This Bay Village wedding venue is such a gem. Inspired by a medieval fortress, the Longwood Venues’ property is a basically a castle right in downtown Boston.

This Romanesque Revival-style building was built in the 1890s as a part of the Armory of the First Corps of Cadets. According to The Boston Globe, it was used to store arms, house a rifle range, military gym, and drill hall. Now, it’s a moody fairytale wedding venue!

The Tower comprises four distinct areas, each occupying its own floor. On the ground level, you'll find The Parlor, capable of accommodating up to 100 guests for dinner and dancing. It welcomes you with its wooden beams and ornate fireplaces. One floor above, The Gallery mirrors The Parlor's capacity but features lofty ceilings and vintage chandeliers. The third floor hosts The Reading Room, a cozy space spanning 750 square feet, ideal for cocktail receptions with a capacity of up to 35 guests. Finally, The Library, located on the top floor, is the grandest setting of The Tower. It boasts original bookcases, a catwalk, and expansive windows that fill the room with natural light.

A major plus is how many hotels, train stations, and photo spots are just a few blocks away!

I love how Rocky and Julia used the spaces inside The Tower for their wedding day. A sweet first look on the entryway staircase was followed by formal group photos in the Green Room. The wedding party’s moody forest green color palette was literal perfection.

Making as much of the space as possible, the pair held their ceremony and reception in The Library, and cocktail hour in The Parlor on the ground level. The florist did an incredible job filling the bookcases with flowers and candles - a combination of centerpiece size items and bud vases adorned the shelves that became the backdrop for their ceremony. This was probably my favorite part of their decor. The pops of yellow and white against the muted black walls of the Library worked so well.

As soon as we had a chance we snuck outside for some sunset and blue hour photos in downtown and the Boston Public Gardens. The first thing I wanted to do was pull them into the median in front of their venue to get some epic shots of The Tower with the glow of the street lights around it. These ended up being some of my favorite images of the night - they look so happy and care-free!

It’s not often I get to snap pics during Blue Hour - or just after sunset - and I was so excited to play with different colors and textures from the gardens. It did NOT disappoint and we even had a real life make way for ducklings moment by the pond.

After some gorgeous, moody, dusk photos at the Boston Public Garden, we headed back to the venue and got right into cake cutting and dance floor madness!

This was such a fun reception to capture - from the speeches right up to the dancing. I would typically use off camera flash for something like this, but I really wanted to avoid the glare on the black walls, and do a little fun drag photography on the dance floor. I decided to use on camera flash and I was surprised by how well that worked in lighting their reception space and dance floor. I cranked up the settings and bounced it off the bits of white in the upper parts of the walls. I really like how it came out!

And it helps that the dance floor was a wild one!

Thanks for having us Rocky and Julia, and congratulations on a perfect wedding day!