Boston Bride’s (no longer top) Pick for Large Weddings: The Back Bay Harvard Club

UPDATE (3 years after initial post): Their prices have gone up DRAMATICALLY since this original post. They are now about $199 + tax per person, all-inclusive. It doesn’t mention if this includes gratuity. This is among the highest prices I have seen in the Boston area. I don’t think this would be our top choice for a large wedding anymore, given this ridiculous price increase!

Verdict: You need a large venue to hold all your aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and family. You want an elegant venue, but you don’t want to take out a second mortgage or loan. The Back Bay Harvard Club was our #1 venue – we even put a deposit down – until we decided to postpone our wedding and do a smaller event. It is a beautiful place, but is much too large for a smaller wedding.

After walking into the Back Bay Harvard Club’s ballroom, we fell in love with it.   The BBHC has about 30 guest rooms, a beautiful foyer with a lovely staircase, a great bar/lounge, and one of the prettiest ballrooms I have ever been in. Not to mention the prices were very reasonable (it comes out to about $120 per person, all-inclusive).

Our song: Summer Samba (So Nice)

After much thought, we decided Summer Samba (the Bebel version, not the Astrud version) is the song for us. We have history with the song and we love bossa nova. Not to mention our wedding is in the summer, how fitting! Now, to find a band that can play and sing it like Bebel and her band!

Summer Samba (So Nice) Lyrics

Someone to hold me tight
That would be very nice
Someone to love me right
That would be very nice
Someone to understand
Each little dream in me
Someone to take my hand
To be a team with me
So nice, life would be so nice
If one day I'd find
Someone who would take my hand
And samba through life with me

Someone to cling to me
Stay with me right or wrong
Someone to sing to me
Some little samba song
Someone to take my heart
And give his heart to me
Someone who's ready to
Give love a start with me

Oh yes, that would be so nice
Shouldn't we, you and me?
I can see it will be nice…

Engagement photos are fun to do

I thought doing this would be stressful, but it was actually a lot of fun. A friend of ours took more than thirty pics of us in different configurations at the Esplanade. We started over by the Hatch Shell with the flower trees in the background.  Unfortunately, we did it on a day with less light and more clouds, but at least we got them done before the blooms were gone. Now, it’s time to decide what to do with them. Magnets are overdone, I think. We may do a print onto card stock with a vellum overlay printed with our date, tying the overlay to the cardstock with a ribbon.