When I photographed J+D’s surprise proposal earlier this summer in Rockport, MA I sooo hoped that they would contact me to photograph their wedding. They were so adorable together (see them here the day they were engaged), and they couldn’t stop smiling! I knew their energy would be fantastic on their wedding day as well, and I was correct in my hunch.

J+D were married on a warm September day at Cambridge City Hall, a beautiful building that is a wonderful backdrop for an intimate wedding. I love the rich red color of the carpet and seats in the chamber where ceremonies often take place, and the stairways and large windows are awesome for portraits as couples wait their turn with the clerk.

I’ll start with a few of my favorite portraits (how romantic are they in the chamber seats?!) and then go back to the beginning when they arrived that morning. A few things to look for in the photos below:

1. If you’re getting married at Cambridge City Hall, BRING CASH!!!! There was a hilarious moment where J had to come back out to borrow the cash needed from his parents because they couldn’t take his credit card.
2. D has incredible style. I loved her polka dot dress and flower crown, and the bowtie she helped J get from Korea!
3. The hug finale is one of my favorite parts of photographing a wedding ceremony. J+D: there are probably a dozen more hug photos in your full gallery that will be delivered shortly!

Below: the most important $60 that J will ever borrow from his parents.

D’s father couldn’t join them in person, but he was able to see the ceremony in realtime from Korea thanks to video chat technology!

If you’re thinking of getting married at Cambridge City Hall, you can find more information about how to schedule an appointment here. And definitely reach out to me because photographing intimate weddings like these is such a pleasure for a wedding photographer. Congrats to J+D!!!

I absolutely love City Hall weddings. I’ve photographed one in NYC and lots at Boston City Hall, but this was my first wedding at Cambridge City Hall, and it was just lovely.

A merry band of close friends and family gathered in Cambridge that sunny day to celebrate S + A. Luckily, they were all able to witness the wedding because the weather cooperated, and their awesome city clerk was willing to perform the wedding outside on the lawn of City Hall!!! Were there a few interruptions by car horns and buses rumbling by? Of course. Did a stranger or two stop to watch for a moment? Sure, but as S + A said their vows, wiping away tears, the city noise and the passersby melted away.

But my favorite part of the day? I think maybe it was starting out in their apartment- the cozy home they would be saying goodbye to in a few short weeks when they moved abroad. When I asked them what they loved doing together in their apartment, they laughed and said that A enjoyed laying his head on S’s lap. “Then let’s do that!” I replied.

Or maybe my favorite part was stopping for a smoothie right after they were married. When they mentioned they loved Life Alive located directly across the street from City Hall (it’s a favorite of mine too), I insisted on treating them to a “Just Married Smoothie!”

Other things I will remember from this wedding:

• Visiting “their” bench in front of the Cambridge City Library on the way to their wedding.
• The welcome they got from their friends as they walked up to City Hall.
• They pointed out that Cambridge has the LONGEST walk signals of any city, and I believe them! We could have walked across the street and back a half dozen times before the blinking hand started.
• Those reactions during the speeches- there’s a good story behind them. Now, I was taking photos so I didn’t catch every detail, but there was a bananas tale about how S’s mother mistakenly sent a friend request to A on Facebook right after their first date!!! She panicked, thought she had fixed it, but….A *TOTALLY* noticed that the mother of the woman he had just shared a date with had friend requested him. He kept it a secret for a few years I think before fessing up and admitting that he took it as a very good sign!
  
  
  

Are you interested in getting married at Cambridge City Hall? You need an appointment, and there are indoor options too inside City Hall to have the wedding. Click here to be taken to their website that walks you through the process of getting an appointment, and then call Salty Raven to reserve your date!

I think Boston City Hall is practically perfect as a backdrop for a wedding, and I hope I’m not alone in thinking so. Yes, its lines are hard and rigid. Its concrete is heavy feeling, stark, and cold. But the building is *so* interesting visually!

I may feel most at home amongst rolling hills and natural landscapes, but Boston City Hall lets me stretch composition muscles like no other backdrop. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it; I would photograph a wedding there every week if I could because it’s so intriguing from a photojournalism and fine art perspective.

Congrats to Marilyn and Vadim, and thank you for trusting me to follow my eye down the hallways of Boston City Hall!

 

When I arrived at City Hall, I noticed these three dapper gentlemen on the steps. They turned out to be Vadim and his friends, and my favorite first look of the season followed as he spotted Marilyn arriving from across the courtyard!

According to the time stamps on their ceremony photos, one minute and 58 seconds is the time it takes to be officially married in New York City Hall from when you enter the chapel until the first kiss! But Shayla and Paul’s intimate destination wedding in NYC was way more than just the ceremony.

As a wedding photographer with a documentary/storytelling approach, I was giddy over the waiting room aspect of their City Hall wedding. Anticipation built as they waited for their number- C693- to be called, traveled through the various stations, and waited outside the chapel for their turn with the officiant.

And then there was Manhattan! And family portraits under flowering trees, famous Grimaldi’s pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge, vows exchanged in a secluded corner of Battery Park, and countless sweet glances and gentle exchanges between the couple. Thank you, Shayla and Paul; it was an honor photographing your beautiful wedding day, and I wish you all the best for the exciting adventures to come!