when we got to use the beautiful blue twilight sky and lit skyscrapers as a backdrop:

And now for some details… (yea!!!) One of things that I learned from Rebecca over the last few months was just how important the details were. They spent sooo much time on every last detail and they wanted to make sure they would remember all of their hard work. Let me tell you…the hard work definitely paid off. The entire cocktail hour area as well as the salon was bathed in beautiful flowers and candles everywhere. “Ambiance” was obviously the goal and ambiance was definitely achieved.

The thing is…because Rene and I knew we’d be busy with all of their portraits, we were really afraid that we wouldn’t be able to do justice to all of the wonderful details they had put together, so we called on Jeff Newcum who – amazingly – did not have another wedding to photograph that night. So Jeff came in and hung out with us for the rest of the night…and even more importantly captured all of those gorgeous details. Now, I’ll be the first to say this…Jeff is the KING of details. I love his details – I always have and I always will, so he was the first and only person I wanted to be there with us. His candid reception coverage is also amazingly fun and full of energy so we had so much fun. Here are some of Jeff’s fabulous details:

And an exceptionally well dressed guest during cocktail hour:

For anyone who has been keeping up with me on Facebook lately, you may have seen one of my recent comments about the amazing grandmothers I met at our last two weddings. (And if you haven’t been keeping up with me – friend me on Facebook or Twitter to stay up to date with all of the latest Tirado Photography news!)

Well, Rebecca’s grandmother was one of the women I was talking about. I first met her when we sat next to each other during the limo ride to the church. After about 15 seconds, I felt like I met a new best friend. She is so full of life and funny and enjoys everything she does completely. She and her husband have been married for years and love to travel everywhere. She even told me about some trips they’ve taken where they just showed up at the airport, walked to the shortest line and bought tickets to whatever destination that plane was heading to. I love that! I aspire to be like her right now and hope I’m still like her when I’m her age, too. She’s an amazing woman and a total inspiration. And here she is with Becca… Like grandmother, like granddaughter – both with an infectious smile and spicy love for life:

Now it occurred to me that we don’t usually post many images from the reception here on the blog. I don’t know why this is, but today’s post is going to be an exception for sure. There was a lot of fun and crazy energy everywhere and it definitely made for some really fun candids. The evening began with some toasts that were funny, emotional….and really, really funny:

As a surprise, Becca’s dad secretly arranged with the band for there to be a hora halfway through the reception. No one was more surprised than Rebecca and Brian and it was so much fun to see the range of expressions cross their faces.

The band was fabulous and kept Rebecca and Brian’s guests on the dance floor the entire night. Good music is always a huge “must have” for any reception for sure:

We loved every second of Rebecca and Brian’s wedding and I’m so excited that I’ll get to see Becca’s mom tomorrow when she stops by the studio to pick up the proofs.

And because it can never be said too many times, another HUGE thank you to the fabulous Jeff Newcum for coming down and helping us out and especially for your always beautiful images.