Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel Wedding :: South Boston, MA :: Renee + Kevin (Part II)

Yesterday I left you on the edge of your seats as Renee and Kevin were about to see each other for the first time on their wedding day at the Renaissance Hotel on the Waterfront in Boston.

The decision on whether to do a first look is always up to each couple - I'm happy to explain the advantages/disadvantages and what the impact is on the timeline. Renee & Kevin wanted relaxed family pictures before the ceremony so they could enjoy cocktail hour with their friends and family and so a first look was in order.

Kevin is a happy groom:


And this picture is so perfectly Renee. She was all "Look at my shoes and check out my short dress hiding underneath this skirt!"


One of my 2010 brides recently told me that she regrets not doing a first look as the wedding day flew by so quickly and she felt like she barely had a second alone with her new husband. When you're planning your wedding day timeline I highly recommend blocking a good 30-60 minutes throughout the day for the two of you - be it a first look, couples portraits after the ceremony, sneaking outside after your entrees...


This was totally unprompted by me. I turned to change lenses and as I looked back Renee and Kevin were taking a moment to practice their (very impressive) first dance:


Renee was awesomely laid back to work with through the whole wedding planning process. She had only 3 "must have" pictures. Here's #1


After the first look everyone hopped onto the trolley (yes - doing a first look means that the entire wedding party can then travel together - more fun and might even save you $$$ on separate limos and trolleys)


With the chilly foggy weather and the threat if impending rain we decided to head to the Waterfront to get some relaxed family pictures. Remember the ideal location for family pictures - relatively quiet, nice shade, nothing too windy/exposed:


I always recommend keeping family groups and combinations as simple as possible otherwise your family pictures can spiral from a most manageable 30 minutes to well over an hour:


And then it was time for Kevin's family:


Loved Kevin's nieces on the left:


Hello ladies! Second from the left is the lovely Katie who will be starring in my wedding this Sunday as sister of the groom :)


Wedding party pictures in motion:


Wedding party pictures stationary:


And of course I couldn't forget a picture of Kevin and his groomsmen. Some more excited than others ;)


This kind of behavior wouldn't normally be tolerated on this family blog but they're almost married so I think we're OK:


For the image above we'd climbed some steep stairs and Renee slipped off her shoes. Hence she's not wearing any on the climb down but I really like this picture:


Did I mention Renee's dress had pockets? Pockets in wedding dresses are just so awesome. Henceforth I decree that any bride with pockets in her wedding dress will be granted 2 complimentary pages in the wedding album!


We had a little time and headed down to the waterfront:


Time to get back on the trolley and go get married:


This was image #2 of the "3 must-have picture list" so I thought I'd share it with you biggie-sized:


And that's all for today. Coming up next is the wedding ceremony, a brief stop at the Boston Carousel for more wedding pictures and the wedding reception. Hoorah!

2 comments

  1. Wow! What an amazing wedding! Love the dress - how cool to have a short skirt to dance in and the pockets are awesome. The flowers are incredible, too. Leah, I love the shot with the reflection and the contrast of the wood walkway with the formal attire!

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  2. Some fantastic photos here. The colour is spot on! Great photography.

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