Some of my favorite photographs from this resort architectural shoot are below. The hotel truly defined modern glamour. The resort had the most perfectly manicured grounds, and well-appointed villas and suites designed by celebrity interior designer Kelly Wearstler. Sunrise reflecting on the San Jacinto Mountains is something worth waking up for.

These photographs may not be reproduced without permission.

Reasons why their wedding is going to rock:

They are such a fun couple to work with!
They have a super cool dog that they say is blue.
Their wedding is at Gallery 1028, one of my favorite Chicago wedding venues.
and Calihan Catering…… mmmmmm.
They will have Style Matters to DJ their reception.

For their shoot, some DIY props such as cutouts of their first intials and a heart were made.

COMMENTS

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

A recent bride and I had a conversation about the old poem that everyone gathers items for the wedding day. I always see the old, new, and blue, but rarely photograph the silver sixpence. If you would like to add a vintage sixpence for your wedding day they aren’t that difficult to get. Having personally spent a fair amount of time in England myself, I know that they no longer mint the original sixpence. They stopped minting it in 1967, the summer of love. Can you imagine? The coin was made of real silver and worth six pennies. The items in the poem represent a good luck tokens for the bride.   With the sixpence, it goes in the bride’s shoe representing financial security and wealth, and is supposed to be placed in the left shoe. I did a little research and found that you can buy an actual hand polished vintage Queen Elizabeth II sixpence coin dated between 1953 and 1967 for under 8 bucks here.

Here is a little video from their recent journey, congrats ladies!!!!

When I was working as an architectural photographer some years ago, I hired the bride Claire, as my intern and we became great friends. She had just moved to this country and hit the ground running as an interior designer. I witnessed Claire and Andrew’s relationship from the beginnings, and saw their happiness grow. Over the years, I have met some of Claire’s closest friends and family from Taiwan and Canada. When Claire and Andrew got engaged, they wanted to find a wedding venue at a memorable destination which families from afar would truly appreciate. As a wedding vendor, I was asked many questions by the bride in relation to wedding advice and planning, and at some point I was hired to be her wedding photographer. I was excited and to be honest, a bit nervous!

On Claire’s wedding day, I arrived at the mansion finding my way up winding stairs to her bridal suite. The room had great big windows, and having a room to get ready with great natural light is essential on the wedding day. This not only is something a wedding photographer loves, but a makeup artist has an easy time working with the right colors for the bride.

For the wedding the bride and groom chose Tiffany blue and orange for their colors. Claire is an interior designer and fine art painter and has a great sense of style. She printed some DIY wedding invitations and menus, and applied stamping and cutting by hand. The guys wore black Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars and the ladies wore matching blue bridesmaid dresses and carried orange and blue bouquets.

When it came to making sure my good friends had the best Boston area DJ for their wedding, I recommended that they enlist Beat Train Productions. As a Boston wedding photographer, I hear a lot of great music, and a lot of not-so-great music, so I didn’t want Claire and Andrew to be stuck with any old DJ. As you can imagine, similar to wedding photographers, Djs can span a whole spectrum from great to cheesy. Just like Beat Train did for Karen & Robbie’s barn wedding (which will be published in an upcoming issue of The Knot Magazine) and Mary & Steve’s coastal maritime wedding, they kept the guests dancing non-stop. Without any hesitation, if you ask me who the best Boston wedding DJ is, I am going to say Beat Train. All of my clients above will agree hands down. I also just learned that Beat Train is expanding to New York City with select dates available. My guess is that a lot of Boston area brides and grooms might have their weddings back “home” in NYC/Brooklyn and want to meet their DJ before the wedding.

During the outdoor summer ceremony overlooking the ocean, Claire and Andrew exchanged vows amidst perfect weather.They incorporated unity sand into their wedding ceremony with sand from various significant locations. Being that their destination wedding was in Newport, there were plenty of sailboats that afternoon.Claire’s father who speaks Mandarin Chinese, made a toast which was his first speech in English. He did a great job with no mixups and happily welcomed Andrew into their family. Claire’s sister Claris came all the way from Taipei to share such a happy occasion with her sister.Andrew’s father also gave a toast to the newlyweds.Both Andrew and Claire were ecstatic on their wedding day and their smiles were contagious to everyone in the room at their reception.As an asian bride, Claire integrated Chinese tradition by changing into a qipao. The bridesmaids changed into red qipao, while the bride blended eastern and western tradition, choosing a white qipao.The cake was perfect for a destination wedding, using a beach theme integrating shells and adirondack chairs.

COMMENTS

Alexa had ordered a personalized and custom made hanger for her wedding gown. As of this posting, I believe there is an 8-10 week waiting list on the LilaFrances hangers.
The bride and bridesmaids wore Jack Rogers Navajo leather resort sandals, which worked great for the outdoor summer theme and complimented their navy blue Priscilla of Boston bridesmaid dresses.
The groom and groomsmen wore custom made light green neckties from Etsy seller Tux and Tulle. The guys got ready in a room that had a set of antique vintage keys, probably to open the doors of all fifty nine rooms in the mansion.Perfect for a seaside summer wedding, navy blue and white letterpress invitations were made locally in Massachusetts by Blush Design Studio. The rehearsal invite on the right with the lobster are from Kate Spade.Alexa and Andrew had such a modern color palette of navy, hot pink, and celery green. Bella Floral Design worked with their contemporary colors to create a casual luxury atmosphere. I know from talking to the bride before her wedding day, that she and Andrew were working hard together on many DIY wedding decorations to complete the look of their big day.The mother of the groom made these fun table overlays!The bride and groom were each in a sorority and fraternity and this was incorporated into the bridal bouquet. One of my favorite decorations from the wedding was the pinwheel theme. Guests found their name and table number on the colorful pinwheels which were arranged in a tray of white sand.Alexa made a pink and white houndstooth card box complete with a navy blue bow.Rather than use a traditional guestbook, the newlyweds invited their friends and family to add wishes, predictions, and words of advice on note cars which were pinned onto vibrant DIY frame cork boards.Before their multicultural Jewish and Christian wedding ceremony, the bride and groom had their ketubah signing amongst close loved ones.

Guests were seated for the wedding ceremony in anticipation of the beautiful bride.
Alexa was walked down the aisle by her parents. She wore a Watters and Watters San Miguel wedding gown.The day could not have been more perfect. I anticipated hot and humid weather but I was proven wrong and so happy for the best weather of the year.

The Italian rose garden is really a secret garden, it is surrounded by walls and sunken into the ground a bit. Surrounded by trees, it is one of the many locations for photography at the Crane Estate. The bridal party at this wedding wore blue dresses and beige suits, similar summery colors that you will find if you look at this link for some of my Nantucket wedding photography.I am a big fan of knowing what time the sun sets ahead of time, so that on a wedding day, if time permits, we can get photography with dreamy lighting.At the Crane Estate, there is a half-mile-long man-made Grand Allée grass lawn that provides sweeping views of the sea. You can’t really ask for a better wedding ceremony location in my opinion. The Grand Allée is framed by classical sculptures and Norway spruce and pine hedgerows. Grand in scale, it is modeled after the beautiful Italian and French gardens of Renaissance Europe, and is the only known landscape masterpiece of its kind still in existence in North America – and one of just a few remaining worldwide.The pinwheels were making appearances all day!Andrew and Alexa had menus artfully designed, with rounded corners, signature colors, and fonts to match the atmosphere of their wedding.After an indoor dinner, the party continued on the patio overlooking the sea, where Alexa and Andrew cut their cake. The first dance and parent dances as the sun was setting were about as magical as you can imagine.Following the dances, there was a brief hora dance. Its one of the main reasons I love photographing Jewish weddings.The Boston area band at the wedding was called The Return. This shot of the venue at night was hand-held. Every photo in this set was taken with available light. I enjoy the challenge of photographing in low-light venues. As the sun went down, this wedding reminded me of destination weddings held on the beach, because it had the same challenge of photographing outdoors under a night sky with little light available.

Ceremony Venue: Crane Estate at Castle Hill, Ispwich, MA
Reception Venue: Crane Estate at Castle Hill, Ispwich, MA (capacity 200 guests)
Caterer: Swartz Catering
Officiant: Rabbi Judy Epstein and Father Bill Nesbit
Wedding Photographer: Heather Parker Photography
Wedding Band/Entertainment- The Return
Ceremony music Siman Entertainment
Wedding Florist: Bella Floral Design
Wedding Gown: Watters and Watters San Miguel
Bridal Boutique: Aisle Style, Elmhurst, IL
Custom wedding gown hanger: LilaFrances
Brides/Bridesmaid Shoes: Jack Rogers
Bridesmaid Dresses: Priscilla of Boston
Suits: JoS. A. Bank
Ties: Tux and Tulle (Etsy)
Invitations: Blush Design Studio
Rehearsal Dinner Invitations: Kate Spade
Day of Coordinator (DOC)-Jennifer Potter, Dot your i’s
Table squares/overlays- Groom’s mother
Chuppah: BZ Sustainable Style, the Bride’s mother’s company
Brides Clutch: BZ Sustainable Style, the Bride’s mother’s company

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