Tewksbury Country Club Wedding Pictures :: Mary + Mark

I can't believe Mary & Mark have been married for 12 days already? Where does the time go? I don't know about you but it's a chilly Thursday afternoon here and it seems like the perfect time to make yourself a hot drink and settle in for a beautiful winter wedding at Tewksbury Country Club.

Invitations came from The Paper Store and Mary's shoes were Badgley Mischka

Mary found her wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses at Christina's Bridal in Andover, MA

Audrey and I started our day at the Wyndham Andover where Mary and Mark were getting ready on separate floors. Alan of Creative Edge was working hair and the ever fabulous Joanne of Joya Beauty was working her make up magic. You'd be amazed how often hair and make up run late and throw the whole schedule off but this never happens with Joanne :)

Mary's Mom Kathleen helped her into her dress along with Paula, her sister in law and MOH

Audrey hung with Mark and the guys as they went for a drink in the bar before putting on their tuxes.

Here's the thing with winter weddings that many couples aren't aware of when they book their date....it gets dark at 4pm! So if your ceremony is say 5pm and you don't want to take any pictures before then
a) we'll have very limited time for family, wedding party and pictures of the two of you
b) they'll all be in the dark! Well, obviously I'll light you but you won't really get to see the grounds or setting of your venue

Mary and Mark had their ceremony at 5:30pm but luckily they wanted to do a first look and take all of the formal pictures before it got dark at 4pm. It was a little chilly but they were troopers and with the help of lots of hand warmers and thoughtful gifts of cozy stoles for the girls and hats for the guys we made it!

Here's Mark seeing Mary for the first time. Loved Mary's happy little wave back

Hillside Florist made the centerpieces and bouquets

You'd never know it was 29 degrees out right?

We were then joined by the wedding party for more pictures before the light faded

The bridal party jewelry came from All Things Tinsel on Etsy. Fun story - Amy (the  blonde bridesmaid to Mary's left below is Mark's sister and was MOH at a beautiful wedding I photographed last year, I was so happy that Amy told Mary & Mark about me!)

Relaxed yet mantel-worthy family pictures

Maybe we're in a random parking lot of a business park for the picture above and below - maybe not ;)

It was now dark and therefore time to make the drive to Everett where the wedding ceremony would take place in Immaculate Conception Church

I'd estimate maybe 60% of my couples have chosen to have "unplugged" wedding ceremonies this year. There are many advantages:
1. As you walk up the aisle you see friendly smiling faces vs. arms outstretched in the aisle and a sea of iPhones
2. Your guests are present in the moment, they're not checking their phones/cameras to see if they got the shot, they're not trying to upload their blurry picture in the dark church to instagram or Facebook. Check out this article about picture taking impairment effect if you don't believe me :)
3. Your guests will stay in their seats vs. hopping out to try to get a cool angle (I once had to shoot an outdoor wedding ceremony with the couples shown only from the waist up due to a well-meaning but ill-advised guest in a short orange dress who walked around the back of the gazebo and crouched down revealing a little bit too much...)
4. The professional wedding pictures you've invested in will show the happy faces of your friends and family vs. a sea of bright blue phone screens.
If you're going to have an unplugged ceremony your guests are of course free to take as many pictures as they like during the reception, it's a good idea to make a note in your program AND have your officiant make a short announcement. More on unplugged weddings here

Anyway, enough of my unplugged ramblings, let's get back to the wedding! Here's Mary and her dad waiting to enter the church

Mary's nephew Joseph is in the running for cutest ring bearer

Joseph may have also been responsible for giving Mary's father (his grandfather) a black eye while playing on Thansgiving - luckily Joanne worked a little magic and hid it.

Happy groom waiting for his bride:

Mary and Mark were so happy all day, it was a joy to see (and to photograph), I love it when couples truly relax and thoroughly enjoy their wedding!

With this marriage all official, we headed back to Tewksbury Country Club for the wedding reception. The large wood-lined ballroom looked amazing with all of the holiday decorations and lights, not to mention the welcoming fireplace

Guests picked up their escort cards attached to these adorable little pine cones

The wedding cake was by Montilios:

Mark had spent many hours before the wedding carving his and Mary's initials into the vases and also making the table numbers out of wood:

The newlyweds made their entrance and went straight into their first dance to "Marry Me" by Train (which was playing at theTrain concert when Mark proposed):

Toasts by Mary's sister in law Paula and Mark's brother Kris were sweet and funny - especially the story of Mark being a human bowling pin :)

Mary danced with her father and Mark danced with his mother:

Tewksbury Country Club is a pretty great venue for a wedding, I've been to events before but this was the first time I'd photographed a wedding there. The whole TCC team were amazing.

Mary & Mark's friends and families certainly know how to have a good time on the dance floor

And that's almost it for today...did I mention how much I love winter weddings? Super excited for Emily and John's wedding at Tupper Manor in a couple of weeks followed by Katherine & Greg's wedding at the Boston Public Library in January.

Mary & Mark - thank you!!! I'm so happy I got to photograph your wedding! It's been a blast getting to know you both (and Maya the dog) and visiting the Quabbin (and to Mark for putting up with my crazy photo requests to climb hills and throw silhouette shapes!). Wishing you a lifetime of love and laughter, health and happiness and cuddles with Maya!