Brooke & Lucas' Mid-Century Modern Inspired Wedding at the Providence Public Library in Providence, RI

As of last Saturday we have officially wrapped up our 2024 season and we can hardly believe it. It’s been a truly lovely year with some beautiful celebrations and we’re again struck by how many different types of folks and how many different types of weddings we get to witness and document. Brooke and Lucas both live and work here in Providence and we first met them last November for some photos around their apartment here in the city and down by the ocean in Jamestown. These two felt like kindred spirits to us in more ways than one; all of us transplants doing our best to make this city feel like home, and all of us sharing a similarly dry sense of humor. Since last year it’s felt like an agonizingly long wait to see just what they were going to cook up for their wedding day and to put it simply they exceeded our expectations. Visions of this day had been bouncing around in our brains for so long that when it finally rolled around the entire experience was a surreal one.

The Providence Public Library needs no introduction but we’ll introduce it anyways: tile and marble, gilded columns, a sunken courtyard - classic Venetian Renaissance stuff. It’s a charmingly grand space in it’s own right, but add in styling and planning by Kayla from Madden Made Events and flora design by Maddi from Absūna and it becomes a different thing entirely. Contrasting the turn of the century architecture, Brooke and Lucas elected to embrace an atmosphere of moody, drippy greenery and mid-century modern furniture which further elevated the space and looked incredibly luxurious while remaining cozy. The ceremony site and cocktail hour/dance floor surroundings in particular were completely transformed and overtaken by wispy, spindly branches and leaves while pops of textural greens were found scattered throughout the space.

Family and friends came from all over and helped out where they could: Brooke’s aunt officiated the ceremony, Lucas’ sister was flower-girl, their friend Cooper played piano for the ceremonial music, and Brooke’s sister painstakingly digitized their late fathers’ handwriting for use in signage, menus, and decor. Toasts from Brooke’s mom and Lucas’ siblings elicited tears and laughter while their own thank you toast was as gracious as it was goofy thanks to Brooke’s quick wit and Lucas’ quiet hilarity. Once folks had finished dinner and Brooke, Lucas, and their families had shared some wedding cake, a trio of brass instruments beckoned everyone from their seats and led them to the dance floor for the hora. The energy stayed high from that point on thanks to live music by Vincent King and his band, showering grooves from the upper mezzanine level down onto dancers below.

As far as weddings to call curtains on a season go, Brooke and Lucas’ is hard to beat for us. It was so great to get to work with so many local vendors whose work we’ve admired for so long, so great to have the shortest commute to work in Hayes & Baker history, and so great to see two folks get married in front of their families and friends in such an unimaginably gorgeous space. At the end of the day our job is just to show up and photograph what’s in front of us - being presented with such a visual feast and walking away with a couple of new pals (bowling buddies??) is just a major bonus.

Venue: Providence Public Library
Coordination: Madden Made Events
Catering: Russell Morins Catering
Florals: Absūna
Music: Vincent King
Hair/Makeup: Ali Lomazzo
Bridal Boutique: L’élite Boutique
Dress: Monique Lhuillier
Menswear: Suit Supply / The Black Tux
Cake: Sin Desserts
Rentals: Peak Event Services
Film/Processing: Kodak Portra 400 & Cinestill 800T / Kerry’s Warwick Photo
Lounge Rentals: Kadeema Rentals
Linens: BBJ La Tovala
Welcome Party Venue: Bayberry Garden
After Party Venue: Courtland Club
Hotel Block: Graduate Providence
Transportation: Experience Rhode Island