Rachel and Steve's Commandant's House Wedding!

On Saturday, July 31st, I was the coordinator for Rachel and Steve's wedding at the Commandant's House in Charlestown. This historic home has been host to presidents and royalty, and sits on top of a hill overlooking the Boston harbor and the USS Constitution. It was an absolutely perfect day - sunny and cool, which was great because the ceremony and reception were both held outside on the front lawns of the house.

The bridal party had their hair styled at Salon Acote, and then finished getting ready in the upstairs rooms of the Commandant's House, with makeup by Chris Lewis. The outdoor ceremony had white garden chairs in curved rows facing a beautiful chuppah with white hydrangea and white draping, created by Michelle Rose of Blooms Flower Shoppe. Michelle and her assistant, Jasmine, really went above and beyond on the day of the wedding. Not only did they provide gorgeous bouquets, ceremony decor, and reception decor, but they even pruned the flowers that were growing in front of the Commandant's House! Some of the hydrangea bushes had a few wilting flowers, so they cut those out so everything looked fresh. There were also some planter boxes of white, blue, purple, and red geraniums, but they knew that red was nowhere in the color scheme of the wedding, so they cut all of the red geraniums (about 4 or 5) knowing that they would quickly grow back.

Steve saw Rachel for the first time that day as she walked down the aisle, and after a beautiful interfaith ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktail hour inside the Commandant's House. The reception tent was on larger of the two front lawns, and was decorated with white paper lanterns in a variety of sizes along the perimeter. The low centerpieces were a compact grouping of white gerbera daisies inside a galvanized container of wheat grass. The tall centerpieces were also filled with wheat grass, but included purple larkspur in the center.

All of the tables were named after historic Boston landmarks or areas like Old North Church, Freedom Trail, and Old Ironsides. A unique touch to the bar inside the tent was the addition of a row boat full of ice and beer. There were two pails added on both ends with bottle openers attached where guests placed all of their bottle caps for the night.

Guests enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner of steak tips and grilled salmon by Caper's Catering, and cupcakes from Lyndell's Bakery for dessert. The frosting for each cupcake looked like lavender and dark purple hydrangea flowers! DJ Lee Wilson from C-Zone Entertainment kept everyone dancing until the very end of the night, and California-based, Jodye Alcon, was their wedding photographer. Professional photos will be coming later, but for now, here are some that I took on the day of!

The day went really smoothly, and it is always so nice to be able to interact with families and a great team of vendors. A special thanks to Lucy at the Commandant's House for being so accommodating! Rachel and Steve, it was such a joy working with both of you, and I hope you had a wonderful time on your honeymoon in Italy!

~Emilie