boston state room wedding photos couple silhouetted in huge windows overlooking boston harbor

Boston State Room Wedding Photos: Alyssa + Bill

Jul 12, 2013 | Weddings

boston state room wedding photos bride and groom portrait with view of city

Have I ever told you how much I love taking Boston State Room wedding photos? OK, I probably have, but it’s my absolute favorite venue within this city, and every time I get to photograph there I get a little bit excited. Well OK, maybe even a lot excited! Alyssa and Bill’s wedding a couple of weeks ago was absolutely spectacular. From Alyssa’s beautiful Monique Lhuillier dress and Kate Spade shoes, to the lovely weather (not too crazy hot, thank you weather gods!) to the decor at the State Room … and then the rollercoaster of wonderful emotions. That was what really made this such a special wedding for me.

I started my long day pretty early, with some detail photos. I had time to go exploring, so I took Alyssa’s box of wedding day goodies down to the lobby for some “detail portraits”. My favorite shot was of her fabulous shoes:

beautiful and badass detail shot of kate spade shoesbride's makeup being applied at the langham hotel

I have a ton of ceremony and reception photos to share today, so I hope you don’t mind me skipping speedily through the getting ready process … Here are Alyssa’s mom, and one of her bridesmaids, preparing the dress for show time:

photo from above of wedding dress being preparedphoto of bride getting dressed with help from mom and a bridesmaid

Oh, and another quick shoe portrait (sometimes I can’t help myself when they’re so pretty and sparkly …)

fun shoe detail photo with train station photo

A funny moment as some “finishing touches” were put to Alyssa’s dress:

bride getting ready surrounded by her bridesmaids and family

Bill and Alyssa had a first look in Post Office Square, and it was crazy cute. Bill was all huge smiles and cute glances.

first look on wedding day at post office square in bostona sweet black and white first look moment

We’d decided to go to the Boston Public Library as a rain option (showers had been forecast all week) but we all decided it would be the perfect place for couples portraits no matter the weather, and I’m so glad we did. Love this one on the front steps of the library:

wedding photos at boston public librarymarble backdrop for shoe and bouquet detail photo

A couple of favorites from the courtyard at the library:

wedding portarits at the boston public library wedding venuecouple sharing a sweet moment as they walk down the street in boston

I asked Alyssa and Bill to pretend they were doing their first dance for these next two photos. I would never stage a dip unless asked, but this happened as part of their dance – and was repeated on the dance floor later that evening.

couple practises first dance and does a dip at the library

We then headed back for some Boston State Room wedding photos. After the family photos, I grabbed a couple of detail shots, then there was a quick ketubah signing, then the wonderful, emotional ceremony.

table with pink flowers and escort cardsjewish wedding ceremony at the state room

Love the expressions here as Alyssa’s parents walk her down the aisle:

entrance of bride and her parents at their boston state room wedding

Thanks to my awesome assistant Erica for this next photo of the processional from above:

boston state room wedding photo from above during ceremonylaughter during a funny moment in the ceremony

There were funny moments, sweet moments, and maybe a couple of tears shed during the ceremony:

emotional bride at her state room boston wedding celebrationalyssa and bill's jewish wedding ceremony

I love it when couples write their own vows. It really adds meaning to the ceremony, and it’s one of my very favorite parts of a wedding, listening to couples talk about each other.

emotional bride reading her personal vows at ceremonyboston state room wedding photos of bride and groom exiting ceremony

The staff at the State Room does an expert room turnaround and I had a little time to photograph the table settings and details. The bright pink really pops in this space, and you can’t beat uplighting and candles for creating an amazing atmosphere.

boston state room wedding photos of the reception setuptable settings at a jewish wedding at the state room boston

Love the huge smiles as Bill and Alyssa make their grand entrance! Then it was straight into the first dance.

entrance of bride and groom at their boston state room weddingsweet moment during the first dance at their boston state room wedding

The first dance then morphed into a hora – one of my favorites things about Jewish weddings. I grabbed some photos from above, and then hit the dance floor below to get in on the action.

the hora in the great room at the boston state room weddingfun moment from the hora

The toasts were really great – emotional and funny. These guys did an awesome job!

toasts by the maid of honorboston state room wedding toasts and couple's reactions

And then after the toasts, this awesomeness happened … a Bollywood dance by the bridesmaids, who were joined by what I think must have been most of Tufts medical! I was dying laughing as I was trying to photograph it. Such an awesome surprise for Alyssa and Bill! Oh! And if you’re wondering where the amazing bridesmaid dresses are from: Flair Bridesmaid in Boston (LOVE this place!)

super fun moment during reception with dancing

After dinner there were some very cute parent dances …

a sweet father daughter dance moment

… followed by a full on dance party. I hope Alyssa reminds me of the name of the band, because they were fantastic – there was SO much energy in the room! I’ll be making a separate post with some of the highlights from the photobooth, but for now I hope you enjoy these fun dance photos. Thank you all for an awesome day! I hope you’ve enjoyed these teasers, and I can’t wait to share hundreds more photos with you in a week or two!

boston state room wedding photos of people dancing and having fun at a jewish wedding

PS If you’d like to see some more Boston State Room wedding photos then click the link! And you can contact the State Room here.

3 Comments

  1. Kate – you rocked this so hard! I absolutely love that first portrait.

    Reply
  2. That silhouette rocks my world. It’s an epic shot! 🙂

    Reply
  3. That first photo alone stole the show. Well played Kate. Well played.

    Reply

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