A Friday wedding at shiny new wedding venue in Somerville in the early spring with the sweetest, smartest couple … what an amazing day I had at Lehrhaus with Nina and Reuben!

This wonderful couple was referred to me by my penultimate wedding couple of 2024 (thank you E&C!) and I was super excited to chat with them about their plans for a traditional Jewish daytime wedding at a pretty new venue in Somerville.

Lehrhaus has been around for a couple of years, but this was the very first wedding they hosted, and what an honor to be able to photograph it. Lehrhaus is a ‘Jewish tavern and house of learning’ with some serious accolades for their food, including a 2024 Best of Boston award, and making the list of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants of 2023. The food at this wedding did NOT disappoint!

My coverage started around midday at Lehrhaus, where family and friends gathered for the separate receptions for the bride and groom – the Kabbalat Panim and Tisch – and I moved between the two spaces, documenting the events. Reuben’s room was filled with song and laughter, and their fantastic officiant explained the Jewish traditions to the around 50% non-Jewish friends. Nina’s reception was super emotional which of course I LOVED. It was really sweet watching the tender moments unfold between Nina and her closest people. At the end of the receptions, Reuben was escorted out to see Nina for the first time, accompanied by music and singing. They then had the badeken, the veiling of the bride.

At this point we all left Lehrhaus for the chuppah, a sunny ten minute walk away at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard in Cambridge. I believe this was also the first wedding in this sweet walled garden, and we were so lucky to have such beautiful weather to enjoy the gorgeous setting, and the beautiful flowers by Brilhante Florals. My very favorite part of the chuppah ceremony was the officiant’s mention of this being a very Cambridge wedding – a reference in part to Nina & Reuben’s very academic scientific backgrounds.

After the chuppah, we took some group photos with family in the garden, then I walked back with Reuben and Nina, stopping in a few pretty spots for some couples portraits.

Back at Lehrhaus, there was a very lively hora in one of the more challenging spaces I’ve had to photograph a hora (it was pretty tight in the restaurant with everyone up dancing!) and then the rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the incredible spread of food and listening to the band.

Thank you Nina & Reuben, and your absolutely lovely families and friends, for a thoroughly enjoyable Friday afternoon. I hope you enjoy these photos!