Gatsby-Inspired Boston Wedding
As a proud Bostonian, I get a little extra giddy every time a bride selects the city as her wedding day backdrop. And for this Art Deco glam affair, Boston's State Room couldn't have been a more stunning choice. Thanks to a few choice vendors (looking at you, READYLUCK and Winston Flowers) Laura and Michael's Big Day turned out anything but ordinary.
From the Bride... Our focus in planning the wedding day was to ensure our friends and family enjoyed themselves from start to finish and that it be as far from typical, boring and cookie-cutter as possible (although I do have a wonderful cookie cutter collection). The Roaring 20s, Art Deco and Great Gatsby inspired our stylistic choices.
Some of our favorite moments were the cameo performances throughout the evening. We loved sitting together as a couple and taking in our guests in their period attire while we were entertained by musicians, actors, burlesque dancing, or partaking in the performances ourselves.
Guests arrived via Trolley and vintage Rolls Royce and were only granted entry to our Speakeasy via password. Upon arrival they were welcomed with a glass of Blette's Bathtub Gin (our take on the delicious French 75). Flowers were purposely sparse, but Winston's set the scene with feathers, crystals, supper club lamps and huge palms. In place of bouquets, ladies wore wristlets and the men sported Nucky Thompson inspired carnations. The ceremony stayed true to theme featuring passages by F. Scott Fitzgerald and extra personal touches by Reverend Cheryl Kerr, former babysitter of the Bride.
The Groomsmen strolled in to Mack the Knife then escorted the Bridesmaids to Summer Wind. The ceremony music was especially meaningful being performed by close friends of the couple, including the Bride's walk to Laura. Carte Blanche then solidified the transformation to a Retro club with their crooning vocals, violin and accordion features, complete with 20's style garb. In place of a wedding cake we partook in period treats, surprising everyone with a police raid after Hazel Honeysuckle had rendered the crowd speechless.
The Bride's acappella group, Spare Parts Vocal Band lamented that one Mint Julep was the cause of it all and guests topped off their evening dancing to Laura and the Lookouts. Bookmarks to commemorate donations to Boston's Run to Home Base Program in honor of the occasion were included in guests' choice of The Great Gatsby or the PDT Cocktail Book. In lieu of a wedding gift, guests were encouraged to make donations on Crowdrise to support families affected by breast cancer and GlobalGiving to facilitate the mutually beneficial pairing of shelter dogs with Veterans.
Bridesmaids flapper dresses were handmade by Melissa Marion of RagShop (Etsy find).
The Groom wore a Black Infinity Tuxedo by Calvin Klein as well as the ring featured by Leonardo DiCaprio in his role as Jay Gatsby. (Several other Tiffany Gatsby Collection pieces made guest appearances at the Leanza-Blette wedding).
Michael and I met in Mass and Boston has always been a place we've gone with friends and family and as a couple to celebrate. Michael first came across the State Room online. His father is trained as a chef and his younger brother spent a summer cooking at the Wychmere, Longwood's Cape Cod venue. Laura was charmed by the vintage gothic feel of Alden Castle which we settled on as a rehearsal dinner site. But from the moment you step foot in the ballroom at the State Room you realize there is no comparison to its breathtaking view of the City and harbor. It was the perfect location for a Speakeasy in the sky. (Laura is known to be cursed by acts of nature, so it also seemed smartest to plan an indoor celebration.)
Lindsay and Kristian were truly a pleasure to work with! Lindsay's enthusiasm and experience kept us confident throughout the process and allowed us to focus our energy on other aspects of planning. Normal wedding stress, compounded by uncooperative weather, schedules running dangerously behind and less than accommodating staff members could have derailed the entire day, but Lindsay never missed a beat and ensured we had thoughtful, artistic renderings of our day to last a lifetime.
Everyone says the day goes by quickly, but this is a tremendous understatement! Be sure to savor every moment and allow yourself plenty of extra time for everything. Getting ready, organizing people and transportation will take longer than you think! Having someone you can really rely on to direct things will enable you to sit back and enjoy your special day.
Accept that there will be mishaps despite the best planning, but don't let it take away from the amazing experience! (My maid of honor couldn't make the trip from CA due to her husband's emergency surgery the week before). We decided to have a separate smaller church ceremony at an earlier date. This was more intimate and avoided moving 200+ guests between locations. While reducing anxiety, it did, however, result in confusion on the part of some guests and may have detracted from the "once in a lifetime day" feeling to a minor extent.
I spent countless hours working on a wedding website which was an excellent source of information for guests. However, you have to keep in mind the age and internet capability of your guests. Due to the size and location of our wedding we reserved blocks at three hotels. This was intended to accommodate as many guests as possible, but unfortunately created much more stress on our part and we still had many guests who waited until after the deadlines and had to scramble to find rooms elsewhere.
Some of our favorite moments were the cameo performances throughout the evening. We loved sitting together as a couple and taking in our guests in their period attire while we were entertained by musicians, actors, burlesque dancing, or partaking in the performances ourselves.
Guests arrived via Trolley and vintage Rolls Royce and were only granted entry to our Speakeasy via password. Upon arrival they were welcomed with a glass of Blette's Bathtub Gin (our take on the delicious French 75). Flowers were purposely sparse, but Winston's set the scene with feathers, crystals, supper club lamps and huge palms. In place of bouquets, ladies wore wristlets and the men sported Nucky Thompson inspired carnations. The ceremony stayed true to theme featuring passages by F. Scott Fitzgerald and extra personal touches by Reverend Cheryl Kerr, former babysitter of the Bride.
The Groomsmen strolled in to Mack the Knife then escorted the Bridesmaids to Summer Wind. The ceremony music was especially meaningful being performed by close friends of the couple, including the Bride's walk to Laura. Carte Blanche then solidified the transformation to a Retro club with their crooning vocals, violin and accordion features, complete with 20's style garb. In place of a wedding cake we partook in period treats, surprising everyone with a police raid after Hazel Honeysuckle had rendered the crowd speechless.
The Bride's acappella group, Spare Parts Vocal Band lamented that one Mint Julep was the cause of it all and guests topped off their evening dancing to Laura and the Lookouts. Bookmarks to commemorate donations to Boston's Run to Home Base Program in honor of the occasion were included in guests' choice of The Great Gatsby or the PDT Cocktail Book. In lieu of a wedding gift, guests were encouraged to make donations on Crowdrise to support families affected by breast cancer and GlobalGiving to facilitate the mutually beneficial pairing of shelter dogs with Veterans.
Bridesmaids flapper dresses were handmade by Melissa Marion of RagShop (Etsy find).
The Groom wore a Black Infinity Tuxedo by Calvin Klein as well as the ring featured by Leonardo DiCaprio in his role as Jay Gatsby. (Several other Tiffany Gatsby Collection pieces made guest appearances at the Leanza-Blette wedding).
Michael and I met in Mass and Boston has always been a place we've gone with friends and family and as a couple to celebrate. Michael first came across the State Room online. His father is trained as a chef and his younger brother spent a summer cooking at the Wychmere, Longwood's Cape Cod venue. Laura was charmed by the vintage gothic feel of Alden Castle which we settled on as a rehearsal dinner site. But from the moment you step foot in the ballroom at the State Room you realize there is no comparison to its breathtaking view of the City and harbor. It was the perfect location for a Speakeasy in the sky. (Laura is known to be cursed by acts of nature, so it also seemed smartest to plan an indoor celebration.)
Lindsay and Kristian were truly a pleasure to work with! Lindsay's enthusiasm and experience kept us confident throughout the process and allowed us to focus our energy on other aspects of planning. Normal wedding stress, compounded by uncooperative weather, schedules running dangerously behind and less than accommodating staff members could have derailed the entire day, but Lindsay never missed a beat and ensured we had thoughtful, artistic renderings of our day to last a lifetime.
Everyone says the day goes by quickly, but this is a tremendous understatement! Be sure to savor every moment and allow yourself plenty of extra time for everything. Getting ready, organizing people and transportation will take longer than you think! Having someone you can really rely on to direct things will enable you to sit back and enjoy your special day.
Accept that there will be mishaps despite the best planning, but don't let it take away from the amazing experience! (My maid of honor couldn't make the trip from CA due to her husband's emergency surgery the week before). We decided to have a separate smaller church ceremony at an earlier date. This was more intimate and avoided moving 200+ guests between locations. While reducing anxiety, it did, however, result in confusion on the part of some guests and may have detracted from the "once in a lifetime day" feeling to a minor extent.
I spent countless hours working on a wedding website which was an excellent source of information for guests. However, you have to keep in mind the age and internet capability of your guests. Due to the size and location of our wedding we reserved blocks at three hotels. This was intended to accommodate as many guests as possible, but unfortunately created much more stress on our part and we still had many guests who waited until after the deadlines and had to scramble to find rooms elsewhere.