To date, Max and I have been the wedding photographers for 82 weddings throughout New England, and we’ve never seen anything like the one we’re about to share with you. Pat and Anna’s rustic wedding on Thompson Island in the Boston Harbor was full of beautiful details–lace tablecloths, rustic wildflower centerpieces, colorful ribbons as a ceremony backdrop… but the premise of this wedding is what really made it unique.

Pat and Anna had been together for twelve years, and as their officiant stated, “Never needed to get married”. But a few years ago, Pat became very sick, and in the hospital they realized that as unmarried folk, they didn’t have the same rights that married couples did. They started thinking about tying the knot, but wanted to do things a bit differently… and decided to throw a SURPRISE wedding. They only told members of their wedding party the secret, and sent all other guests invitations for a big family reunion. Once the guests were on the boat over to Thompson Island, which actually serves as an Outward Bound educational center, there were suspicions about the day, but no one knew for sure. Pat greeted the boat at the dock, and shared the news by whispering it to his nephew who then yelled out, “THEY’RE GETTING MARRIED!” There were hoots and hollers, and a lot of looks of pure shock, mixed with pure joy. You’ll see the parents reactions below, which really are priceless.

There are lots of fantastic details about this wedding, and this couple that deserve mentioning… Pat is actually the host of a National Geographic Show called Beast Hunter, which is pretty awesome. These two made home-brewed hard cider as the guest favors, had a crafty-yarn theme for the ceremony, and some hilarious mullet-sweat band props from the photobooth made it onto the dance floor… but really, after knowing why these folks were getting married and how they did it, the details just don’t seem to take the cake in this wedding. ;) Congratulations to this happy couple, and thank you for trusting us to document the memories of your amazing and unique day.

*The full gallery from this wedding is now up in our Client Page!!