Mel+Marc | Log Cabin at Phillips Academy | Wedding

Featured, Weddings

This one is going to be a long one! Get a drink or a snack and get ready. It’s been on my to do list to catch up on blogging our weddings & sessions from last season. I figured I’d start with this one wedding since it’s close to my heart as it’s the wedding of my twin sister (twister). Mel and Marc made it official this past September. Drew & I were honored to photograph it…even if we were a little crazy to tackle it. While there were some stressful moments & it was a lot of work, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We still got to have fun & dance with everyone who came together to celebrate Mel+Marc! Thank you to everyone who helped out with our kids while we were shooting. Penelope was held & cared for by so many loving people that night.

We started the day off at Eyeful Beauty for Hair and Makeup. Nikki does our (Mel & I) hair regularly so it was a no brainer. Thankfully Mel+Marc live a 3 minute walk away so it wasn’t out of the way at all. Prue, our mom & even Marc also got their hair looking sharp at the salon. After hair and makeup was done we all went back to their apartment to get ready. The original plan was to take photos in Downtown Lowell at this point before the ceremony, but the weather had other plans and it was raining most of the morning. We adjusted the plan and decided to take photos in Lowell another day when the weather was nicer. The high ceilings at Mel+Marc’s place meant we could hang her Casablanca Bridal gown up nice and easy.

Full disclaimer, since it is my twister, I might be a little biased, but I love that Mel went with a colored engagement ring. She did some research on Etsy and found a great indie jewelry designer for her ring. Her center stone is a blue green moisannite ring from PenelliBelle. Marc’s wedding ring is also from an indie jeweler, Sutton Smithworks.

We all headed over to the log cabin to get all the final details ready. Getting dressed on site at the venue was a whirlwind with the last minute adjustments due to the weather clearing up. It was totally worth it though because it meant Mel+Marc got to have the ceremony outside like they wanted to.

Marc and Beck walked down together and it put me right over the edge of crying. I thankfully kept it together and was able to shoot through it. Prue looked so grown up and took her job as best little lady very seriously. Mel opted to have our parent’s walk her down the aisle part of the way and then proceeded to the end all by herself. She liked how it showed her independence and that she was entering into this marriage strong but still with the support of her family and friends.   I had to get in a quick hug before she made it all the way down the aisle!
Our good friend Alicia officiated the wedding. It was very sweet of her & the ceremony was a perfect representation of Mel and Marc. Alicia worked with them to create a personalized ceremony. Beck took a break during the ceremony to do some hammering…like you do. As only Beck can do he found a hammer left out from setting up the ceremony site. He then proceeded to hammer away during part of the ceremony. It’ll will be the thing we talk about when he is an adult (along with many other things, I’m sure). Thank goodness Auntie Mel & Uncle Marc love him as much as they do & could laugh about it. Alicia did a good job of redirecting Beck and getting him to stop hammering! Finally I was able to also get Beck’s attention and he decided to hold Uncle Marc’s hand for a bit. Prue did a great job as the best little lady, holding Auntie Mel’s bouquet as well as the rings…we knew we couldn’t trust Beck with that job.   One of my favorite details of the day was Mel’s hairpieces. Melissa is of Greek origin and means honeybee. Mel found a lovely Bee comb and some floral combs that complimented it. It’s a subtle detail, but I love that it’s very personalized. Another moment where we will talk about Beck for years to come. He decided at the end of the ceremony that he’d prefer to run ahead of Mel+Marc. He’s lucky he’s such a cutie with his little smirk.   Guests got to enjoy cocktail hour enjoying drinks on the patio and then moved into the cabin for dinner. Mel+Marc used some of the rectangular tables on site and rented additional round tables, which created a relaxed mix and match feel to the reception. Mel collected milk glass (She had some from our Grandmother already) and we created centerpieces of mixed flowers and yarn pom poms. Mel loves to knit and crochet and wanted to showcase lots of different fibers. Everyone got a mason jar as their cup for the evening & as their favor. Mel had name tags to place on the cups so it was easy to keep track of your cup. Mel also got coozie’s for all the guests. She is obsessed with coozies and has a nice collection of them.   We made the felt flower bouquets & felt boutonnieres (with lego mini figures) as well. It was lots of work, but totally worth it in the end. Our mom made their wedding cake…they owned a bakery when we were little so it was a perfect task for her. Mel wanted the cake to be simple (but delicious…the cake was 2 flavors, cinnamon bun & blackberry mascarpone). They were both so yummy, it was hard to choose a favorite flavor. The best part of our Mom making the cake is we can request she make these flavors whenever. Marc loves legos so they were included throughout the wedding. The table numbers were made out of legos & their cake topper were made from lego mini figures designed to look like Mel+Marc.   We took some time during cocktail hour to do family portraits and then some quick portraits of Mel+Marc. Thankfully our friend Jess is pretty handy with a camera so Drew and I were able to hop into some of the photos! THANK YOU JESS!!!
Beck and Marc had on matching socks…thanks to the brand Pair of Thieves and their “Father/Son sock sets” You can also see the mini figures in each of their boutonnieres. Beck had Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. Marc had the Ninja Turtle, Raphael & Drew had Batman. Lots of thought was put into which mini figure everyone was going to get! Our daughter Prue and our cousin Alec had fun peeking through the window during portraits. After introductions and their first dance was over it was time to head outside to order dinner from Clover’s food truck. Mel+Marc LOVE Clover!! I think this was the first detail they had planned for the wedding. Mel wanted to eat a delicious chickpea fritter sandwich with some rosemary french fries. They wanted a vegetarian reception and while some guests might have been a little hesitant initially, since it was out of the norm for them, I heard so many guests raving about how yummy dinner was. It was really cool to have the food truck drive right up to the back of the Cabin and for everyone to be able to order exactly what they wanted.   After dinner the dance floor was opened and I don’t think it was ever empty. This is always my favorite part of any wedding day and at this point I was ready to DANCE. Lori D, who is a fabulous DJ, did a great job reading the crowd and playing music that Mel & Marc really love.   I danced with my camera, but also took some breaks to just bust a move. I also made sure we had a good old fashion soul train line…because who doesn’t love a soul train dance line?!
Some late night lego building happened with Stacy using the table numbers to create something new just for Marc! We set up a little area for portraits throughout the night. It was a fun spot to grab friends and family throughout the night for photos.
Here are just a few of the lovely people who helped hold Penelope throughout the night. Shout out to our brother Chris who held Pen during the ceremony when she started crying seconds before it started. He took one for the team! Also there were many who help Pen that I didn’t get photos of, she was loved on by so many. It takes a village, people!!

I mentioned before, we planned to take photos around Lowell on their wedding day, but due to the rain in the morning we weren’t able too. It worked out 2 days after the wedding, we had a gorgeous day and they were able to get all done up again. We started at their condo on Middle Street since it’s such a pretty location and right outside their front door!

Then we took a quick drive over behind the Tsongas Arena where there is this gorgeous canal location with these lovely willow trees. I could honestly shoot in the area every single day. I think it’s just amazing and offers so much variety. Next we walked a little bit closer to the Merrimack River. Are you kidding me with this sweet little area? I need to research what it was originally. I am sure there is some reason based on the history of Lowell being a mill city that this exists. I’m sure our Dad knows…he’s a history teacher in Lawrence. DAD?! What was this area before?! We then hit up the area overlooking the Merrimack river for a few photos. Again, such a gorgeous location. It’s true what they say, there is a lot to like about Lowell 😉 A quick photo with another piece of history for Lowell. This building has been rehabbed into apartment buildings. Again, this is a time for my Dad to come in and educate us all with a history lesson. From some quick googling (I’m sure I learned all of this in school growing up in Lowell, I just don’t remember it all). The Lawrence Manufacturing Co was one of the many mills in the area due to the Pawtucket Falls further up the Merrimack. The mill along with many others in the city hired thousands of Mill Girls to produce the textiles they made. You can read more about it here, if you are interested. Next we decided this was a good spot to use the smoke bomb I bought. It’s something I wanted to experiment with and I figured what better people then these two. We bought two so we had a practice one to see how it reacted. Mel was a little chilly so she was trying to stay warm while Marc figured out the smoke bomb. Next we were off running back to the car to hit up the garage near Boarding House park for some photos at the top of it. We’ve done photos up here a few other times with other couples, so we knew we liked the vantage point it provided. We were trying to beat the sunset that was quickly approaching. These candy colored sky moon shots are some of my favorites from their wedding! Mel and Marc were definitely troopers while we made them run all over Downtown Lowell for photos. We spent about 2 hours running around and taking photos this day!

AHH, you made it all the way to the end! Thanks for sticking through to the end of what is probably the longest blog post to date. Below are all the details for all the amazing vendors that helped make Mel+Marc’s day as wonderful as it was. Special shout out too all the family and friends who helped pull it all together the day before the wedding during set up time & then also during clean up time the day after the wedding. I know Mel and Marc have personally thanked everyone involved, but I also want to thank you for all your help!!

xoxo Amanda

Venue: Log Cabin at Phillips Academy

Bouquets: Felt Bouquets & Bouts by Mel & I

Floral Centerpieces: Arranged by us with flowers from Fifty Flowers

Officiant: Alicia Greenwood

Bridal Dress Designer: Casablanca Bridal Style 2267

Bridal Boutique: Chantilly Place

Caterer: Clover Food Lab

Hair Stylist: Nikki @ Eyeful Beauty

Makeup Artist: Nikki @ Eyeful Beauty

DJ: Lori D

Photographers: Mr+MrsDrew Photography