Katie and Zach were married at the Boston Public Library in March 2026, with Mandy Connor of Hummingbird Events & Design running the weekend. I flew in the day before. That is how I work everywhere: the night before a wedding is part of the story, and I would rather already know the room and the people by the time the morning comes.

The night before

The welcome party is where I learn who everyone is. Who flew in from where, which friends go back to college, which uncle is going to be the one to watch during the speeches. None of it is in the contract and none of it needs to be. Katie put it this way afterwards: "Chris went above and beyond the entire wedding weekend, photographing parts of our rehearsal dinner and welcome party just because he could." I did it because I was there. Being there is the whole reason to book the weekend instead of the day.

Katie lifts the skirt of her gown as she and Zach climb the marble staircase of the Boston Public Library, in black and white

Katie rests her head against Zach’s shoulder and looks back over it, in black and white

The library

The McKim building has two kinds of light and they could not be more different. Under the lamps the grand staircase is amber, the marble almost the colour of honey, and everything slows down. Out in the courtyard the March light is cold and clean and bounces off the stone. We did their portraits on the stairs between the lions before any guests arrived.

Wide view of Katie and Zach crossing the grand staircase beneath the murals of the Boston Public Library, in black and white

Katie and Zach hold hands at the foot of the amber marble staircase of the Boston Public Library

Zach’s hand at Katie’s waist on the landing of the Boston Public Library staircase

Katie and Zach beside one of the marble lions on the Boston Public Library staircase, Katie holding a soft pink bouquet

Katie and Zach in front of the iron gates of the Boston Public Library, Katie looking up at him

The bow at the back of Katie’s strapless gown, lit from behind on the street outside the library

Then we walked out onto Boylston Street for ten minutes, because the afternoon was bright and the city, for a moment, was theirs.

Katie and Zach walking hand in hand along Boylston Street in hard afternoon light, in black and white

The ceremony was in the courtyard, under the arcade, with candles set along the edge of the pool. Fifteen or twenty minutes of portraits and then back to their people. Katie again, on the day itself: "He was ruthlessly efficient, and I mean that as the highest compliment, and kept everyone exactly where we needed to be." I take that as the job description. The couple should not be managing the photographer. The photographer should be quietly managing the clock so the couple never has to think about it.

A bridesmaid in a slate satin gown walks the courtyard arcade of the Boston Public Library carrying tulips, candles at her feet

Katie and Zach kiss under the arcade of the Boston Public Library courtyard, her bouquet of pale pink blooms between them

Katie and Zach are two people with a strong point of view and a real ease with each other, and the library gave them a room that could hold both. Boston is one of the places I photograph most, and this is the reason why.

With
Venue: Boston Public Library
Planning and design: Hummingbird Events & Design, Mandy Connor
Photography: Christopher Cook

Katie and Zach at the Boston Public Library Back Bay

The night before

The library

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