Joyelle West Photography

Katharine & Michael at Tower Hill Botanic Garden

west — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:41:22 +0000

I have a ton in common with Katharine and Mike – we love exploring, we love farms, we love the Red Sox, we love Indian food – so I figured that I would pretty much love their wedding as well, and I was right.

Karen & Alejandro at Elm Bank

west — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:17:46 +0000

These two are troopers! Despite Alejandro’s hectic work schedule, and Karen caring for their 5-month old, they managed to squeeze in an early morning weekday engagement session at the beautiful Elm Bank in Wellesley. They brought their baby and a babysitter in tow and didn’t mind photographing right through the rain. We ended up with the softest light ever, which was so sweet and lovely, perfect for a laid-back garden shoot. Can’t wait for their Boston wedding (which is coming up soon!!) at Ginger Park in the South End.

Jennifer & Mark at the Boston Athenaeum

west — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:43:57 +0000

Jennifer and Mark love literature, art, history and architecture, so where better to do their engagement session than the Boston Athenaeum. The Boston Athenaeum is a private library, but Jennifer and Mark are members. Even so, we had to be pretty stealthy when photographing, finding little hidden corners and places where there weren’t authors huddled over manuscripts, seriously working on their next novels. Can’t wait for their wedding in a few weeks at the Codman Estate.

Caitlin & Richie at the Willowdale Estate

west — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:43:48 +0000

I always love when I have photographed a couple and then I get the chance to photograph one of their siblings. I start to feel like a member of the family, like a cousin who gets to attend all the weddings. This is how it was with Caitlin and Richie, I had photographed Caitlin’s sister Meghan’s wedding a few years ago. Thanks for having me there guys, it was great to hang out with everyone again!

Location: Willowdale Estate

Flowers: Les Fleurs

Band: Hush

Annie & Gopal at the Intercontinental Boston

west — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:19:24 +0000

Annie and Gopal’s gorgeous half-Hindu, half-Jewish wedding was held on the waterfront at the Intercontinental Boston. The weather was postcard-perfect, the colors were vibrant, Annie and Gopal are totally in love, and their friends and family had a rip-roaring party.

Coordination: Desi-gn

Flowers: Spruce Floral

Uplighting: Boston Uplights

Annie’s Henna: Henna by Heather

While Annie and the women were finishing getting ready, Gopal was outside having his baraat, a marriage procession in which he is welcomed by the bride’s family.

The Hindu ceremony was held first, followed by the Jewish ceremony.

Mary Beth & Susan’s Boston wedding

west — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:46:59 +0000

I always love intimate and personal weddings, and Mary Beth and Susan’s wedding was exactly that. Surrounded by close family members and friends, they were married at Arlington Street Church, and then had their reception at the totally fabulous blu restaurant in downtown Boston.

After the ceremony, everyone walked over to blu,where the cocktail hour was on the terrace and had this amazing view.

We went down to the restaurant for dinner, and the space was simply amazing. A huge bank of windows is basically a photographer’s dream.

Everyone was having a seriously good time.

I was obsessed with this view.

I love these portraits of Mary Beth and Susan, lit only by candlelight and twilight.

Liz & Alex at the Taj Boston

west — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:31:42 +0000

While Liz and Alex’s city wedding in Boston at The Taj was lovely and elegant, their reception was all about the music. Being a musician himself, Alex knew exactly what he wanted for his wedding: for his favorite band The Slackers to perform. As fate would have it, their international tour schedule had them in the area. Their combination of ska, reggae, and rock kept the party going actually long past it was supposed to, and the guests wildly entertained.

The band’s playlist for the evening, on the right:

Katharine & Mike at Fenway Park and Castle Island

west — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:56:49 +0000

Kristie & Simon at The Castle

west — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:19:39 +0000

Kristie was in New York, Simon was in France. They met in Paris, fell in love, and now are sharing their life together in Brooklyn. But in between they had a fabulous half-American, half-French wedding at The Castle at BU.

Just before we left the hotel, the sky decided to open. Luckily, Kristie had a super cute rainbow umbrella with her.

The ceremony was held on the staircase at The Castle. Kristie and Simon picked The Castle because it reminded Simon of France.

The sun reappeared just before the ceremony, which created some beautiful back and side lighting.

Because half of the guests were French and half were American, everything during the ceremony was conducted first in English, then in French, by a bilingual Justice of the Peace.

In keeping with the “castle” theme, the seating cards were nametags attached to skeleton keys and ribbon.

Sayles Livingston did a gorgeous job with all of the flowers, using Kristie’s white-on-white theme. There were also vintage glasses and candles everywhere.

Their favors were flash cards that taught the guests French or English. A novel idea to spark conversation between the two families.

Rhonda & Mark at the Park Plaza – Part 2

west — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:55:25 +0000

This 12-hour wedding deserved two complete posts, so Part 2 picks up just after the ceremony!

Mark had a definite sense of the style they wanted for the reception. With the help of Emilie from Pink Orchid, as well as flowers from blueGuava and lighting from ALPS, the reception became like a spring forest, complete with flowering branches and projected shadows of trees on the walls.

Mark wanted a true focus on documentary coverage, so we only did candids of the two of them during the day. Not a single posed photo! A definite departure from the norm, but it allowed me to really focus on candids of the couple, such as at their first dance:

The parent dances were especially moving.

DJ Kristin Korpos did a phenomenal job with the music – she kept the dance floor packed all night!