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Boston is one of those New England cities that no matter the weather, there is a certain mystic to it that is hard to deny.  Perhaps its the long storied history, or the source of so much ‘New Englandness’, whatever the allure exactly, its a brilliant one!  Alexandria Hubbard & Craig Byer, both equally drawn to this old world town, found the perfect spot for their minimalist wedding in Cambridge’s Hotel Marlowe wedding with Boston serving as a backdrop.  Glittery shoes & flitting fabric were ever so sweetly preserved by lover of all things Boston, wedding photographer Zac Wolf Photography, while taking the couple on a unique portrait session in locales now too gorgeous to simply be industrial everyday places.  Alex & Craig’s ceremony featured a gracious mash up of Jewish traditions, all while equally sharing the spotlight with a tea ceremony honoring Alex’s mother.  The result is a wonderfully sweet minimalist Hotel Marlowe wedding that highlights just how smitten these two truly are!

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Novella of the Bride…

Wedding Buzzwords ~ Minimalist, Traditional (with a twist!), and Intimate

Craig and I met when we were in college; we were both journalism majors, and we bonded at our school’s newspaper. Craig graduated in 2009, and he moved up just outside of Boston for work shortly after. While I finished my senior year, we traveled back and forth a bunch, and once I graduated in 2010, we moved into Boston together. We got our dog, Toby, in 2011 and have been living as a happy family ever since! We got engaged in February 2013 right on the Boston waterfront, where we had our first date so many years before.

We always knew we wanted our wedding to be in or around Boston, so that helped narrow our search. We wanted a space that wouldn’t overwhelm our intimate gathering (there were only 75 guests), but still felt luxurious. After doing a bit of Internet sleuthing, I stumbled upon the Hotel Marlowe. I loved the look of the hotel from its website, and it took one visit to confirm that this was the spot for us! Since it’s in cright on the Charles River, we had the city of Boston as our backdrop. We had the whole second floor for the evening, and even though everything was on the same floor, it never felt cramped.

We wanted to keep everything pretty minimal; the Hotel Marlowe has a very distinct look and feel (modern and whimsical) that we didn’t want to overshadow. We kept out color palette neutral, but still bright for spring. At the end of the day, we wanted the focus to be on us and the amazing party we were having with our friends, so we let a lot of small details fall by the wayside. We’re pretty simple people, so we felt our wedding represented that. We could have brought our dog Toby to the venue (it’s pet friendly!), but we didn’t want to stress too much worrying about him. We included him in other ways though! We had a slightly larger-than-life-size portrait of him so we could take pictures with him in The Danger Booth, and he was also on top of our cake to show our whole family.

A Little Help From Their Friends ~ My mom’s best friend of more than 35 years flew up from Memphis with her two daughters, and they helped out a TON. My mom’s friend helped assemble the bouquets and boutonierres the morning of the wedding (she’s a former florist) and one of her daughters, who’s a professional hair stylist in Memphis, did my hair and polished up my flower girls’ hair. Our chuppah tapestry was also leant to us by one of Craig’s co-workers. It has been in more than 50 weddings in more than 20 countries! Craig’s father’s girlfriend assembled our chuppah to tie in colors from the tapestry and the room.

Favorite Moments: I’d have to say reading our vows was my favorite part. Craig and I are both writers, so it made sense for us to write our vows to each other. I made the mistake of letting Craig go first, and I was a complete mess by the time he was through with them. But it made our day so special, and I loved hearing what he had to say.

Lagniappe ~ We wanted to mix in my Chinese heritage and Craig’s Jewish traditions into our wedding, so we chose a few traditional things from each of our cultures to highlight. My mother put my shoes on just as I was about to go see Craig (to signify me leaving her home), and we also had a traditional Chinese tea ceremony with all of our family. We were married under a chuppah, Craig broke the glass and we also danced the horah. We were also lucky enough to have Craig’s best friend from birth, who is also a great friend of mine, marry us. It was the right personal touch we needed to cap off our intimate wedding.

Vendor Love

Photographer: Zac Wolf Photography | Venue: Hotel Marlowe  | Wedding Dress: J.Crew   | Bridesmaid DressesJ.Crew  | Shoes: J.Crew   | Hair: Stephanie Harants  | Groom’s Attire: Banana Republic, J.Crew  | Invitations: Swell & Grand  | Music: Murray Hill Talent  | Caterer + Planning: Hotel Marlowe  | Baker: Konditor Meister