Photo by Kate McElwee Photography
LOVE it!! :) It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and the bridal party all got ready in a suite with their hair & makeup done by Jenna and Susan from Salon by Naomi. They even had some fun sights to see out their window because the Pride Parade went right past the hotel on Boylston Street that afternoon!
The bridesmaids all wore flowing floor-length raspberry pink dresses and carried bouquets of roses, sweet peas, and mini cymbidium orchids. The bride wore a stunning Priscilla of Boston gown from Kleinfeld Bridal, sparkly Jimmy Choo heels, and carried a beautiful white bouquet of ranunculus, peonies, and cymbidium orchids.
The bride and groom opted to do a first look on the grand staircase at the hotel, and it was truly a very special moment when they saw each other for the first time. They were also able to do the majority of their wedding portraits with family and the wedding party prior to the ceremony so they could spend as much time as they could with all of their wedding guests during the cocktail hour and reception.
The wedding ceremony for 113 guests was held in the Grand Ballroom at the Four Seasons Boston Hotel, and Mimosa Fresh Flower Design set up decor using large manzanita trees with dendrobium orchids, white draping, and submerged orchids. The ceremony was short and sweet, with music from a string quartet from Music Management, and was followed by a cocktail hour just oustide in the foyer.
Jess and Derek did not want their guests to go hungry, and they really went ALL OUT for food, starting with cocktail hour! Along with an open bar, guests enjoyed passed hors d'oeuvres such as baby lamb chops, Philly cheesesteak spring rolls, sesame chicken, lobster spring rolls, mini crab cakes, and herbed goat cheese stuffed mushrooms. There was also a cheese display along with baked brie in brioche with sugared grapes and spiced pecans. Plus, an amazing seafood display set in ice sculptures that highlighted their wedding monogram, J&D. This included cold colossal shrimp with cocktail sauce and lemon, oysters on the half shell, Alaskan snow crab claws, and cracked Maine lobster. It was quite a feast and definitely one of the most impressive cocktail hour displays I've ever seen!
Following cocktail hour, guests were invited to be seated for the dinner reception in Aujourd'hui just down the hallway. The guest tables were covered with chocolate pintuck linens, and various floral centerpieces made of hydrangeas, peonies, orchids, ranunculus, freesia, and dusty miller. Glass pedestals of LED lights and submerged flowers, and votive candles also surrounded the florals to create a really fun lighting effect for the dining room. Walnut Chiavari chairs surrounded the tables and ivory hemstich napkins held personalized menu cards.
A bottle of limoncello was set at each place setting along with a favor tag that read "Salute!" on the front, and "Enjoy this Italian limoncello in celebration of Jess and Derek's honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast" on the back! It was so much fun to design and create all of the stationery for the wedding day with Jess, which included the escort cards, welcome brochures in the out of town bags, favor tags, menu cards, and some signage for their guestbook and adorable thumbprint tree!
For dinner, guests enjoyed a four course dinner of creamy fontina risotto, baby arugula salad, an entrée choice of striped sea bass or a beef trio, and a wedding cake from Jenny's Wedding Cakes for dessert. In addition, there was a delicious dessert buffet of assorted confections later on in the night, as well as cookies and ice cream sandwiches passed out on the dance floor. Ari from Beat Train Productions provided the blue uplighting in the room and had guests dancing all night long, and if guests had any more room to eat at all, they were treated to late night bites like sliders and flatbread pizzas at midnight! Ben from McElroy Weddings was the videographer for the wedding day, and here are some photos that I took of the details!
It was a fantastic wedding day, and here are a few more detail shots of some of the stationery items that were designed in-house by Pink Orchid Weddings.
Jess and Derek, it was so great working with you both of you, and congratulations again!! I hope you are having a wonderful honeymoon in Italy!
~Emilie
