A Simple, Contemporary Wedding at the Panoptic Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts

When it came to planning their wedding, Angelee Russ (a social worker) and Michael Carbin (a PhD student) knew they wanted an intimate ceremony and celebration with their closest family members and friends in attendance. The couple were introduced through close friends and after six months of friendship, they realized there might be something more there. Needless to say, things worked out well. A few years later, Michael popped the question, presenting Angelee with a ring that his mother bought on a trip to Panama, where Angelee was born. For the wedding, the couple took their friends and families back to where it all began—Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks in Boston’s Kenmore Square. Located steps away from the sentimental spot, the Panoptic Gallery in the Hotel Commonwealth seemed like the perfect place to tie the knot. “We were able to do our first look at the Eastern Standard,” Angelee says. The couple fused the contemporary and classic for the affair, jazzing up the understated gallery space with vibrantly hued blooms and playful touches like monogrammed cocktail glasses. “Cocktails have been a key element of our dating and social life,” Angelee says, “so we decided to combine our escort cards and favors by engraving cocktail glasses with our initials for our friends and families to keep as mementos and use during the champagne toasts.” At the end of the night, the couple followed the reception with a lively cocktail party at the Hawthorne Bar.