Posted by: Kate McElwee Photography | September 3rd, 2010
The theme for Kate and Alex’s wedding was built around the letters that spanned the entire first year of their relationship. As guests entered The Lyman Estate, the front table was covered in personal letters that Kate and Alex had hand written to each of their guests. They were stamped with vintage Australian stamps (Australia is where Kate and Alex are now living). The letters served as escort cards, sending the guests to their table for dinner … and each table was named after the date of one of the original letters. (You can see more about their letters in Alex and Kate’s engagement session, here.)
Before dinner, Kate’s sister, Alex’s brother, and both dads gave sweet toasts. Like everything about the day, these were incredibly genuine, emotional and funny.
After dinner, there was cake and then dancing. The first dance was great, and I loved that everyone formed a semi-circle around them:
Alex’s dad’s band played for the evening and they were AWESOME (as can be seen from the crazy dance party than ensued). They are called This Old Band, and although they don’t have a website I can link to, if you’re looking for a fantastic band, let me know and I’ll put you in touch. 
A few more crazy/fun dancing shots … and the rest will have to be enjoyed privately by Kate and Alex at a later date … it was kinda out of control!
Thank you, everyone, for an incredibly fun day and night. I hope you’ve enjoyed the teasers!
Tags: boston wedding photographer, crazy dancing, dancing, first dance, lyman estate, party, reception, toasts, Weddings
Posted by: Kate McElwee Photography | July 11th, 2010
Jim and Liz’s reception was held at the lovely Butternut Farm Golf Club. It is one of the nicest locations I have worked – not least because of the totally lovely event coordinator there, Amy. She was a dream to work with! Anyway, we started cocktail hour outside on the pretty golf course taking some group shots. The light was killer!
We stayed out for some couples portraits next to the pretty pond. I love how Liz and Jim look at each other. It’s as if nothing else exists in the world at that moment …
By the time we went inside, guests had begun to take their seats in the Heritage Room. It made for some challenging detail shots … but I think we pulled it off!
Liz and Jim started the reception as they meant to continue – with dancing! They launched into a VERY fun couples dance then had the bridal party and then guests join them. It was pretty cool.
Immediately before dinner were the toasts, and after came the parent dances. There were some really sweet moments throughout …
The dancing barely stopped from the moment it began. The evening started off happy but gentle:
And after dinner it progressed into full on craziness! It was a hugely challenging space for me to shoot in (it was a squeeze with over 200 guests, most of whom were up and dancing) but it made for an amazing atmosphere. I have to give a HUGE shout-out to the band, Men in Black. I always love working with live bands, but these guys were something else. Absolutely phenomenal! Funny guys, too.
Thank you all for a sweet wedding and crazy party. I hope you’ve enjoyed the teasers!
Tags: butternut farm golf course, crazy dancing, reception, Wedding, Weddings
Posted by: Kate McElwee Photography | July 3rd, 2010
This final installment of Aldo and Kaitlin’s wedding might just be my favorite … these guys had such an awesome party! I started cocktail hour with some detail shots of the reception setup in the big tent at the Mountain Top Inn. I loved the fresh blues and greens, and the centerpieces were so pretty with the wrapped leaves:
The rain finally cleared and everyone spilled out onto the patio. I am loving the shot of Aldo and all his cousins – they were giving me their best “crazy”.
We moved back into the tent for dinner, and Kaitlin and Aldo went straight into their first dance:
Toasts were held both before and after dinner, and Aldo’s aunt did an awesome performance for them too:
The parent dances started so sweetly and ended with crazy dance moves – love it!
From there we went straight into a raucous dance party. DJ Nate Oinonen was fantastic – he kept the party building throughout the night (and he’s also such a great guy to work with – I highly recommend meeting with him if you haven’t booked your DJ yet!)
There’s a Dominican wedding tradition of bringing out some kind of fun surprise during the party … in this case crazy foam hats, huge glasses, glowing shot glasses, noisemakers and more. I was in HEAVEN! It elevated the reception into the most spectacular party I’ve ever attended! I can’t even begin to explain how much fun this was to photograph … hopefully the photos convey a little of the amazing atmosphere in the tent that night.
Huge thanks to Kaitlin, Aldo, and their wonderful families for bringing me out to Vermont and for showing me such a good time. I hope you’ve enjoyed the teasers!
Tags: crazy dancing, dominican wedding party, mountain top inn, reception, vermont wedding photographer, Weddings
