MASS MoCA Wedding, North Adams MA: Maeve and James

– What lead you to have a wedding the way you did? Family, friends location etc?

After we got engaged (on Christmas Day!) we started to wedding plan, and think about what we wanted for the special day. We knew we wanted to craft a weekend that allowed for all of our friends and family to really get to know each other. We also wanted our wedding to embody our favorite things, sharing what we love as a couple, with our guests. This lead us to the Berkshires, an area not far from our home in Brooklyn, but truly a beautiful escape in the mountains. The area is filled with art, music, dance, good food and natural beauty. Maeve grew up visiting friends and grandparents in the area, so it’s also a special place in that way. We wanted a day that encompassed family traditions, but also embraced our lifestyle today.

We loved our wedding ceremony, which took place in an adorable Episcopal Church in Williamstown. The ceremony was filled with prayers, readings and poems led by both the priest and some of our closest friends and family. We chose music that helped bring back memories of so many happy times we’ve had together. Songs led by pianists, and a trumpeter helped make the ceremony uniquely us. Thinking back to it all brings happy tears to our eyes.

Then, for our reception, we wanted our guests to be able to experience one of our favorite places – MASS MoCA, which stands for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. With 16 acres of grounds, and galleries that occupy 19th-century mill buildings, MASS MoCA is home to incredible contemporary art. The MASS MoCA community is forward thinking, and embraces music, sculpture, dance, film, painting, photography, theater and more. We are humbled and grateful that we got to celebrate our marriage in such a special place.

We worked with some amazing people that helped make it all happen. We knew that good food, music and drink makes a party, so we decided to hire the best. Mezze Catering & Events helped coordinate it all, and the evening could not have been more perfect. We served our favorite fresh and local foods. Lots of delicious veggies, a massive cheese board, strip steak and of course, lots of chocolate for dessert. We chose “his and hers” cocktails that included a Brown Bomber and a French 75. James is a craft beer lover, and we served draft beer from Bright Ideas Brewery, which is actually located right on MASS MoCA’s campus. Our goal was to have the evening feel like the most perfect cozy dinner party, at a good friend’s home. The energy throughout felt like that. And of course, the evening needed a major dance party and our band, Kinky Spigot and the Welders, truly knocked it out of the park. We danced the night away with all of our closest friends and family. It was a night we will truly never forget, and it was exactly the love filled weekend like we had envisioned.

 

– What were you most excited about before the wedding?

Maeve: I was most excited for that moment of walking down the aisle, side by side with my parents, looking at James, surrounded by all of our friends and family. I was a little nervous that I might stumble in my words, as I happy cried, but I held it together and remember every moment so clearly.

James: I was most looking forward to the moment when we said our vows, committed to each other for the rest of our lives, in front of all our friends and family.

 

– Did anything happened that you weren’t expecting?

Maeve: My mom coordinated a few surprises. When we left the church after the ceremony, she had organized all of our guests to send us off with bubbles and cheering. At the end of the reception, she did the same but this time with sparklers. Also, instead of a guest book, she had secretly collected rocks from our favorite beach on Martha’s Vineyard, and had our guests write notes on each of them. I was floored by how thoughtful, and perfect those moments were.

James: I was surprised (and so happy!) that our band ended up playing one of our favorite – but admittedly raunchy – songs, Pony by Ginuine. Maeve, our friends, and I danced like maniacs and it hilarious.

 

– Which images did you love the most?

All of them! If we had to choose, the shots that are candid, capturing the light, laughter, happy tears and energy between us and our family & friends. When we look at them, it brings us right back to the feelings of that day.

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