Joyful Jewish Wedding at the Mansion On Turner Hill in Ipswich, MA

This gorgeous Jewish wedding was a turning point in my life – and I don’t say that lightly. I debated even writing this post at all since it’s been years since this wedding and this couple had such an impact on me in some of my darkest hours…

But how can I not share something that made a difference in how I view love?

Lauren had seen the wedding photos I took at a classmate’s wedding the year before and reached out to me straight away because she wanted the type of genuine emotions she saw in those photos to be what she could see for the rest of her life in her photos. I met up with Lauren and Chet on a chilly day in Boston for their engagement session and we just connected. There was a joy for life and each other that existed between them that no one could disrupt and it was breathtaking. I began counting down the days until their wedding.

And then 2017 hit me, and it hit me hard – bulldozer and backhoe through a gorgeous Victorian home then doused in gasoline and set ablaze kinda hard. The months of September and October were a blur for me as I questioned my worth, my identity, my purpose and the very meaning of love. Lauren & Chet’s wedding was my last wedding of that season and I arrived onsite a cracking, hollow version of myself that felt ready to crumble at any given moment. I felt like a mere echo of life.

And then I saw love in a way I felt I had never seen before.

Lauren is the spice of life encapsulated into this tiny vibrant body. She greeted me in a cookie monster onesie in the gorgeous Mansion on Turner Hill absolutely beaming. Chet is the exclamation point to everything that deserves celebration – even small things that others may overlook. The two of them are an unstoppable pair. The way they looked at each other, adored each other, enjoyed each other, supported each other… There was something different I hadn’t seen or experienced quite like this – and they made me feel a part of the magic that was there.

There was just something about the way they gravitated to their differences as empowerment and how they beamed with pride for each other’s accomplishments and genuinely were their true selves with one another without a care in the world… I just had this overwhelming feeling that this is what it was supposed to look like and feel like when you love the right person. I felt like I hadn’t seen this exist, or maybe I had been blind to it for so long. I wasn’t able to process it all as it happened, but I still look back to this day and I know…

This was the day that hope wrapped its fingers around the last bits of my heart that believed in the existence of real, genuine love in this world – and it never let go.

So here we are, four years down the road. I have photographed more weddings with Lauren & Chet in attendance and relished in every bit of the presence of their joy. Lauren & Chet have celebrated moves and job changes and home ownership and receiving their respective PhDs. I’ve healed and grown and become more joyful and hopeful – and I’ve met the happiest, most loving and supportive man who celebrates all my quirks as much as I celebrate his, and I cannot wait for our wedding in September.

Lauren & Chet, cheers to the joy you bring everywhere you go – and for the hope that you placed in my life which brought a light in the darkest places and set me on the path to where I am today. My dearest “cookie monster bride” and her “Patriots loving husband” will forever have a place in my story. Thank you from the deepest part of my soul, lovelies.

VENDORS

Ceremony & Reception: Mansion on Turner Hill // Wedding Dress: Kenneth Pool // Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Azazie // Hair & Makeup Artist: Jenny Luu // Florist: Lilac and Lily // Rings: Brilliant Earth // Invitations: Minted // DJ Services: C-Zone Entertainment // Cake Designer: Konditor Meister // Catering: Vinwood Catering // Videography: Oxford Media Films // Photography: Hilary Colleen Photography