Taylor MacKinnon & Andrew Howell

Draw inspiration from this stylish local celebration.
By ·

August 2, 2014
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Boston, Massachusetts

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Photo Provided

One good wedding deserves another.

Andrew Howell and Taylor MacKinnon met in 2011 at Glenora Wine Cellars, a small winery in upstate New York, during a wedding of mutual friends. Both still in school at the time (she at UNH, he finishing up his MBA at Rollins College in Florida), a long distance love affair was all they could manage before Andrew made the move to Boston the following year.

In 2013, a very important question was popped. Andrew surprised Taylor by asking for her hand amid 200 lit candles, panoramic city views, and a sneaky location on a 40th floor space six floors down from her office in International Place. After she said yes, Andrew surprised her further with a big dinner with friends and family at her favorite restaurant, Square Cafe, in her hometown of Hingham.

A grand proposal deserves a grand celebration, which is exactly what the couple had at the Fairmont Copley.

“It was extremely important to us to include as many of our friends and family as possible, and we wanted to make sure that more than anything, it was a great time for everyone,” says Taylor of the 300-person dreamy affair that kept going until 1 a.m. Now the couple lives in their new home in Squantum, and they’re toasting their newlywed status.

Photograph by Kerry Brett

Photograph by Kerry Brett

Taylor’s bouquet included her family’s “wedding pin,” an 1800s pin of glass “diamonds” passed down to generations of brides to ensure a long-lasting marriage.

Photography by Kerry Brett

Photography by Kerry Brett

“We wanted the wedding to be opulent and ornate,” says Taylor. Boston Lighting Co. chose rich purple lighting to set the tone.

Photograph by Kerry Brett

Photograph by Kerry Brett

The party took a walk across Copley after a few photos in front of the Boston Public Library.

Photograph by Kerry Brett

Photograph by Kerry Brett

Andrew’s seven-year-old golden retriever, Dallas, helped celebrate with the couple.

Photograph by Kerry Brett

Photograph by Kerry Brett

“Due to the long distance portion of our relationship, we named each table a different location we had traveled to to be together,” explains Taylor. The regions spanned from Galveston, Texas, to Santiago, Chile.

Photograph by Kerry Brett

Photograph by Kerry Brett

The cake was a vanilla buttercream frosting with a strawberry and orange flavor filling from Cakes to Remember.
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Photo Provided

We wanted the guests to be comfortable,” says Taylor of the baskets of flip flops laid out for guests to change into before dancing.
Photograph by Kerry Brett

Photograph by Kerry Brett

To complement their three-course sit-down menu, late-night sliders, french fries, and pizza came around on the dance floor to fuel party-goers.

 

THE FILE

Venue: Fairmont Copley
Florist: Table and Tulip
Photographer: Kerry Brett and Bill Brett
Band: Beantown
Cake: Cakes to Remember
Videographer: Ready Set Film
Linens: La Travola Fine Linens
Planner: Blue Ivy
Dress: Vera Wang

 

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