Julia & Andrew

October 4, 2009

I’ve been waiting patiently to post photos from this wedding until after tonight – Julia and Andrew brought their families over to our private screening room in Lowell to see them on the big screen for the first time. I spend most of my time working from a laptop, and I forget how nice it is to see images BIG! What a joy to be able to share this with parents, sister, and one of the grandmothers as they saw the wedding images for the first time.

There were a lot of things I loved about this wedding. What stood out to me the most was the way Julia and Andrew made choices that suited their personalities and eased the traditional stresses of the day. They saw each other before the ceremony and did portraits together with their families, with plenty of time to be unrushed before the ceremony. It was a rainy Boston day, so we utilized Marsh Chapel’s graceful covered arch area for these images. After photos, Julia and Andrew hung out in the chapel entryway and personally greeted guests as they came in. They shrugged off the surprised admonitions from well-wishers who thought it a little scandalous to see the bride before she walked down the aisle.

Having spoken with most people personally diminished the possibility of a neverending receiving line (the photographer’s nightmare: they usually take up all the time you’re supposed to have for family portraits after the ceremony) and instead everyone congregated at the front of Marsh Chapel for a charming group photo.

The reception was in a wonderful converted space in Lawrence MA called Bell Tower Square, it used to be a wool mill and now hosts functions. (Note to photographers: all wood beam ceiling and brick walls means the light bounce is extremely warm. Bring external lighting and a white bounce card!) Since Lowell is all about converted mill space, I felt right at home there after one scary drive through downpour on the way from Boston.

Two things made this reception at Bell Tower Square unique. One is that Julia and Andrew hired a live bluegrass band and a contra caller and got everyone (including the grandmas!) to do some contradance. If you look at the photos from the dancing portion of the evening, you’ll see how much fun everyone was having.

The second thing I loved about this reception was the intimate, yet fun guest list!! Rich Pizzuti and I did a modified photo booth using a big green metal panel and invited everyone to come be silly with us. And they did. Julia has a girl gang of best friends who kept us busy, but this group who got grandma to play “the game” (ask them, not me) made us laugh like crazies.

Julia, Andrew, their family and friends: YES! Thanks for making our day more fun and energetic.
And a special shout out to the grandma patrol for keeping things rowdy.

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