Hyatt Regency Boston Wedding Photographer :: St Bernadette Randolph, MA :: Aubrey + Mike (Part I)

Wedding season is well underway for me and over the next couple of weeks I have SO much to share with you! I'm sitting on three fabulous weddings and three amazing engagement shoots so make sure to check back regularly.

I'll start with Aubrey & Mike's wedding as it's their one-month anniversary today! I was really excited for this one; not only were Aubrey & Mike a joy to work with but they were having a very multi-cultural event. We started with a Chinese tea ceremony, followed this with a Catholic ceremony at St Bernadette's Church in Randolph, MA and incorporated Filipino wedding customs of coins, veil and cord. And as if things couldn't possibly get any better I got to work with Andria and her team from Infinite Events, Andria is the most PHENOMENAL wedding planner, she's so calm and collected, knowledgeable and unflappable and I highly recommend her!




Love this image of Aubrey and her dress although first of all it was time for her to put on her dress for the tea ceremony: 


A quick shot of Aubrey and her bridesmaids before she opened a gift from Mike, Aubrey has the best happy expressions:

The festivities started with traditional Chinese wedding games, for those unfamiliar with this custom here is a helpful little explanation. All I can say was that I had a pain in my side from laughing, so much fun!
Door Games: When the groom picks up the bride in the morning, she is usually in her room with her bridesmaids and other close girlfriends. In order for the groom to get in the door and see his bride for the first time, he has to satisfy the bridesmaids' requests. They can make him do anything and at the very end, will negotiate an "open door lai see", an amount of money they want in a red envelope. Since "8" is such a lucky number in Chinese (sounds like "forever"), bridesmaids will ask for $88888. =) Of course, that's not reasonable, so eventually, they accept some amount in the red envelope, which is usually a nominal amount. 

Aubrey's bridesmaids had the guys hop up and down, do some push-ups, pass a tennis ball between their chins and then sing "You got that lovin' feeling" at the top of their voices.

Mike and Aubrey had a little time together before we headed over to Mike's parent's home for the Chinese tea ceremony:

This was the second tea ceremony I have photographed, at one point Aubrey got overwhelmed with the well-wishes and gifts:

Then it was back to Aubrey's parents home for her to change into her dress for the Catholic wedding ceremony:

Aubrey and Mike were married at St Bernadette's Church in Randolph, MA where I had a most enjoyable chat with Deacon Thomas Burke who presided over the beautiful ceremony:

I always shoot with an assistant or second photographer (varies with the size/timeline of the wedding day) I had the amazing Lindsay Flanagan along with me for the day and she got this beautiful image of Aubrey's parents just before they walked her down the aisle.

I love Mike's expression as he watches Aubrey walk towards him: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all for today, come back tomorrow for pictures in the Public Gardens and an eight course wedding reception at the stunning Hyatt Regency Boston. You can also click **here** to get to my official facebook page, if you click "like" you might just see some extra sneaky peek pictures before tomorrow!

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