Classic Wedding at the Boston Public Library

Gabrielle Hurwitz
February 12, 2016
Categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance
Tags: Romantic

If a Public Library is good enough for Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City,” it’s definitely good enough for me. And this Boston Public Library is so good. For starters, there’s the Bride’s gorgeous Vera Wang gown and beautiful invitations from Paper Moss. Then there’s the personal touches like moonshine and bourbon to honor the couple’s West Virginia and Kentucky roots. I could go on, but I’ll stop myself because you can see it all from Joyelle West Photography in The Vault!

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From The Bride…When planning our wedding, we focused on food, family, and friends. Since our wedding took place over a three-day weekend we invited all of our guests to enjoy drinks and food at The Gallows. Working with The Gallows restaurant, we were able to coordinate an unbelievable and intimate family style dinner for our wedding party with hor d’oeuvres and drinks for all of our guests to end the night. It allowed us to spend more time with our guests and kicked off our wedding weekend. Most of our guests traveled to Boston for the wedding, so we made sure guests gift bags included a custom map highlighting where our events were taking place as well as classic Boston attractions. We also had a custom travel journal made by a vendor I found on Etsy, Cara of Print Stitch and Paste, who crafted several personalized pieces for our wedding.

Although the wedding took place in Boston, we wanted to pay tribute to our respective home states. Bobby is originally from West Virginia, and I spent the majority of my life in Kentucky, so including nips of moonshine and bourbon was a fun way to pay tribute. We also included chocolate from Hotel Chocolat because Bobby proposed during our stay at Bouchon, their chocolate plantation and resort in St. Lucia.

The ceremony was held at the Cathedral of Holy Cross. As guests entered the cathedral they were handed programs designed by the talented Lisa Hedge of Venamour, who also designed our gorgeous wedding menu and table numbers. Afterwards guests were transported to the Boston Public Library where the reception was held. As guests entered the library, they made their way to the beautiful courtyard where they were greeted by a jazz quartet as they enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres. For dinner guests were escorted upstairs to Bates Hall where the jazz ensemble continued playing throughout dinner. As guests entered Bates Hall they passed by the wedding cake, which featured a detailed custom cake topper designed by Concarta.

Going back to our roots, we also incorporated ramps onto the menu, a local West Virginia specialty that luckily was in season, and Graeter’s ice cream, a favorite from my upbringing. We also had charcuterie on the tables when the guests arrived so that guests had something to nibble on as they waited on each course. The sides were served family style, which gave the meal a communal and familial feel. We wanted the guests to enjoy the ritual of passing the dishes around the table and the conversation that inevitably flows. After dinner we danced the night away with our guests. At our request, the band ended the night with all the guests in a giant circle singing Country Roads, another homage to Bobby’s home state. As guests left we gave them a custom cookbook crated by May Designs that held some of our favorite recipes. The next morning, before most guests caught their flights, we held a recovery brunch at XV Beacon to conclude the weekend.