The Wedding and The Revelry

From the desk of: Phoebe Allen

I wish you could fully understand the joy I feel going through the recently received album from Becca and Keith’s wedding… in one word full hearted (I know I know, that was two words) but let me back up and explain how we got here.

B + K came to us on March 1st 2020…yes, just 12 days before Boston shut down for quarantine. I had the opportunity to meet this blushing bride-to-be and her charming groom, just 1 time before it was one dimensional zoom meetings...speaking from little boxes, Brady-bunch style, that lit up in yellow each time one of us spoke. We met by zoom with one another every other week and the first decision to make was going to set the tone for the entire celebration - it was the venue. With great imagination and creativity, they landed on the historic site of the Liberty Hotel in the heart of Beacon Hill. The building was completed in 1851 and was the original site of the Charles Street Jail, and uniquely converted in 2007 to one of Boston’s premier hotel properties in all of Boston. The next step was vendor selections. In our line of work, the best outcomes are derived when a great trust is built between our wedding couple and us. We are hear to listen, to understand what’s important, to read in between the lines and help fill in the blanks, collaborate, elevate and suggest new ideas with the partnership from trusted vendors (we often call them “friendors” actually, because they are so integral to what we do, day in and day out, and we often speak with them, more frequently than our own family members). For this wedding, B+K did not have this one big vision we had to bring to life, it was more of a methodical and evolving process in which we collaborated on each decision bringing the overall vision into greater focus.

After the venue was locked in, the feel for the event began taking shape through color tones. First up was theme and colors, like I said, there was not one specific vision the couple had, it was more of a guided process to get there. We knew they gravitated towards blue and pink tones but, not in the playful child-like tones of baby blue and bubble gum pink, but a more modern twist to the hues where they can complement each other with a mature and unforgettable elegance. We collaborated with the team at Gus & Ruby to design multiple pieces for their invitation suite. My personal favorite to the customized suite was the “we’ll meet you in the city” printed in script on the outside flap of the RSVP envelope.

With the invitation in progress at the printers, it was time to assemble the dream team of vendors/“friendors" - the ones who will execute our ideas and bring things to life, like how Mister Geppetto did for Pinocchio. Flavio DeBarros was first up, getting him secured as our photographer, then came our florist, Boston Pollen and Suzanne B Lowell to create the most magical ambience through lighting the space. Truly, my favorite part about my job is gathering the team of vendors. In doing so, we think carefully about 3 key components - aesthetic: who has the right design sense for the particular project, personalities: who will mesh well with our couple and of course budget: no matter the size, scale or scope of a wedding, from $5,000.00 - $500,000.00, there is always a budget to follow. As you can tell from the photos below… we succeeded in our mission.

As you can see, the Liberty Hotel was the perfect venue and of course the food was delicious and the flowers were gorgeous…and as both a foodie and someone who adores flowers, far be it from me to take anything away from how amazing these elements of the wedding were…but I must report on the party, not just the party, but more specifically the dancing. No, not just any dancing… the best dancing I have ever seen at any wedding EVER. The night began with all the standard fare...the first dance, father/daughter and mother/son dances and the welcome speech…. but then we had a surprise dance. The couple wanted to reenact the Dirty Dancing scene, the lift!! When we first heard of this idea, I was so beyond impressed that this was about to happen but I learned soon after, the lift was going to be a giant fake out to get all the guests hyped up and on the dance floor. The moment came, the DJ cleared the dance floor for B + K to perform the entire final scene right out of the movie, the room was screaming so loud for them, every phone was out recording this dance and then the lift came and she dove into the air (giant fake out I might add) but the crowd still went wild. It was the perfect beginning to the best dance party. When I tell you guests never sat down, I’m saying the guests danced from 8:30PM-11:30PM - that's a 3 hour dance set!! The groom had to take a mid party shower because he danced so hard.

So yes, you could say it was an amazing night :)

All vendor tags are below!