State Room Wedding Photographer :: Longwood Events, Boston, MA :: Amanda + Danny (Part II)

I love the State Room Boston as a wedding venue. It's a wonderfully elegant and sophisticated space,  has the most spectacular view of the city of Boston, the whole team are fabulous (Bior worked on this wedding and she was amazing) and the food is to die for - what more could you wish for? :)

If you missed part I, you should click **here** to see Amanda and Danny get married at St Leonard's Church in Boston's North End.

I usually work quite closely with my couples on their timeline as it relates to photography and I can't stress enough how often things run late on the wedding day. I always suggest padding the timeline with "bonus" time :) It only takes make-up to run 15 minutes late, the trolley to arrive 15 minutes late, your ceremony to start 15 minutes late and before you know it your scheduled hour for pictures is down to 15 minutes! After the ceremony we had a fairly tight timeline to zip over to the Public Gardens in the trolley for wedding party pictures and then back to the State Room Boston for family pictures before cocktail hour started. Luckily I work quickly and Danny & Amanda and their wedding party were AWESOME!

Let's start in the Public Gardens - always a great location for wedding pictures. Do you need a permit for wedding pictures in Boston Public Gardens? Yes you do! You can get one **here** I am totally loving the colors here - gray and peach - yum!

Amanda and Danny are such a great match, it's a pleasure to photograph them together :)

The sun was just starting to set which meant it was time to hotfoot it back to the State Room for some relaxed yet mantel-worthy family pictures) 

As guests arrived at the Great Room of the State Room Boston they had adorable custom gas light escort cards to tell them where they'd be seated:

They could also write their well-wishes on pebbles and leave cards in the adorable vintage card case: 

When you have a wedding venue like the State Room, the main attraction is the spectacular view of Boston, I loved the simple custom menus and flower centerpieces that Amanda and Danny chose:

Just in case Danny and Amanda weren't sure where to sit ;)

Amanda and Danny met at Notre Dame and they incorporated their love of the Fighting Irish football team into their wedding cake:

Meanwhile, guests feasted on all sorts of delicious hors d'oeuvres at cocktail hour:

I love this image, it gives you some idea of the beautiful venue/view at cocktail hour:

I have two more December 2012 weddings to blog and then I have some "award" blog posts in the works, kind of like the Oscars of the wedding world - more to come - in the meantime - award for best ever entrance by two people in the wedding party goes to Katie and Matt:

Amanda and Danny descended the stairs for their grand entrance and went straight into their first dance to Clare Island by the Saw Doctors:

Oh! The toasts and the blessings and the request for active and retired military guests to stand up (this wedding took place on Veteran's day) were so heartfelt - but don't take my word for it - make sure to watch the wedding trailer coming up below...

It was time to cut the "Fighting Irish" wedding cake and parent dances:

Amanda's father Paul was doing so well holding it together and then he just lost it:

If your venue has a balcony it can be kind of fun to get a picture of all your guests - just check with your band/DJ/venue on the best time to do this so you don't kill the dancing/dinner service and expect this to take around 10-15 minutes to get everyone up out of their seats and into place.

Is Amanda's brother Matt kind of bored? Looking at his watch trying to figure out if it's time to go home?

Nah ah! He's getting ready to bust a move! Ideally you should hit play on this video and have this music in the background while you look at these dance pictures :) Matt was WORD PERFECT!!!

With that, the dancefloor was well and truly open:

I love when couples dance together throughout the evening :)

Dave Solimine of Good Times Unlimited had the dancefloor packed:

Another great thing about having your wedding at the State Room Boston is the proximity to all kinds of fantastic photo locations. We snuck outside for maybe 7 minutes, down the steps, across the street and boom! we're in Faneuil Hall with twinkly lights galore:

Amanda and Danny hired my very favorite video production team to capture their day in wedding film and as always it was an absolute pleasure to work alongside the Long Haul Film team. I've said it before and you know I'll say it again ;) Melissa and Tom (and Megan!) just get it when it comes to wedding films, I frequently watch their wedding trailers and cry - even when I don't even know the couple. Watch this highlight video from Amanda and Danny's wedding and if you don't have a tear in your eye or a lump in your throat then you must have a heart of stone ;) ***Remember to pause/mute the "Bust a Move" video if it's still playing above :) 

Amanda and Danny chose some great vendors:
Wedding Venue: State Room Boston
Wedding Ceremony: Farther Ron Coyne, St Leonard's Church, Boston
State Room Wedding Photographer: Leah Haydock Photography
Wedding Film: Long Haul Films - what can I say about Tom, Melissa and Megan other than HIRE THEM NOW if you want an amazing film of your wedding day. I am always SUPER HAPPY to work together with the Long Haul team as we're all respectful of each others shots/space and it makes for fabulous film and still pictures :)
Wedding Stationery: Stelie Designs
Wedding Dress: Chrissies Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: Ann Taylor
Flowers (love!): Bronwyn Cooke
Cake: Konditor Meister
Hair: Jennifer Fusco (Major shout out to Jennifer. She was calm, professional, everyone's hair looked awesome, I'm totally adding her to my very short list of great wedding hair peeps)
Make Up: Girlyjunk & Samantha Harris
DJ: The AWESOME Dave Solimine of Good Times Unlimited (always an absolute pleasure to work with Dave and his team - great music, no silly games)

Next up will be Alicia & Bill's winter wedding at Renaissance Golf Club followed by Heather & Justin's New Year's Eve wedding at Merrimack Valley Golf Club.

If you'd like to see other State Room Wedding pictures by moi you can click **here**



Amanda & Danny - THANK YOU!!! What a perfect November day!!! Your wedding was such an awesome mix of fun and heartfelt moments and your friends and family can certainly bust a move! Thank you for choosing me as your wedding photographer!!!