I will be photographing Beth and Scott’s wedding this autumn at Prairie Production, one of Chicago’s most prized modern wedding venues. I am noticing a lot of brides and grooms are looking to this wedding venue because it has so many great qualities. Prairie Production is truly a blank canvas, simple white walls, a bank of windows, slightly industrial and loft like… The wedding venue is unrestrictive and allows you to bring your own alcohol and caterer of your choice. They have fun lighting options in lots of different colors.

I met Beth and Scott for an early morning engagement session. It was perfect due to it being a cooler time of day, less humid, less crowds, and some of the best lighting. We journeyed from park areas, to nearby city street corners, and even to a plaza near an office building for varied locations.

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Robbie and Karen were planning their jewish wedding and chose Smith Barn at Brooskby Farm as their Boston wedding venue (just north of the city). The location is a working farm complete with a red barn, apple orchards, antique tractor, and lots of antique and kitschy details. I was really excited to be selected as their Boston wedding photographer because I grew up just a few miles from the farm. When I did a New York City engagement shoot for them just a month prior, I got to hear about all the details they had planned and I could tell it was a well-planned event, full of coordinating accessories. I had a blast working with them shooting around Brooklyn that afternoon, and knew their big day was going to be so fun. An old, red New England barn was going to be such a treat for their friends and family coming from far destinations such as Portland, Oregon.

With my background in photojournalism, I really enjoy the idea of bringing a documentary feel starting at the very beginning of the wedding day. Their day began with Robbie arriving a bit early, securing a custom sign into the ground in front of the barn. Karen arrived shortly after and got ready in this wonderful, historic, red house on the farm. Her sister/matron of honor helped her get into her wedding gown, and Karen took a moment to check that everything was perfect in the mirror. Rather than nervous, she looked ecstatic! We arranged a first look for Robbie and Karen which took place on the near their ceremony site, on the edge of the forest. After a few moments, we spent some time doing creative wedding photos at the barn with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Under a gazebo, the couple signed a purple, modern ketubah after listening to some wise words from their rabbi that came up from New Haven, Connecticut. Their wedding ceremony was under a chuppah handmade by a relative that depicted artful scenes of Jerusalem where the couple had met. The couple danced down the aisle with their friends and family before the wedding ritual of yichud. During their seclusion, I ran over to the barn to photograph their wedding day details. The scene inside their wedding reception venue was breathtaking. Elegance collided with country kitsch and colors of yellow, orange, and red echoed in so many details.

Smith Barn wedding facility has a similar layout to in two other barn wedding venues I have photographed in: the Red Lion inn & Barn in Cohasset, MA and the Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton, MA because of the lofted balcony area. These elevated areas can be used for cocktail hour and additional dining space for larger weddings. Its also a great place to go to get a unique documentary perspective on horah dances and the newlyweds first dance.

The bride and groom  enlisted Ari from Beat Train Productions as he is familiar with jewish wedding traditions and always gets the party going. I have never seen a more packed dance floor than at this wedding. I was lucky to have New York City based editorial photographer Mike Howard assist in some horah photos while Ari played the Hava Nagila. It is always exciting watching such a thrilling event and anticipating how the guests will entertain the bride and groom. The floor was packed shoulder to shoulder and I think both Mike and I both emerged pretty sweaty.

When finalizing the day’s time line and sequence of events, I asked Karen and Robbie if they would be interested in letting me steal them for five minutes during sunset and taking some fun wedding photos in the rolling hills around the barn. The weather was as perfect as one could imagine, and the lush gardens under the golden afternoon sun provided a backdrop like a scenic lanscape straight out of Tuscany. I used my Canon 85mm f/1.2 to capture the naturally saturated tones that afternoon. While the lens is hugely slow and costs more than one of my vespa scooters, it gives me the best wedding photos time and time again.

If you are viewing this post and would like updated information on the rest of the bride and groom’s details, you may subscribe by clicking here.

Their Boston wedding vendors are below:

Ceremony venue: Woodland Gardens at Brooksby Farm
Reception Venue: Smith Barn at Brooksby Farm
Wedding Photographer: Heather Parker Photography
Wedding DJ: Beat Train Productions
Cake: Lyndell’s Bakery
Florist: Celebrated Flower
Various Etsy sellers provided the following: wedding gown jeweled belt accent, hair accessory, wedding favor stickers, place cards, programs, wooden yellow & white custom wedding sign.

A word from my clients:

Hi Heather,

We checked your blog this afternoon and we are so excited to see your photos of our wedding posted. They are amazing. We love each and every one of them so much – we can’t wait to see the rest of them! We loved how you captured the mood/atmosphere/vibe we tried to create. It was just perfect. And your write-up of the wedding was so nice.

Just wanted to tell you that you totally made our day!

Love, Karen and Robbie

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I always encourage my clients to brainstorm when it comes to coming up with an interesting location for an engagement shoot. Tara and Sam knew right away that they wanted to pick a venue that meant something to them. They called ahead for permission and chose a location with a bar, billiards, and a bowling alley that dated back to the 1940s. Rain or shine, a space like this works great. I love the idea of glamming it up at a fun location! Tara also used the date as an opportunity to do a hair trial before her wedding with Holly Kasprisin.

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Kim Liu writes the new Asian Inspired Weddings blog, and reached to me to feature John and Panle’s wedding which has many asian-inspired wedding details, colors, and symbols.

This blog is a great resource for anyone interested in drawing influences from Chinese, Japanese, or other asian cultural or religious traditions into their wedding. Asian Inspired Weddings is the ultimate planning resource for Asian brides and grooms or anyone who is a fan of Asian culture. It showcases he most beautiful, unique, and creative Asian weddings including ideas about Asian fashion, beauty, decorations, favors, food, and traditions.

Here is some teasers from Sohini & Jeremy’s wedding in Harvard Square. You may remember their engagement shoot at the Arnold Arboretum last May. Nila Desai who is located near Boston right across the river in Cambridge, did such a fabulous job on both the bride and groom’s henna!

Boston Wedding Vendors:

Wedding Photographer: Heather Parker Photography

Wedding Hairstylist: Leah Lam

Wedding Makeup: Erika Moran

Henna Artist: Nila Desai from Dreams Beauty Salon in Harvard Square

Ceremony: Harvard Memorial Church in Harvard Yard (for the record, you cannot park the car in Harvard Yard)

Reception: Rialto

Wedding Planner: Megan at Tangorra Wedding Planning & Tangorra Events

Here are a few photos from Saturday’s wedding on Nantucket Island at the White Elephant Hotel. Vickie & Ted are from the mainland but chose to get married on the island that Ted’s parents Pui and Carol Chan call home during the summer months when they operate Harbor Wok at the Jared Coffin House. At some point during the day, I convinced the bride and groom that they could use an ice cream break so we popped in the pharmacy and they shared a cone of blueberry ice cream. Mind-blowing floral arrangements by Nantucket florist Flowers on Chestnut and wedding planning services by Maureen and the ladies at Nantucket Island Events. Lots more to come!

Engagement session in town on the island, before dinner at Seth Raynor’s Corazon del Mar.

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A sneak peek of Morgan and Sam’s wedding at Veronique | Longwood Events in Brookline/Boston this past Saturday… Tomorrow I am headed to Nantucket Island in preparation for a Saturday wedding and will return on Sunday evening.

The contemporary city weddings + events blog Trendsetting Wedding has the Architectural Artifacts shoot on it today.

Just for fun, here’s ANOTHER engagement shoot. It was a perfect morning, and e roamed around a park and spotted goslings! Another couple with ties to Boston and Chicago…. I will be the wedding photographer for Adrienne and Ryan’s autumn wedding which will be at an historic mansion. Adrienne is an artist and will be designing her fall wedding day theme around wheat and pumpkins.

Years ago in the heart of Boston’s financial district, Le Meridien Hotel group owned an elegant European luxury hotel with a historic exterior that looks like the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome. Around 2003, the location was bought and rebranded as the Langham Boston Hotel. The red awnings on the outside are the same, but the interior has been updated. Fast forward a few years and Le Meridien brand gets back into the Boston area by buying the former Hotel @ MIT which is now known as Le Méridien Cambridge-MIT. It was renovated in the spring of 2009 with the beautiful Anderson Rooftop Garden perfect for outdoor rooftop-like ceremonies and cocktail hour, an adaptable loft, and updated wedding reception rooms including the 160 capacity Hunsaker Ballroom and the smaller Florence Luscomb Ballroom. This Cambridge hotel is also working on LEED certification to be a “green” hotel so they win in my book.

I was selected by John and Panle as their wedding photographer for their wedding held this past Saturday. Panle got ready at the Meridien, and wore a very classic, vintage wedding dress previously worn by her mother in law. The wedding ceremony was at the Ruggles Baptist Church and was translated in both English and Mandarin Chinese. After the wedding I hopped in the back seat (if you’d even call it that!) of a red Mini Cooper convertible John and Panle had rented from Zipcar for the wedding day. John had got a wedding photography permit for Boston Common so we were able to take photos without any hassle on their wedding day. For more information about wedding photography permits, click here. The fee is $50 for Boston residents, and $100 if you live anywhere else. After some time in the park, we headed down Mass Ave. to the Charles River to get a few skyline photos of the bride and groom on their wedding day. We returned to the hotel and Panle changed in Chinese tradition changed into her red qipao, 旗袍, or cheongsam. Cocktail hour was held on the rooftop garden at the hotel followed by a reception filled with accents of red, pink, orange, and the double happiness symbol 囍 along with some coordinating lighting design available by the hotel. Flower design was by my favorite Boston wedding florist, Winston Flowers, who also supplied flowers for Bonnie & Jeff’s wedding at the Taj Hotel.