Hamilton Hall Wedding :: Salem, MA :: Arianne + Rogelio (Part I)

I've been working on getting my wedding posts down from like 5 posts per wedding to maybe 1 or 2 and I'm having issues. I mean - seriously - there are photographers who post just 5 or 6 images from each wedding - so what's wrong with me? Henceforth I'm thinking 2 posts per wedding and maybe 3 if the couple decide to do a first look/have extended time for pictures (smart people!). Of course, it's my blog and I reserve the right to break the rules....

One of most fun parts about my job is the sheer variety in weddings that I get to photograph. From a teeny tiny wedding with just 2 guests (the bride and the groom eloping to Maine) to a 350 guest wedding in a big Boston ballroom - it's all good and I love seeing how each couple makes their wedding really personal.

Arianne and Rogelio's wedding was something I've never seen before (in a good way!) they chose the historic venue of Hamilton Hall and then commissioned the super awesome Christina from CMD Event Design to go to town with everything from stunning wedding papers, custom drinks, a mariachi band at cocktail hour, the most opulent flowers ever and all sorts of other surprises for their guests. Christina also found all sorts of wonderful vendors (I am counting myself in this list ;) and a full vendor list will be coming with the final blog post). In the meantime if you're looking for wedding planning or day of coordination you would be CRAZY not to get in touch with Christina, she was just amazing along with Beth & Michelle at keeping everything wonderfully calm and running to plan :)

Without further ado let's get started:
Loving the heavy letterpress invitations that were done in both English and Spanish. You'll see the Amor (Love) theme carried through the wedding - just wait until you see the wedding cake!


This intricate gold leaf was actually the backing of a little box holding all sorts of wedding jewelry and I though it would make a dramatic backdrop for the rings:


Adored Arianne's earrings:


It was a day full of surprises and thoughtful gifts (more on that later) and the night before the wedding Roger had given Arianne this bottle of Dom Perignon (2002 is a very good year - the year that I moved to the US!) and the wedding rings sat just so:


A quiet moment during make up. My mom was visiting during Arianne & Roger's wedding (Mr H was away so I like to make my mom fly from the UK to watch our dogs ;) and as I was downloading the images she was just wowed by how beautiful Arianne looked. I concur):


So you know those cute little hangers with your new married name on etsy? The ones that have like a 3 month lead time? Well phooey to you etsy wedding hangers. Roger made one for Arianne :)


Here's Arianne's wedding gown - a little surprise coming later in the form of a letter from the dress designer!!!


Time for another surprise. Roger had his best man Juan deliver a bouquet of roses to Arianne with a heartfelt card:


Over in the guys room it was the usual ties and cufflinks and jackets!


Another surprise! Arianne had a watch for Roger and he was most happy!


Time to get dressed:


The picture on the right might be one of my favorites of Arianne. It's like happy and nervous anticipation all in one:


Both sets of parents were just wonderful - so happy for their children - and I had gotten to know Arianne's mom Maria at our first engagement shoot **here** and it was lovely to see her reaction to seeing Arianne as a bride:


No words.


Coming up shortly is the first look and ceremony followed by the wedding reception - let's just say there were blue peacock feather shoes, surprise guests singing and all sorts of other delights. If you're on facebook and you haven't liked my official Leah Haydock Photography page you're missing out - I post all sorts of little previews before the blog posts....


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