Feeling right at home - The City Hall Elopement of Stephanie and Jeannine
Stephanie and Jeannine had a City Hall Elopement at Boston City Hall on September 13, 2013.
I take elopements very seriously for a few reasons. First, is they are super intimate. They usually have few to zero guests and there is something so special about that. Second, when I'm asked to photograph an elopement I'm not only capturing the day but I get to serve as the witness as well. I don't take this lightly whatsoever. It's an honor & a privilege. I love doing them.
They usually start by a simple phone call and they are almost always last minute. My favorite ones are the couples that find me via the internet and are planning to come here from a far away place. For example....Alaska! Yup, this elopement included two fantastic women, Stephanie and Jeannine, who came all the way from Anchorage to enjoy the rights that same sex couples have here in Massachusetts. So on September 13th I met these two wonderful ladies for a small fall wedding.
Stephanie and Jeannine had me meet them at a condo they rented in Roxbury. We took some shots there and then a stretch limo showed up to whisk us to City Hall for our 2pm appointment. We made a little pit stop at a small flower shop down the street from Government Center so the ladies could pick up their flowers. When I spoke to them on the phone prior to meeting them they informed me that they weren't the couple who was all into "PDA". I said "No worries, you just be you". But something happened as we walked downtown to take photos. The people of Boston welcomed Steph and Jeannine and congratulated them because it was kind of obvious that they were getting married. Everyone, and I mean everyone, young and old, were coming up to them. "Are you getting married?", "Wow, you both look so great!", "Congratulations you two! That is awesome!" At first they were kind of surprised, but after a while, Jeannine and Stephanie came out of their shell. You could see they felt safe and slowly began to walk hand and hand. It was fantastic.
After the brief but powerful ceremony, we did some formals around Government Center and then we had to bolt back to their rental because they had Red Sox tickets! They are MAJOR Red Sox fans. So they suited up and I offered them a ride to Fenway in my sexy minivan. But not before recommending that they stop at the Eastern Standard for some great food and drink before the game. I dropped them off and headed home thinking I may never see them again.
Then a funny thing happened. The Red Sox started winning.... a lot! Later that fall, I was doing my thing at home when I received a series of texts. It was Stephanie and Jeannie informing me that they were coming to Boston for the American League Championship Series! They wanted to know if I was going to the game. I thought, "Yeah right, there is no way I'm gonna get tickets to that series". But by the end of the day, I got a text from my husband "Get a sitter, we are going to the game!" So guess who I got to see during the game? Yup! That's me and them in the last picture. The whole time they kept saying "You have to to come with your kids and husband and visit us in Alaska". But you know what? I have this very strange feeling they will be moving here way before I can get my butt over to Alaska. And if that happens, you better believe I will be going to Sox games with this couple! Whoop Whoop!