On a very sunny Friday at the end of June, I had the pleasure of photographing Amanda and Matt’s beautiful wedding at St. Mary’s Church in Charlestown, followed by their super fun Boston landmark-themed reception at the New England Aquarium on the waterfront.  I’ve had some pretty long wedding days, but this one might beat out all the others – I left my home at 6:30 in the morning and didn’t get back until almost 1am!  But I loved every minute of it (and I took a few breaks along the way!)

Amanda trained as a lawyer, but a few years ago she decided to switch careers, becoming a yoga teacher at Exhale Mind Body Spa at the Fairmont Battery Wharf.  She is wildly popular as an instructor, thanks in no small part to her ridiculously warm and welcoming personality.  When we first met, she mentioned that she’d be starting her wedding day with a yoga class with her good friend Lorraine – and would I be interested in photographing it?  Um, yes!  So bright and early on that Friday morning, I was photographing a yoga class.  🙂

After yoga, I took a break for a while and the girls showered and started the beautification process. I headed back to photograph some details, then wandered in and out photographing hair and makeup in the lively suite at the Fairmont Battery Wharf. It was great working with makeup artist Claudia Moriel and hair stylist Jennifer Tawa.

Love this shot of Amanda’s mom and her bridesmaids looking on:

Amanda had some pretty spectacular Jimmy Choo wedding shoes – check out those sparkles! And the size of those heels, OMG! And I loved that she had the matching purse too.

And a couple more getting ready photos:

Matt and Amanda didn’t have a first look, so we did their pre-ceremony portraits separately; I started with the girls outside the Fairmont. Amanda was super cute and so excited!

I then headed over to St. Mary’s Church in Charlestown where I met with the guys. A quick shout-out here to my amazing assistant Erica who went above and beyond for me (as usual, in fact). She drove me around, kept me hydrated and happy, and nailed some awesome shots to boot! The photo below of the church exterior is hers …

The ceremony was lovely, and I really enjoyed photographing the two guys in Amanda’s life, her father and her new husband. They were both filled with so much pride, and there was a lot of emotion there too.

This next photo is one of my very favorites of the day! Matt is fist-bumping his dad, and Amanda’s dad is reaching out to hug her. Perfect!

After the ceremony, we all hopped in a limo and went on a super speedy photo tour of Charlestown and Christopher Columbus Park. Here are a couple of favorites (with SO many more coming in the full set!)

We joined a bustling cocktail hour at the Aquarium. Erica got this awesome shot from the back of the building, showing cocktail hour in progress. Love it!

The escort cards were also guest favors – tiny photo albums styled as books titled, “A Night at the Aquarium”. Each book had the guest’s name on the spine, and inside the cover it said, “you will be spending the evening at” and the name of the guest’s table – one of the many Boston landmarks such as Newbury St, TD Garden, and so on. SUCH a unique and cute idea!

The first dance was filled with big smiles and laughter (photo on the left by Erica):

And here are a couple more of my favorite moments from the reception:

We ended the night with the photobooth, which was a huge success. Here are a few of the silliest pictures … and yes, I might have sneaked into the booth a time or two as well! Thank you Matt and Amanda for an awesome day, I hope you love your teasers! And special thanks to the fantastic vendors – DJ Nate Oinonen of White Label DJs, sweetheart coordinator Jen at Dot Your i’s Events, and the awesome guys at Boston Uplights. It was a treat working with you all!